Suka Pass v2.0: Quiz, VMU Animations and More! | Shenmue Passport for Mobile

We’re very pleased to announce that the Suka Pass team has released version 2.0, a major new update for the fan-made mobile app inspired by the original Shenmue Passport.

SkillJim and I have had a lot of fun bringing this release together, and it has certainly kept us busy along the way. It is one of the most ambitious updates we have created for Suka Pass so far.

The main additions in version 2.0 include:

• Suka Pass Quiz, featuring a Daily Quiz, practice modes and Trainer Challenges
• Medals, quiz streaks and Winning Can rewards
• Shenmue Goodies, where character VMU animations can be unlocked and collected
• Everyone’s Space, featuring live Yokosuka weather and Shenmue community news
• A new My Collection page to view your items and medals
• Expanded statistics covering Quiz and Goodies in Data Review
• Topics page, bringing together links to Shenmue community websites

Below are a few details behind some of these features that Shenmue fans might find interesting.

Each day, the Daily Quiz gives everyone the same set of questions, making it possible for players to compare their results, scores and streaks with friends and other Shenmue fans.

The Daily Quiz splash

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“Bye-bye, Boy.” | Cathy Wilkins’ Japanese Dialogue in Shenmue

One of the foreign NPCs Ryo can encounter around Dobuita is a woman named Cathy Wilkins. According to her official character profile, she is actually a military police officer attached to Yokosuka's U.S. Seventh Fleet, stationed here to help keep an eye on the drunken sailors who frequent the area.

Cathy Wilkins

Unaware of her mission, Ryo finds that any attempt he makes to strike up a conversation with her tends to end quickly.

Each time Ryo approaches Cathy, she responds with one of several possible lines, followed by a farewell phrase, both selected at random.

Let’s take a closer look at the original Japanese lines.

This post topic was a suggestion by Wandering Through Shenmue!

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Shiro the Dog & Kuro the Cat: JPN vs ENG Character Profile Differences

The original Shenmue Passport provided detailed character profile descriptions for every character in the first game. These profiles (or abbreviated versions) were also published in various strategy guides and magazine features at the time. Until now it had been widely assumed that these profiles were identical between Japanese and English versions, but two recent discoveries have shown that this is not the case.

In this post we will be comparing the differing profile descriptions in the official profiles in the Japanese version vs the English for two animal characters: those of the white dog & the black cat.

Let's get started!

Alternative Lives

A hint that discrepancies may exist first arose thanks to a video created by our friend who runs the fantastic Wandering Through Shenmue YouTube channel. Among the wealth of Shenmue content on the channel is the Suka Pass Saturday series which highlights a certain aspect of the Shenmue Passport fan-remake Suka Pass app each week - and on this particular day, the official background of the white dog was introduced.

The English profile explains that the white dog, whose name is given as Shiro, can be found wandering around the streets of the residential area of Dobuita - however this information raised a couple of small but puzzling inconsistencies. Firstly, despite her home being in Dobuita, the background graphic that was displayed for this profile is New Yokosuka Harbor. Secondly, when playing Shenmue itself, the white dog can indeed be seen at the harbor. What is going on?

The white dog going for a walk at the harbor. (Screenshot from Wandering Through Shenmue's 6 Hour Walk Through Shenmue: Harbor Day/Night)

To answer this enigma, let's start by examining the English profile description for the white dog, and then translate the Japanese profile to see how it compares.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for October 2024

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:

"Character profile comparison: Shiro the dog English vs Japanese versions differ!"

The original Shenmue Passport provided detailed character profile descriptions for every character in the first game. These profiles (or abbreviated versions) were also published in various strategy guides and magazine features at the time. Until now it had been widely assumed that these profiles were identical between Japanese and English versions, but recently an exception has been discovered.

In the English profile for the white dog, whose name is given as Shiro, we are told that she is to be found wandering around the streets of the residential area of Dobuita.

Bio for the white dog (screenshot from the Suka Pass app)

However this profile raises a couple of small but puzzling points. One is that the background graphic for the dog in the Shenmue Passport shows New Yokosuka Harbor, despite her location being described as Dobuita. The second is that, in the game itself, this white dog can indeed be found wandering around the docks at the harbor.

Some light can be shed on this by inspecting the equivalent profile description for the Japanese version - it is in fact completely different from the English description, and gives Shiro's home as being at the harbor in Amihama.

In this post we will be translating the information presented in Shiro's Japanese profile, for comparison with the English version.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Suka Pass RELEASE v1.9: Free Market!

James Brown (from the Shenmue Dojo) and myself have just released a new update for Suka Pass, the fan-made app that recreates the Shenmue Passport for your mobile device, so we wanted to let you know what it's all about.

Version 1.9 introduces the Free Market, which was a section of the Passport that let you exchange capsule toys for various animal toy prizes. The screen below shows the original screen in the Passport for the Dreamcast.

Oishi-san has set up a stand at Suzume Park, and the board behind him explains which type of capsule toy is needed to swap for a toy on the table (the cloth color on which the animals sit indicate the type of toy).

The original Free Market section of the Shenmue Passport

The Free Market in Suka Pass has been recreated with the same concept, together with some added twists.

17 capsule toys have been hidden inside the app to find, and they can be unlocked by performing certain actions. Once a capsule toy has been found, visit the Free Market to trade and start your animal toy collection.

An additional bonus item is awarded if you can successfully find them all!

James has put together a fantastic video showcasing this new feature, as well as giving an overview of the the app's other sections.

Suka Pass is available for iOS and Android devices.

Head over to the official Suka Pass site for download links!

We'd love to hear how people get on with locating the capsule toys. James has made a thread about the new release over on the Shenmue Dojo forums for any feedback or comments.

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World Cup Ambitions: Yasuo and Kota

* Idea for this entry suggested by Patrick Fuller

Football (soccer) fever has struck Japan again with the national team having advanced to the final 16 in the FIFA World Cup! The first Shenmue game also starts in a year in which the World Cup had been played in Mexico, with Diego Maradona leading Argentina to victory in 1986.

It is not surprising, then, that there are two young soccer fanatics living in Ryo's neighborhood: Yasuo Ito and Kota Mitsui, aged 7 and 8 years when introduced in the game, but with only a couple of months separating them.

Near the start of the game, their practice in the street triggers a QTE sequence when Ryo approaches, putting the player's reactions to the test to avoid the awkward outcome of making Yasuo's little sister Kayoko burst into tears!

Kota and Yasuo are gently reprimanded by Ryo after the QTE

The official character profiles also make mention of their love of the game, with specific reference to the World Cup.

From Kota's profile:

"Kota likes playing soccer and video games. He loves talking about soccer with his best friend Yasuo. Influenced by a popular comic book, he wants to become an ace striker in the All Japan League and enter the World Cup." 

Character profile for Kota Mitsui (screenshot from Suka Pass)

Back in 1986, Japan's national football association league was called the Japan Soccer League (from 1965 and 1992) and was the precursor to the present-day J.League professional league.

The influential comic book referred to in the profile may have been Captain Tsubasa by Yoichi Takahashi, as it has been in circulation since 1981 and is one of the longest-standing and most famous soccer manga. The series follows a boy named Tsubasa, who - just as Kota does - dreams of winning the FIFA World Cup playing for Japan.

Cover of the first volume in the Captain Tsubasa manga series

Where Kota dreams of success as a striker, Yasuo is set on being a goalkeeper:

"Like his friend Kota, he is crazy about soccer and the two of them never get tired of talking about it. His dream is to be a goalkeeper and play in the World Cup with Kota."

Character profile for Yasuo Ito (screenshot from Suka Pass)

In Shenmue's world, we hope Yasuo and Kota did eventually make it into the national team and fulfill their dream of representing their country in the World Cup.

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Suka Pass v1.7 Released: New Video Content!

A new update to Suka Pass, the fan-made Shenmue Passport app, has been released! It's ready for you to download on Android & iOS!

This time we've added some new video playlists on the Theater page. As well as the existing videos that were available through the original Passport, you'll notice that some new tabs have now been added.

• Anime tab: heaps of promo and sneak peak clips for Shenmue The Animation. The opening and ending themes are also here, complete with karaoke-style lyrics, so you can practice singing along with the theme music when the next show airs!

• Beta tab: Shenmue footage from before the game's release, including the contents of a promotional VHS that shows cut content including Ryo Hazuki riding a bicycle around Dobuita. The legendary Sega Saturn footage is also to be found here!

Even better, the video tabs will be kept regularly updated with new content.

It has been a pleasure as always working with SkillJim of the Shenmue Dojo to put together this latest update and we hope you enjoy it. We'd love to hear your feedback!

Download the new Suka Pass release.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for December 2021

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic for December 2021 is...

"Interview with developer Eigo Kasahara about the Shenmue Passport" (translation)

When the first game in the Shenmue series was released on the Dreamcast, along with the three game discs was a fourth disc called Shenmue Passport. This was a stand-alone piece of software which acted as a companion to the main game, containing additional content to enhance the player's experience such as music, guide videos and in-depth information about the characters, places and objects in the game. It even made use of the Dreamcast's ability to connect to the internet to download data and display Shenmue related event news and other messages. (Unfortunately, the Shenmue Passport was not part of Sega's Shenmue I & II re-release in 2018, so the fan community has created an app called Suka Pass that recreates the experience for mobile devices).

In this post we will be translating a magazine interview from shortly after Shenmue's release with senior Sega developer Eigo Kasahara, who oversaw the Shenmue Passport (as well as taking on the role of planning director for the main game).

Watch for it on the blog in the near future!

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Suka Pass New Release: How We Restored "Nozomi's Messages"

The latest version of Suka Pass, the fan-made Shenmue Passport, has just been released! I thought I'd talk through some of the new changes that the team has made this time, with a few thoughts and comments about what was involved with putting together the update this time.

Quick-Glance Summary Cards

After you've upgraded to a new version, we thought it would be helpful for the app to highlight the main latest features for those who don't dig into the details of the release notes. So we've added small "at-a-glance" summary cards like the one below, which pop up the first time you open the app after installation.

Eri's Camera (Screenshots)

Just like the original Shenmue Passport on which it is based, Suka Pass gives access to a lot of extra detail about characters and places not to be found in the main game, such as the official character biographies. 

The new Screenshots feature makes sharing any of the content in the app even easier. Just tap the camera icon, which is positioned initially at the bottom of the screen, at any time you would like to share the current app screen with other Shenmue fans or your followers of social media, then choose the sharing destination. The app will pop the image into a draft tweet / email / message etc, ready to send. It will even create a short text message that is tailored to the current screen you are on. The camera icon can also be moved anywhere on the screen if it ever interferes with viewing content. (We originally had a standard-looking camera icon, but decided to make it an instant-camera style icon, in keeping with the one Eri has!).

We've already started planning out some fun ideas for building on this feature in future versions.

Main Menu Updates

If you've been using the previous version, you may notice a minor revamp to the main menu items with some new entries we'll be covering below (Urgent Messages! and Nozomi's Messages) and some reordering which brings it even closer into line with the original Shenmue Passport. The Music Page can now be accessed by tapping on Tom's red stereo which now sits at the bottom right of the screen.

The Suka Pass menu screen

The original Shenmue Passport menu screen

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Suka Pass v1.3 Out Now | Fan-Made Shenmue Passport

The Shenmue World menu screen, recreated in Suka Pass

Version 1.3 of the fan-made Shenmue Passport app Suka Pass, which we previewed here, has just been released and is available for download. A major new feature this time around is the All Moves Scroll section, giving information on all the kicks, punches and throws that Ryo has learned. And those who enjoy listening to the Shenmue music selection will also appreciate the addition of a progress bar to the music player.

A fine release trailer has been created by Jibby (check out his Jibmue YouTube channel here for more Shenmue vids) which highlights the new features:

SkillJim, from the Suka Pass project team, has also put together a comprehensive overview of the entire app:

The app is available for Android and iOS, and is of course completely free. Head over to the Suka Pass project site to download.

Link to download Suka Pass 1.3 (Project webpage)

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Suka Pass v1.3 Preview: All Moves Scroll

The Suka Pass fan-made app recreates the Shenmue Passport for mobile devices, and the development team has shared a preview of new features that will included in the upcoming release (v1.3).

One of the major features is a new section called the All Moves Scroll, which provides information on all the punches, kicks and throws in the game including the full descriptions of every move that were part of the original Passport. You can discover which moves "evolve" to a different form once they have been mastered, and observe both sets of animations.

Browsing the All Moves Scroll

Learning about a move

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Suka Pass v.1.1 Announced: New Character Profile Search

The fan-made Shenmue Passport app, Suka Pass, has received a shiny new update (the latest version is 1.1). You can now search for words across any character profile text, and check off characters as you meet them.

New features include:

• Character Profiles: Mark a character
• Character Profiles: Text search
• Character Profiles: Metric Units support
• Music: New music added
• Various fixes

Download the update via the Suka Pass site, or read more about the new features.

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Shenmue Passport Fan-Made App "Suka Pass" Now Available for Download!

Today marks the launch of Suka Pass, a free fan-made revival of the Shenmue Passport!

Shenmue Passport accompanied the original Shenmue game on the Dreamcast and gave access to various extra content that helped flesh out the world of Yokosuka including music, movies and detailed character bios.

The motivation for app was to revive and preserve the passport's wealth of content, and was created by members from these community groups: Phantom River Stone, SkillJim, Shenmue Forever and Shenmue Dojo. (In the future I plan to write some posts for the blog to give some insight into some of the some behind-the-scenes activities that went into bringing it back to life).

It runs on both iOS and Android devices (and looks great on tablets!) so as Tom says, click on the image or link below to download it now!

Link to Download Page 

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Fan-Made Shenmue Passport Releasing August 27th | Suka Pass

Last year saw the release of Shenmue I & II HD, bringing our beloved game series to the modern day and creating a generation of new fans for the franchise.

However, those familiar with the Dreamcast version missed a certain part of the original release which didn't make the transition forward to the modern day: namely, the Shenmue Passport.

Well, Shenmue fans will not be left without for much longer. A new fan-made app called Suka Pass (a contraction of "Yokosuka Passport") has been in development over the past year, and is now ready for release! 

The release date for the app is in three days' time, on August 27th - a nod to the previously-scheduled release date of Shenmue III, providing fans with something to tide them over until they get their hands on the new game.

You can pre-register over at the Suka Pass website to receive an email with download instructions once the app is released.

Find out more at the Suka Pass website

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