Onyanko Town
Encyclopedia
is a Japan-exclusive video game for the Family Computer
. ROM image
s of this game are sometimes known as Dog Town or Cat Town. The game has no Japanese
text at all; everything is perfectly understandable to an English-speaking Westerner.
cat
called Milky who lives in a dangerous metropolis
full of dogs. The dogs want to kill Milky before she can rescue her son Michael who wandered out into the city on his own (and became lost). Players must catch the fish
for temporary invincibility
. However, the other enemies can still kill the mother cat like the fish merchant (who is the only humanoid bad guy in the game), the automobiles on the road, along with the manholes and the pylons. The city is divided into roads for automobile
traffic and sidewalks for roaming pedestrian dogs in overall
s. The fish merchants completely replace the dogs after the 30th level; causing the invincibility icon (fish) to become redundant.
Unlike the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
series of video games (especially the first NES release which would come out four years later in 1989), open manhole
s kill the player instead of helping her evade the roaming dogs. Sewer snake
s also come out to kill the player with its poisonous venom
. Triangle cones can momentarily block progress for the player. The game was targeted to a much younger audience than was considered to be "average" in the Nintendo Entertainment System community during that era. Using the classical music song Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques (composed by Modest Mussorgsky
) as the background music, there is a common theme throughout the game of "dog catches cat; cat catches fish" - emulating the food chain
.
Michael
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. ROM image
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
s of this game are sometimes known as Dog Town or Cat Town. The game has no Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
text at all; everything is perfectly understandable to an English-speaking Westerner.
Gameplay
Players must play the role of a motherMother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
called Milky who lives in a dangerous metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
full of dogs. The dogs want to kill Milky before she can rescue her son Michael who wandered out into the city on his own (and became lost). Players must catch the fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
for temporary invincibility
God mode
In health-based video games, god mode, infinite health or infinite life, is a game mechanic or cheat that prevents a playing character from being harmed, sustaining damage, and ultimately, dying...
. However, the other enemies can still kill the mother cat like the fish merchant (who is the only humanoid bad guy in the game), the automobiles on the road, along with the manholes and the pylons. The city is divided into roads for automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
traffic and sidewalks for roaming pedestrian dogs in overall
Overall
An overall, coverall, over all, or dungarees, is a type of garment which is usually used as protective clothing when working...
s. The fish merchants completely replace the dogs after the 30th level; causing the invincibility icon (fish) to become redundant.
Unlike the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
series of video games (especially the first NES release which would come out four years later in 1989), open manhole
Manhole
A manhole is an opening used to gain access to sewers or other underground structures, usually for maintenance.Manhole may also refer to:* Manhole , a metal band from Los Angeles* The Manhole, a computer game...
s kill the player instead of helping her evade the roaming dogs. Sewer snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s also come out to kill the player with its poisonous venom
Venom
Venom is the general term referring to any variety of toxins used by certain types of animals that inject it into their victims by the means of a bite or a sting...
. Triangle cones can momentarily block progress for the player. The game was targeted to a much younger audience than was considered to be "average" in the Nintendo Entertainment System community during that era. Using the classical music song Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques (composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
) as the background music, there is a common theme throughout the game of "dog catches cat; cat catches fish" - emulating the food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
.
Characters
Milky- She is the mother cat and the player's character. Finding feminine articles like a dressDressA dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...
, some ringRing (jewellery)A finger ring is a circular band worn as a type of ornamental jewelry around a finger; it is the most common current meaning of the word ring. Other types of metal bands worn as ornaments are also called rings, such as arm rings and neck rings....
s, and high heels can give the player bonus points. Milky can also open manhole covers to send the dogs to their death below.
Michael
- He is a lost kitten that is wandering the metropolis without a care in the world. Michael is Milky's son and is very young explorer who won't always want to travel straight into his mother's arms.