Incredible Crisis is, without a doubt, the weirdest game I have ever played in my life. I had heard that the game was pretty weird before I popped it into my Playstation, but that still didn’t prepare me for the outrageous storyline and sheer wackiness this game possesses.

The story follows the trials and tribulations of the Tanamatsuri family. The game starts out with Hatsu (grandma) announcing that it’s her birthday, which of course everyone had forgotten about. She asks them all to be home early so they can celebrate. Unfortunately for the rest of the family, that proves to be a very difficult task. Taneo, the father, must overcome obstacles such as a giant globe that chases him through his office building and being blown up multiple times. Etsuko, the mother, walks into a robbery in progress. Ririka, the daughter, finds that skipping school to go shopping proves to be more difficult than it seems. Finally, Tsuyoshi (the son) meets up with a giant pink teddy bear. Each character is fleshed out rather well…Taneo is the type of man that just wants to be left alone in his office cubicle, Etsuko is the typical Japanese housewife (although she does have an inner sense of adventure), Ririka is the average high-school girl into shopping and boys, and Tsuyoshi is a nine-year old who likes to collect bugs.

The story is tied together through a series of mini-games. Each of the 24 mini-games found in the game is quite different from the others. For example, in the first mini-game Taneo must keep up with the dancing of the rest of the office staff. This is a Parappa-style dancing game where you have to push the correct buttons at the right time. After a brief cutscene, the next mini-game involves Taneo running away "Indiana Jones" style from the aforementioned giant globe while dodging obstacles in the building hallway. The primary factor in each mini-game is the stress meter (represented by a head). If you perform poorly in the mini-game your character’s stress meter will gradually rise. If your stress meter reaches the top (with the head’s top blowing steam), you lose the mini-game and must restart it.