To those of you who are sick of me writing, tweeting, or otherwise chatting about Tangram Games' Tobu Tobu Girl, I'm sorry.
Don't worry, I'll return to blogging and blathering on about other games soon enough.
In the meantime, please consider reading the Tobu Tobu Girl review I wrote for Hardcore Gaming 101. I think it'll help you understand why I adore the game so much.
Speaking of which, one of the reasons I love Tobu Tobu Girl is that it reminds me of Nintendo's Balloon Kid. As I say in my HG101 review of the former, "both [games] star plucky girls. Both begin with loved ones--a brother in Balloon Kid, a cat in Tobu Tobu Girl--carried away by balloons. Both feature gameplay that regularly makes you feel like you’re a pinball ricocheting around the screen."
That's where the similarities end, though. Again, from my review: "Whereas Balloon Kid is a unique spin on the side-scrolling platformer genre, Tobu Tobu Girl is an arcadey, twitchy, high-score-chasing affair that’s akin to Ferry Halim’s Winterbells. Much like that 2006 effort, the main objective in Tobu Tobu Girl is to quickly climb the screen by bouncing off anything and everything in your path. In Winterbells, that means bells and birds; in Tangram Games’ title, it means birds, bats, ghosts, and even aliens."
On a related, note, Tangram Games recently teamed up with First Press Games to launch a Kickstarter for Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe, a GameBoy Color-enhanced reworking of the original.
Although a free, open-source ROM of Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe will be released in a few months, backers of this Kickstarter will receive physical (boxed) copies of the game.
See also: 'Ten questions with the guys behind the best GameBoy game you've probably never played, Tobu Tobu Girl'
Friday, April 19, 2019
Friday, April 12, 2019
Ten questions with the guys behind the best GameBoy game you've probably never played, Tobu Tobu Girl
Back in late 2017, a little two-man company called Tangram Games released a homebrew GameBoy title called Tobu Tobu Girl.
I became aware of Tobu Tobu Girl just before it hit the internet (digitally) and Tangram Games' shop page (physically), but ignored both iterations for some time after that because I assumed it wouldn't be very good.
In the immortal words of Vivian Ward, Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman, "Big mistake. Big. Huge!" You see, after I finally got around to trying Tobu Tobu Girl, I basically spent the next six or so months slapping myself silly for failing to nab a boxed copy of it.
If only I'd watched GameBoyle's BoyCurious Tobu Tobu Girl review earlier. In it, host Mat declares this to be one of the best titles he's played on Nintendo's first handheld game console. That sounds like a ridiculous claim, I know. But after putting more hours than I'd like to admit into it, I can say with some confidence that Tobu Tobu Girl actually is one of the finest GameBoy games around.
Tobu Tobu Girl both looks, feels, and sounds--this last bit is thanks to artist potato-tan--like something Nintendo or maybe HAL Laboratory would produce. Every single aspect of it is as clean and tight as can be. Even better, it's endlessly enjoyable and entertaining--quite a feat when you're talking about a title with just four stages, each of which can be finished in under a minute.
Now you know why I can't seem to shut up on Twitter about the recently launched Kickstarter for Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe, a GameBoy Color-enhanced reworking of the original.
In an effort to raise awareness about both Tobu Tobu Girl and the just-mentioned Kickstarter for its colorized follow-up, I'm finally publishing this interview I did with Tangram Games' Lukas Erritsø Hansen and Simon Larsen well over a year ago.
The Gay Gamer: You first started work on Tobu Tobu Girl back in 2014, as part of the third GBJAM game jam. Did you come up with the idea on the spot, specifically for that event? Or had you been thinking of it for a while beforehand?
Simon: The idea was something we came up with during the jam. We wanted to make a game with a musical element, where everything in the game would be synced up to the music and parts of the music would be produced by player’s actions. Sort of like a 2D platformer meets Rez. Though what we ended up submitting for the jam was nothing like that. In the end we didn’t even manage to put in any sound at all.
The Gay Gamer: The version of Tobu Tobu Girl you produced for GBJAM 3 was pretty different from the one you made available to the masses in late 2017. Why did you change it so drastically? Were you unhappy with how the GBJAM 3 version looked or played?
Simon: I think the main reason was simply that the initial idea wasn’t very fun. We initially wanted everything to sync up to the music, but that quickly proved too restrictive so we moved in a more puzzle-like direction. After the jam, we still weren’t very happy with how the game played and kept tweaking the design until we at some point decided that a more arcadey and twitchy gameplay style was simply more fun and closer to something we’d enjoy ourselves.
Lukas: Regarding the look of the game, we did intend to keep the style and assets from the jam version. However, during the time that we were working on the game I was at a point of rapidly improving my drawing and spriting skills. About two years into the project, I just couldn’t stand looking at the game, and as such redrew just about every sprite.
The Gay Gamer: Can you explain some of the biggest changes you made to the game from its 2014 build to its 2017 one? For instance, the early version was kind of like a single-screen puzzler, while the latest version is more of a twitchy score-attack game. Also, the early version didn't have an HUD, while the latest one does--and you moved it from the bottom of the screen to the side during development. How did you settle on those alterations?
Lukas: We early on decided to change the core concept to something more akin to Winterbells. I think having some kind of scrolling was important to us at the time. In the early version you navigated the screen by simply bouncing on enemies, like in the jam version essentially. At some point we decided to add power-ups to the game, an include that on one hand added a lot of variation to the game but also muddied the concept a bit. In the end we took the power-ups we found added most to the game and incorporated them into the set of core mechanics, the dashes and “boosting.”
Simon: The HUD was added when we introduced power-ups. The player would collect orbs scattered throughout the level, and once they had gathered enough, they would be rewarded with a random power-up. The HUD was added in order to show the player how many orbs they had collected, as well as their progress through the stage. Problem was, the HUD covered more than 10 percent of the screen vertically, which made the game significantly harder, so we had to move it to the side instead. Luckily, this also made the progress tracker much better, as it would now move up vertically along with the player.
The Gay Gamer: Did you look to any existing games for inspiration while creating the first version of Tobu Tobu Girl? If so, which ones?
Simon: I think I’d been playing a lot of Rez and Electroplankton at the time and was in love with this idea of the gameplay influencing or possibly even creating the music as you play. However, in terms of the actual gameplay I don’t think we were really inspired by anything in particular.
The Gay Gamer: And how about the current version of Tobu Tobu Girl--did your sources of inspiration change at all when went to alter its gameplay?
Lukas: I was playing a lot of Ultra Street Fighter 4 at the time. There’s a character in that game that relies heavily on these sort of teleport-like dashes. I really wanted to try to imitate the snappiness that I felt playing that character. As strange as it may sound that ended up being a defining point in the design process. When it came to the actual implementation of that core mechanic, that took quite a few tries and approaches before arriving at what ended up in the game.
The Gay Gamer: The first thing that struck me when I saw footage of Tobu Tobu Girl was how much it reminded me of Nintendo's Balloon Kid. Specifically, your game almost seems like a sideways take on that GameBoy classic. Is that connection intentional or accidental?
Simon: Completely accidental. Neither of us actually knew about Balloon Kid when making the game, but I can definitely see where the comparison is coming from. I think Upwell--as in, Downwell but upwards--is more fitting, though that wasn’t something we were really aiming for either.
The Gay Gamer: What does the "tobu tobu" part of this game's name mean? A quick check of Jisho.org says "tobu" usually means to fly, soar, or jump. Did you have any particular translation or localization in mind when you came up with the title Tobu Tobu Girl?
Simon: We don't really have an “official” translation but it is supposed to mean something like “Jump Jump Girl.” The title is an homage to Japanese titles like Noby Noby Boy, Doki Doki Panic, ChuChu Rocket! We are obviously very inspired by Japanese games in general and we wanted the title to reflect that. Same goes for the box art--both for the jam version and the final release.
The Gay Gamer: Did you encounter any particular problems or issues while making either version of Tobu Tobu Girl? If so, what were they--or what were the worst--and how did you overcome them?
Lukas: Graphics-wise the main challenge came partly from the limited sprite and tile count, and partly from the limited color palette. Making sure the sprites are easily readable from the background was a problem and something I don’t think we entirely succeeded at. In regards to the sprite count, I don’t think there’s any animation used in the actual game that has more than two frames. Due to the limited tile count, I probably spent more time reducing and keeping each background to the allowed amount of tiles than I spent drawing them.
Simon: Perhaps the biggest challenge was getting the physical edition ready. You obviously can’t just call some company and have GameBoy cartridges made in 2017, so figuring out how to do that in a feasible and affordable way was quite difficult, and at some point we were convinced it would never happen. Even something as simple as getting high-quality manuals and cardboard boxes manufactured in such a small quantity was not trivial. These challenges are ultimately the reason why the game was so long in the making. In the end it was definitely worth it, though.
The Gay Gamer: What are the main challenges of making a GameBoy game that plays on actual hardware?
Simon: The main challenge was definitely to make sure the game ran at a nice and stable frame rate. Tobu Tobu Girl game is fairly fast-paced and even the slightest slowdown is very noticeable and is likely to throw you off and kill you. Often we would add some new feature only to have the game suddenly slow down. Then we would have to either optimize it, remove it, or get rid of something else. This can of course be quite frustrating, but it also helps you prioritize which elements are really necessary.
Another big challenge was the music and sound effects. The GameBoy does not really have any functionality for this--you can only tell it to play a certain frequency with a certain wave form at a certain volume. In order to add music, we had to implement a sequencer, which is basically a small program responsible for playing the right notes at the right time. potato-tan, the game’s composer, would write all the music in some weird music notation language we based on MML (Music Macro Language) that we could then convert into something the sequencer understands.
The Gay Gamer: Are you two GameBoy fans yourselves, or did something else spur you to develop a GameBoy game in 2017?
Simon: I used to be a pretty big GameBoy fan. I rarely play on it anymore, but I still adore it quite a lot. It was the first console I owned, so there is obviously a fair amount of nostalgia involved as well. However, I think the main reason is simply that it seemed like a fun challenge. I had played around with making GameBoy homebrew all the way back in 2010. Later in 2013, we wanted to participate in the second GBJAM game jam and decided it would be more fun to make an actual GameBoy game. We ended up making an (also unfinished) prototype of a GameBoy game called Super Catacombs. About a year later, we once again participated in GBJAM, this time working on what would become Tobu Tobu Girl.
Lukas: I’ve only very recently acquired a GameBoy, though I did own one as a kid. In that regard I’m not much of an actual GameBoy or even retro fan. The main draw was the challenge of making the game run decently on actual hardware. That meant seriously limiting frame count on animations and very laboriously reducing the count of unique tiles on each background.
See also: previous 'ten questions with...' posts featuring auntie pixelante, Peter Bartholow (of Indivisible fame), Dudedle Studio, the guys who created Wizorb, the guy chiefly responsible for the English fan translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love, and the makers of THE 'DENPA' MEN 2
I became aware of Tobu Tobu Girl just before it hit the internet (digitally) and Tangram Games' shop page (physically), but ignored both iterations for some time after that because I assumed it wouldn't be very good.
In the immortal words of Vivian Ward, Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman, "Big mistake. Big. Huge!" You see, after I finally got around to trying Tobu Tobu Girl, I basically spent the next six or so months slapping myself silly for failing to nab a boxed copy of it.
If only I'd watched GameBoyle's BoyCurious Tobu Tobu Girl review earlier. In it, host Mat declares this to be one of the best titles he's played on Nintendo's first handheld game console. That sounds like a ridiculous claim, I know. But after putting more hours than I'd like to admit into it, I can say with some confidence that Tobu Tobu Girl actually is one of the finest GameBoy games around.
Tobu Tobu Girl both looks, feels, and sounds--this last bit is thanks to artist potato-tan--like something Nintendo or maybe HAL Laboratory would produce. Every single aspect of it is as clean and tight as can be. Even better, it's endlessly enjoyable and entertaining--quite a feat when you're talking about a title with just four stages, each of which can be finished in under a minute.
Now you know why I can't seem to shut up on Twitter about the recently launched Kickstarter for Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe, a GameBoy Color-enhanced reworking of the original.
In an effort to raise awareness about both Tobu Tobu Girl and the just-mentioned Kickstarter for its colorized follow-up, I'm finally publishing this interview I did with Tangram Games' Lukas Erritsø Hansen and Simon Larsen well over a year ago.
The Gay Gamer: You first started work on Tobu Tobu Girl back in 2014, as part of the third GBJAM game jam. Did you come up with the idea on the spot, specifically for that event? Or had you been thinking of it for a while beforehand?
Simon: The idea was something we came up with during the jam. We wanted to make a game with a musical element, where everything in the game would be synced up to the music and parts of the music would be produced by player’s actions. Sort of like a 2D platformer meets Rez. Though what we ended up submitting for the jam was nothing like that. In the end we didn’t even manage to put in any sound at all.
The Gay Gamer: The version of Tobu Tobu Girl you produced for GBJAM 3 was pretty different from the one you made available to the masses in late 2017. Why did you change it so drastically? Were you unhappy with how the GBJAM 3 version looked or played?
Simon: I think the main reason was simply that the initial idea wasn’t very fun. We initially wanted everything to sync up to the music, but that quickly proved too restrictive so we moved in a more puzzle-like direction. After the jam, we still weren’t very happy with how the game played and kept tweaking the design until we at some point decided that a more arcadey and twitchy gameplay style was simply more fun and closer to something we’d enjoy ourselves.
Lukas: Regarding the look of the game, we did intend to keep the style and assets from the jam version. However, during the time that we were working on the game I was at a point of rapidly improving my drawing and spriting skills. About two years into the project, I just couldn’t stand looking at the game, and as such redrew just about every sprite.
The Gay Gamer: Can you explain some of the biggest changes you made to the game from its 2014 build to its 2017 one? For instance, the early version was kind of like a single-screen puzzler, while the latest version is more of a twitchy score-attack game. Also, the early version didn't have an HUD, while the latest one does--and you moved it from the bottom of the screen to the side during development. How did you settle on those alterations?
Lukas: We early on decided to change the core concept to something more akin to Winterbells. I think having some kind of scrolling was important to us at the time. In the early version you navigated the screen by simply bouncing on enemies, like in the jam version essentially. At some point we decided to add power-ups to the game, an include that on one hand added a lot of variation to the game but also muddied the concept a bit. In the end we took the power-ups we found added most to the game and incorporated them into the set of core mechanics, the dashes and “boosting.”
Simon: The HUD was added when we introduced power-ups. The player would collect orbs scattered throughout the level, and once they had gathered enough, they would be rewarded with a random power-up. The HUD was added in order to show the player how many orbs they had collected, as well as their progress through the stage. Problem was, the HUD covered more than 10 percent of the screen vertically, which made the game significantly harder, so we had to move it to the side instead. Luckily, this also made the progress tracker much better, as it would now move up vertically along with the player.
The Gay Gamer: Did you look to any existing games for inspiration while creating the first version of Tobu Tobu Girl? If so, which ones?
Simon: I think I’d been playing a lot of Rez and Electroplankton at the time and was in love with this idea of the gameplay influencing or possibly even creating the music as you play. However, in terms of the actual gameplay I don’t think we were really inspired by anything in particular.
The Gay Gamer: And how about the current version of Tobu Tobu Girl--did your sources of inspiration change at all when went to alter its gameplay?
Lukas: I was playing a lot of Ultra Street Fighter 4 at the time. There’s a character in that game that relies heavily on these sort of teleport-like dashes. I really wanted to try to imitate the snappiness that I felt playing that character. As strange as it may sound that ended up being a defining point in the design process. When it came to the actual implementation of that core mechanic, that took quite a few tries and approaches before arriving at what ended up in the game.
The Gay Gamer: The first thing that struck me when I saw footage of Tobu Tobu Girl was how much it reminded me of Nintendo's Balloon Kid. Specifically, your game almost seems like a sideways take on that GameBoy classic. Is that connection intentional or accidental?
Simon: Completely accidental. Neither of us actually knew about Balloon Kid when making the game, but I can definitely see where the comparison is coming from. I think Upwell--as in, Downwell but upwards--is more fitting, though that wasn’t something we were really aiming for either.
The Gay Gamer: What does the "tobu tobu" part of this game's name mean? A quick check of Jisho.org says "tobu" usually means to fly, soar, or jump. Did you have any particular translation or localization in mind when you came up with the title Tobu Tobu Girl?
Simon: We don't really have an “official” translation but it is supposed to mean something like “Jump Jump Girl.” The title is an homage to Japanese titles like Noby Noby Boy, Doki Doki Panic, ChuChu Rocket! We are obviously very inspired by Japanese games in general and we wanted the title to reflect that. Same goes for the box art--both for the jam version and the final release.
The Gay Gamer: Did you encounter any particular problems or issues while making either version of Tobu Tobu Girl? If so, what were they--or what were the worst--and how did you overcome them?
Lukas: Graphics-wise the main challenge came partly from the limited sprite and tile count, and partly from the limited color palette. Making sure the sprites are easily readable from the background was a problem and something I don’t think we entirely succeeded at. In regards to the sprite count, I don’t think there’s any animation used in the actual game that has more than two frames. Due to the limited tile count, I probably spent more time reducing and keeping each background to the allowed amount of tiles than I spent drawing them.
Simon: Perhaps the biggest challenge was getting the physical edition ready. You obviously can’t just call some company and have GameBoy cartridges made in 2017, so figuring out how to do that in a feasible and affordable way was quite difficult, and at some point we were convinced it would never happen. Even something as simple as getting high-quality manuals and cardboard boxes manufactured in such a small quantity was not trivial. These challenges are ultimately the reason why the game was so long in the making. In the end it was definitely worth it, though.
The Gay Gamer: What are the main challenges of making a GameBoy game that plays on actual hardware?
Simon: The main challenge was definitely to make sure the game ran at a nice and stable frame rate. Tobu Tobu Girl game is fairly fast-paced and even the slightest slowdown is very noticeable and is likely to throw you off and kill you. Often we would add some new feature only to have the game suddenly slow down. Then we would have to either optimize it, remove it, or get rid of something else. This can of course be quite frustrating, but it also helps you prioritize which elements are really necessary.
Another big challenge was the music and sound effects. The GameBoy does not really have any functionality for this--you can only tell it to play a certain frequency with a certain wave form at a certain volume. In order to add music, we had to implement a sequencer, which is basically a small program responsible for playing the right notes at the right time. potato-tan, the game’s composer, would write all the music in some weird music notation language we based on MML (Music Macro Language) that we could then convert into something the sequencer understands.
Simon: I used to be a pretty big GameBoy fan. I rarely play on it anymore, but I still adore it quite a lot. It was the first console I owned, so there is obviously a fair amount of nostalgia involved as well. However, I think the main reason is simply that it seemed like a fun challenge. I had played around with making GameBoy homebrew all the way back in 2010. Later in 2013, we wanted to participate in the second GBJAM game jam and decided it would be more fun to make an actual GameBoy game. We ended up making an (also unfinished) prototype of a GameBoy game called Super Catacombs. About a year later, we once again participated in GBJAM, this time working on what would become Tobu Tobu Girl.
Lukas: I’ve only very recently acquired a GameBoy, though I did own one as a kid. In that regard I’m not much of an actual GameBoy or even retro fan. The main draw was the challenge of making the game run decently on actual hardware. That meant seriously limiting frame count on animations and very laboriously reducing the count of unique tiles on each background.
See also: previous 'ten questions with...' posts featuring auntie pixelante, Peter Bartholow (of Indivisible fame), Dudedle Studio, the guys who created Wizorb, the guy chiefly responsible for the English fan translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love, and the makers of THE 'DENPA' MEN 2
Friday, April 05, 2019
Don't miss your chance to own one of the best GameBoy games around: Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe
I haven’t said much (if anything?) about it here, on Twitter, or on Facebook, but I absolutely love Tobu Tobu Girl.
If this is the first you’re hearing of it, Tobu Tobu Girl a homebrew GameBoy title that was made by Tangram Games--though potato-tan produced its brilliant soundtrack--and released back in late 2017.
In a nutshell, Tobu Tobu Girl is an old-school arcade-action game. I like to think of it as Nintendo’s Balloon Kid turned on its side, although that description isn’t entirely accurate. Still, hopefully it puts a pleasant picture in your head.
Why am I bringing up all of this now? Because the guys at Tangram just launched, with the help of with First Press Games, a Kickstarter for Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe. Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe basically is a GameBoy Color-esque reworking of the original title--though like any GBC game, it’ll play on original GB hardware, too.
Anyway, between now and May 4, people can pledge money toward physical copies of Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe via the Kickstarter in question.
For $55 or more, you can secure a “Regular Edition” copy of the game, which includes a cartridge, a cartridge case, an outer box, an inlay that holds the cartridge and case, an instruction manual, and a collector’s coin.
For $70 or more, you can secure a “Limited Edition” copy of Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe. This version includes all of the above plus a double-sided poster and potato-tan’s marvelous soundtrack pressed onto a pair of mini-CDs.
Not quite ready to drop that kind of cash on a game you’ve yet to play? Go try the original release of Tobu Tobu Girl. The ROM is free and should be playable on any GameBoy emulator.
If this is the first you’re hearing of it, Tobu Tobu Girl a homebrew GameBoy title that was made by Tangram Games--though potato-tan produced its brilliant soundtrack--and released back in late 2017.
In a nutshell, Tobu Tobu Girl is an old-school arcade-action game. I like to think of it as Nintendo’s Balloon Kid turned on its side, although that description isn’t entirely accurate. Still, hopefully it puts a pleasant picture in your head.
Why am I bringing up all of this now? Because the guys at Tangram just launched, with the help of with First Press Games, a Kickstarter for Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe. Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe basically is a GameBoy Color-esque reworking of the original title--though like any GBC game, it’ll play on original GB hardware, too.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJsaoodIpbseQFppu5ScbYckZ7JGkF5ZYa8ER5K8Mp3Ee2UMg2p49hjcyvRtS2wb0ks639ZDJPGeN_U6-8HywVmT5ups3jbJYOnvBuQhE_rZdXZ_GicGkRBz0D_tEZM6jb8hOnQ/s400/tobu-tobu-girl-deluxe-kickstarter.png)
Anyway, between now and May 4, people can pledge money toward physical copies of Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe via the Kickstarter in question.
For $55 or more, you can secure a “Regular Edition” copy of the game, which includes a cartridge, a cartridge case, an outer box, an inlay that holds the cartridge and case, an instruction manual, and a collector’s coin.
For $70 or more, you can secure a “Limited Edition” copy of Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe. This version includes all of the above plus a double-sided poster and potato-tan’s marvelous soundtrack pressed onto a pair of mini-CDs.
Not quite ready to drop that kind of cash on a game you’ve yet to play? Go try the original release of Tobu Tobu Girl. The ROM is free and should be playable on any GameBoy emulator.
Sunday, March 03, 2019
Manual Stimulation: Hoshi no Kirby (GameBoy)
I don't know about you, but something I expect from any Kirby game manual is a ton of adorable illustrations of the pink puffball himself.
Sadly, the Hoshi no Kirby instruction manual disappoints mightily in that regard.
Sure, it offers up a few nice Kirby drawings, but I thought I'd find a lot more than a few in this particular booklet.
Oh, well. It's still worth ogling. One case in point: the rather fabulous border that lines each and every page of the Hoshi no Kirby--Kirby's Dream Land elsewhere in the world--manual.
Seriously, it's bubblegum pink and it's filled with stars. What more could you ask for in this kind of situation?
This booklet is similarly filled with screenshots of the game, of course. Normally that would prompt an unenthusiastic yawn from me, but here they're colored to complement the rest of the manual's color scheme, so instead it produced a mildly appreciative nod of the head.
This next page, on the other hand, is like a stab through the heart. No one at HAL Laboratory or Nintendo could be bothered to whip up some line drawings of Hoshi no Kirby's items?
The game only has a handful, after all. Plus, I can't imagine reproducing them in illustrated form would be much of a challenge.
To be honest, the only illustrations that impress here are found on the Hoshi no Kirby instruction booklet's last couple of pages.
These pages detail the game's five stages, by the way. Speaking of which, I love their names--especially "Float Islands" and "Bubbly Clouds."
Now that you've taken a gander at the Japanese Kirby's Dream Land manual, what do you think of it?
See also: my Hoshi no Kirby review, some photos of the Hoshi no Kirby GameBoy cartridge and box, and scans of the Hoshi no Kirby Famicom manual
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgomQdk0WN9pifw4_1HpKzK3YXT-Fl9yUb_kbR24lR0JsIIX6sih7uzsr3qTPBbAjJ4pplRqyOZ25TEvsHmo04slutQrBq48kzqVMYw2kpnZ4MrEUuCZ5hR4qntNJFEl6JfPLp_lQ/s400/fullsizeoutput_d65.jpeg)
Sadly, the Hoshi no Kirby instruction manual disappoints mightily in that regard.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCy4g-4aUplLm8tL3qG4WCPHVp9HJKhseGmhurSsCW-tu-5rGIYX3wQ4VBC801-8qJ6uFeYfcv_MjptJJEai4TvUpEibSxinK25tlqawn5zRvLFczYDqV3b52D9PK52cR1OrWgg/s400/fullsizeoutput_d67.jpeg)
Sure, it offers up a few nice Kirby drawings, but I thought I'd find a lot more than a few in this particular booklet.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXALx-NEpa8dszLHUBnrDdnBfeFaHLHIzoszCpjBqhseXi7PveGRb9El1UAcN7_qXj77puzZsfQ4EOU4vfH5ERN123xgFATyG-dNHbgN_kJbCDpoOQnombjW5fGIU0-W-FYU5IeA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d69.jpeg)
Oh, well. It's still worth ogling. One case in point: the rather fabulous border that lines each and every page of the Hoshi no Kirby--Kirby's Dream Land elsewhere in the world--manual.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXjT-h17P4WhmQUP4ZmOJISX8HZmc0cQ8QxnlPf01QUUx082fpAblTG4-7J4xvd1OTaxEtB5AeTnhftXxBS9EvZ86cXr9NxEUtKF25D07cmKBctdErYUXKNfgA8v3uJv5X9hLIA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d6c.jpeg)
Seriously, it's bubblegum pink and it's filled with stars. What more could you ask for in this kind of situation?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ecR6GNjNIh10MSzDQQnyvQGznfMEepmwcU4luef9wVg8A77CU2gWMvkO8NZuOikzb2aGeR-YLkKul-4x6G-OM_UCy8ynuzJ-gdHKgFGfpqqKXa1FLb5r7bqAtMxCX-HrieVKoA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d6e.jpeg)
This booklet is similarly filled with screenshots of the game, of course. Normally that would prompt an unenthusiastic yawn from me, but here they're colored to complement the rest of the manual's color scheme, so instead it produced a mildly appreciative nod of the head.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-N5C6CreE7aMPTj8YZnKpcVwh16ATnQ94M9C-hkMkzg2nNapGLRz9H3-niu11S0TDyPy6tmauIdCDbMoL0cwWxDJ8wJleyQy6hsIP4x63tp6lPEp2PvTE7jqbxaMN7pQZndeaA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d70.jpeg)
This next page, on the other hand, is like a stab through the heart. No one at HAL Laboratory or Nintendo could be bothered to whip up some line drawings of Hoshi no Kirby's items?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkn5L4iue-IavjgONM_yYoaYNTJYRsV-mWqmDxULXm2RScdWYKNN7TGii03aK_GUb8njksAO9pBJkh5ez7fNR18nD3pFrMvMu8RKpg2_TtoOr2AmaQPiADAeWXH3rnVusu8Q7fQ/s400/fullsizeoutput_d72.jpeg)
The game only has a handful, after all. Plus, I can't imagine reproducing them in illustrated form would be much of a challenge.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircvyHTphTCdthQTP03R_m6cAyEc34et6oKd7q6swMS3imat9a-CMk4xDyr2vAySv74aRHOUJYGRwUQbs0L8wcN74MZEzgT7GKjO7y44sg3tTGr7ht4gJQOh1gl6QN4VL2tt8giw/s400/fullsizeoutput_d74.jpeg)
To be honest, the only illustrations that impress here are found on the Hoshi no Kirby instruction booklet's last couple of pages.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheRCs01kjtrP3plpJg7pDX-bJCbyggxFatGMXQJRJH4Ehi96uIpZn5J-5e2VlEDJ53wxqomtiUogyuVsMkspKV31JB_hX1ukQYLhiavAZFWJqEwDnuxVAmrSppHx0LWVFan0j9qQ/s400/fullsizeoutput_d76.jpeg)
These pages detail the game's five stages, by the way. Speaking of which, I love their names--especially "Float Islands" and "Bubbly Clouds."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUP3NwzrTQBvbZL5KEYE6ubQq-vWet0KfXZooyB_2vz4wdt_2QHlBYQiflXqYA8c2jfGrtoHKJ7OMzQxIdIK2jy42dMHXe78fppCsslzF4x9Ydsr-4Gvuq6ugPOsEAEr6Tud20rQ/s400/fullsizeoutput_d78.jpeg)
Now that you've taken a gander at the Japanese Kirby's Dream Land manual, what do you think of it?
See also: my Hoshi no Kirby review, some photos of the Hoshi no Kirby GameBoy cartridge and box, and scans of the Hoshi no Kirby Famicom manual
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Manual Stimulation: Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle (GameBoy)
Fun fact: Pokémon developer Game Freak had a hand in making the Super Famicom version of this adorable puzzler.
They seemingly had nothing to do with the original GameBoy release, though, which hit Japanese store shelves back in early 1994.
So who made it? Access, a company I'd never heard of before I started researching this post.
Sadly, I can't tell you how the two titles compare to one another. Based on what I've seen of the Super Famicom iteration, its gameplay mirrors what's offered up by the GameBoy cart.
As for what Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle's gameplay is like, imagine your typical match-two puzzler. (Yes, I said "match two" and not "match three" here.) Then alter that image in such a way that you can flip each of the game's pieces to see their backsides.
Sadly, that aspect of Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle isn't as thrilling as it may sound, but it still adds a unique twist to this overdone--at the time, in particular--genre.
With that out of the way, let's focus on the Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle instruction manual.
As you can see, it's very yellow-orange. It also features some nice illustrations of cute animals.
I think it could feature a lot more of the latter, though. I also think it could feature bigger and better illustrations of the game's puzzle pieces.
In the end, the Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle manual is more about explaining how to play the game than it is about forcing oohs and aahs out of readers.
To be honest, I can't blame the designers at Victor Interactive for going this route. Instruction manuals are supposed to educate people, after all.
Still, a little visual pizzazz would've gone a long way here, if you ask me--especially given this game's youthful target audience.
See also: photos of Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle's box and cartridge
They seemingly had nothing to do with the original GameBoy release, though, which hit Japanese store shelves back in early 1994.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Lmm_tqdk0j1IyvTvRMobXybZqSyTX_vXyXeKJisJYnXfA4F0oRmDAQiFcIMicoKGTsix3qYYtPW6frqbIpGdB_HzZ-BC-Xy5JT8fa3O-ZhPIUMU7AVjgLKu9A7wFFiAvKZhn5Q/s400/fullsizeoutput_d4e.jpeg)
So who made it? Access, a company I'd never heard of before I started researching this post.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rXJ5qmEAl5iYUJx5lYl3OUKYEccb_SOma2n8qKe9hzIfyZbMM5KusmHvdD6PqshT7ybK2ZZIzrMEfDGL-QRG8MHn3RBUc-l3bSgFtPDsbsyLf5kPIFOk4apau_iXdmH1jz0H2A/s400/fullsizeoutput_d50.jpeg)
Sadly, I can't tell you how the two titles compare to one another. Based on what I've seen of the Super Famicom iteration, its gameplay mirrors what's offered up by the GameBoy cart.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJgLzcKcltOnQJKNAfIfM_d93ho9bYD9wJ1TTYBzpJtPa0zzLzOHJSHZswoZ4OB68W38GbTOv55EondvpW1wodRtdxOc0VYMjAgtGzUd0DRkdpqUK30cnKKAWo8x06rdVkgkVlA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d52.jpeg)
As for what Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle's gameplay is like, imagine your typical match-two puzzler. (Yes, I said "match two" and not "match three" here.) Then alter that image in such a way that you can flip each of the game's pieces to see their backsides.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP09qRC-wVyWE1qRPALC-6qQnOpDLgsKGSnfyCnrar1p1uq2eWqjehHkqGOZK6-QG08gv-_EoaRuc8QNWNtVh14iPnSc8MhjckMfgBJ8_HyxgAuEFyxRNPE_XZZpzhZxJGJKW-Ig/s400/fullsizeoutput_d54.jpeg)
Sadly, that aspect of Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle isn't as thrilling as it may sound, but it still adds a unique twist to this overdone--at the time, in particular--genre.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wzaFd9BYFVRFmHwrQDHfJTUyUHMH4lHP8yNtyl7wV4UverEIZQeedmn6iziI5KcXrIKDNebO7DFtIri6JCm994iZStlW4fcafqLMA1Ze1rrgyAEjNHSegMuoLhZxHwpf-ehcgA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d56.jpeg)
With that out of the way, let's focus on the Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle instruction manual.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPzFDfxMm7gWQF7ErfDbWPonQ8-8cFY7FlJFTpc_qPNLuFCQ3Df2ptmk-u-11veyKciTTHterZaTbIsDYXuiCriznwyTdadRVwSMsFT8gW618iwGdjkI1BANlcsei6M653EwHcQ/s400/fullsizeoutput_d58.jpeg)
As you can see, it's very yellow-orange. It also features some nice illustrations of cute animals.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SLRQloxBVab3_cHHO5QvEZubu31NJsX52CKNocKSGeO4eGI91XAHG1W4seJCLqo-_RJzgUOsUmR_X5sUiRfZ8wzSU2h9V6bl4r96N-pHfUcLoaxe3Wmvrwxyg1SFM0RUYXQyZQ/s400/fullsizeoutput_d5b.jpeg)
I think it could feature a lot more of the latter, though. I also think it could feature bigger and better illustrations of the game's puzzle pieces.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggW0KpyoHR0qutBzKBkz5wh2BwTad9_x9wEjWGZ6_o2m0jvmPzsULaK8pnppTNKLGvusNlxFQv7MX3OCQNSkZgVe-a1byiRNb3PvlR9wUOOZ0lHZSURaVojc0L4jiQ9nd-hEChPw/s400/fullsizeoutput_d5d.jpeg)
In the end, the Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle manual is more about explaining how to play the game than it is about forcing oohs and aahs out of readers.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCCh_UCfBewjRPa_G-MLDpKN0IThFs7fRRhpPlEY6jFnYdWBvyQwKIL7TPbrhGtZL5yemGWDktGF2wLGY44KgyOowWVV5R-e4enjR4GzyKo9ZU2rc433zM4px3-1qBGgS-H-MDA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d60.jpeg)
To be honest, I can't blame the designers at Victor Interactive for going this route. Instruction manuals are supposed to educate people, after all.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYm9A7yvr1f2IqtAejK0HUn9IjfYq3mVXaSglhS8VPp73hjjcfhrMQsctvWilbqEEsFU0cIuS1x4AyKo-M9F42_gTqZPx9y2kPRtwiDHfHFC_8YrfmaF59uAP44jUHgeFTosCHA/s400/fullsizeoutput_d63.jpeg)
Still, a little visual pizzazz would've gone a long way here, if you ask me--especially given this game's youthful target audience.
See also: photos of Nontan to Issho Kuru Kuru Puzzle's box and cartridge
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