Pop'n Pop

Pop'n Pop
Developer(s) Taito Corporation
Publisher(s) Taito Corporation
JVC Digital Studios (Europe)
Virgin Interactive (White Label)
Bay Area Multimedia (Yogi Bear: Great Balloon Blast)
Platform(s) Arcade, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, PlayStation Network, Microsoft Windows
Release Arcade
  • JP: February 1998
PlayStation
  • JP: October 22, 1998
  • EU: 1998
  • JP: March 3, 2000 (Reprint)
  • EU: December 2000 (Virgin Interactive White Label)
Game Boy Color
  • NA: December 17, 2000
  • JP: February 16, 2001
  • EU: 2001
PlayStation Network
  • JP: January 14, 2009
Microsoft Windows
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single player, or 2 players simultaneously
Cabinet Upright
CPU M68000 clocked at 12 MHz
Sound Zilog Z80 clocked at 3.579545 MHz, YM2151 clocked at 3.579545 MHz
Display Raster, 288x224, horizontal orientation

Pop'n Pop (ぽっぷんぽっぷ, Poppunpoppu) is an arcade and console puzzle game by Taito. It has been ported to the PlayStation and Game Boy Color formats.

Gameplay

Its gameplay can be described as a hybrid of Puzzle Bobble, Arkanoid, and Space Invaders.[1] Rows of coloured balloons advance down the screen, and the player must shoot their own balloons at them. When three balloons of the same colour match up, they disappear.

Versions

The original version of the game featured characters from Taito games such as Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2, KiKi KaiKai, Don Doko Don, and The NewZealand Story,[2] and was released worldwide in arcades and in Japan and Europe for the PlayStation and Game Boy Color. Both the PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions added additional characters from other Taito games, such as Bubblun from Bubble Symphony, Ptolemy from The Fairyland Story, Chack'n from Chack'n Pop, Hipopo from Liquid Kids, and Drunk from Bubble Bobble. Chack'n, Hipopo and Drunk are hidden in the PlayStation version, but initially playable in the Game Boy Color version. A PC version was released in the UK by Vektorlogic Ltd. in 2000, under license from Taito, with reworked graphics.

The original arcade version also appeared in the Xbox and PC versions of Taito Legends 2, though missing the Arcade and PlayStation's 15 kHz scan-lined video output (they feature upscaled graphics instead), and to date has not been collected in any of the Japanese Taito Memories compilations. The PlayStation version was re-released on the PlayStation Network on January 13, 2009 in Japan.

Reworked versions

The Game Boy Color version was released in North America with Yogi Bear characters, under the title Yogi Bear: Great Balloon Blast.[3] A version was also announced for the Wii console[4] for release in Europe in 2007, according to the Q2 Update posted by Nintendo of Europe. However, in common with other planned updates of Taito franchises such as KiKi KaiKai 2, Taito appear to have withdrawn their license for unknown reasons, and the game was reworked and released under the name Balloon Pop in North America and Pop! in Europe.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Chavez, Carl (1998-12-11). The Pop'n'Pop FAQ
  2. ↑ Empire Interactive Europe Ltd (2006). Taito Legends 2 game page
  3. ↑ GameFAQs data page
  4. ↑ Purchese, Rob (2007-04-04). No PAL Paper Mario yet
  5. ↑ Unknown, (2008-05-19). Balloon Pop
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