Japan’s Ace Attorney games were surprisingly influenced by TV’s Columbo

This fall marks the 20th anniversary of Capcom’s Phoenix Wright series, and I have a substantial amount of feelings about the series. The first game was translated to English in 2005 for the Nintendo DS and prompted me to shout “ objection!” enough times that my parents wondered if I was interested in becoming an attorney. Since then, I’ve played most of the games in the series, including The Great Ace AttorneyFrom conception to completion.

I was quarantined and found the 1970s series of crime-thrillers. ColumboIt stars Peter Falk and is a thrilling take on the Whodunnit method. ColumboThe inverted mystery was popularized by Columbo, who tries to find the right suspect. I was inspired to think back on some of the earlier cases from the original by marathoning this formula-driven series. Phoenix Wright is an Ace Attorney

Could this series from the ’70s tell us more about how mystery stories arrived in Japan? Why did this series exist? Columbo different than Japan’s own mystery storytelling culture? Is there anything more between them? Columbo Ace Attorney besides Dick Gumshoe? The short answer: there’s a connection, and it makes my obsession with both make a lot more sense.

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