No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise

Travis Touchdown fighting an enemy in the game.

In Heroes' Paradise, the player character, Travis Touchdown travels around on foot or his motorcycle in a free roaming world killing the top ten assassins in order to make the storyline progress. There are numerous part-time job side quests to earn money which can be spent on weapons, training sessions, clothes and video tapes.[7]

Most attacks are performed using a standard control scheme, with certain other moves, including the "death blow" and sword lock struggles, executed by following on-screen instructions. The beam katana can also be upgraded and replaced throughout the game by visiting Dr. Naomi. While the katana does not follow the exact position of the remote, it is able to distinguish between a "high" and "low" position which varies the character stance and the attacks done. In addition to attacks with the beam katana, Travis can kick and punch, and when enemies are stunned, he can throw them with a number of professional wrestling maneuvers, which were previously done by manipulating both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Travis has a secondary mode, "Dark Side", that is accessed when three icons line up in a slot machine after a successful death blow.

PlayStation Move support

Player using the PlayStation Move controller for Travis powering up the katana.

Unlike the original Japanese release of the game, the North American and European release of the game include PlayStation Move support at launch. This is the only difference between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Players can use the PlayStation Move controller to recharge the katana, since the beam katanas run on batteries, as well as control it to execute attacks and advanced combos, much like the Wii version.[6]

On November 17, 2009, Famitsu magazine revealed that No More Heroes would receive a port to both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from the company feelplus.

Shortly after the announcement of the game in November 2009, the North American and European publisher of the original, Ubisoft and Rising Star Games, announced that they would not be localizing the game.[8] On June 28, 2010 Ignition Entertainment, when asked if they were publishing the game abroad, commented that they "were looking at it (but they) believe that another publisher will publish it."[9] At Gamescom 2010 in August, Konami announced at their press conference that they were bringing only the PlayStation 3 version to North America and Europe in 2011 with added PlayStation Move support.[2] A Press release was also given to provide additional information on the improvements made on the Western localization of the game.[10] A North American release was formally announced on the PlayStation Blog by Jeff Reubenstein, formally unveiling the title's Move support as well as PS3 exclusivity.[6]

The defeat of Destroy Man. With the Western PlayStation localization, blood is available in the game.

When the game was released in Japan, the PlayStation 3 version of the game was censored similar to its Wii predecessor attaining a "D" rating from CERO which is equivalent to a "Mature" rating from ESRB while the Xbox 360 version of the game remained uncensored similar to the North American release of its Wii predecessor causing it to receive a "Z" rating equivalent to the "Adult Only" rating from ESRB.[3] However, the North American and European PlayStation 3 release of the game are uncensored. The Japanese Red Zone Edition, which is based on the international release, is similarly uncensored and received a "Z" rating from CERO.[11]

Exclusive bonus erotic portraits, which were available to pre-orders from Amazon.co.jp.

By pre-ordering from Amazon.co.jp, customers were awarded with bonus cards particular to each format of the game. PlayStation 3 owners were rewarded with the Cherry Card set, while Xbox 360 owners were rewarded with the Mango Card set. The cards featured semi-erotic poses from the female characters within the game.

No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[12]

IGN gave the game a 7.5 out of 10, praising the combat and updated visuals, but criticized the screen tearing and slowdowns, as well as the mini-games, calling them tedious.[17] Destructoid said, "...sadly, some of the smaller details that made the original No More Heroes special are gone," citing the Wii Remote's speaker functionality, full soundtrack, and overall personality as the factors that made the Wii version superior.[13] Eurogamer gave high praise to the game's over-the-top presentation and core gameplay but criticized the technical issues of the port, writing, "There's screen-tearing and...the various posters dotted through Santa Destroy have been defiantly embalmed in their original pixellated form, and the on-screen font when you're doing jobs has been irretrievably ruined...No More Heroes should look great in HD, and it kind of does, but the increased resolution also makes some of what was passable into flaws."[14] Game Informer gave the game a 7.75 out of 10, praising the tongue-in-cheek presentation and PlayStation Move controls while being disappointed with its retainment of all the problems present in the original game.[15] GamesRadar wrote positively about the game's large scope, unique gameplay, and soundtrack while panning the Move controls, Sixaxis support, and unimproved visuals.[16] Push Square gave the title 8 stars out of 10, stating, "It is a shame there wasn’t just a little extra effort put into the Move support, but the Move provides a capable and enjoyable way to experience this murderous bloodbath through Santa Destroy."[19]

Sales for the Japanese launch of Heroes' Paradise were slightly better than with the original Wii version. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game sold 16,000 and 15,000 units respectively in their first week on sale in the country.[20]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• No More Heroes: Red Zone (in Japanese)