Idol Mahjong Final Romance: A Slideshow Disguised as a Video Game

We’re back into the strip mahjong games today, here going back to 1991. Video System is a company that’s probably best known in retro-gaming circles for Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings, but mahjong games (usually branded Idol Mahjong) were one of their bigger moneymakers. And there’s something interesting going on here– Idol Mahjong Final Romance 2-R-4 Special re-releases the final three games in the series, which all also got contemporary console releases, but the first game in the series has never been seen outside of its original arcade launch. Why? The last romance The first game in the Idol Mahjong series was actually 1988’s Idol Mahjong Housoukyoku, but all the rest of the games in the series followed the lead of this 1991 title: Idol Mahjong Final Romance. The goal of this game is simple; you have dates with eight different women. And you’re going to play strip mahjong with all of them, as you do. No elaborate Nichibutsu-style plotline here, though it’s also worth noting that unlike…