Takeshi no Chousenjou

On the surface, Takeshi no Chōsenjō (aka "The Ultimate Challenge from Beat Takeshi") is a side-scrolling adventure game, where the player character can wander the streets and buildings of Tokyo, and later the islands of the South Pacific. Various people and shop-owners can be spoken with, and frequently attacked if the player so chooses.

Kitano incorporated many of his unique and controversial ideas into the game. For instance, the player can beat up a yakuza gangster at a pachinko gambling establishment, and take the yakuza's money to exchange for prizes. The player can use a hang-glider to fly over into a strange land called the "Red Country" (an amalgam between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany). The player can gain access to the Red Country if they pass over the four other islands, but a huge mountain blocks the way into the country, and the player will be forced to crash into either the mountain or the ground, resulting in an automatic game over screen. There is also a choice on the password-entry screen ("Punch the old man") which results in an automatic game over, even when the player has not even started the game. Other in-game events include: a game over screen where the player's character is given a funeral, singing karaoke at a pub (using the second-controller's built-in microphone), the main character divorcing his wife and paying a settlement, beating up yakuza, or even punching the main character's wife and children (presumably to death).