Play Boboboubo Boubobo : Maji De!! Shinken Battle Online

Boboboubo Boubobo: Maji De!! Shinken Battle came out for the Game Boy Advance in 2004, developed by Namco. It was part of that era where portable systems were flooded with bizarre Japanese titles that rarely made it overseas, and this one is a direct adaptation of the absurd Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo anime and manga series. You get exactly what you'd expect from that source material: a world where body hair is a superpower and logic has taken a permanent vacation.

You control Bo-bobo himself, a blond afro-sporting hero who fights using his nose hairs as whips and fists. The main goal is to punch, kick, and hair-whip your way through waves of the bald-headed Ma Empire's soldiers across side-scrolling stages. Signature mechanics include using your "Fist of the Nose Hair" to grab enemies from a distance and yank them in for a beating, and building up a special meter to unleash ridiculous super moves that fill the screen with chaotic animations. The game mixes simple beat-'em-up action with occasional mini-games and visual gags ripped straight from the show. Pacing is fast and frantic, though the difficulty can feel uneven with some cheap enemy placements. Playing it feels like being dropped into a cartoon where the only rule is to be as nonsensical as possible.