Yakuman

Description

Yakuman adapts Japanese mahjong into a portable two-player-style mahjong format. In single-player, the player chooses from five computer-controlled opponents, each presented as a distinct CPU mahjong player. Rules can be adjusted to suit the player’s preference, and Nintendo’s own description highlights the quick CPU thinking speed and the ability to play mahjong casually anywhere on the Game Boy.

Despite mahjong normally being a four-player game, Yakuman focuses on a two-player variation. It supports 2-player versus play via Game Link Cable, requiring two Game Boy systems and two copies of the game. This is historically notable because Yakuman was one of the first Game Boy titles to use the Game Link Cable for multiplayer functionality.

As a launch title, Yakuman was released alongside Super Mario Land, Baseball, and Alleyway in Japan, but unlike those other launch titles, it did not receive a broad Western release. It did however receive a relatively unusual official Chinese release for the Hong Kong market. The title later became the first entry in Nintendo’s long-running first-party Yakuman mahjong line, with later entries appearing on systems such as Famicom, Game Boy Advance, DS, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS.