Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Next gen, schmext gen: I'll take this copy of Painter Momopie (GameBoy) over the bulk of its 'au courant' counterparts any day

It could be said that I've been a bit obsessed with finding a complete copy of Painter Momopie, a Japan-only Pac-Man clone that was released by Sigma Entertainment in 1990, since I first heard about it early last year.

Unfortunately, even loose copies of this game can be hard to come by, so imagine my surprise when a pristine, complete-with-registration-card copy of it popped up on eBay about a month ago.

I snapped it up the second I saw it, of course, and just about blew a gasket when it arrived on my doorstep last week.

Would you like to ogle a few photos of it? I hope you're shaking your head in the affirmative, because that's just what you're going to get in this post.


Painter Momopie's cover art (above) is nice enough, I guess, but it's nothing compared to the cuteness on display elsewhere. Case in point: the adorable illustration featured on the box's top flap.



Honestly, I wish that drawing had been used on the front of the box, perhaps in a wrap-around fashion à la Don Doko Don 2 for the Famicom?


The back of the box (above) is pretty sweet, too. The characters seen in the upper-right corner, by the way, are the bulk of Painter Momopie's baddies.


I couldn't help but share a close-up photo of a specific portion of the back of Painter Momopie's box--a screenshot that includes multiple examples of giggle-worthy "Engrish."

Sadly, there's no English, or even Engrish, to be found in or on this game's instruction manual, although it does feature a number of adorable illustrations that are akin to the ones seen on the top flap of its box. Don't take my word for it; see them for yourself in this "Manual Stimulation" post.


Speaking of this game's manual, I don't suppose any of you would be able and willing to translate what Momopie is saying in the speech bubble above (which appears on the manual's cover)?


Finally, here (above) is the whole she-bang--box, cartridge, manual and registration card--for anyone who cares.

As I'm sure I've said before, this game is a nice little diversion for folks who are still interested in playing the odd GameBoy title. Copies of it may not be tremendously easy to find these days, but there's always emulation, right?

See also: my Painter Momopie review

11 comments:

Chief said...

Nice pick-up. Looks like the stars aligned to get such a prize.

michaelstearns said...

The design for this box reminds me a lot of certain GBA boxes for some reason, I guess it has a certain modern sense about it with that stark white background.



Anyway, if you've been studying your kana you should be able to read the speech bubble! :) It says "Magical Magical Pururururu~n!" Pururun is some kind of onomatopoeia that I've seen refer to "jiggling" before, but here I wonder if it has something to do with the vacuum cleaner. Below that (around the bubble) is "Hurry and become able to fly in the sky" or maybe something more like "I can't wait to be able to fly in the sky!"

thegaygamer.com said...

Definitely. I was starting to think I'd never find a complete copy of it. Which is cool, because hopefully that means the stars may align for me again in the future so I can pick up a few other little-known GB games I've long had my eye on...

thegaygamer.com said...

Hello, Michael! I can see that--this game's box art reminding you of certain GBA box arts, I mean.


And, yes, it has a certain modern quality to it, doesn't it? Or at least a timeless quality?


Thanks for helping me with that speech bubble, by the way! The sad fact is that I *haven't* been keeping up with my kana :( Terrible, I know.


The good news is that I'm going to get back to it shortly!


In the meantime, I appreciate the help. And, yes, I have a feeling she's talking about her magical paint roller. Ha!


Also, I wonder if the game's backstory has something to do with her having to paint the floor of someone's house before she's able to learn how to fly?


I guess we'll find out next week when I share scans of this game's manual, which definitely includes a page devoted to its story.

Kaze said...

Super cute box art! I'm glad you found such a pristine copy! ^^ Looks like Michael already did the heavy lifting with the translation here, but I would interpret it as that's the magical spell that let's her or " you" fly. Like if you say this "You'll quickly be able to fly through the sky!" The "Pururun" could be an onomatopoeia or it could be just something that sounds really cute for nonsense magic spell words.

Kaze said...

Side note: I just glanced at the back story on the game box and it looks like the Magical kingdom where the game takes place is called "Pururun Kingdom" lol

thegaygamer.com said...

Thanks, Marty! It'll be interesting to see if any/all of this makes more sense to all of us once you get to check out the manual. Like I said earlier, the first page of the manual seems to cover the game's story, so hopefully there's something in there that tells us why the protagonist is so obsessed with flying--especially since she doesn't fly in the game (she just pushes her paint roller).

thegaygamer.com said...

Ha! Yet another reason I love Japanese games--old ones, especially :)

TheGameroomBlitz said...

Sigma's a weird company. The only game of theirs that really made an impression on me was New York, New York (alternately called Arcadia, and apparently based on Captain Harlock in Japan). It was a standard fixed screen shooter with formations of enemies spilking out from the sides of the screen. Occasionally, a large, garishly colored pinwheel would appear out of nowhere. If you managed to hit it fifty seven times before it vanished (often as quickly as it appeared) it would explode, and you'd get a bonus. No prize ever seemed like an adequate reward for beating that damned thing, though.

I think Sigma also made Shadow Blasters (not the really cool Shinobi spin-off with the attack dog) for the Genesis as well. The less said about that, the better.

thegaygamer.com said...

So, does that mean you've actually played this Sigma effort, Jess? If so, what do you think about it?


New York, New York certainly sounds ... interesting. I'm guessing it was an arcade-only release?


As for Shadow Blasters, I guess I'll have to look up some videos of it--just to see what you're talking about :)

TheGameroomBlitz said...

I have not! But I'll give it a shot. There are plenty of GB titles I snubbed because I had a low opinion of the hardware, but when I finally give them a fair shake on more eye-friendly hardware, they end up surprising me. Even the bad ones wind up being entertaining, in a "rubbernecking at a fifteen car pile-up" kind of way. Ever try Cyraid? What a mess. An awful, ugly, confused, strangely compelling mess.

Yep, New York etc. was an arcade exclusive. Some of Sigma's coin-ops found their way to the Emerson Arcadia, though, including the amusingly titled R2-D Tank.