Rompers
Encyclopedia
Rompers is an arcade game
that was released by Namco
in 1989 only in Japan
. It runs on Namco System 1
hardware.
named Chap who ventures out to rescue his girlfriend, Rumina, from a mischievous man named Gurein, and his right-hand succubus girl Tsukaima. In order to reach Rumina, the player must survive sixty-one boards filled with keys and various enemies. Initially, Chap has no means of defense against Gurein's henchmen, but by pressing a button, Chap will perform a "push" gesture. If done next to specific walls, they will collapse to the ground, squashing and killing the enemies, which respawn by hatching from eggs. To complete the level, the board must be cleared of keys, after which such task has been accomplished, Chap will automatically take a magical door to the next maze. As the game progresses, additional enemies and hazards will appear to stop Chap, such as a white blob named Pyokorin, a pink Triceratops
-esque creature that breathes fire known as Keraras, and bomb-throwing wolves called Tagguses. If the level's time limit expires, Tsukaima (whom is immune to getting crushed by walls) appears on the board and hunts Chap down, as well as increasing the speed of enemies.
The first official home port of Rompers was in Namco Museum Encore, the series' only Japanese-exclusive installment, released on the Playstation
. Much later, Rompers would appear on the Nintendo Wii's Japanese Virtual Console
market.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
that was released by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
in 1989 only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It runs on Namco System 1
Namco System 1
The Namco System 1 arcade system board was first used by Namco in April 1987 and was a major enhancement to the previous Namco System 86 arcade system board. Due to its release date, it was originally called Namco System 87 according to the Namco Museum series.Yokai Douchuuki was the first game to...
hardware.
Gameplay
The game focuses on a young farmer wearing a straw hatStraw hat
A straw hat is a brimmed hat that is woven out of straw or reeds. The hat is designed to protect the head from the sun and against heatstroke, but straw hats were also used in fashion and as a decorative element of a uniform.- Manufacture :...
named Chap who ventures out to rescue his girlfriend, Rumina, from a mischievous man named Gurein, and his right-hand succubus girl Tsukaima. In order to reach Rumina, the player must survive sixty-one boards filled with keys and various enemies. Initially, Chap has no means of defense against Gurein's henchmen, but by pressing a button, Chap will perform a "push" gesture. If done next to specific walls, they will collapse to the ground, squashing and killing the enemies, which respawn by hatching from eggs. To complete the level, the board must be cleared of keys, after which such task has been accomplished, Chap will automatically take a magical door to the next maze. As the game progresses, additional enemies and hazards will appear to stop Chap, such as a white blob named Pyokorin, a pink Triceratops
Triceratops
Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
-esque creature that breathes fire known as Keraras, and bomb-throwing wolves called Tagguses. If the level's time limit expires, Tsukaima (whom is immune to getting crushed by walls) appears on the board and hunts Chap down, as well as increasing the speed of enemies.
Legacy
At the time of it's release, Rompers was never ported to a home video game console nor was given an official English release, possibly due to one of the enemies, Fumajime Pyokorin, being involved in drug use, and the Japanese-voice samples. The game's soundtrack was released in two compilation discs known as Namco Video Game Graffiti Volume 5, and Namco Video Game Graffiti Volume 6, which included soundtracks to other Namco games as well.The first official home port of Rompers was in Namco Museum Encore, the series' only Japanese-exclusive installment, released on the Playstation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. Much later, Rompers would appear on the Nintendo Wii's Japanese Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
market.