Takeshi no Chōsenjō narrative location Japan
Gameplay
While the gameplay of Takeshi no Chōsenjō is presented as a side-scrolling action game, the narrative progresses according to the player's choices akin to an adventure game, making the game an example of an action-adventure. Shooter elements are also included in certain areas. The player controls a poor salaryman within an urban and decadent Japanese landscape, in which he is often attacked by hostile yakuza. Health can only be restored by either drinking tequila at the bar in Japan or sleeping at the hotel on Hintabo Island, although the salaryman can be revived upon the depletion of his health if the player simultaneously taps the A and B buttons three times in quick succession. The salaryman can receive money by beating pedestrians or completing certain objectives.
The game's plot is initiated when the salaryman receives a treasure map. Before he can initiate the search for the treasure, the salaryman must prepare by beating the old man who gave him the map, divorcing his wife, resigning from his job, and acquiring various skills at the culture center. If these conditions are not met before the salaryman goes to Hintabo Island, his wife or company president will suddenly appear and forcibly repatriate him to Japan, or the treasure will be intercepted by the old man (who had followed the salaryman), resulting in a game over.
The game incorporates the microphone function of a second controller in various situations, primarily in the karaoke bar. In one stage, the salaryman must hang glide from Hintabo Island to the island of the hidden treasure while firing bullets at incoming birds and UFOs. The salaryman can only ascend using gusts of wind and can only fire one bullet at a time, and crashing into a single enemy results in a game over. The game uses a password-based save system, a common method for game saves at the time. The player can be taken to the end of the game if the salaryman throws 30,720 punches on the title screen.