Magical Pop'n

Magical Pop'n
Developer(s) Polestar
Publisher(s) Pack-in-Video
Producer(s) Yoshuhiro Wada
Shōtarō Hara
Designer(s) Hiroyuki Tani
Hidetoshi Nakajima
Kazunao Tajiri
Jun Hoyano
Programmer(s) Hiroyuki Tani
Artist(s) Hidetoshi Nakajima
Kazunao Tajiri
Jun Hoyano
Composer(s) Ichirou Ishibashi
Platform(s) Super Famicom
Release
  • JP: 10 March 1995
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Magical Pop'n (Japanese: マジカルポップン Hepburn: Majikaru Poppun) is a 1995 video game developed by Polestar and published by Pack-In-Video for the Super Famicom.[1]

Gameplay

It is a side scrolling action game with six stages in total.[2] Stages are organized in a maze-like fashion.[3] Also there is no password or saving feature.[3]

Plot

The kingdom of To'ahl is a peaceful kingdom where magic flourishes.[4] In the castle, they house a magic gem, which holds tremendous power.[4] The gem is stolen by an invading army headed by the Demon King, and the Princess sets out to retrieve the gem.[4]

Development

Yasuhiro Wada was producer for the game, who would next work on the Super Nintendo game Harvest Moon, also released in 1995.[5] The box artwork was drawn by Takami Akai.[6]

It is the voice acting debut of Japanese media personality Ai Iijima, who provided the voice of the main character.[2][3] She had previously worked in adult video, starting her career in 1992.[7]

Release

It was released in Japan on 10 March 1995.[1] It has never been released outside of Japan.[8] The game has become a rare collector's item, and was listed in 2016 as costing 100,000 yen with the box, and without at 30,000 yen.[2] A video game store in Tokyo was selling a copy of the game for 140,000 yen (1200 USD) in 2017.[9]

Reception

The book Perfect Guide to Nostalgic Super Famicom, was rather critical of Ai Iijima's voice acting, calling it husky, monotone, and ill suited for that type of character.[2]

Retro Gamer described the visuals as "cute", with very challenging gameplay, and called it a "hidden gem" while listing it as one of the games they recommend for collectors to import.[8] Allistair Pinsof of Destructoid, praised the game, saying the controls were as good as that of Super Metroid and Super Castlevania IV.[6]

Legacy

Ownership of the intellectual property rights to the game currently belong to Marvelous Entertainment.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "マジカルポップン [スーパーファミコン] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Perfect Guide of Nostalgic Super Famicom. Japan: Magazine Box (M. B. Mook). 2016. p. 52. ISBN 9784866400082. OCLC 960434261.
  3. 1 2 3 "【3月10日】今日は『マジカルポップン』の発売23周年！【レトロゲームの誕生日】 - ゲームドライブ（ゲードラ） - スマホ・アナログ・レトロ・新作ゲーム情報を毎日掲載中！". ゲームドライブ（ゲードラ） - スマホ・アナログ・レトロ・新作ゲーム情報を毎日掲載中！. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Magical Pop'n, Intro scene, 1995
  5. ↑ Inc., Aetas. "「牧場物語」の和田康宏氏がSwitchに感じた可能性。生態系シム「ハッピーバースデイズ」クリエイティブプロデューサーインタビュー" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 "It Came From Japan! Magical Pop'n". destructoid. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Modern Japan - Famous Japanese - Iijima Ai". 2007-03-16. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  8. 1 2 The Mega Drive/SNES Book. Imagine Publishing. 2013. p. 207.
  9. ↑ Kohler, Chris. "The Rarest Stuff We Found In Akihabara's Game Shops". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "マジカルポップン - MARVELOUS!". www.marv.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-09-02.
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