14 DAY TRIAL // The third installment in the Kenka Bancho series hasn't received the official release stateside, but in Japan it's been tearing up the high schools for quite some time. With a simpler Kenka Bancho 3 title than the American Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, the game takes a closer look at the dark side of the Japanese educational system and what it gives birth to. But Japan isn't going to wait around for the rest of the world and already plans to release a new iteration in the series.
Spike has announced today the fourth Kenka Bancho title, The One Year War for the PlayStation Portable. The game will follow the same path as its predecessors and give players a chance to be the “new kid on the block” who aims to become the number one delinquent around. The action will take place in the fictional Konan High School, where the player will take control of Yuta Hayami, a first year student who has his eyes set on the big prize that any respectable teenage brawler yearns for.
In his quest to become the most feared guy in his high school and in the neighborhood, he'll have to eventually dethrone the local “teen crime boss” Eiichi Akutsu, a third year behemoth. But not just anyone can challenge the king, so until he can do that he'll have to terrorize the other freshmen and prove his strength to the second year students. The game kinda reminds of Cromartie High School, an anime that takes a similar look at the Japanese high school.
Just like the previous release in the series, Kenka Bancho 3, which will eventually be made available in America by Atlus, Kenka Bancho 4: The One Year War is pretty much an action game with a flair for comedy. “Hayami-kun” will run around the streets of the city, because of course a true bully doesn't really spend that much time at school, looking for fights and a girlfriend. The social aspect of his life, including his appearance, can be customized in a number of different ways, and the girl he chooses to hold close until the end will influence the game's ending. The One Year War will be released in Japan in the spring of 2010.