Nice Package! (Puzzle Bobble, WonderSwan)

I've got to be honest here: I was more than a bit apprehensive about buying a black-and-white port of Taito's Puzzle Bobble.

The fact is, I'm generally not all that interested in black-and-white ports of games that usually are drenched in color. You know, like, the platformer--Bubble Bobble--that spawned this puzzler. Or Puyo Puyo. Hell, even Pac-Man, Bomberman and Adventures of Lolo come to mind.

Still, I've had some good times with the pair of Bubble Bobble titles that were published for the GameBoy in 1990 and 1993. Also, I'm surprisingly fond of Rainbow Islands: Putty's Party, as I explained in my most recent "Welcome to WonderSwan World" write-up.

So, when I came across a rather cheap complete-in-box copy of Puzzle Bobble for WonderSwan a couple of months ago, I bit the bullet and bought it despite my initial reservations.

Am I happy I with my purchase now that I've spent some time with this seemingly gimped conversion of Taito's classic coin-op? Yes, I am.

I don't want to say too much about why that is in this post, though, because I'll cover a lot of that ground in a future installment of "Welcome to WonderSwan World."

What I'm willing to say here: Puzzle Bobble's WonderSwan port both looks and sounds better than you're probably imagining (you can see and hear what I'm talking about in this YouTube longplay of the game). Also, it's surprisingly enjoyable to play.



This iteration's graphics and gameplay aren't solely responsible for why I'm glad I added this title to my growing collection of WonderSwan carts, however. Just as responsible: its packaging, of course.

The best part of owning a complete-in-box copy of Puzzle Bobble for WonderSwan, in my humble opinion, is its cover art. Although not as amazing as the illustration conjured up for the game's Neo Geo Pocket Color port (see it here), it's basically on par with the one plastered across the front of the Puzzle Bobble Super Famicom box.

Going back to Puzzle Bobble's WonderSwan cover imagery, while looking at this post's first photo, you may notice it sports both a Taito as well as a Sunsoft logo.

That's because, unlike the original arcade release of Puzzle Bobble, which Taito developed and published, Sunsoft published this one--at the beginning of July in 1999.



Sunsoft didn't develop it, though. A company called Yoshidayama Workshop handled that task.

Don't worry if Yoshidayama Workshop doesn't ring a bell; before I started doing my research for this post, I'd never come across its name either.

Which makes sense, as according to GameFAQs, Yoshidayama Workshop only ever developed a small handful of video games. Besides this portable Puzzle Bobble, it also produced two other WonderSwan titles (Meta Communication Therapy: Nee Kiite!, released in 2000, and Wonder Classic, released in 2001) and a Japan-only GameBoy cartridge called Itsudemo! Nyan to Wonderful.

I can't speak to the quality of that trio of games, as I've never played any of them, but I can say Yoshidayama Workshop did a pretty good job down-porting Taito's Bubble Bobble-inspired puzzler to the WonderSwan hardware.

I wish I could say the same about the designers who created this title's instruction booklet. Sure, it's colorful, as a glance at the photo above should make clear, but it's also devoid of the kinds of illustrations that pop up in every other Bubble Bobble or Puzzle Bobble manual I've seen to date.

Oh, well, it's hardly the end of the world--especially when the rest of this Puzzle Bobble release's packaging is so stellar.

What do you think of the box, cartridge and manual shots shown throughout this post? Also, what do you think of this version of Puzzle Bobble? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts

Now that I've finished StreetPass Mii Plaza: Monster Manor, let's talk about how brilliant it is

I've played most of the StreetPass Mii Plaza games Nintendo has made available to 3DS owners since early 2011, and I've had a blast with pretty much all of them.

The ones that have given me the most joy in that time: Battleground Z, Find Mii, Flower Town, Mii Force, Monster Manor and Ultimate Angler.

Besides Find Mii and Monster Manor, though, none of the just-mentioned titles were able to hold my attention or maintain my interest for more than a month or two.

The Prope-made Monster Manor, in particular, has enthralled me since I first bought and downloaded it. I can't estimate how much time I devoted to it in 2013, 2014 or 2015, but I can say it was almost singlehandedly responsible for me dumping more than 39 hours into StreetPass Mii Plaza in 2016.

I've also put a good number of hours into it this year. The reason: I wanted to finish the climb to Monster Manor's top floor before Nintendo pulls the plug on StreetPass (or, you know, before StreetPass encounters completely fall off a cliff).

Well, I did just that a couple of weeks ago. And now? I'm sort of depressed, to be honest. I was so sucked into this bite-sized adventure that I basically never wanted it to end.

As for what prompted me to develop such feelings about Monster Manor, well, the short answer is I loved--and continue to love--every aspect of it.

I love its deeper-than-it-first-appears gameplay, which bizarrely, yet successfully, combines elements of Tetris with those of a bare-bones RPG. I love the ghouls you encounter in the titular mansion's haunted hallways. I love the creatively designed and upgradeable weapons you find hidden in treasure chests that are tucked away in its rooms. I love its appropriately spooky--as well as jaunty--soundtrack.

And of course I love that it can be played in short spurts. Hell, I'd say it's supposed to be played in short spurts--whenever you get a handful of StreetPasses and whenever you have a few spare minutes. At any rate, games that don't ask for much of a commitment are the ones that are most compatible with my life at the moment, which only added to Monster Manor's appeal.

Sadly, as much as I love this digital morsel of a video game, and as much as I loved slowly but surely making my way through its 50 stages, I can't imagine I'll ever return to it now that I've seen its credit roll.

I know I could pick it up again down the road by StreetPassing myself (assuming Nintendo doesn't make that impossible by disabling the app entirely), but right now that sounds about as appetizing as returning to my aborted playthroughs of Hometown Story or Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley. (That's overstating things a tad, of course, but I'm sure you get the drift of what I'm saying here.)

Oh, well, at least I was able to experience Monster Manor in all its glory once.

How about you? Have any of you finished, or at least spent some time playing, Monster Manor? If so, share your thoughts and impressions in the comments section of this post.

Another option: share how you feel about the fact that we're unlikely to see games like this on the StreetPass-less Switch.

Nice Package! (Ninja Jajamaru-kun: Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu, 3DS)

Although I've wanted a copy of Ninja Jajamaru-kun: Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu since it was first announced for release, I wasn't willing to pay full price for one.

So, I bided my time. That patience paid off last fall--three-and-a-half years after it first hit the streets of Japan--when I came across an unopened copy of this 3DS title being sold for just $20.



Was it worth the wait--and my 20 bucks? I'd say so, though I've only played Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu for a couple of hours thus far.

Thankfully, that was enough for me to see that this latest Ninja Jajamaru-kun sequel (you can read about earlier ones via hardcoregaming101.net) is a real treat for the eyes, at the very least.

It's fun, too, don't get me wrong. Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu's platforming action isn't going to win awards for its uniqueness, but it's crisp and solid and enjoyable enough. That's more than I was expecting from it, to be honest, so I'm happy with my investment.

All that said, I wouldn't have minded if Jaleco's designers had made the protagonist and enemy sprites larger. In their current state, they're a bit too small for my liking. Still, they're well drawn and nicely animated, so it's hard to complain too loudly.

With that out of the way, are you up for a little history lesson? The first tidbit I'd like to pass along is that Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu actually began life (in 2006) as a DS game. And not only that, but it had a different subtitle at that point in time: Pen wa Ken Yori mo Tsuyoshi de Gozaru, which according to the folks at Hardcore Gaming 101 translates to something like The Pen is Greater than the Sword.

For whatever reason, Ninja Jajamaru-kun: Pen wa Ken Yori mo Tsuyoshi de Gozaru never saw the light of day. However, it's pretty clear that game lives on in Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu, which hit Japanese store shelves (as well as that region's 3DS eShop) in 2013. Early screenshots of the DS title show off characters and environments that are nearly identical to comparable elements found in the 3DS release.

Also, you may have noticed that the cover art and cartridge label above sport "Hamster" logos. That's because although Jaleco developed Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu and seemingly intended to publish it as well, those plans changed when the company was bought out by Game Yarou.

At some point along the way, Hamster Corporation stepped in and brought the game to market. I wish I could tell you when or why or how this intervention came about, but I can't.



As for Ninja Jajamaru-kun: Sakura-hime to Karyu no Himitsu's packaging, I, for one, think it's fairly nice. I especially like the colorful cover art. Curiously, copies don't come with a full-fledged instruction manual; instead, they come with a single sheet of paper that explains the game's controls and that's it.

Oh, well, I guess it's better than nothing--which is what you get when you buy a boxed 3DS game these days.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts about KiKi KaiKai and Son Son II for the PC Engine

Manual Stimulation: Pitman (GameBoy)

There are all kinds of reasons to own a complete-in-box copy of Asmik's Pitman, called Catrap outside of Japan.

For starters, it's simply a great game--filled with a bit of action and a lot of puzzle-solving. Also, it sports some adorable sprites and animations. (You can see both in this video.)

Oh, and its soundtrack is pretty nice, too.

Besides that, this GameBoy title's packaging is easy on the eyes. Shockingly, I think I prefer Catrap's cover art to Pitman's, but both are lovely. (See this "Another Year of the GameBoy" post for photos of Pitman's box and cartridge.)

Also lovely: Pitman's instruction manual, which obviously is the focus of this write-up.



My favorite aspect of the Pitman manual is its illustrations. (A total shocker, I know.)



I think my favorite of the whole bunch is the one that's found on the booklet's back cover, but the ones showcased on the pages above are snazzy, too.



At any rate, the Pitman instruction manual is stuffed to the gills with such art. Nearly every page is home to some sort of drawing.



Unfortunately, the following spread, which explains how Pitman's password and edit modes work, is one of those illustration-free sections of the manual, but the one above contains a slew so don't look for me to complain.





By the way, does anyone else get kind of a 1970s vibe from the art style used throughout this booklet? Which is funny, as I'm usually turned off by that sort of thing. Here, though, I think it's fitting and adds to the manual's charm.



So, what do you think? Are you now a fan of Pitman and its instruction manual, or do you think it's the definition of "meh"?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts about Snow Bros. Jr., Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe and Totsugeki Ponkotsu Tank

Welcome to WonderSwan World: Rainbow Islands Putty's Party

Before you get too excited about this portable reimagining of Taito's classic quarter-muncher--and Bubble Bobble sequel--from 1987, I have to share the following, potentially buzz-killing details:

* A company called DigitalWare developed this version of Rainbow Islands. Besides Putty's Party, the only other releases on its resume are a small handful of "Simple" series games for the PS2 and DS. (In other words, neither legendary developer Fukio Mitsuji nor anyone else at Taito had a hand in this "port.")

* Less damning than the above, but still plenty relevant to this conversation: a company called MegaHouse published Putty's Party (in 2000). The only other games it helped bring to the masses are another WonderSwan game (Tetsujin 28-gou) and a trio of fairly random, Japan-only DS titles.

* Unlike basically every other Rainbow Islands game around, Putty's Party is rendered in black, white and a few shades of gray.

* As far as I'm aware, Putty's Party doesn't include all 10 of the arcade original's islands.

Sorry for that last "as far as I'm aware" bit, but up 'til now I've only been able to complete the game's first four islands (Darius, Doh's, Insect and Monster)--which, intriguingly, can be tackled in any order.

Unfortunately, simply finishing those islands doesn't cause any new ones to appear. My gut tells me more are revealed if you manage to nab all seven collectible diamonds on each of the initial isles, but I can't say that with any certainty since I've yet to accomplish that far-from-simple feat.

As for what I think of the stages I have experienced, well, let's start with a positive impression. An obvious one is that Rainbow Islands: Putty's Party is played with the WonderSwan system held sideways, so its screen is oriented vertically. That may sound gimmicky, but it's not. In this game, as in others made for Bandai's would-be GameBoy competitor, it lets you see quite a bit more of the playfield than you would if everything were depicted horizontally.

Speaking of which, the playfields in Putty's Party--as well as every other visual aspect of the game, really--are surprisingly impressive. I want to call them "arcade perfect" besides their lack of color, but I'm not sure that's technically true. Regardless, they look better than most Rainbow Islands ports of the time. (I'm also rather fond of the manga-inspired intermission screens that follow every stage, I've got to say. They're completely static, but they're also well-drawn and add a welcome bit of flair to this release.)

One caveat I've got to add to the above: the protagonist Putty's sprite isn't quite up to snuff, in my opinion.

Another component of Putty's Party that disappoints, at least at first, is its controls. I've always thought the arcade original seemed kind of stiff, especially while executing jumps, but this WonderSwan version feels even more rigid. It's also noticeably slower than its quarter-munching predecessor, which is sure to increase the annoyance felt by some players.

Here's the thing, though: after a while, and after accepting its existence, the stiff slowness of Putty's Party stopped bothering me. That's not to say I now "like" it, mind you, but I also don't hate it to the point of wanting to smash my WonderSwan Color to smithereens, so I'll call it a wash, if not exactly a plus.

I've also come around to another of this port's quirks--that being how the third (of four) level of each island offers up gameplay that's subtly and strangely different from what Rainbow Islands veterans are used to encountering.

For example, water starts flooding Insect Island's third stage basically from the word go, adding an element of tension that usually only pops up if you dillydally or otherwise take too long to reach an area's summit.

The third stage of Doh's Island, on the other hand, requires you to expose a secret door that acts as an exit rather than climb to a giant treasure chest in the sky to escape its clutches. (Note: at the moment, I don't really know what causes that door to appear, although I suspect the culprit is jumping onto a specific platform or dropping a rainbow onto one.)

Although curious, I wouldn't describe either of these additions as entirely welcome. Still, they provide a unique take on Rainbow Islands' traditional gameplay, so I it's hard to discount them completely.

Given all of the above, I'd warn against spending too much money on a copy of this game if you're at all uncertain you'll enjoy it due to its eccentricities. (I can't help but assume the majority of WonderSwan owners will not respond to them as favorably as I have.)

That said, if you've, say, spent time with Nintendo's Ice Climber and it didn't cause you to put a controller through a wall, and if you aren't horrified by the idea of a colorless Rainbow Islands, you could do worse than add Putty's Party to your WonderSwan collection.

See also: my first 'Welcome to WonderSwan World' post about the WonderSwan Color system