Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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A G-MODE recreation / reissue of old mobile phone games, this introduces "G-MODE Archives Plus: Mugen Maisou Monstre Waltz". They've released quite a few reissues for the PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch and it's good to see them getting ported from old defunct hardware for posterity. Of course, most of them have not aged well and this is more for novelty than anything else, but it's a commendable project and I hope many more old mobile phone games can be salvaged such as the BREW service titles, J2ME releases and older Android / iOS titles. There are a few games I really WANT to play such as Climax's 2006 iteration of "Lady Stalker" ("Waltz of the Labyrinth", which has practically been forgotten) and many Western Java games on mobile, to name a few, but this is a good starting point. There have been projects for years now slowly integrating old mobile titles for use in emulators.

That said, while this is a great recreation of 2007's "Hopemoon" mobile title. I confess that prior to playing this game, I had no idea what to really think or the subsequent swirl of emotions that would come from finishing it. Hopemoon is a developer that is not exactly new to making mobile games and "Monstre Waltz" (aka "Dream Dance Funeral Monstre Waltz"), at a glance, is not one of their better games on a technical level. What drew me in was the artwork by Tsukasa Kiryu (best known for work on "So I'm a Spider, So What?"), the setting which takes place outside Japan (primarily in Minnesota but has many worldly themes not typically covered in Japanese works to this extent) and the game's story which was inspired by Cthulu mythos and penned by Izumi Hachiro (his obsession with Cthulu and poignant writing made him a fan favorite of dark stories within mobile phone games). This game also has two predecessors, "Mugen Kyoushi Necronomicon" (Aka "Dream Rhapsody Necronomicon") and "Nightmare of the Whole Sky" but this game was re-released sooner as its story takes place before both (~20 years or so) and stars one of its side characters, Norman Atkins, so it's essential for the worldview of the series.

G-Mode has done what they need to on their part with a few basic configuration elements, the ability to scale up to 1080p and the ability to turn graphics filters on or off (though the in-game filter here is pretty good without making things blurry or too pixelated). The same jerky, low framerate is also here (for better or worse) and the game has gamepad support which doesn't seem to suffer any issues in terms of lag or latency. Even with the game's low framerate, it's easy to control for the most part, but you can't control things with maximum efficiency like most games in the 30/60FPS range. I'll take the basic plot from the product page:

Professor Norman Atkins, a magician, had already retired from his work as an explorer of otherworldly realms. However, one day, a request arrived, drawn by his skill as a magician.

- A mysterious ruin accidentally uncovered during resort development.
- An opening to another world within the ruin.
- Developers swallowed by this otherworldly portal.
- Their rescue.

Overwhelmed by the passion of the beautiful investor Cordelia Rennur, Norman accepts the task. "Well… let this be my final job." Thus begins the last case of Magus Norman.

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In truth, the game has very little to do with Cordelia and the overwhelming bulk of the plot deals with Norman Atkins, a mysterious Arab girl named Shiela, a Magic Committee of Cthulu admirers working for the church, an Otherworld Dimension that starts with "The Virgin's Footsteps" and ends with "The Succubus' Fortress" and former Necronomicon / NotWS characters. Yes, there's plenty of mention of Cthulu. Yes, the Miskatonic University is referenced (how could it not given the setting?). Yeah, Shoggoth, Devotees, Martyrs and Heretics are brought up. Cool. The main thing that kept me going was Norman and Shiela's relationship as the game touches on Norman's life before and after Necronomicon over a period of 20+ years (he starts the game in his 40s) and the "Keepsake Box" central to Shiela. They're not father and daughter, brother and sister or lovers in the conventional sense, but they're two people with a bond that transcends it all and only truly understand each other (the story as a whole is written well). There's a weird top-down ARPG tacked on to this visual novel too, but it's not that good.

The player does a series of short stages descending layers in the abyss as Norman and wield different wands with different effects (Fire, Water, Wind, etc.) to defeat enemies, solve basic puzzles and get to the exits across seven dungeons. The gimmick is magic circles that ebb and flow like a "waltz" which determine you and the opponent's attack range, and there's a ricochet gimmick to hit enemies around with most wands. There are stone slabs you can collect based on not getting hit or speed, but the later levels are way too finicky to make this an enjoyable endeavor.