Osomatsu Kun - endless loop?

[zilog]

I know, this is an obscure, silly game, but I bought it so I'm damn well going to play it :)

Has anyone ever managed to get anywhere? Perhaps there's something I'm completely missing, but every time I clear a room or go into another, I'm back where I began. It's not difficult, the enemies are pitifully easy to defeat, but still I find myself in a loop...

I am pretty crap at games at the best of times, so maybe I'm missing something really obvious?

Were Japanese kids circa 1988 just a heck of a lot cleverer than me? (don't answer that!)

[Aarzak]

There's a video on YouTube of some Japanese guy clearing the game in less than 10 minutes. I'm sure there's a certain order in which you have to go about the levels.

Pretty lame game, even for 1988. It was the 4th-ever Mega Drive game released I believe (after launch titles "Space Harrier II" and *scoff* "Super Thunder Blade" in October 1988, "Altered Beast" in November 1988", and then this turd in December 1988).

EDIT:

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The game was based on a Japanese anime that's obviously way too Japanese to have made it over here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osomatsu-kun

The title screen music was off of the show's closing theme:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bqJxN_lSMDQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bqJxN_lSMDQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>(skip to 0:33, pretty catchy)

[Christuserloeser]

Pretty lame game, even for 1988.

Probably true, but ....1988! HOLY SHIT does it look AWESOME! with its detailed, colorful graphics and multi-layered parallax scrolling. Even the music is totally different to NES or PC Engine.

Edit: I just wish it wouldn't be so awfully distorted in that YT video.




The game was based on a Japanese anime that's obviously way too Japanese to have made it over here

Not to mention that it's from 1966! Seems like the Japanese equivalent to Flintstones or Rocky and Bullwinkle.

[CheapAssGamer]

alot of the style and animation reminds me of the bonk games.

[zilog]

Ahhh, I didn't realise how simple this game was to progress ... whenever I came up against the shell guy chucking umbrellas, I was going through the door! Well, I am going to play through it as a matter of principle so I can justify the £3 it cost me.

I agree the game is not very good (I assume they rushed it out for Christmas?) although as Christuserloeser says, the graphics look great for a home console of the time. Especially through RGB, the sprites and backdrops are big, colourful & move very smooth, and I did like the music (the first 30 times anyway).

I just wish they'd used all the visuals and sounds for a more playable title. It's amazing that they didn't come up with better launch titles.

[Christuserloeser]

This was released prior to Super Mario Bros. 3 and it plays a lot like many platformers of that period. I don't think it was quite as mediocre as it seems nowadays.

[Aarzak]

"Osomatsu-Kun" was actually released AFTER Mario 3 in Japan, and the reason why its such a cookie-cutter platformer is because its obviously a phoned-in, cash-in for the anime. Obviously Sega (unless they secretly farmed it out to some dev) didn't dedicate their A-game or A-level developers to this one. They were probably busy finishing up "Phantasy Star II" and "Alex Kidd" at the time (which were the next two games to come out on MD, in early 1989........sometimes there were MONTHS in which no new MD games came out during its first year in Japan).

[Christuserloeser]

Very true. Still, the graphics are surprisingly colorful for 1988. I think Alex Kidd looks even better though, although I don't remember as much stuff going on in the background.

I wonder who did this game...




........sometimes there were MONTHS in which no new MD games came out during its first year in Japan).

Well, a month here and there, but I don't think that was too uncommon back then. They completed the hardware design and didn't waste too much time. But they managed to maintain a steady stream of software with some real gems thrown in even during the first year:

1988/10 Space Harrier II (SEGA)
1988/10 Super Thunderblade (SEGA)
1988/11 Altered Beast (SEGA)
1988/12 Osumatsu-kun (SEGA)
1989/2 Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
1989/3 Phantasy Star II (SEGA)
1989/4 Super League (SEGA)
1989/4 Super Daisenryaku (SEGA)
1989/6 Thunder Force II MD (TechnoSoft)
1989/7 Hokuto no Ken / Last Battle (SEGA)
1989/7 World Cup Soccer (SEGA)
1989/8 Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SEGA)
1989/9 Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (SEGA)
1989/10 Super Hydlide (Asmik)
1989/10 Super Hang-On (SEGA)
1989/10 Rambo III (SEGA)
1989/11 Forgotten Worlds (SEGA)
1989/11 Mystic Defender (SEGA)
1989/12 Herzog Zwei (Techno Soft)
1989/12 Curse (Micronet)
1989/12 Revenge of Shinobi (SEGA)
1989/12 Truxton (SEGA)
1989/12 Mahjong Cop Ryu (SEGA)
1989/12 Sword of Vermilion (SEGA)
1989/12 Golden Axe (SEGA)
1990/1 Sokoban (NCS/Masaya)
1990/1 Zoom (SEGA)
1990/2 Sorcerian (SEGA)
1990/3 Super Real Basketball (SEGA)
1990/3 The New Zealand Story (Taito)
1990/4 Darwin 4081 (SEGA)

Nintendo was different though. They delayed N64 and SNES for years until they got Mario 64 / Super Mario World ready, and did provide a few software developers access to the hardware prior release.

[Zebbe]

I somehow played that game yesterday and came to a cave which consisted of TWO (three, if you count one being turned upside down) tiles, one for background and one for foreground. Pathetic! Even I can draw better cave graphics than that.

[Christuserloeser]

But they even use them in two colors: 1x purple and 1x grey. :D

[Aarzak]

1989/4 Super League (SEGA)

AKA "Tommy Fuckin' Lasorda Baseball".

Not just that, but "Super League"/TLB turns out to be a port of an obsure coin-op of the same name, that was only released in Japan. Its practially unplayable in MAME though. Its also the sequel to "Major League" AKA Reggie Jackson Baseball for Master System.

[Christuserloeser]

This was released prior to Super Mario Bros. 3 and it plays a lot like many platformers of that period. I don't think it was quite as mediocre as it seems nowadays.


"Osomatsu-Kun" was actually released AFTER Mario 3 in Japan

*browses WP in disbelief*


Release date(s) - NES: JP October 23, 1988

Okay, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released two months earlier, but I don't think that gave the developers enough time for any big changes to the game.

Still, games like Alex Kidd in Miracle World (11/1986) proof that the best programmers at Sega were capable of MUCH better games than this, so yeah, I agree with you: Sega's best teams likely were working on other projects like Phantasy Star II, development tools and things like that.

[chrisbid]

i found this game today for 4 dollars. it looks interesting from an academic standpoint.