Pooyan, the Video Game by Konami

DESCRIPTION

GENRES :

Type of the machine : Video Game
Pooyan © 1982 Konami.

The player takes on the role of a bow-and-arrow welding pig who must protect her piglets from the pack of hungry wolves ballooning up or down the cliff face. The pig is suspended in a winch-controlled cage and must move vertically up and down, shooting the balloons and sending the wolves plummeting to the ground. Any wolves she missies will, having safely reached the ground, climb a ladder to try and bite her. Also, if any of the wolves reach the ground, more piglets will be captured by them. Mother Pig must try to kill as many wolves as possible without letting them reach the ground.

On the second level, the wolves use balloons to float upwards to the top of a high cliff. If enough of them reach the cliff, they will push a huge boulder down onto Mother Pig's cage. After this level has been completed, the piglets who have been captured are rescued and the game starts over with increased difficulty.

There is also a bonus round where Mother Pig will attempt to eliminate as many wolves on ascending balloons as possible by throwing as few slabs of meat as possible for a maximum bonus score.

TECHNICAL

CABINET :

Game ID : GX320

Main CPU : Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 1.789772 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) AY8910 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), (6x) RC (@ 1.789772 Mhz)

Screen orientation : Vertical
Video resolution : 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 32

Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick (vertical)
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)

TRIVIA

KEYWORDS :

Pigs

Released in October 1982.

Also licensed to Stern for US manufacture and distribution (December 1982).

Pooyan is Japanese for 'little pigs'. It is also very rarely used as an adjective meaning 'extremely stupid'. For example, 'Intentionally puncturing your spacesuit is pooyan', or 'Injecting straight heroin into your eyeballs is a pooyan idea'.

Pooyan is among the most innovative shooters in history and cute besides.

The intro tune is a renditon of 'Mori no Kumasan' (Mr. Bear of the Forest), written by Umaba Yoshihiro. It is a all-time children's favourite Japanese folk song.

The Round 1 in-game tune is a rendition of 'Humoresque (Op. 101, No. 7 in G flat major)' by Antonin Dvorak.

Mark Kinter holds the official record for this game with 1,609,250 points.

A bootleg of this game is known as "Pootan".

A Pooyan unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks'.

TIPS AND TRICKS

* Learn how a meat piece falls : unlike arrows, meat pieces fly not straight but in an arc.

* Throw meat pieces at enemy formations : When arrows are not enough to take out a formation, use meat pieces to wipe them all out. Knowing how a meat piece falls will work in your advantage.

* When to use meat pieces ? : At the end of a level appears a wolf with a balloon hard to pop. Keep the meat piece until the very end and use it against that particular wolf.

* Do not underestimate the power of the balloon : As the game proceeds, there will be balloons with no wolves holding onto them. While it will not count as a miss even if you don't take out these balloons, they bounce off meat pieces. be careful!

* Shoot down rocks with arrows : Rocks thrown by wolves can be reflected with the roof of MAM's gondola and by shooting arrows. Stay calm even if you see a bunch of rocks coming at you.