Video Game Vintage Title: Time Leap

Time Leap

Time Leap is a Japanese visual novel developed by Front Wing. It was first released as an adult game for the PC on December 27, 2007, and it was followed by an all-ages version release for the Xbox 360 on June 25, 2009. Time Leap is Front Wing's thirteenth title, along with previous titles such as Megachu!. The game is Front Wing's first title to feature 3D computer graphics, and utilizes anti-aliasing and HDR rendering technologies. The gameplay in Time Leap follows a linear plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters.

Time Leap Gameplay

The gameplay in Time Leap requires little player interaction as much of the time is spent on reading the text that appears on the lower portion of the screen, which represents either dialogue between characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. To view all five plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction.

Outside of Time Leap's normal gameplay, there are several additional content that serves to lengthen the game. A graphical benchmark was released both online and along with the game. To evaluate the graphic capabilities of the player's system, the benchmark generates a dance sequence featuring characters from the visual novel in real-time. Prior to the evaluation, the benchmark also allows the player to modify multiple graphical settings, such as rendering techniques, visual appearance, and the characters' costumes. While the online version features the characters Ayumu and Ayumu Nagase singing the song, the version included with the game features the characters Ayumu Nagase and Yuu. Both of the versions feature the song "Happy Holiday". Subsequent versions that are included with image song singles instead feature characters and songs from the respective CDs.