Momotaro Dentetsu Illustrator Is Involved With Billion Road

Last week, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced a new party board game called Billion Road, launching for Nintendo Switch this winter in Japan.

When Billion Road was first revealed, many Japanese commentators felt it looked like Momotaro Dentetsu too much. Momotaro Dentetsu is a long running franchise owned by Konami. The most recent game in the series, Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!, was developed for Nintendo 3DS as part of lending the franchise to Nintendo.

Now, based on copyright information for the game, we’ve learned that Billion Road’s resemblance to Momotaro Dentetsu (everything except the characters) is no coincidence. The illustrator for Momotaro Dentetsu, Takayuki Doi, appears as the copyright owner alongside Bandai Namco for Billion Road.

And if you’re wondering what happened to Momotaro Dentetsu series creator Akira Sakuma, he became wheelchair-bound during production of Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!, so that’s very likely his last Momotaro Dentetsu title unless he wants to work again. After all, he’s already 66.

So if you’re looking for some Momotaro Dentetsu action, you can probably pick up a copy of Billion Road, which many in Japan are treating as a spiritual successor to Momotaro Dentetsu.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.