Hong Kong 2097—sequel to the infamous Japanese bootleg Hong Kong 97—has been released on Itch after being rejected by Steam, GOG and DLSite (nice spot, Automaton).
Hong Kong 2097 is a collaboration between KaniPro Games and Happy Soft, the developer of the original game. It’s a bullet hell game where the player reprises their role as Chin, a descendant of Bruce Lee.
In the original game, Chin liberated Hong Kong by slaying 1.2 billion Chinese people. Now, in Hong Kong 2097, Chin turns his attention towards the fictional nation of Amurikkka. Chin has received a message from God; he has been tasked with establishing a new utopia in Amurikka, but, naturally, he must destroy all the current denizens of the nation to achieve this.
Chin’s Next Adventure
The bullet hell-style gameplay takes place over provocative 2D backgrounds, which include prominent historical figures in homoerotic poses and what appears to be the disembodied heads of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift inside taco shells. Hong Kong 2097 is engaging in cultural commentary, something that HappySoft does consistently with its releases.
The now-deactivated Steam page has a disclaimer on it that reads, “Hong Kong 2097 is meant to be a parody/social critique, and as such it contains adult themes. There is brief veiled nudity, suggestive poses, sexual innuendos, references to drugs, suggestions of killing and genocide, and occasionally realistic images of gore. It is generally not intended for children.”
The game’s creator, Yoshihisa “Kowloon” Kurosawa, returned to co-develop Hong Kong 2097. The existence of the game seems to be a critique of censorship in video games, something that’s become a more salient topic as payment processors have ramped up pressure on digital storefronts to not sell games deemed offensive or overly sexual.
Kurosawa is no stranger to making political statements using his craft. Another title by Kurosawa and HappySoft, The Story of Kamikuishiki Village, satirises the Aum Shinrikyo Cult and the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack. The game uses real-life footage from that time period, and feeds into a conspiracy theory that the game was developed by Aum Shinrikyo itself.
Hong Kong 2097 is available on Itch, and nowhere else.
- Brand
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Valve
- Original Release Date
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September 12, 2003
- Original MSRP (USD)
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N/A
- Hardware Versions
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Steam
