Tumblepop
Encyclopedia
is an arcade
game by Data East
released in 1991. It is considered a cult classic
, and was later ported to the Nintendo
Game Boy
.
In the original arcade version, the protagonists work their way through stages set in different parts of the world, each with their own enemies and at least one boss, as listed below:
The player/s has to complete every level within a specific period of time before exceeding an invisible timer. If the players do not manage to eliminate all the monsters in time, a Dracula-like beast appears and approaches them with a sinister laugh. If the beast manages to touch a player before he/she eliminates all the monsters, the player suffers an instant loss of a life. This also counts in the Boss levels.
). If a city proves too hard, it is also possible to drop out of it and come back later (though not if the Game Boy is turned off, due to a password saving system). The enemies in a given city approximately correspond to those in an area in the arcade version, though there will not necessarily be any link between the cities of the world and the cities of Tumblepop. In addition, the Game Boy version incorporates a shop in which players can spend their points to buy power-up
s.
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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...
game by Data East
Data East
also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy...
released in 1991. It is considered a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
, and was later ported to the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
.
Gameplay
The game involves one or two ghost-busters who can suck monsters, ghosts, aliens and various other oddball characters into vacuum-cleaner-like devices and spit them back as bouncing/rolling balls. Expelled enemies function as projectiles that can damage and kill other opponents on the screen when colliding with them. The game's looks are reminiscent of Pang. Throughout the game, the player/s can collect letters of the alphabet found in randomly appearing bubbles in order to gradually spell the word "TUMBLEPOP", the progress of which is permanently displayed at the bottom of the screen. When completed, players are transported to a bonus level which gives them the opportunity to obtain higher scores and an extra live, although this level is strictly timed. The word goes back to default after completion.In the original arcade version, the protagonists work their way through stages set in different parts of the world, each with their own enemies and at least one boss, as listed below:
- MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, which is a circusCircusA circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
-like stage, enemies being clownClownClowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
s, invisible conjurers, fire spittersFire breathingFire breathing is the act of creating a fireball by breathing a fine mist of fuel over an open flame. Proper technique and the correct fuel create the illusion of danger to enhance the novelty of fire breathing, while reducing the risk to health and safety...
; the boss is a giant clown held by balloons who juggles with bombs. - EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: near the pyramidPyramidA pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
s in the desert, the enemies include fire spitters and mummiesMummyA mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
; the boss is a giant genieGenieJinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
who spits fireballs. - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
: near the Arch of TriumphArc de Triomphe-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
, all the enemies are robotRobotA robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s; the boss is a big flying robot that sends out flying hands. - New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
: near the Statue of LibertyStatue of LibertyThe Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
and the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, the enemies are pumpkinPumpkinA pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
-headed zombieZombieZombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s and octopusOctopusThe octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
es; the boss is a giant octopus. - Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
: near the Statue of Christ the RedeemerChrist the Redeemer (statue)Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world and the 5th largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is tall, including its pedestal, and wide. It weighs 635 tonnes , and is located at the peak of the Corcovado...
: with several fire monsters; the boss is a dragon made out of fire. - Antarctica: populated by snowmenSnowmanA snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture. They are customarily built by children as part of a family project in celebration of winter. In some cases, participants in winter festivals will build large numbers of snowmen...
, snowmen armed with shovelShovelA shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening....
s, and hairy monsters; the boss is a giant snowman wearing a bucket on its head. - AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
; it has carnivorous plantCarnivorous plantCarnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
s, cavemen and snowmen made out of mud; the boss is a giant two-headed carnivorous plant. - JapanJapanJapan 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...
: near Mount FujiMount Fujiis the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
with yureiYureiare figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, 幽 , meaning "faint" or "dim" and 霊 , meaning "soul" or "spirit." Alternative names include 亡霊 meaning ruined or departed spirit, 死霊 meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing 妖怪 or お化け...
s, kappas and skeletons; the boss is a giant pile of daruma dollDaruma dollThe , also known as a Dharma doll, is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man , vary greatly in color and design depending on region and artist...
s. - SpaceSpaceSpace is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
: Greys, spacemen with blaster guns. The boss is a flying robot that looks like the Flatwoods monsterFlatwoods monsterThe Flatwoods Monster, also known as the Braxton County Monster or the Phantom of Flatwoods, is an alleged unidentified extraterrestrial or cryptid reported to have been sighted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, on September 12, 1952...
. - MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
: all the bosses from the previous worlds must be fought again. The final boss is a cyborgCyborgA cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
mad scientistMad scientistA mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
controlling a giant robot.
The player/s has to complete every level within a specific period of time before exceeding an invisible timer. If the players do not manage to eliminate all the monsters in time, a Dracula-like beast appears and approaches them with a sinister laugh. If the beast manages to touch a player before he/she eliminates all the monsters, the player suffers an instant loss of a life. This also counts in the Boss levels.
Version differences
The Game Boy version incorporates a world map that doesn't resemble Earth; levels are contained in different cities on that map that the player can walk between (similar to the style of the world map in Commander KeenCommander Keen
Commander Keen is a series of video games developed by id Software in the early 1990s. The series focuses on the adventures of Billy Blaze, an 8-year old boy who travels through space and assumes the identity "Commander Keen". The series was successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of...
). If a city proves too hard, it is also possible to drop out of it and come back later (though not if the Game Boy is turned off, due to a password saving system). The enemies in a given city approximately correspond to those in an area in the arcade version, though there will not necessarily be any link between the cities of the world and the cities of Tumblepop. In addition, the Game Boy version incorporates a shop in which players can spend their points to buy power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s.
Videogame references
- The fire breathers are modeled after KarnovKarnovis a 1987 platform arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is the debut of Data East's mascot of the same name. After Data East became defunct due to bankruptcy in 2003, Paon, a company comprised with former Data East staff, acquired the rights to Karnov, along with multiple other Data...
, the star of a Data East arcade game by the same title. - The cavemen are based on the cavemen from Joe and Mac, a Data East arcade game starring two cavemen.
- The gray spacemen are based on ChelnovChelnov, also known as Atomic Runner or fully titled as , is a Japanese side-scrolling action-arcade game developed and published by Data East in 1988...
from the Data East arcade game Atomic Runner ChelnovChelnov, also known as Atomic Runner or fully titled as , is a Japanese side-scrolling action-arcade game developed and published by Data East in 1988...
.
External links
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