Welcome to WonderSwan World: Tane wo Maku Tori

This Bandai-published WonderSwan game was one of the first I picked up--along with Engacho!--when I began collecting for this GameBoy competitor back in 2012.

Not that I was able to play it at that time. I didn't buy a WonderSwan system, a translucent black Color model, until three years later. (Here is the post I published about that momentous event, in case you're curious. And if you'd like to learn more about the WonderSwan Color hardware, check out this "Welcome to WonderSwan World" write-up.)

So what do I think of Tane wo Maku Tori now that I've spent some time with it? I like it--quite a lot, actually.

As for why that is, here are the main reasons:

* Tane wo Maku Tori is a puzzle game, a genre which the WonderSwan handles better than almost any other.
* To play it, you hold your WonderSwan system of choice sideways, in portrait or "TATE" mode. (Any title that allows this earns bonus points from me.)
* This 1999 release features an appealingly high-contrast aesthetic.
* It also offers up an eclectic soundtrack that veers from morosely moody to buoyantly blippy.

Tane wo Maku Tori's gameplay is noteworthy, too, although not always in the most positive way, if I'm allowed to be honest.

On the surface, at least, the puzzling action presented here is refreshingly unique. Your goal: to guide water droplets from the top of the WonderSwan's screen to a seed or seeds that are waiting at the bottom.

You do this to help the game's protagonist, the crow seen in the first screenshot above, fill his hometown with flowers before his migratory friend returns from the south. (That description was provided by shinjuforest.blogspot.com, by the way.)

As for how you guide the above-mentioned droplets from one end of the screen to the other, that's not so easily explained. The gist, though, is each water drop can take one of four paths down to the seeds scattered on the ground, with the paths in question represented by bamboo stalks, vines, construction girders and more. To complicate matters, these "vessels" are joined at various points.

Those connectors--tree branches, additional beams and the like--are all you control while playing Tane wo Maku Tori. Using the WonderSwan's left-most set of face buttons, you press up or down to move the "connecting bits" in that same direction, while pressing left or right changes which section of connectors are under your control.

So, you move the branches and beams and whatnot up and down to enable the water drops to land one of the seeds below.

Early on, that's all you have to worry about while playing Tane wo Maku Tori. After a few levels, however, enemies--in the form of water-loving bugs and slugs and other creepy-crawlies--throw a wrench into the works by joining the fray.

That's where things get a little messy, or at least that's where they tend to get messy for me. Trying to corral droplets while also keeping them clear of roaming baddies quickly becomes a real challenge--to the point that Tane wo Maku Tori often feels a bit too frantic for its own good.

Still, I'm glad it exists, as its many quirks allow it to stand out in the WonderSwan's dense field of puzzle games. Also, it's a puzzler that stars a sad crow; it would be kind of hard not to like such a thing, wouldn't you agree?

Have any of you played Tane wo Maku Tori? If so, share your own feelings about it in the comments section of this post. And feel free to share any advice or tips you may have with me there, too--I'm all ears!

See also: previous 'Welcome to WonderSwan World' posts and photos of Tane wo Maku Tori's lovely packaging

Reason #408 I'm a bat-sh*t crazy gamer: I now own 10 WonderSwan games but I still don't own a system that will allow me to play any of them

I've admitted to some doozies in these posts over the years--examples--but I truly think this one takes the cake. After all, how many people do you know who buy 10 games for a system they don't even know?

OK, so I'm sure that can be said about at least a few (or a lot of) other people, but how many of those folks own 10 Japanese WonderSwan games without also owning some sort of WonderSwan system? That number is pretty darn small, I'm sure.



The point of this post isn't to brag (as if) about the fact that I'm stupid enough to own 10 WonderSwan games without also owning a system on which I can play them. No, the point is to showcase some of the cool art that's plastered across the front of the boxes that contain those titles.

If you're curious as to the names of the games that are included in the photo below, by the way, here they are (clockwise from the upper-left): SaGa, Tane wo Maku Tori, Mr. Driller, Rainbow Islands: Putty's Party, Romancing SaGa, Hataraku Chocobo, Flash Kobito-kun, Engacho!, Xi Little and Chocobo's Dungeon.



A couple of the games shown above are fairly recent pick-ups, actually. (Chocobo's Dungeon, Romancing SaGa and SaGa, basically.) In fact, they're what prompted me to write this post--and once again ponder buying a wine-colored SwanCrystal system.

I'm hoping--planning--to get off my butt and do just that soon, don't you worry. In the meantime, do any of you own WonderSwan games--or, gasp, WonderSwan systems?

See also: previous 'I'm bat-sh*t crazy' posts

Five favorites: WonderSwan box art

I know I haven't mentioned it in some time, but the wonderfully named WonderSwan handheld continues to intrigue me more than maybe it should.

Actually, that's not completely fair. After all, there's a lot to like about this weird, Japan-only portable and its similarly odd catalog of games. For instance, there's the WonderSwan's unique design, which allows users to hold their systems either in a horizontal or vertical position (depending on the cartridge that's stuck inside, of course).

Also, although quite a few uninteresting (especially to Western audiences) games--many of which could be described as downright turds--were released for the WonderSwan during its relatively short "reign," a good number of quality titles were made available for it, too.

Something that often goes hand in hand with quality games, of course, is quality box art--especially when we're talking about Japanese games.

That's true even when it comes to the lowly WonderSwan, as the following five examples of cover imagery should help prove.

Engacho!--OK, so this particular piece of box art is a bit gross. It's also got a lot of verve, though, and the use of color is nothing short of brilliant, if you ask me. An added bonus: its puzzling gameplay's actually loads of fun.

Hataraku Chocobo--This Final Fantasy spin-off's nearly unknown outside of Japan, which is a shame as it seems pretty interesting. Specifically, it sounds like an Animal Crossing-esque sort of experience, although I'm guessing this Chocobo-centric twist on Nintendo's world-conquering series is quite a bit less deep in the content department.

Mr. Driller--This 2001 port of Namco's classic arcade puzzler is proof that it's been released for pretty much every system imaginable over the years. Not that I'm complaining. I'm beyond thrilled that the WonderSwan got in on the Mr. Driller action--although the thing that's chiefly responsible for my bliss is the beautiful box art seen above.

Rhyme Rider Kerorican--This portable music game was made by the well-regarded crew at NanaOn-Sha, perhaps best known for PaRappa the Rapper, UmJammer Lammy and Vib-Ribbon. Rhyme Rider doesn't quite have the same cachet among gamers as those previously mentioned titles, but at least its cover imagery stacks up to the counterparts of its predecessors rather admirably.

Tane wo Maku Tori--This unique puzzler's box art is, without question, my favorite of the bunch showcased here. I like its use of color, of course, and I also like that it looks as though it was crafted out of pieces of cut-up paper, but there's more to it than that, too. Maybe it's that it gives off slightly melancholy as well as cheerful vibes, much like its in-game graphics?

Do you have any favorite examples of WonderSwan cover art? If so, let me (and everyone else) know about them in the comments section that follows.

See also: previous 'five favorites' posts

Did you know that Japanese Game Gear boxes are about the same size as WonderSwan boxes?

Well, you do now--courtesy of the following pair of photos that I recently snapped with my trusty digital camera.

For those who are curious, the games included in these photos are (clockwise from the upper-left): Pokémon Red (GameBoy), Engacho! (WonderSwan), Ganbare Gorby! (Game Gear), Guru Logi Champ (GameBoy Advance), Balloon Kid (GameBoy), Tane wo Maku Tori (WonderSwan), Magical Puzzle Popils (Game Gear), Rhythm Tengoku (GameBoy Advance) and Flash Koibitokun (WonderSwan Color).

I decided to take these photos when I discovered that the boxes that house Game Gear games are nearly the same size as those that house WonderSwan games. Also, I thought some of you might like to see how those boxes compare in size to the boxes of other portable gaming systems, like the GameBoy and the GameBoy Advance.



I'm planning to take more photos like the ones above (and these) in the coming months as I continue to acquire additional 3DS, DS, GameBoy, Game Gear and WonderSwan titles, by the way, so be on the lookout for them if you're curious about that sort of thing.

See also: 'WonderSwan cartridges (and boxes) in context'

WonderSwan cartridges (and boxes) in context

While prepping my last two "Acquisition #123" (#132: Engacho! and #133: Tane wo Maku Tori) posts, I realized that some of you (many of you?) might like to see how WonderSwan game boxes and cartridges stack up to their counterparts in the portable world.

So, I took a few photos of a few of my recent WonderSwan pick-ups sitting next to 3DS, DS, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Game Gear and PSP carts and boxes.

The photos below, as I'm sure you can see, show that WonderSwan cartridges (the clear one on the left, below Wario Land II, and the black one beneath Balloon Kid) are closest in size to GameBoy Advance cartridges.

The photo above, on the other hand, shows how WonderSwan game boxes compare in size to DS and PSP cases. The box on the right, by the way, is for a WonderSwan Color game called Flash Koibitokun.

All "regular" WonderSwan games are in smaller/squatter boxes a la Engacho!, by the way, while all WonderSwan Color games are in the taller ones a la Flash Koibitokun.

Anyway, so now you know how WonderSwan boxes and carts compare to their 3DS, DS, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Game Gear and PSP counterparts.

Acquisition #133: Tane wo Maku Tori (WonderSwan)

How's this for a random acquisition?

I'm guessing most of you have never heard of Tane wo Maku Tori. Don't feel bad--I hadn't heard of it before I stumbled upon this post over at kimimisblog.blogspot.com a few months ago.

According to the proprietress of said blog, by the way, Tane wo Maku Tori is often translated into English as The Seeding Bird. ("Tane wo maku" means "to sow seeds," apparently, while "tori" means "bird.")

The translation seems appropriate once you play the game, which is a puzzler, of sorts, that tasks the crow seen on the packaging below with helping direct drops of water that fall from the top of the screen to the seeds that sit at the bottom.

As I'm sure you've already guessed, I haven't yet spent much time with Tane wo Maku Tori. (I don't have a WonderSwan, so I've only played it via emulation--and even then it was only for a short while.)

Anyway, if you'd like to learn more about this peculiar puzzler, click on the aforementioned link to Kimimi's blog (or wait for my review of the title, which will be published ... sometime after I finally buy a WonderSwan).

Also, for a few more photos of this game's box, cardboard "storybook" (above) and cartridge, check out my Flickr photostream.

See also: Previous 'Acquisition #123' posts