Manual Stimulation: Hello Kitty World (Famicom)

I've been a huge fan of Hello Kitty World ever since I first became aware of it well over a decade ago.

This isn't because I adore Hello Kitty, mind you. Although I think she's cute enough, I'm hardly obsessed with her or anything of the sort.



I am slightly obsessed with the Character Soft-published Famicom game that stars Kitty-chan (as well as her sister, Mimmy), however; or at least I've been obsessed with it at various points in the last 10 or so years.

The reason: it's basically a re-skin of one of my all-time favorite GameBoy games, Balloon Kid.



OK, so this Japan-only release from 1992 is more than just Balloon Kid with Alice's sprite swapped out for one that resembles the iconic Sanrio character. It's not a whole lot more than that, though.

For example, the playfield in Hello Kitty World is, or appears to be, much larger than the one in Balloon Kid. Also, the former seems a tad slower than the latter, though that, too, may just be an illusion.



Sadly, I can't tell you how Hello Kitty World's story, which is shared with readers of the game's instruction manual via the pages that precede this sentence, differs from that of Balloon Kid, or even if the two differ at all.



Speaking of the Hello Kitty World's manual, the spreads above and below explain this game's controls, start screen, and more.



And the next two pages of this instruction booklet discuss Hello Kitty World's dearth of collectible items.



I believe the following spread further educates players about how Hello Kitty World works, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.



I've got it covered from here on out, though. After all, the only thing left in the Hello Kitty World manual is the "character introduction" (or maybe "character entrance").



Yep, the remainder of this booklet is reserved for illustrations and descriptions of the game's slew of good and evil characters. Page 15, above, showcases protagonists Kitty-chan, Mimmy, and Tippy, for instance.



The next few spreads of Hello Kitty World's instruction manual highlight the side-scroller's enemies and obstacles.



Although I almost always prefer drawings to sprites in these situations, I actually like how the latter are handled here.



Next up are the bosses of Hello Kitty World. Quite a varied bunch, wouldn't you agree? Also, I don't know about you, but I'd really like to see an illustration of that snowman-looking thing on page 22. At least I think it's supposed to be a snowman? Its name seems to be "Bucket Daruma," which along with its wonky face is throwing me off.



So, what do you think? Is the Hello Kitty World manual everything you thought and dreamed it would be?

See also: Hello Kitty World's outer box and cartridge, and Balloon Kid's manual