Gunpey

Gunpey (Japanese: グンペイ, Hepburn: Gunpei), 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
Logo of the WonderSwan version
Genre(s)Puzzle
Developer(s)Koto Laboratory
Q Entertainment
Art Co., Ltd
TOSE Co. Ltd
Publisher(s)Bandai
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platform(s)Arcade, WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, mobile phone, PlayStation Portable, iOS, Android
First releaseGunpey (WonderSwan)
  • JP: March 4, 1999
Latest releaseGunpey (PSP)
  • NA: November 14, 2006
  • JP: January 11, 2007
  • EU: March 30, 2007
  • AU: April 13, 2007

Gameplay
Screenshot of "Stage 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]

  • "Endless Mode" features line fragments appearing from the bottom of the grid and gradually move to up to the top as more pieces appear. The rate at which the new pieces scroll up from the bottom increases as the levels go on. The game ends if any line fragments reach the top of the screen before they have been assembled into a full line.[3]
  • "Stage Mode" bears a resemblance to Endless Mode. The goal is to clear lines using a specific number of line fragments as they appear from the bottom of the grid. Once the number of lines has been cleared, the player can move on to the next stage. The number of used line fragments needed to clear a stage and the rate of new line fragments appearing increases as more stages are cleared.[3]
  • "Puzzle Mode" features a specific number of lines are set per each stage. All the line fragments must be connected without a single line remaining.[4]
  • "Story Mode" is a mode where the player battles against the CPU in order to progress the story. The goal is to clear lines with a certain number of lines similar to Puzzle Mode, however the CPU adds several mechanics that may affect progress such as shadowed-panels, side-scrolling grid, and falling bombs that can be thrown upwards against the CPU.[4] A vertical gauge is also featured. If the gauge is filled completely, the shadowed-panels disappear.[5] The Story revolves around a frog named Vincent as he saves a cat named Sherry from a group of outlaws. In Tarepanda no Gunpey, the story revolves around Tarepanda as he rolls around reaching specific destinations around the Earth and collecting photos of different Tarepanda slowly becoming a pile of Tarepandas.
  • "VS mode" allows two players to battle against each other. Players can choose difficulties between High, Normal, Low, and Poor. 'High' rewards less SP per clearing a line as 'Poor' rewards more SP.

Games
Original series
Title Release dates Platform Notes
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[lower-alpha 1]
WonderSwan The game features Tarepanda theme. A special edition bundle was also released containing the game and a Tarepanda-themed WonderSwan.[7]
Gunpey
PlayStation, Arcade An enhanced port of the original WonderSwan version by TOSE.[7] This version received its own arcade port by Banpresto in 2000.[9]
Gunpey EX[lower-alpha 2]
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.[11] However, the Story Mode feature has been removed.[12]
Gunpey
NTT DoCoMo Cell phone version based on Gunpey EX.
Gunpey Rebirth
Title Release dates Platform Notes
Gunpey DS[lower-alpha 3]
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[lower-alpha 4]
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[lower-alpha 5]
iOS
Android		 Developed by Namco Bandai. The game uses worms to represent line segments. It was discontinued on December 13, 2017.[24]

Reception
Japanese and Western review scores
Game Famitsu GameRankings Metacritic
Gunpey 33/40[25] - -
Tarepanda no Gunpey - -
Gunpey EX - -
Gunpey DS 70.19% 70/100
Gunpey (PSP) 65.78% 62/100

Famitsu magazine scored the WonderSwan version of the game a 33 out of 40.[25] Retro Gamer ranked the original WonderSwan game #2 on its "Top Ten WonderSwan Games" praising its simplicity and variety of modes it offers.[26] DefunctGames gave the game a B+ noting its different tone of gameplay compared to other puzzle games from its time.[27] 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 Gunpey's 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".[28]

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".[29] 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".[30] 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.[31] 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".[32] IGN, however, gave the PSP version a less favorable review criticizing the gameplay for it being dull and boring.[33]

References
Notes
  1. Tarepanda's Gunpey (たれぱんだのぐんぺい)
  2. Gunpei EX (グンペイ EX)
  3. Oto o tsunagou! Gunpei Riba~su♪ (音をつなごう!グンペイりば～す♪, lit. "Connect the Sound! Gunpey Rebi-rth♪")
  4. Gunpey-R (グンペイ・リバース, lit. "Gunpey Rebirth")
  5. Gunpey Hana no Kānibaru (ぐんぺい 花のカーニバル, lit. "Gunpey Flower Carnival")
Citation
  1. "TGS 2006: Gunpey". IGN. November 2, 2006. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  2. Gunpey manual. Bandai/Koto Laoratory. pp. 5–7.
  3. Gunpey manual. Bandai/Koto Laoratory. p. 9.
  4. Gunpey manual. Bandai/Koto Laoratory. p. 10.
  5. Gunpey manual. Bandai/Koto Laoratory. p. 11.
  6. 第21回 スワンクリスタル受注生産へ！ ワンダースワンのこれまでとこれからを探る！【見習い記者の取材日記】 (in Japanese). Famitsu. March 8, 2003. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  7. "たれぱんだのぐんぺい WS" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  8. "グンペイ PS" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  9. "Gunpey (Game)". Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  10. "WS『GUNPEY EX（グンペイ EX）』" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  11. "GUNPEY EX" (in Japanese). Bandai. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  12. Tom Lenting (August 27, 2011). "Gunpey EX Review". DefunctGames. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  13. "NTTドコモ「iモード」コンテンツ『バンダイ コレクション』10月4日よりサービス開始" (in Japanese). Bandai Namco Games. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  14. 音をつなごう！グンペイりば〜す♪ (in Japanese). Famitsu. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  15. "Gunpey DS". IGN. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  16. "Gunpey DS". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  17. "Gunpey DS". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  18. "Gunpey PSP". IGN. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  19. グンペイ リバース (in Japanese). Famitsu. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  20. "Gunpey PSP". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  21. "Gunpey-R PSP". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  22. "【新作】名作パズルゲーム『ぐんぺい』がキュートに生まれ変わってスマホに登場！" (in Japanese). Famitsu. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  23. "Gunpeyard Flower Carnival". AppAdvice. October 13, 2017. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  24. "【バンナム、『ぐんぺい 花のカーニバル』のサービスを2017年12月13日をもって終了" (in Japanese). Gamebiz.jp. October 16, 2017. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  25. "ワンダースワン - GUN PEY（グンペイ）" (915). Weekly Famitsu. 30 June 2006: 112. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  26. "Wonderswan: Perfect Ten Games". Retro Gamer (36): 72, 73. 2007.
  27. Cyril Lachel (October 28, 2006). "GunPey Review". DefunctGames. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  28. Justin Davis (2006). "Gunpey EX Mobile Review". Modojo.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  29. Damien McFerran (April 12, 2007). "Review: Gunpey DS". Nintendolife. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  30. Kevin VanOrd (November 21, 2006). "GunPey DS/PSP Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  31. Dave McCarthy (February 25, 2007). "Gunpey Review: Yokoi-ing to like this". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  32. Craig Harris (November 29, 2006). "Gunpey DS Review: A Wonderswan puzzler hits the Nintendo DS with a bizarre presentation". IGN. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  33. Ed Lewis (November 14, 2006). "Gunpey Review: Boring and slow, this puzzler never takes off". IGN. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
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