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ちゃっくんぽっぷ
©Taito Corp. 1985
Release: 1985-05-24 (¥4500)
Cartridge TF-4500
Platform game
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Chack'n Pop is a single-screen platform/action game by Taito
and conversion of the arcade game of the same name originally released in 1983.
The game stars Mr. Chack'n, a roundish and cute bird-like creature with
tiny wings and long legs. While on a romantic night out with his beloved girlfriend,
evil purple Monstas appear and steal the couple's hearts, defining symbol of
their everlasting love. The little hearts are now confined in small cages and
Chack'n must act quickly to rescue them. The objective of each level is to
free the hearts and to reach the exit within a time limit (symbolized by a
ghost-looking Mighta pushing a large green stone in an attempt to seal
the stage's exit). But the task at hand is far from being an easy one.
Chack'n is equipped with little time-fused bombs - well, they look and
behave more like hand grenades really, and roll on the ground for a few seconds
before exploding in a thick (and lethal) cloud of smoke. Curiously, although two
bombs can be dropped at the same time, one action button throws bombs to the right and the other
to the left, and the player can't throw two bombs on the same side at once.
This weapon is mainly used to destroy the cages holding each
heart prisoner or against the hordes of Monstas wondering around each level.
Talking about Monstas - at the beginning of each level, a dozen of little eggs
simply hang from the ceilings, and vicious Monstas hatch out of them if
Chack'n fails to send the critters to oblivion in a timely manner. Finally,
even though Chack'n possesses incredibly long legs, he actually can't jump!
He can however stretch them to reach higher grounds, or walk on the ceiling, upside
down, at ease. Chack'n Pop consists of nine screens that endlessly loop
and also includes an alternating two-player option.
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The arcade game Chack'n Pop was originally released in 1983 (picture on the right). The
game was apparently popular in Japan and converted to a handful of
video game systems at the time, such as the Sharp X1,
NEC PC-6001 (1984), MSX (1985), NEC PC-8801 (1985)
and Sega Master System/Sega Card (1985). The game was also included
in Taito Legends Power-Up (Playstation portable, 2006) and
Taito Legends 2 (Playstation 2, Xbox, PC, 2006).
Chack'n Pop is often considered as the ancestor/prequel of
Bubble Bobble - however it is not clear if Fukio "MTJ" Mitsuji
(designer of Bubble Bobble who sadly passed away in December 2008) was
ever involved in the development of Chack'n Pop. Additionally, in
the 1980s/1990s, it was not uncommon for Taito to cross-reference
their games or to recycle graphics from earlier productions. Various elements
of Chack'n Pop made several cameo appearances in other titles such
as The Fairyland Story (1985), Bubble Bobble (1986),
Parasol Stars (1991), Puzzle Bobble (1994) and so forth...
Both games do indeed share some similarities, such as screen-size stages,
the design of the walls, some features and enemies (namely Monsta
and Mighta, but also Zen-Chan who is hidden in one of the
arcade's graphic memory sets and was apparently not used in the
final game) - but it is difficult to think of Chack'n Pop as a
prequel of Bubble Bobble. Let's just say that one may have
influenced the other.
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There are several differences between this Famicom port and the original
arcade game. The introduction sequence as well as the training level (picture on the left) were
removed. Then the original arcade game also featured several special cutscenes
(four cutscenes during the game and one for the ending) and a grand total of
fourteen screens (cut down to only nine for the Famicom port).
Interestingly, the missing levels are not the last five and were instead strategically
picked by the development team, most probably for technical reasons (the obvious
ones feature water bottles used to flood the levels with water).
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G
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Japanese Guidebook
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Chack'n Pop is a cute looking game that oozes whimsical charm, and
fans of Bubble Bobble will undoubtedly recognize familiar faces
here - namely the Mighta and Monsta enemies who reached
their apex of fame in Taito's masterpiece (even the level design
shares some traits with Bubble Bobble). But similarities end here.
The real tragedy of the game is its balky controls - getting around the
mazes is a constant struggle and the bombs are useless in most cases.
Chack'n can't jump, he has to walk upside down to go over obstacles,
he usually keeps walking until he bumps into a wall and completing a level
often leads to a lot of backtracking. When you play Chack'n Pop, you
can't escape this feeling of being constricted by its meddlesome and clunky
controls - and I'm not exaggerating this, you will often find yourself
fighting and swearing at the controls rather than the freaky Monstas...
It is a real shame, because the game has undeniable and unique charms, some
levels are fiendishly designed and it is an exciting piece of video game
history - but anyone looking for another Bubble Bobble should look
elsewhere. All in all, Chack'n Pop feels like a fun game concept
flawed with broken gameplay mechanics, and is more frustrating than fun to play...
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