No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise

No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise[lower-alpha 1] is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by feelplus. The game is an enhanced port of the 2007 Wii video game No More Heroes, originally developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and directed by Goichi Suda.

This article is about PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the game. For original Wii game, see No More Heroes (video game).
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
European cover art
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
SeriesNo More Heroes
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
ReleasePlayStation 3
  • JP: April 15, 2010[3]
  • EU: May 20, 2011
  • JP: July 21, 2011 (Red Zone Edition)[4]
  • NA: August 16, 2011[5]
Xbox 360
Genre(s)Action-adventure, hack and slash
Mode(s)Single-player

The game was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan on April 15, 2010 by Marvelous Entertainment. In North America and Europe, it was published by Konami in 2011 for the PlayStation 3, featuring support for the PlayStation Move, and various fixes to the game's performance and graphics.[6] This version of the game was released in Japan as No More Heroes: Red Zone Edition[lower-alpha 2] on July 21, 2011.[4]

A sequel, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle was released on Wii months prior. No More Heroes III was announced at E3 2019 to be released in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch.[7]

Gameplay
Travis Touchdown fighting an enemy in the game.

In Heroes' Paradise, the player character, Travis Touchdown travels around on foot or his motorcycle in a free roaming world killing the top ten assassins in order to make the storyline progress. There are numerous part-time job side quests to earn money which can be spent on weapons, training sessions, clothes and video tapes.[8]

Most attacks are performed using a standard control scheme, with certain other moves, including the "death blow" and sword lock struggles, executed by following on-screen instructions. The beam katana can also be upgraded and replaced throughout the game by visiting Dr. Naomi. While the katana does not follow the exact position of the remote, it is able to distinguish between a "high" and "low" position which varies the character stance and the attacks done. In addition to attacks with the beam katana, Travis can kick and punch, and when enemies are stunned, he can throw them with a number of professional wrestling maneuvers, which were previously done by manipulating both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Travis has a secondary mode, "Dark Side", that is accessed when three icons line up in a slot machine after a successful death blow.

Differences from No More Heroes

There have been several changes to the game from the original Wii version. The main differences between the two iterations are:

  • High-definition graphics[6]
  • English (everywhere) and Japanese (Asian territories only) voice acting.
  • An unlockable "Very Sweet" Mode, which depicts Sylvia Christel, Shinobu, Holly Summers, Bad Girl and Jeane wearing more "appealing" attire.
  • Ability to stock up to three Dark Side mode charges, rather than having it activate immediately, like in the original.
  • Unused Dark Side mode charges left over in the player's stock at the end of a Ranking Battle rewards Travis Touchdown with additional LB dollars (as was the case with unused Anarchy in the Galaxy stocks in the original version).
  • The song, "Heavenly Star", by the Genki Rockets was removed. Same goes for the music video that players could watch in the motel room in the Japanese and European Wii versions.
  • The Ubisoft trailer (which only appeared in the North American Wii version) on the TV with the full Helter Skelter fight and Sylvia Christel introduction explaining the rules of the UAA has been removed and exactly the same intro from the start of the game serves as the trailer.
  • Sylvia's calls to Travis on his cell phone are now heard on screen because of the PS Move motion controller lacking a speaker (although the use of the Wii remote's speaker was optional).
  • Ability to warp straight to any Side-Job or Assassin Mission once the player has beaten any of them at least once.
  • A retry option was added to the Side-Jobs, Assassin Missions, and Free Fights. However, it only appears when the player has failed in either.
  • Five new Side-Jobs were added: Signaling, Sign Spinning, Kitty Race, Bust A Coconut and People Bowling.
  • Five new Assassin Missions were added; Guard Break, Power-Down Battle, Big Bang Anarchy, Shortcake Freaks and Crowded Train Carnage.
  • Five extra bosses from No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle are available to fight at certain points in the game. These are Skelter Helter, Nathan Copeland, Kimmy Howell, Matt Helms and Alice Twilight.
  • Players are now able to revisit Ranking Fights and cinematics from Travis' motel room armchair, in the form of nightmares and dreams.
  • A "Score Attack" mode has been added that lets the player refight all 15 of the game's bosses and compete for a high score online. This is also the only way for players to refight all of the NMH2 extras as they don't appear in nightmare mode.
  • More traffic and pedestrians in Santa Destroy.
  • The northern section of Santa Destroy was blocked off, with any collectibles and missions located in that area moved to the rest of the map.

PlayStation Move support
Player using the PlayStation Move controller for Travis powering up the katana.

Unlike the Japanese release of the game, the North American and European release of the game include PlayStation Move support at launch. This is the only difference between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Players can use the PlayStation Move controller to recharge the katana, since the beam katanas run on batteries, as well as control it to execute attacks and advanced combos, much like the Wii version.[6]

Development

On November 17, 2009, Famitsu magazine revealed that No More Heroes would receive a port to both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from the company feelplus.

Shortly after the announcement of the game in November 2009, the North American and European publisher of the original, Ubisoft and Rising Star Games, announced that they would not be localizing the game.[9] On June 28, 2010 Ignition Entertainment, when asked if they were publishing the game abroad, commented that they "were looking at it (but they) believe that another publisher will publish it."[10] At Gamescom 2010 in August, Konami announced at their press conference that they were bringing only the PlayStation 3 version to North America and Europe in 2011 with added PlayStation Move support.[2] A Press release was also given to provide additional information on the improvements made on the Western localization of the game.[11] A North American release was formally announced on the PlayStation Blog by Jeff Reubenstein, formally unveiling the title's Move support as well as PS3 exclusivity.[6]

The defeat of Destroy Man. With the Western PlayStation localization, blood is available in the game.

When the game was released in Japan, the PlayStation 3 version of the game was censored similar to its Wii predecessor attaining a "D" rating from CERO which is equivalent to a "Mature" rating from ESRB while the Xbox 360 version of the game remained uncensored similar to the North American release of its Wii predecessor causing it to receive a "Z" rating equivalent to the "Adult Only" rating from ESRB.[3] However, the North American and European PlayStation 3 release of the game are uncensored. The Japanese Red Zone Edition, which is based on the international release, is similarly uncensored and received a "Z" rating from CERO.[12]

Exclusive bonus erotic portraits, which were available to pre-orders from Amazon.co.jp.

By pre-ordering from Amazon.co.jp, customers were awarded with bonus cards particular to each format of the game. PlayStation 3 owners were rewarded with the Cherry Card set, while Xbox 360 owners were rewarded with the Mango Card set. The cards featured semi-erotic poses from the female characters within the game.

Reception

Sales for the Japanese launch of Heroes' Paradise were slightly better than with the original Wii version. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game sold 16,000 and 15,000 units respectively in their first week on sale in the country.[13] IGN gave the game a 7.5 out of 10, praising the combat and updated visuals, but criticized the screen tearing and slowdowns, as well as the mini-games, calling them tedious.[14]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ノーモア★ヒーローズ 英雄たちの楽園 Hepburn: Nō Moa Hīrōzu Eiyūtachi no Rakuen
  2. Japanese: ノーモア★ヒーローズ レッドゾーン・エディション Hepburn: Nō Moa Hīrōzu Reddo Zōn Edishon

References
  1. Spencer (December 1, 2009). "Lost Odyssey Developer Making No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  2. Craig Harris (August 18, 2010). "Gamescom: No More Heroes Will Move on PS3". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  3. Spencer (February 24, 2009). "Another Dose Of No More Heroes In HD". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  4. Spencer (April 19, 2011). "No More Heroes: Red Zone Edition For PS3 Has Levels Cut From The Wii Version". Siliconera. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  5. Sliwinski, Alexander (2011-05-19). "No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise coming August 16 to North America". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  6. Jeff Rubenstein (October 26, 2010). "No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise Announced Exclusively for PS3 and PlayStation Move". PlayStation Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  7. Citation error. See inline comment how to fix.
  8. Casamassina, Matt (2007-02-16). "Suda 51 on No More Heroes". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  9. Michael McWhertor (November 20, 2009). "Ubisoft Says No Thank You To No More Heroes PS3, 360". Kotaku. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  10. Spencer (June 18, 2010). "No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise Hired For Part Time Job Overseas?". Siliconera. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  11. JC Fletcher (August 18, 2010). "No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise on PS3 in Euro". Joystiq. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  12. Spencer (August 19, 2010). "No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise Missing On Konami Of America Press Site". Siliconera. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  13. No More Heroes Sells More In HD. Spencer. Siliconera. April 22, 2010.
  14. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/118/1188048p1.html
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