The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
Trivia
In the Prehistoric chapter, if you return to the plateau where you were first exiled from your tribe after finding the Ku tribal headquarters, you can open a cave. In the cave is a monolith, similar to the one from 2001: A Space Odyssey. You can give the monolith a bone, and Pogo will throw it up into the air the same way the apelike ancestor in the film throws the bone up in the air after touching a similar monolith. Unlike the movie, however, you only receive a special item.
The Bakumatsu chapter is notable for the inclusion of several historical characters, such as the notorious thief Ishikawa Goemon, who re-fills opened treasure chests after being freed, the spirit of the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, who appears as a minor boss, and Sakamoto Ryoma, who appears as a playable character.
One of the opponents you can face in the Present day chapter, Max Morgan, bears a resemblance to the famous American wrestler Hulk Hogan.
The logo of Live A Live makes it clear that "LIVE" spelled backwards is "EVIL". This is apparently the philosophy of the game's final villain.
A recurring joke in the game is the appearance of the Watanabes, a man and his son. In the Watanabe scenes, the father dies in various ways, leaving his son to cry miserably. The Watanabes may be difficult to locate in certain chapters, but according to the Japanese Official Guide Book, they feature in all nine chapters of the game.
In the Old West chapter, the main character's default name "Sundown Kid", or "Sunset Kid" on the previous translation, bears a striking similarity to Harry Longabaugh's outlaw alias, the Sundance Kid. Also in the Old West chapter, "7th cavalry" and the "single horse survivor" are references to the Battle at Little Bighorn and more specifically Custer's part of the battle. However, the idea of the deceased soldiers' anger being concentrated in the being of the horse sounds much more similar to the Jewish custom at Yom Kippur of a scapegoat being made to be the bearer of the sins of the people of Israel before being driven out into the wilderness.
The Science Fiction chapter contains two characters named after sci-fi icons, Kirk and Corporal Darth . It should be noted that this is based on the fan translation of the game, and the original Japanese version doesn't have official spellings. In fact, according to a walkthrough posted by two Asian gentlemen on GameFAQs, their names are "Clark" and "Dass".
The name of the ship in the Science Fiction chapter, Cogito Ergosum, is based on a phrase of Descartes, and translates as "I think, therefore I am". Which could be a reference to the movie Dark Star, where one of the A.I. machines (in fact it was a "thinking" bomb) started to realize the same "I think, therefore I am".
The "Flow" chapter bears numerous references to Akira, the classic Japanese sci-fi comic and anime movie; these include two characters named Akira and Kaori, (There are two major characters with the same names in the mentioned comic) as well as concepts like psychokinetic powers, motorcycle gangs and mentally stimulating super-drugs. There is also a resemblance to the Super Robot anime Brave Raideen, which also stars a young man with psychic abilities named Akira who pilots a giant robot. Buriki Daioh itself looks very similar to Giant Robo.
The name of the final villain in each chapter is a variation of "Odio", which means "hate" in Latin "odium". The same reference is done with the last boss "Maou Odio"
A lot of the storylines are written by well established manga authors. For example the Bakumatsu chapter was illustrated by Gosho Aoyama, who went on to create manga Case Closed . The art and character designs of each chapter are also handled by established manga artists.
The Kung Fu chapter character Sammo is an obvious reference of Chinese movie martial artist Sammo Hung known for being agile and fast although a bit overweight.
Most of the main chapters have enemies that are visible before a fight. In fact, the final two chapters ("Knight" and "Final") are the only ones to have random battles.
In the "Flow" chapter, when you examine the piano, there are several songs played like the Flea Waltz or a short version of the well-known Chocobo Theme from the Final Fantasy-Series.
In the final chapter, if you choose Oersted, and allow his HP to go critical, the "Flee" command is replaced by "Armageddon", which gives you an even worse ending: Odio erases all of existence.
