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In the vast landscape of video game history, few titles carry as much infamy as Hong Kong 97. Released in 1995, this multidirectional shooter has become the poster child for the "kusoge" subgenre—a Japanese term translating to "shitty game." Developed by the homebrew company HappySoft Ltd. and spearheaded by Japanese game journalist Kowloon Kurosawa, the game was never intended to be a masterpiece. Instead, it was a low-budget, satirical project that aimed to mock the gaming industry and the political climate of the mid-90s. Often referred to by its alternative title, Hong Kong 1997, the game has transcended its poor quality to achieve a legendary cult status among collectors and internet historians alike.
The narrative of Hong Kong 97 is as absurd as it is controversial. Set against the backdrop of the 1997 transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China, the game presents a bizarre geopolitical scenario. The plot claims that "red communists" are flooding into Hong Kong from the mainland, causing chaos. In response, the Hong Kong government (depicted with a photo of Chris Patten) recruits "Chin," a relative of Bruce Lee and a "killing machine," to single-handedly exterminate the entire population of China—all 1.2 billion of them. The story concludes with Chin facing off against the ultimate weapon: a giant, disembodied head of Tong Shau Ping, a thinly veiled and poorly digitized caricature of the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.
Mechanically, Hong Kong 97 is rudimentary at best. It is a top-down multidirectional shooter where the player controls Chin, who moves across a static, looping background of Maoist propaganda photos and Coca-Cola advertisements. Enemies—depicted as digitized sprites of people in Mao suits—descend from the top of the screen. Chin can fire projectiles to destroy them, but a single hit from an enemy or an obstacle results in an immediate game over.
Two defining elements make the gameplay experience unforgettable. First is the music: a five-second loop of the first line from the Chinese children's song "I Love Beijing Tiananmen," which repeats endlessly throughout the entire session. Second is the notorious game over screen, which features a low-quality, real-life photograph of a human corpse (later identified as a victim of the Bosnian War) overlaid with the text "CHIN IS DEAD!!" in English and Cantonese. This jarring shift from silly satire to grim reality is a hallmark of the game's disturbing charm.
This game was released on several platforms, primarily targeting the Super Famicom through unofficial channels and specialized hardware.
The legacy of Hong Kong 97 is defined by its status as one of the worst games ever made, a title it wears with pride. It has been ranked as the Number One "Wacky Japanese Game of All Time" by XLEAGUE.TV’s Wez and Larry's Top Tens. Its fame exploded globally when it was featured in a popular episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN), where James Rolfe highlighted the game’s nonsensical plot and grating soundtrack. Today, it is celebrated in the "so bad it's good" category, inspiring countless parodies, fan remakes, and even tribute art. It remains a fascinating relic of the 1990s homebrew scene and a testament to how far a game can go on notoriety alone.