As Suda 51’s first original IP since 2018’s Let It Die, Romeo Is a Dead Man pays homage to a bunch of other works, not limited to his own past games. One obscure reference, as spotted by eagle-eyed fans on X, can be found in the title’s save screen, which serves as a homage to one of the first eroge (short for “erotic game”) made commercially available in Japan.
When saving in Romeo Is a Dead Man, a variety of multilingual texts appear alongside a red nurse character. This nurse is a reference to Megumi, a 19-year-old woman from Hokkaido who serves as your opponent in Yakyūken.
Yakyūken is an adult game developed by Hudson Soft’s Miso Ramen Group for the Sharp MZ-80K personal computer in 1981. Inspired by the 1969 Japanese variety show “Beat the rival program of Conte 55!” (unofficial translation), the game had you playing strip rock–paper–scissors against Megumi. Winning rounds against her caused her to remove her clothes, with the final “reward” leaving her completely nude.
Though Suda 51 never worked at Miso Ramen Group or Hudson Soft, the title must have left a deep enough impression for him to include it in Romeo Is a Dead Man. Thankfully, his version of Megumi is fully clothed and has taken up a more family-friendly profession since her strip game days.
Romeo Is a Dead Man is available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows (Steam). A Nintendo Switch 2 version is currently in development.
Related: Romeo is a Dead Man uses no generative AI whatsoever, Suda51 assures
