Yakuza: Like a Dragon

A kart race through the streets. It starts as substory No.40 in Chapter 4, after which Fujisawa — the Pocket Circuit Fighter — runs the Grand Prix. Three courses per cup, twelve in all.

• Item boxes — the attaché cases — give up to two weapons at a time, fired with circle. Rivals grab them too, so the racing line matters as much as the item.
• Rings raise acceleration and repair the kart's durability gauge. Losing all durability crashes you into a helpless animation, so collecting rings on the way round is faster than ignoring them.
• Rings also buy prizes, so a lap run purely for ring collection is a legitimate use of the mode.

Collect cans on a cart bike and bring them back to the start. It opens in Chapter 3 by talking to Kan-san, and the points buy materials and convert to cash at his shop.

• Some spots hold whole piles of cans — read the map and route through the piles rather than picking singles.
• Hitting a wall or a gas cylinder drops cans, and colliding with the blue collection truck takes a large batch — its route differs by difficulty, so watch it on the map.
• The energy drink lets you boost with triangle, and ramming a rival while boosting takes their cans instead of losing yours.
• A girl carrying a rubbish bag occasionally appears and scatters cans as she walks — the star icon on the map is her, and she is worth chasing.

Ten old films, ¥1,000 a ticket, and watching with a party member deepens bonds. During the film you fend off the sheep-faced Sleep Demons with button inputs.

• Press the button shown as each demon appears on the left or right — pressing a button where there is no demon costs you gauge instead.
• A demon marked for rapid input needs five or more presses; one will not do it.
• The chicken-headed character restores your gauge if you leave it alone — reflexively hitting the button shoos it away.
• During a Rush the gold demons appear and hit much harder — deal with those first.

A full management mode: run the company, expand, and win the shareholder meetings.

• Staff have affinities as well as stats, and matching them to the right store is what actually moves revenue — high stats in the wrong place are wasted.
• The shareholder meeting is its own battle: you go in with approval already raised and the right shareholders placed, so the prep happens in the management phase.
• Required revenue climbs steeply with each rank, so expand in steps with cash in reserve.

Register street enemies into the Sujidex. Filling it opens Suji battles and rewards.

• Beating an enemy registers it automatically, but some only spawn under particular conditions, so sweep by time of day, district and chapter.
• Some rare entries stop appearing once a chapter passes, so clear each district's roster before moving the story on.
• The dex itself lists weaknesses and spawn areas — check the empty slots first when hunting the last few.

A short adult-humour minigame driven by button inputs, tied into the bond events.

• Follow the prompts in rhythm — the requirement is finishing as instructed rather than any accuracy target.
• The completion row counts the play itself, so one run is enough — there is no repeat reward.

Nearest-the-Pin and Bingo. Both venues run the same courses and prize list, so either works.

• Nearest-the-Pin prizes are banded by course and points: 100-199 gives Iyemon Tokucha on Beginner, Toughness Light on Intermediate and a Makunouchi Bento on Advanced.
• Bingo is a 3x3 panel grid rather than a cup — you are matching power to a panel position.
• Wind direction and strength move the landing point a long way, so read the indicator before setting power and aim.

Four real machines ported whole: Sōten no Ken Hōyū, Another God Hades, Million God and Mōjūō — the last two arriving as free DLC.

• Each parlour sets its machines differently, and unlike earlier games the setting does not reset when you leave — it only changes at certain times of day, so a good machine stays good.
• Items can raise a machine's setting outright, which is the reliable way to farm medals.
• Medals buy prizes, and the expensive ones want a lot — check the price before deciding how long to sit there.

Panel-hitting for points, with a fixed pitch script per course.

• Line the cursor up, then swing as the shrinking cursor matches the ball's size.
• Speeds differ by pitch type, and not rushing the slow curves is what protects the score.

The usual three modes: 01, Cricket and Count-Up.

• Singles score the sector, doubles double, triples treble, bull is 50 — in 01 the bull is steadier than treble 20.
• Cricket claims a number on three hits, with doubles worth two and triples three — one triple claims it outright.

A button-timing rhythm game, and singing with a party member raises bonds.

• Judge on the note overlapping the cursor, not reaching the lane. Hold means hold to the end; Rapid means mash.
• If bonds are the point, who you bring matters more than the score — take whoever is furthest behind.

Wins and a points total, and still the longest entry if the rules are new to you.

• Cheap fast hands fill the rows faster than big ones — stick to riichi and tanyao.
• The points row goes faster at a high-rate table and advances alongside the win-count row.

The rows are about winning.

• Start with the weakest opponent and watch the take-back — some rows depend on it.
• If shogi is new, the set-position problems teach it faster than full games.

Koi-koi and oicho-kabu, counted by cumulative winnings.

• In koi-koi the whole game is when to call — banking a small hand beats gambling it away when totals count.
• Losses do not undo a cumulative row, so steady mid-size bets finish faster than swinging for it.

Earn chips and trade them for prizes; blackjack is the steadiest for both pace and expectation.

• Blackjack raises its cap on a streak and resets it on a loss, so climb first and bet big afterwards.
• Where a row counts winnings rather than balance, spending the chips does not undo it — no need to hoard.

Four arcade boards and the UFO Catcher, the boards at their original difficulty.

• Fantasy Zone scores better by farming enemies for money and buying upgrades to survive longer than by rushing stages.
• Out Run and Super Hang-On pay mostly in time bonus, so learning the course to avoid braking is the score.
• The UFO Catcher counts distinct prizes, so duplicates do nothing.