[11] Series director Shuuhou Imai has a long history of making games in the category he calls gakuen juvenile denki (學園ジュヴナイル伝奇, lit.

Though Kowloon is inextricably linked to the series and even takes place in the same fictional universe,[9] it is only the second related video game to be released in English, after Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters.

Kowloon, along with other games under the gakuen juvenile denki moniker, is considered a cult classic in Japan,[12][13] but has garnered comparatively little attention in the West.

The player assumes the role of a young treasure hunter who has learned of the existence of an ancient, treasure-filled ruin underneath Kamiyoshi Academy in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

This is not an uncomplicated task, however: the ruins reveal themselves to be an upside-down Ancient Egyptian pyramid, guarded by traps and age-old monsters of Japanese myth – and the school's student council, being more than it seems at first glance, is equally determined to get in the way.

It features various improvements, such as a procedurally generated infinite dungeon inspired by Atlus's Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land, extra scenarios, epilogues for each character as well as for the main story, and new quest clients.

[19] After the development of Tokyo Majin Gakuen: Gehōchō, director Shuuhou Imai wished to create a new "young adult school fantasy" series.

[10] In a later interview, he stated that he has always wished for the protagonist in his games to be a self-insert proxy for the player, but that the isometric perspective of his earlier work necessitated graphics and voice acting for the main character.

[9] The remaster for Nintendo Switch (later ported to other platforms) was proposed by Minoru Kidooka, executive producer at Arc System Works, who approached Imai with the idea.

[12] Kowloon High-School Chronicle is considered a cult classic in Japan, with Nishikawa of Famitsu describing it as "a work that enjoys indefatigable popularity to this day"[e][12] – a sentiment echoed by Taijiro Yamanaka of Automaton Media.

[21] Abraham Kobylanski of RPGFan similarly noted a "tactical feel" in the game's battles, finding the action point system to be interesting and a "nice challenge".

[14] Nagaame of Dengeki Online emphasized the dungeon segments' controls, saying that "It was outstandingly fun to assign weapons to buttons and fight as though it were an action game.

"[f] Paul Shkreli of RPGamer, on the other hand, found the game to have "outdated mechanics" and "problematic balancing issues" – though submitted that it "generally works".

"[15] Kawachi found the system to augment role-playing, but lamented its obtuse nature and minimal impact on the story,[21] while Shkreli described the interface as "difficult to decipher".

[11] Shkreli characterized the game's writing as "over the top"; a "hypnotic mix of Egyptian occult, survival horror, and high school anime tropes".

[9] At launch, Kawachi criticized the Nintendo Switch remaster for having a "fatal abundance of bugs"[i] that break the game balance[21] – though numerous patches have since been released,[23] which IGN Japan considered to address the issues.

The first – a detective drama – was released in two volumes on September 22, 2005, and October 21, 2005, respectively,[25] and sees characters from the game work together to solve a set of mysteries at their school festival.

[26] The second was produced for the Japanese limited edition of the Nintendo Switch remaster, and explores the characters' lives after the end of the game, as well as recreating part of the epilogues exclusive to re:charge.

It contains most of the game's script including branching paths, and unusually doubles as a "choose your own adventure"-style gamebook, allowing the story to be "played" through on paper.

Released on June 29, 2007, Kowloon Yōma Gakuen-Ki Special DVD: [Rosetta Kyōkai] Kyokuhi File – Minakami-Yama no Nazo wo Oe!!