Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town Game Review

More anime should have cozy tie-in games. If we could convert gachas and musou games into an energy source, they could single-handedly take care of the energy needs of the entire globe for years to come. What we need is more un-serious, Animal Crossing-esque fun. And that’s where Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town (henceforth Coal Town) comes into the picture.

I don’t necessarily dislike Shin chan, but I also wouldn’t readily call myself a fan of it either. Back when they aired it, I remember watching it on Adult Swim from time to time, but it was always something I’d watch if I had nothing else to do, or if I was just waiting for something else to come on. It was never a show I went out of my way to watch if that makes sense. And if it doesn’t, then suffice to say, I haven’t watched Shin chan in several years, I remember very little about it, and I wouldn’t say I have a strong opinion about it one way or the other. Furthermore, I haven’t played Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation The Endless Seven-Day Journey.

I mention all this because I know some of you might be wondering how familiar with Shin chan one needs to be to not feel lost playing this game. And the answer: not at all. This game’s story seems very self-contained, and the premise of Shin chan is so simple that even to an audience completely unfamiliar, they should be able to jump right in without issue. In short: no context is required.

But to finally discuss the game itself: you play as Shinnosuke (Shin chan), who’s spending some time in the Unbent Village with his family for his dad’s work over the summer. Since you play as Shin chan I guess that arguably could make this an RPG by technicality, but it’s mostly a life sim that’s sort of in the same vein as Animal Crossing in the sense that most of your time will usually be spent fishing, catching bugs, gardening, and doing tasks for other people that almost always involve you finding particular items/bugs/fish. And I say “usually” because later in the game there’s also mine cart racing, but more on that later. That said, Coal Town is nowhere near as big as Animal Crossing—not just because Animal Crossing games tend to be pretty expansive, but also because Coal Town is definitely on the smaller side.

Usually, one of the key features of life sims is that they allow endless play, or at least have enough content to reasonably keep you occupied for several dozens—if not hundreds—of hours. But Coal Town is bite-sized. Your mileage may vary, but I completed the game (as in: finished the story, did all the tasks/collected all the things I wanted to do; this amounted to earning most of the in-game trophies) in 15–20 hours (the closest I can get to being more specific is saying that my Switch says my playtime is over 15 hours).

On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with a game wanting to be short and sweet. Especially depending on how busy you are, it can be really refreshing. For the right player, this game’s short length could arguably be its biggest asset. But on the other, I know that their endlessness is a big part of why some players enjoy life sims. So I guess it’s up to you to decide whether the game’s relatively short length is a feature or a bug. But personally, I didn’t mind not having my life briefly taken over by a game like this for a change.

In any case, to get back to talking about the game itself, you’re given two areas to play in: the Unbent Village, and slightly later, the titular Coal Town. While similar in some ways, for the most part, these two areas give you completely different ways to pass your time. As mentioned earlier, in the Village (where you’ll likely be spending most of your time) you can do things like catch bugs, fish, garden, and so on. Meanwhile in Coal Town, your main two activities will be helping at the local diner by gathering ingredients for new dishes and taking orders, and later on, racing mine carts.

Activities like fishing and catching bugs are usually conducted via simple button presses—just aiming your net/fishing rod, maybe mashing a button a bit if you’re fishing. The cart racing, meanwhile, will require a bit more explanation. You’re given light customization options, but other than that, it’s pretty bare-bones. You just accelerate as much as you can until you hit a turn—which might require a bit of good timing depending on how fast you’re going. Because this is all happening on a mine track, there’s no steering required. Most of the gameplay just comes from timing your turns well, and effectively using some of the tools that your customizations can give you (EX: there are lasers you can fire at your opponent). Most of the tracks are pretty short, and few of them require a particular amount of skill/strategy. So you’re not exactly getting the Mario Kart or Initial D experience through the cart racing, but it’s still just fun enough that I rarely felt annoyed at having to re-race on certain tracks for better rewards.

In any case, somehow I’ve talked this much about Coal Town without also talking about its visuals. Graphically, this is a really impressive game. To be more specific: while the camera doesn’t always necessarily work as well as I’d like it to (camera angles are fixed, and sometimes they’re a bit disorienting—especially in the cart racing) the game as a whole looks and moves very much like the anime—marrying the 2D and 3D almost seamlessly. It’s incredibly smooth and stylish and really makes you feel like you’re in the world of anime.

This month has been loaded with plenty of great game releases—the Silent Hill 2 remake, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO among plenty of others. And candidly, I can’t help but therefore worry that Coal Town is going to fly under a lot of radars. Still, I hope it doesn’t—I hope it still gets its moment to shine, and that its audience finds it. Charming and atmospheric, Coal Town is a great game to help you unwind, but without eating up 300 hours of your life.