What Cowboy Bebop video games are there?
Cowboy Bebop has exactly two console video games, and both stayed in Japan. The first, titled simply Cowboy Bebop, was released by Bandai for the PlayStation in May 1998, while the anime was still airing. It is a rail style 3D shooting game flown from the cockpit of the Swordfish II through canyon and space stages, with the television cast voicing mission briefings and Kanno style jazz pastiches driving the pace.
The second game took the opposite genre. Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Serenade, Serenade of Reminiscence, came to PlayStation 2 in August 2005 from Bandai, and it is a story adventure: an original episode length mystery about a treasure song and the crew's past, played through exploration, conversation and rhythm and action mini games, with new animation produced for the game and the full Japanese voice cast returning.
Neither game was localized, for reasons that map the era: the PlayStation title arrived before Bebop's Western breakthrough, and by 2005 Bandai's North American arm judged a talk heavy adventure for a finished series a poor commercial bet against the action market. The result is a small, closed collecting field: two Japanese discs, their strategy guides and mooks, and soundtrack ties, all import only.
Playing them today is straightforward for the PS2 adventure with basic Japanese, since its menus and objectives are forgiving, while the PS1 shooter needs no language at all. As games they are period pieces; as Bebop objects they are the only interactive entries the classic franchise ever produced, and Serenade's original animated material makes it the more significant of the two for fans.
Strategy notes for Serenade, since no English guide exists: talk to every crew member between chapters, because optional conversations unlock the sub scenarios that fill the game's gallery, and treat the music mini games as score attacks to replay after the story, since their unlockables are tied to rank rather than completion. Japanese complete guides cover both games in detail and are worth importing alongside the discs.
