Best games ever!?

[leonmarino]

Well, now that I got your attention, has anyone heard of these games?

漢検ＤＳ (http://www.rocketcompany.co.jp/kanken/)(Kanken DS)
200万人の漢検 とことん漢字脳 (http://www.kankends.jp/)(200mannin no kanken - tokoton kanjinou)

I just learned about them a week orso ago when I was browsing for a Kanji palmtop (Wordtank?) Basically they're two similar "games" for learning Kanji and testing your Kanji knowledge. The DS is of course perfect for these kind of games as it has a electronic pen!

I don't have a DS just yet, but I ordered one through my beloved in Nagasaki (they're cheaper in Japan), and it'll arrive probably sometime next week, along with the games.. I can't wait!!

So anyways, has anyone heard about these games? Does anyone own them even? What do you think of these games?

[leonmarino]

Ok. Tis kind of sad to reply on your own thread, I mean as the only person to do so.. :relief:

Anyways, I have the DS now, and the games. I'm playing KankenDS currently, and I'm loving it!! I'm having some minor troubles with the hand-writing recognition, but nothing serious. And the interface could have been a bit better but what the heck: the bottom-line is that this game is very suited for people wanting to practise Kanji in the bus, metro or, of course, at home!!

I reached level 8 (level 10 is the lowest, level 1 the highest!) just a minute ago. Level 8 is like the third grade of elementary school so it's nothing spectacular but I have to admit.. It's harder than I thought!! :relief:

In other words: anyone wanting to learn Kanji in a fun way, wherever you want, I recommend this game. :wave:

[Seon-a Kim]

Well I never heard of them and I'm not into DS, so there wasn't much to say.

Sounds like an interestin' game you have there though.

[Absolute Zero]

I have a DS and I would like to get my hands on a copy.

[leonmarino]

I recently got my hands on Tadashii Kanji Kakitori-kun (http://www.100mas.jp/kakitorikun/index.html), so I thought I'd add a little review here.

Kakitori-kun, released 5 April of this year, is another game with which you can train your Kanji skills. Contrary to the other games, this one is targeted at kids; only the Kyoiku Kanji's are included, the interface is quite manga-ish, with a moving background, and a sensei-like coach greets you every time you start the game.

The Kanji's are split into the different grades of elementary school, and can be practised individually, or as compound Kanji's. There are also some mini-games but these are pretty lame to be honest: they don't add any value to the game I think. I especially like the "drill" type of practice, in which you have to write the readings of various Kanji and compound Kanji's, and then in the second part try to write those Kanji's given the readings. It has already given a boost to my vocabulary (the meaning of the words are explained in simple Japanese), which is great.

Another thing I like about this game is that stroke order does count. Whereas with the other games you could smuggle a little because it did not look at the stroke order when recognizing Kanji, this one is more strict, which is better for learning purposes. A little downside to this is that the recognition is sometimes too strict!! I have yet failed to pass for the Kanji 「場」 because it seems to be impossible to write it correctly.. Very frustrating indeed.

Something else that bothers me is the slow responsiveness. The recognition is pretty slow. It is understandable though as this game is meant for kids. Another downpoint is the interface; this could have been better if some questions for confirmation, when choosing a certain game mode, were left out.

Overall, it's a great game for learning purposes. I try to play it as often as possible and it is really addictive. Although some things could have been done better, I would recommend this to every Kanji fanatic, especially people relatively new to learning Kanji. I hope they release a version with the next 1000 Kanji's soon!!

[Sharingan]

How about the Final Fantasy series ? That's my personal best.

[highlight]

Thats a very interesting game and looks like a great learning tool compared to reading and writing out of a workbook, hope it goes well.

[nagaoh]

I also started using Tadashii Kanji Kakitori-kun and it's the most powerful kanji learning tool I've ever used. I've already increased my kanji ability immensely and plan to get through the entire game as quickly as I can. I'm looking forward to saying I've mastered 1006 kanji. Right now if I said I knew a couple hundred, it would be a stretch.
A little downside to this is that the recognition is sometimes too strict!! I have yet failed to pass for the Kanji 「場」 because it seems to be impossible to write it correctly.. Very frustrating indeed.
I too found the recognition to be fussy, but discovered that correct stroke direction, in addition to order, goes a long way here. Many times I've submitted a kanji that looks like complete garbage, but Kageyama-sensei will pass me or even give me a high mark, just because I happened to do the strokes the way the game expected. Other times my kanji looked perfectly fine, but there was a single stroke that I was doing right-to-left instead of left-to-right, so it wouldn't recognize. I had a lot of trouble with 気　because I was starting the second-to-last stroke, the first one of the メ part, in the lower left hand corner. Looked OK but the game would not read it. Now I know it's not correct to write it that way and the game recognizes it every time. You may want to check this out with 場 if you haven't already.

[PrettyKitty]

Since you have both, what is the difference in 漢検ＤＳ and ２００万人の漢検? Do you think 正しい漢字 is the best?