Snow Battle Princess Sayuki

Snow Battle Princess Sayuki, originally known as Heavenly Guardian in North America and The Legend of Sayuki in Europe, was planned to be a part of the Pocky and Rocky/Kiki Kaikai series, called Kiki Kaikai World. Unfortunately, after Taito’s merger with Square Enix, this was one of the projects that was left on the cutting room floor, leading to developer Starfish releasing the game with the license removed.

Play as Sayuki, a snow goddess in love with a mortal boy who has fallen under a grave illness. Therefore, you go on a journey to find a remedy for his condition and gain the trust of the villagers, who are wary of the goddesses. But the forces of evil won’t have it. With your trusty bunny Toto at your side, use different types of snow magic, upgrade them and blast your way through the hordes of yokai and other monsters standing in your way! Battle Princess Sayuki rewards an aggressive playstyle!

Alternatively, partner up with a friend who takes the role of Sayuki’s sister Koyuki and see who has the highest score at the end. The winner will be crowned the most beautiful among the snow goddesses!

List of Features

• The spiritual successor of Pocky and Rocky with the familiar gameplay and a combo meter twist!
• Single and two-player modes
• Fresh setting using elements from Japanese and Western myths
• Hand-drawn meets pixel art for a unique style

Why Snow Battle Princess Sayuki is joining the SLG catalog

At the start of the 2000s, the Kiki Kaikai/Pocky and Rocky looked to be in a relatively healthy place, Pocky and Rocky with Becky having released in 2001 for the GBA. Starfish was called up to develop a sequel for home consoles, but during development was shifted to be set in the same universe but put more of their own spin on the established elements, called Kiki Kaikai World.

Unfortunately, at the same time, Taito was bought up by Square Enix and this was one of the games that ended up getting axed, as is often the case during these transitory periods. Starfish, not content to just throw their hard work in the bin, decided to release the game with a different publisher and remove or replace as many of the Pocky and Rocky elements as necessary and create a whole new IP. What remained, however, was the gameplay base for which its spiritual predecessors are known for, which was expanded with the combo and snow ball system. Funnily enough, while it remained relatively obscure, it at the same time was and is more easily available than many of the Pocky and Rocky games until Pocky and Rocky Reshrined, having been released on digital storefronts on PC and all modern consoles.

Seeing as Pocky and Rocky Reshrined also found a physical release at ININ, and this being part of the history of the same series, it made sense to give Snow Battle Princess Sayuki a new physical home at SLG, since it is not as well-known at the end of the day. We’re happy to be able to bring you this unique piece of history as part of our catalog.

Screenshots