Well folks, it would seem that all of our excitement over Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles might have been wasted. What little in the way of reviews for the game online say it's kind of, well ... below mediocre. They aren't too kind to the game, but we can't say we blame them. The North American release only has three cases, where the Japanese release has six!

• Game Informer (65/100) says "This is a brief and functional title, but it lacks the flair and intrigue to pull off the film noir aesthetic. It's also hard to get over the fact that Jake Hunter looks like he should be ordering Jägerbombs and hitting on your sister instead of solving cases."

• Nintendo Power (50/100) thinks "The game would have benefited from some compelling touch-screen use (for puzzles or combat, perhaps), but as is, it barely puts the 'interactive' in 'interactive novel.'" [June 2008, p.89]

• 1UP (D-) is of the mind that this game isn't even qualified to be in the bargain bin: "Each case is stupidly linear (to the point where you cannot leave an area until you perform the game-moving action), the script is riddled with typos (at one point, a character refers to a mobile phone as a "sell phone"), and the static character art exemplifies the cheapness of the entire package."

Thanks to a sweet thread over at GAF, we've got a look at the boxart for upcoming Aksys title Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. Regular readers of the site will know that we're pretty darn anxious to get our hands on this game and give it a try.

If there's one thing we'll say about the boxart, it sure is busy. There are tons of characters crammed onto the boxart, but none is so prominently displayed as the lead man, Jake Hunter himself. And, because of this, we consider the boxart a great success. What about you all?

See also: 2008 Blips - Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: Aksys Games
Release: May

If your law-and-order interest leans more towards the law side, you'll want to take a break from the Ace Attorney series and try out Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. As with Phoenix Wright, most of this adventure title relies on menu interaction to move the plot along, but you'll spend more time on the streets interrogating suspects, following leads, and digging up clues from crime scenes. Aksys plans to publish the game in the US with a budget price of $19.99, promising 4-to-5 hours worth of playtime for each of the game's three cases.

Those of you who've followed our coverage of Jake Hunter (Tantei Jinguuji Saburou) already know that it's an established series in Japan, boasting two decades-worth of releases for nearly every video game platform since the Famicom Disk System. But were you aware that before he ever hit the screen, our chain-smoking gumshoe had dozens of hardboiled crime novels to his credit? It's true! We've collected quite a few of the paperbacks, scanning and posting them below for your viewing pleasure:

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Aksys Games is quickly becoming our favorite publisher of niche DS titles. Just last month, the small studio announced that it would localize Super Dodgeball Brawlers, blowing kisses in our direction. Then earlier today, Aksys revealed its plans to rebrand Tantei Jinguji Saburo (Detective Saburo Jinguji) as Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles and bring the adventure title to North America next spring. Despite having appeared on a variety of consoles since his debut on the Famicom Disk System 20 years ago, this will be the gumshoe's first visit to the states.

Like with the Phoenix Wright series, you'll progress through the noir-ish plots with menu-based interrogations and clues you've found during your investigations. With Jake Hunter, however, you'll solve your cases with a Guile-styled haircut and a bebop jazz soundtrack. How wicked is that? We're not sure yet whether or not Aksys Games will leave in the Shinjuku setting and chain-smoking scenes, but we do know that Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles will be budget-priced at $19.99. Hit the gallery for five screenshots from the Japanese release.