Mister Mosquito - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

In 2008, Game Informer named Mister Mosquito one of "The Top Ten Weirdest Games of All Time". The game was also included by G4 on its own list of weird games. GamesRadar included Mister Mosquito on its list of "The Top 7... games that are cheaper than therapy" as a cure for entomophobia and on its list of "Rubbish animals that got turned into video game heroes". Contributor Matt Cundy comically summarized in the latter list, "Given that mosquitoes kill millions of people every year, we'd have thought a game that put players in control of such a notorious serial killer would have met with more controversy".

According to Famitsu, Mister Mosquito was the fifth best-selling video game in Japan during its release week at 41,006 copies sold. Approximately 160,210 copies were sold in the country by the end of 2001. The game was released as part of Sony's PlayStation 2 the Best line of budget titles the following year. Sales of Mister Mosquito in other territories were apparently much poorer. On July 3, 2003, a sequel called Ka 2: Let's Go Hawaii (蚊2 レッツゴーハワイ?) was released only in Japan. The game takes place in Hawaii, after the Yamada family wins a vacation from a local shop. The gameplay is essentially the same as in Mister Mosquito, but adds a number of new features. It allows the player to suck blood from any part of a human's body, not just designated points. Pressure points now allow the player to suck more blood from certain points. Finally, a new relaxation point system gives the player the opportunity to calm down an attacker if he is being chased. In 2004, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine named the sequel as one of several Japanese and European games the publication wanted localized in North America.