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Sometimes a piece of pop culture worms its way into your brain, builds a comfortable, cost-efficient home in your cerebral cortex, and lives there happily for decades on end. My own tenant is
The Bouncer, an odd beat ‘em up by Square Soft, which came out in Japan 20 years ago today before fading into obscure cult status. This piece is my best attempt to banish this unruly beast from my skull.
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Runaway hype machine
The Bouncer was one of Square’s first games for the highly anticipated PlayStation 2, and hit just four months after the exciting new console’s U.S. launch. As such, it was beheld to a certain hype machine. Square Soft, the publisher that defined a generation of RPGs on PS1, was ready to make the leap to next-generation hardware, with its team of iconic creators in tow.