Arcade Shoot 'Em Up Video Game Review: Pooyan

 

Pooyan was a unique fixed-screen shoot 'em game by Konami where the player's shots were fired by arrows at the side of the screen compared to the usual games in the genre where the player shots come from the bottom to the top.

The main character is a mama pig who has to protect her piglets from hungry red wolves. She rides an elevator controlled by some of her piglets on a cliff on the right side of the screen. Wolves drop off of the cliff on the left holding balloons. Mama fires arrows at the balloons, causing the wolves to crash down to the bottom. The wolves throw rocks, which cause the mama pig to lose a life if hit directly. If they hit the top of the elevator instead, the rock will drop down.

At certain points, the mama pig can also throw meat to the wolves, which will cause them to get distracted, drop the balloon, and fall down to the ground. The latter will earn the mama pig bonus points. If the wolves reach the bottom in tact, they will run over to the ladder to kill mama pig.

In the next level, it will have a ladder that does not reach the bottom. In this case, the wolves will inflate balloons and rise up toward the cliffside instead. Among the regular wolves, there are also boss wolves that ride up in balloons that have to be hit more than once to pop. There is a rock at the top of the left cliffside, and the wolves will push it down to kill mama pig if they reach the grass on the top.

After the end of every two rounds, mama pig will reach a bonus round. There are two types of bonus rounds. In one, the wolves need to be defeated by only throwing meat. In the other, wolves throw fruits and mama pig will earn points by shooting them.

The game has beeps and boops that act as sound effects for arrows being shot and wolves falling to the bottom. The sound of the popping of the balloon is especially effective, as it sounds just like it does in real life. The music played is a traditional American camp song titled "The Other Day I Met a Bear". While that song sounds similar to the theme song in its contemporary Konami arcade game, Frogger, it doesn't have the wide range of music of that game. What is there does work well for the game, though.

Pooyan is an arcade game with an unusual name and one that is not well known today. It is unique compared to other shoot 'em ups of the time because the player shots come from the side rather than the bottom of the screen. The graphics are cute and colorful, which work well for this type of game. The camp song played in the game also fits the animal hijinks and family-friendly gaming that the game represents. It isn't a classic game, but Pooyan is one that is fun to play if you ever get the chance to do so.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Arcade Action Game Review: Frogger

 

Frogger is a successful and influential arcade game that was developed by Konami and distributed by Sega/Gremlin in the United States of America.

Like the best games of the 1980s, it is easy to pick up but difficult to master. The goal is to take frogs across a street, across a river, and then onto a lily pad. There are several obstacles in the way, including automobiles, tractor trailers, snakes, and alligators. The latter can also be used as objects to hop onto in the river, much like the logs. However, the gators open their mouths and become a danger to the frog if it comes into contact with the gaping maw. Once all of the lily pads are filled with frogs, the game jumps to the next level.

As the game goes on, the highways become more packed, the river becomes more populated with alligators, and the logs become more filled with snakes. The vehicles also become faster and the river gets quicker. The latter makes it more difficult to jump into lily pads without becoming gator food. The logs also are less able to be stood upon, as when the river takes them beyond the game playfield, the frog loses its life.

The game is packed full of sound. Beyond the bloop sound that is meant to represent the frog's jumps, there are 26 different song fragments played throughout five stages. After that, the stages loop back to the first, albeit much harder than before. The game has an opening jingle, as was common in arcade games of the early 1980s. But, from there, each stage contains music loops. There is also music for restarting a level after dying, completing a level, and getting a game over. Beyond that, there are a ton of songs that play when a frog has arrived home on a lily pad, with a total of 20 different song fragments used. This was definitely a very lively arcade game, and the variety of songs kept it from feeling too repetitive.

Frogger is a great arcade game that inspired many clones and competitors. It's also one of those games that stood the test of time. There are a ton of frogger clones on various app stores, showing the longevity of the concept. It's very easy to pick up, and super addictive. There's tons of music too, which helps the game remain fun way into the era of constant music in most video game soundtracks. It's likely you've at least come across a clone, but if you haven't played the original, you owe it to yourself to give Frogger a try.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5