Patent ID: 7367882

Claim:
A game system for playing a game involving a character controlled by a user, comprising: a stage data storing device for storing data prepared for each of a plurality of game stages of the game which have a predetermined sequence and increase in difficulty level based on said predetermined sequence; a sequential-execution control device for advancing the game to a next game stage of the game stages in response to the character obtaining a predetermined result in one of the stages and executing the game based on the data of each stage in the predetermined sequence; an ability control device for increasing an ability parameter specifying a character ability every time a predetermined condition to improve the character ability is satisfied, the ability parameter being initialized at a start of the game to an initial ability parameter level, the ability parameter and the difficulty levels of the stages defined by the data for the stages interacting such that apparent difficulty levels of the stages are reduced by increases in the ability parameter specifying the character ability; a stage selecting device for selecting one of the plural game stages corresponding to an indication of the user; a selection execution control device for calling the data corresponding to the selected game stage and executing the game in at least part of the selected game stage; and an ability setting device for reducing the ability parameter of the character to a lower value than a value greater than the initial ability parameter level to which the ability parameter has been increased, the reducing of the ability parameter being automatically effected by said ability setting device based upon said selecting one of the plural game stages corresponding to said indication of the user in place of a game stage determined by said sequential-execution control device such that the selected game stage is executed by the selection execution control device with the ability parameter reduced to the lower value.