It feels like a privelage to play a game this monumental, this important, this good. Hokkaido Serial Murders isn't just a wonderful tribute to a game as arguably significant as Super Mario Bros, it is a perfect preservation of the original experience with no compromises or missteps whatsoever.
Unlike the Famicom version of Portopia that built itself off this game's system, Hokkaido almost completely works as a game designed with the command system in mind. I'm not gonna lie, I was worried I would only be able to respect this game without actually finding it interesting to play, but that notion is completely gone. When the logic is easier to follow, the game is telling a thrilling mystery story that constantly keeps you on edge. When it's not there, the beautiful sights and sounds of the Hokkaido region welcome you with open arms. Despite having never set foot in Japan, I feel like I experienced a 5 star tour of Hokkaido perfectly catered by Yuji Horii. I think my only real complaint with the gameplay came near the end when I was looking for a character, checked a location to see nothing new, then I went off and did one new thing just to return and see it's completely changed after they stopped by "yesterday", meaning within the ten second period I was gone. Never before or after does such a significant passage of time ever come up or stick out as odd quite like it does here, but I guess it is kinda interesting that Horii was thinking about this way before Dragon Quest 3.
Other than that, there isn't much I can say before I start repeating myself. This is just about everything I was hoping it'd be. The artstyle is perfect, the new and old music rocks, the characters are charming, the story is in-depth and well thought out, the epilogue is a perfect modernization and such a natural expansion that it feels like it was always meant to exist, and it's absolutely criminal a game this good is going under the radar. But at least real ones know Game of the Year 1984 is good enough to be Game of the Year 2024.

A must play for any gamer between now, then, and forever.