Before Metal Gear Solid, there was Policenauts. A buddy-cop meets science-fiction adventure about drugs, women and the vastness of space. While it was released to critical acclaim, it only truly came to the west in 2009 when a fan translation patch was released for english speaking audiences. Even since then however, Policenauts has floundered in Metal Gear’s shadow; never truly breaking into mainstream appeal. But is Kojima’s point-and-click underrated even today?
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To answer this, we ask ourselves:
Is a hard sci-fi setting the perfect complement to a buddy-cop drama? Or does it leave a bad taste in the players mouth?
If Metal Gear Solid 4 was a movie, then what does that make this?
Did Kojima’s penchant for insane details serve this game well, or does the story drown amongst the details?
Find out the answers to these questions and many more on the 16th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!
Getting the game running:
Obtain a legal copy of an english-patched, Sega Saturn Policenauts ROM
Download a recent copy of the SSF Sega Saturn Emulator
Obtain a copy of a Japanese Sega Saturn Bios
Use the guide below to get it running with a couple of caveats
You must use the Japanese Bios from Step 3 instead of the ones in the article
Even if you have Windows 10, you must install a 3rd party Virtual
CD-Drive in order to mount the ISO files.
Do not waste 90minutes like I did before I realised the Windows mounting tool does not work.Make sure your emulator’s Area Code is set to Japan
Join the discourse on Policenauts (and many other games) on our discord server! We argue about games, movies, and unfortunately, at times, anime.
Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K
Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another
Policenauts OST: Motoaki Furukawa, Koichi Namiki
