Pop'n Pop

Pop'n Pop
Japanese PlayStation box art.
Information
Developer(s)	Dreams (Arcade, PlayStation, PC) ITL (Arcade, PlayStation, PC) Nekogumi (Game Boy Color)
Publisher(s)	Taito (Arcade, PlayStation) CyberFront (PC) Jorudan (Game Boy Color) JVC (European PlayStation and Game Boy Color releases) VektorLogic (European PC release)
Director(s)	Tomohiro Nishikado
Producer(s)	Yoshihisa Nagata Tsukasa Oshima
Designer(s)	Tomohiro Nishikado Kenichi Hiza
Programmer(s)	Kuniaki Watanabe Shinya Sasaki Kenichi Murofushi Yasuhito Nagumo Tomoaki Kasuya
Composer(s)	Kenichi Kamio
Release date	February 1998 (Arcade) October 22, 1998 (PlayStation) July 28, 2000 (PC) February 16, 2001 (Game Boy Color)
Genre	Puzzle
Modes	Single player, multiplayer
Platform(s)	Arcade PlayStation Game Boy Color PC

 Pop'n Pop (ぽっぷんぽっぷ, Poppunpoppu^?) is an arcade game developed by Dreams and ITL, and released by Taito in February 1998. An enhanced port with more characters and game modes was released for PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and PC. It features characters from many of Taito's earlier games, including some from the Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands series.

Plot

After suffering crushing defeats at the hands of their heroic archenemies, the villains from the worlds of various Taito games have all gathered under the "Master of Darkness", and have decided to set out to conquer all of the worlds together. The evil alliance first set their sights on Pop'n World, a peaceful realm that floats in the sky via the power of magic balloons. The villainous army's strength is enough to quickly conquer Pop'n World, and its ruler, Princess Lena, is soon captured. However, Princess Lena has sent out magic balloons to the various game worlds, in order to warn each of the heroes of the crisis, causing them each to set out to defeat the villains and stop the Master of Darkness' ambitions.

Gameplay

Pop'n Pop's gameplay can be described as a hybrid of Puzzle Bobble and Space Invaders, with the player shooting balloons at rows of other balloons, trying to match three of the same color. The player must clear the entire screen of balloons in order to progress to the next stage.

Characters

Playable characters

• Bubby
  • Bobby
• Sayo-chan
  • Miki-chan
• Bob
  • Jim
• Tiki
  • Phee-Phee
• Bub (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and PC versions only)
  • Bob (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and PC versions only)
• Ptolemy (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and PC versions only)
  • Rodemy (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and PC versions only)
• Hipopo (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
  • Tamasun (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Chack'n (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
  • Miss Chack'n (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Drunk (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)

Assist characters

• Monsta
• Puka Puka
• Kinokon
• Kiwi
• Dragon (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and PC versions only)
• Gaogara (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Maita (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Skel-Monsta (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)

Non-playable characters

• Princess Lena (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Kaminari-san
• Ogei-chan (Cameo, PlayStation version only)
• Zuzu (Cameo, PlayStation version only)
• Raidenou (Cameo, PlayStation version only)
• Frozen Whale (Cameo)
• Pelican (Cameo, PlayStation version only)
• Sexy Dynamite (Cameo, PlayStation version only)
• Mechanical Prototype Bubblen (Cameo, PlayStation version only)

Bosses

• Zen-chan
• Boo
• Leopard Seal (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• King
• Birugan (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Manuke
• Dracolisk (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Fire Satan (PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions only)
• Super Dark Great Dragon
• Super Mecha Skel-Monsta

Gallery

Japanese Game Boy Color box art.