Even its own advertisements were self-deprecating. An ad for another title by Kurosawa's "HappySoft" label referred to Hong Kong 97 as "dreadful" and "incomprehensible". It wasn't until the rise of internet emulation and a 2015 review by the Angry Video Game Nerd that the game reached mainstream notoriety in the West. Gameplay: A Five-Minute Loop of Absurdity
Regional publications from early 1997 offer a snapshot of a city rapidly adapting its identity before the July 1st deadline. hong kong 97 magazine updated