GODPEY PREVIEW
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GodPey will be the next game from Reservoir Gods, the team that gave you "Chu
Chu Rocket", "Double Bobble 2000" and many, many more ! GodPey is based on a
game for the Bandai Wonderswan.
If you haven't heard of the Wonderswan then you are not alone, this is handheld
console similar to the gameboy, but only available in Japan. It has a cult
following out there and is currently outselling the DreamCast ! One of the main
reasons behind its popularity is the support of Square Software - hey have
brought their epic RPG Final Fantasy to the wonderswan.
When Bandai made the wonderswan, they realised they would need a killer app to
make the public buy it. They needed their very own Tetris. So they created
"GunPey", a simple yet fiendishly addictive puzzler, with the charm and
playability of tetris but with lots of nice extra features. The game is named
after legendary Nintendo engineer, Gunpei Yokoi.
Yokoi San joined Nintendo in 1965 with a brief to develop new toys for the
company. He set up RD1 - a reseach and development department. Their first
production was the "Ultra Hand", an extendable arm with a gripping hand. But it
wasn't until the early 80s that his real success came.
He began experimenting with electronics and developed the seminal Game and
Watch handhelds - which went on to sell more than 40 million units. He then
went onto to develop the GameBoy and forever mark his name in history.
Tragically, Gunpei Yokoi was killed in a traffic accident in 1997 - but his
achievements will never be forgotten.
shTHREE is something of a classic/crazy console collector, and he introduced me
to the delights of GunPey whilst we were at the Error In Line 2 party. We
decided then and there to make a conversion, and we knocked up a quick playable
version.
Our attention then shifted back to finishing "Chu Chu Rocket", but just before
Christmas we picked up GodPey again, brimming with fresh ideas.
It wouldn't be an RG game unless we added lots of extra features and
enhancements, as well as some offbeat ideas.
One rather unusual concept that we have introduced to this game is that of
vegetables that you can wear on your head. MSG did a survey of the atari scene
at EIL and we have conclusive data on the most popular vegetables amongst atari
kids.
The game itself has been expanded a lot. We have added a variety of multiplayer
modes, and you can take on a friend or an AI player (with multiple levels of
intelligence).
The game mechanics are introduced to you gently in the practice mode before you
can play the regular game, but there are also stage challenge modes, a time
attack and a puzzle mode.
When you start the game, you begin with just a humble carrot on your head, but
as you battle through the game you earn experience and new and more powerful
vegetables. These allow you unlock new areas of the game.
The centrepiece of the title is the story mode. Here you select a character and
embark on a quest to locate all your missing vegetables which have been stolen
from you. Along the way you meet a multitude of different creatures that you
have to battle to recover your vegetables.
The game is great fun to play - especially in mutliplayer mode. And if things
get too hectic for you in some of the battle modes, you can play through the
more relaxed brain teasing puzzle worlds.
One of goals in creating this game was to create a system that really rewarded
the player for the time they put into it. In a similar manner to RPG games, you
have a character with experience and a level. As you play the game, you gain
experience points and when enough have been accumulated you will raise a level.
At each level, new sections of the game are unlocked.
So this is a game you can spend a lot of time with and keep discovering new and
interesting things. We really want to create games that you will play for many
hours, not just load once and discard.
The game will run on STFM, STE, TT and Falcon. It uses the extra features of
the machines where available (stereo sampled sound, enhanced palette, blitter
accelerated graphics routines etc.) There are some really great character
designs by shTHREE, and the story mode has some very cute graphics. We've also
got a whole bunch of brand new SID tunes composed by MSG for the game.
If the thought of grabbing the nearest vegetable and wearing it on your head
seems a little strange now, by spring 2002 it will be second nature to you :-)
"this game is reason alone to own the Wonder Swan" Dave Stein, GameTour.com
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