| Gunpey | |
| Genre: | Puzzle |
| Platforms: | Arcade, WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, mobile phone, PlayStation Portable, iOS, Android |
| Developer: | Koto Laboratory Q Entertainment Art Co., Ltd TOSE Co. Ltd |
| Publisher: | Bandai Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| First Release Version: | Gunpey (WonderSwan) |
| Latest Release Version: | Gunpey (PSP) |
, often written as Gun Pey or GunPey, is a series of handheld puzzle games released by Bandai. It was originally released for the WonderSwan, and has been ported to WonderSwan Color, PlayStation, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. The game was named as a tribute to the developer of the game, Gunpei Yokoi.[1] He is known for developing several handheld consoles such as Nintendo's Game Boy, Virtual Boy, and Bandai's Wonderswan system. In the series, players move line fragments vertically in a grid in order to make a single branching line connect horizontally from one end to the other. The objective of the game depends on the selected game mode.
Gunpey features a 5×10 cell grid and line fragments spread across it varying from shapes such as caret (∧), inverted caret (∨), left slash (＼), and right slash (／). The player controls a cursor that can be moved around the playing field. The cursor only ability is to flip vertical adjacent cells, allowing the player to move line fragments or switch them with another segment. The goal of the game is to piece the broken lines together to form a connected line that connects horizontally from one end to the other. After a line is completed, the line will temporarily flash and disappear. The player can connect additional branching segments while it's flashing to achieve a combo bonus. A bonus is also awarded when all of the line segments are cleared from the playing field.[2]
Gunpey was preceded in 1997 by an LCD game called Henoheno (Japanese: へのへの),[6] which is a shortened form of the Japanese phrase Henohenomoheji that describes faces made from Japanese Hiragana characters, in a similar but more freeform way than emoticons. This is reflected in the game's name that looks like a pair of glasses.
| Original series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Release dates | Platform | Notes | |
| Henoheno | LCD game | Predecessor to Gunpey. | ||
| Gunpey | WonderSwan | Launch title for the WonderSwan. A special memorial pack version was released in celebration of reaching 200,000 sold copies. | ||
| Tarepanda No Gunpey | WonderSwan | The game features Tarepanda theme. A special edition bundle was also released containing the game and a Tarepanda-themed WonderSwan. | ||
| Gunpey | PlayStation, Arcade | An enhanced port of the original WonderSwan version by TOSE. This version received its own arcade port by Banpresto in 2000.[7] | ||
| Gunpey EX | WonderSwan Color | Launch title for the WonderSwan Color. The game features new colored-base puzzles. The game is compatible with the Wondergate peripheral allowing players to play in multiplayer mode online and includes a new quit-restart function so players can take breaks,[8] but the Story Mode feature has been removed. | ||
| Gunpey | NTT DoCoMo | Cell phone version based on Gunpey EX. | ||
| Gunpey Rebirth | ||||
| Title | Release dates | Platform | Notes | |
| Gunpey DS | Nintendo DS | Players have the option of using the touchscreen slide pieces up or down, or go with the classic using the D-Pad. There are two modes called Music Box, and G-Note, which add a slight variety to gameplay. There are nine playable characters, each with a different skin, and different sounds during gameplay. | ||
| Gunpey | PlayStation Portable | Reminiscent of Lumines, and has a total of 40 skins, which slightly "alter" gameplay. It offers two modes of play, "Original" and "Break". Break mode differs from original in that any line segments above a completed line will drop down after that line has been cleared. Additionally, the player is given the option in the main menu to play a 10 x 10 grid versus the default size for added difficulty. | ||
| Gunpeyard Flower Carnival | iOS Android | Developed by Namco Bandai. The game uses worms to represent line segments. It was discontinued on December 13, 2017.[9] | ||
Famitsu magazine scored the WonderSwan version of the game a 33 out of 40. Retro Gamer ranked the original WonderSwan game #2 on its "Top Ten WonderSwan Games" praising its simplicity and variety of modes it offers.[10] DefunctGames gave the game a B+ noting its different tone of gameplay compared to other puzzle games from its time.[11] DefunctGames also gave a B+ for the WonderSwan Color version, Gunpey EX, noting its simplicity and functionality of both controls and graphics, but criticizing the music quality.[12] Modojo gave Gunpey EX a 3 out of 5 giving it a mix review stating: "The fact is Gunpeys focus on individual circuits instead of complex combos coupled the clunky vertical shuffling of the wires made it an experience I couldn't lose myself in, like so many other titles. Still, it's good to see that the puzzle genre still has life left, and Gunpey EX is a fairly robust package".[13]
NintendoLife gave the game a 6 out of 10: "The concept just isn't compelling or addictive enough to grant the game classic status and the developers haven’t really added anything to change that".[14] GameSpot gave both the DS and PSP version a 7.7 out of 10: "Not only is it fun and challenging, but it's got a crazy sense of style and a rewarding level of difficulty".[15] Eurogamer gave the PSP version 7 out of 10, praising its level designs and difficulty but criticizing the time it takes to play the game.[16] IGN gave the game a 6.1 out of 10: "Gunpey is a somewhat fun puzzle game, but it'll never reach classic status because it's one of those games that relies too much on random placement of tiles".[17] IGN, however, gave the PSP version a less favorable review criticizing the gameplay for it being dull and boring.[18]