Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir

The Famicom Detective Club games show their age, but The Missing Heir still packs a twisty, Agatha Christie punch.

Nintendo’s Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir was originally released in Japan in 1988 for the Famicom Disk System. It was later ported to the Game Boy Advance, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS, but once again only in Japan. The game has now been completely remade from the ground up, thanks to the development team at Mages with supervision from the original team, and has been released for the Switch. This also marks the first time they have ever been released in the US, which is very exciting.

The Famicom Detective Club games are a special part of Nintendo’s adventure game history. Released in the late ‘80s for the Famicom Disk System, they were influential in opening the door for visual novels on the console market, and Famicom Detective Club’s creator, Yoshio Sakamoto, went on to be a driving force behind the Metroid series. Three decades later, thanks to new remakes of both titles on Switch, audiences outside Japan can finally step into the shoes of a young detective trying to get to the bottom of a couple of deadly mysteries. The Missing Heir was the first in the two-game series...

Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir is a fun adventure game that does show its age, but it'll captivate you until the end.

Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir feels like a top-notch mystery novel at its best moments. However, its limited mechanics can cause a bit of frustration, but if you stick with it, it’ll be worth your time.