This is GTV! The Master of all things awesome!
The wonderful sights, sounds, smells and of course,
tastes of Japanese barbecue! Imported to Japan from Korea almost 100 years ago,
this style of barbecue is much different than that of The West.
Known as “Yakiniku” in Japanese, attention to the flame is a must. Not too rare and not too
well done. Each strip of finely cut beef, pork, chicken or seafood takes only a minute or two
to cook. An individual’s taste isn’t one size fits all. Each serving is likely to be handled
differently. Don’t forget the vegetables! Providing balance and harmony with the meat.
At a large party, or even just a family having a beachside barbecue, making your plate the way you
like it, could prove difficult. There is only so much space on the grill. Things move fast, and to
keep many busy hands out of the fire, one person is designated as the boss: The Yakiniku Bugyou!
In English, the Barbecue Master! In charge of the grill, serving the guests’ every need diligently!
If you have ever been to a Japanese restaurant like Benihana, you might
have seen something like a Yakiniku Bugyou serving customers. However, these setups
are solely an American invention, designed to make Japanese food look more exotic and fun,
and most likely to keep untrained customers from hurting themselves.
But in the Land of the Rising Sun, the real deal is much different,
as each customer gets their own grill and plate of raw food to do with as they like!
One of the most popular Yakiniku restaurant
chains in Japan is Gyu-Kaku, meaning Bull-Horn in English.
I can’t really afford to go there, but they do sell some of their specialty sauce at the
supermarket, so whenever I can save up the money, I can bring their signature taste
home! But if you do ever get a chance to go to one, you’re in for a treat!!!
In the Late PS1/Early PS2 Era, There was a boom of restaurant video games. Yoshinoya and CoCo
Ichiban had ones as well as more generic games like Ore no Ryouri and Family Restaurant Youkoso!
Most of these, strangely enough, were a simulation of working conditions at these places of business!
Gyu-Kaku joined this conga line of adver-games with one of their own, Yakiniku Bugyo!! The Game!
Released in 2001 for the Sony Playstation by Media Entertainment,
game fans now had a chance to summon their might to become a barbecue master in video game form!
In the game you man the grill, at a GYU KAKU, presumably somewhere in Saitama,
and dish out the food requested by the other members of your party sitting with you.
Each stage has 3 guests you must serve. Each character has a short profile that
tells us about who they are, including age and occupation. Movie stars, freeters,
OLs, salarymen, retirees and kids will eventually sit down at the table with you.
Each character has certain favorites they like to eat, as well as food that they just can’t
stand. One specific like and dislike is shown on screen throughout the course of the game.
Be sure to memorize the information given to you before the game starts,
because the action starts out rather quickly, and goes faster from there.
The guests will often comment on what they like and don’t like. While they are waiting for food
they will often comment on what they would like to have next, as well as what they see on the grill
that they don’t want. After each guest eats a food item, they will also remark on how it tasted. If
you don’t have any Japanese skill, don’t worry. Just remember than blue is good and red is bad!
The grill is the focal point of the game and sits center screen. There are 12 spots on the
grill where you can cook different cuts of meat as well as carrots, onions and pumpkin
slices. There is also a preview of what the next two items going on the grill will be.
The controls in the game are very simple and straightforward. The Cross button is your
main action button. Pushing Cross will place a food item on the grill, and also, flip it over.
Holding Cross down will let you pick up the meat and move it to another spot on the grill. If a
piece of meat gets too burnt, Cross will also chip it away clearing the space for something else.
The Square, Triangle and Circle buttons are reserved of your
three guests. Pushing these buttons will send a food item to each guest.
The center is the hottest place. It’s best to put meat you intend to make well done,
or vegetables there. The edges of the grill will cook food slower,
which is fine, but the guests will get hungrier if they are waiting for too long.
Some guests like their meat well done, others like it more rare, Some actually like the vegetables,
but no one likes them raw. A few people are just impossible to satisfy,
while others are happy to eat anything. Then there those who are just impossible to read…
Each guest has a hunger satisfaction meter. Giving the guests what they like raises it, giving what
they dislike lowers it. While waiting to eat, the meter will drop over time, so it needs to keep
being raised. If you can cook things perfectly, you will receive bonus points for your technique
as well as a bonus chain for however many items you can deliver to the guests with satisfaction.
One stage lasts 99 seconds. A full grill with 12 pieces on it will take about 10 seconds to cook,
so on average you will go through at least 100 items, probably more. When each stage is over,
the guest give you a rating. If the hunger satisfaction meter is over 50%,
you did well and will get a positive rating. If the meter is under 50%,
you will get a bad rating. If all three guests aren’t satisfied…. Game Over!!
Each stage speeds up the action and increases the challenge. On the 7th
stage you go one on one with the boss, the literal boss! Your boss! The owner
of this particular Gyu-Kaku! He is tough to please! Each food item that
raises his hunger satisfaction meter does so in the smallest of increments,
while more than one thing cooked less than perfect will send the meter almost down to zero!
If you can satisfy the boss, you have beaten the game! And get a neat little
congratulatory screen featuring all of the guests from the game,
as well as high praise of truly earning the title of Yakiniku Bugyou! The Barbecue Master!
There’s also a 2 player mode! The timer still counts down, but now you have to share the grill,
and fight against your opponent to please the guests! The timer still counts down, but rather
than trying to fill the hunger satisfaction meter and run out the clock, the players engage in a tug
of war style battle, as each food item raises the meter in favor of your color. Red for player one,
blue for player two. You can steal your opponent’s items and if you really want to be a jagoff,
clog up the grill with vegetables the guests hate, after you’ve tilted the meter to your side.
Furthermore you can try your hand at the unlimited time mode. Here the player can fry
up meat till you drop! You start with 3 guests, just like the timed game. When someone reaches
100% satisfaction, he or she will leave, and be replaced with someone new. Rather than the
timer counting down, the number of guests cleared counts up! How long can you last?
All in all Yakiniku Bugyou is a pretty fun game. Simple, but challenging,
and interesting enough to make it worth the price of entry.
If you didn’t get your fill with this game, Media Entertainment came back in 2003 with a sequel,
Yakiniku Bugyou Bonfire! The gameplay mechanics are the same,
but the game features better graphics, and more characters.
The B-Boy and his florid prose makes it worth trying it out just for him alone.
Now that you are a certified Barbecue Master, take that newly acquired know-how,
get out there and show the world that you can work your way around the grill,
that you can please cranky customers, that you've mastered handling your meat and that yours is the
meat can’t be beat! After all, whatever happens behind closed doors is your business!