Lot Lot's original incarnation was as a reader-submitted type-in program for MSX in "Program Pochette", a companion mag for Technopolis. Called "LOTLOTLOT" here, It polled fairly well with readers, so Tokuma decided to give it a brush-up and license it out as a means to break into the arcade/console market. (The later physical MSX release uses the Famicom port as a base and is quite different)
There’s something organically unsettling about the barriers being called ‘membranes’ as if we’re watching some otherworldly spawning of spherical life cascading towards freedom, only to be consumed at the last minute by that pesky intergalactic Zoidberg.
I started collecting Famicom in earnest in 2018. It's been fun to go back and check out these older titles using this series as a guide. It has definitely enriched by enjoyment of the system and I'll miss seeing it. (Though, I can understand that one can only take so much kusoge and maintain a will to live)
I don't know WHAT to make of that ball-dropping game but I'm positive there's a smartphone version out there making thousands of dollars a day because the balls are fruit or bugs or something with personality
With no knowledge of the video game, my little sister and I happened to invent Penguin Wars in parallel growing up. We sat at opposite ends of the hallway and chucked rolled up pairs of socks at each other in a desperate attempt to clear all pairs from our side.
I think I may have mentioned it here before, but... In terms of hardware, I think the two factors that enabled the Famicom to be the right system in the right place at the right time were its sprite support, for even with flickering 64 sprites at once is pretty awesome for the time, and its hardware scrolling support. I cut my coding teeth on a Commodore 64, which had pretty good graphics for its time. But it only had eight hardware sprites at once (raster tricks could increase that number but those carry a performance cost), and while it had hardware support for scrolling, it was _really_ processor intensive, requiring the system to often have to spend most of a frame laboriously shifting every character over one space. It also had separate color memory, and while its character display could be redirected quickly by changing one value in one of the VIC-II chip's registers, color data could not be so redirected. As a result, scrolling games on the C64 were severely limited. The NES could redirect its character map to point anywhere within a bank of 2K of PPU RAM, and up to 4K if the cartridge supplied the PPU with additional memory. Because the tilemap was so flexible, not only did the CPU not have to move all of that graphics data around in the processor thread, leaving much more time for game logic, but it also could prepare upcoming screens of background data in multiple frames. To a former C64 programmer, it seems rather luxurious.
When you had said you reached the end of NES Works Gaiden, I originally interpreted that as that you'd reached the end of 1985, would take a break for a time, and then would return at some point and resume with 1986. You were just on the cusp of reaching the Famicom Disk System, and I was psyched to hear your analysis and commentary on it. From what I am now reading, it seems like you're going in a different direction? I'm still holding out hope. Either way, I'm here for the ride. Totally understand the need for a change of scenery.
I just realized I had totally forgotten that you did a system retrospective a year ago with episode #18. Still, I would love it if you got around to covering at least some individual disc system games in the future.
Nice to see you were able to mention Epoch's consoles, the TV Boy, and the Casio one as far as Japanese Famicom competitors. Definitely looking forward to more Segaiden.
The text under Astro Wars II mentioned coming up in NES Works Gaiden Epoch so we will be getting more info regarding that console at some point baring a major schedule change. Whether or not it’s a single video or a full chronology as was the case for the SG1000 remains to be seen.
@@MrJWTH Jeremy is currently doing a Patron exclusive series on the Cassette Vision and will also include Super Cassette Vision games in that series. The public is scheduled to get it around 2024 I think.
The music for Penguin-kun Wars is a chiptune take of "Motto sekkin shimasho" by Hidemi Ishikawa, a song which sounds _suspiciously_ similar to "The Glamorous Life" by Sheila E. (It even has the line "glamorous ni daite"...)
LotLot seems to do its many moving objects by drawing the tiles directly on the background, which explains why they don't roll smoothly but jerk along. Long long ago I wrote a Commodore 64 game that used a similar kind of engine.
I'm guessing here, but I wonder if Lot Lot draws the balls as background titles to have a lot (lot) of them on the same horizontal axis and just updates the screen very quickly, I seem to recall Gauntlet does a singular thing with enemies. Also! Actually stoked to see you cover Penguin-kun Wars!! I picked up the Famicom cart at my local retro game shop after learning about it in your Game Boy Works episode from forever ago (had that one as a kid) despite not yet having the hardware to play it on. This is just one of my favorite game concepts, and I think this version does a whole lot in a very simple framework and limit set. I'm having a lot of fun with it now and I'm very proud that it's my first Famicom game!
Yeah, I figured the game uses background tiles to render the balls, but the way they incorporated an illusion of animation and fluid dynamics is pretty impressive, since was the days before bank-switching. HAL was so cool in the 8-bit era.
@@JeremyParish I'll grant the physics, even if they're not asking for much. The animation? C'mon. All that accidentally simulated sprite flicker is doing a lot of work that the instant teleportation isn't. That said, I was surprised to see professional work from people who take pride in their craft. I can only imagine what it's like for you to stumble on such an oasis.
Is the Penguin Wars I remember playing the gameboy version as a used gameboy loose copy. I distinctly remember playing it laying down on the floor at the tail end of the summer break of 1997 when they said that princess diana was dead.
i got surprised shitless when i saw that the exed exes shiny version (the one with the swirly stickers) is a limited edition, as i have one. Then i saw the "platinum members sticker" and remembered that mine is a bootleg :(
I arrived a little late, but I do hope to hear more about important famicom games in their historical content, but I also understand why the FDS would make for a good enough cutoff point for a dedicated series
I feel like when it comes to any game that has a US release years apart from its original Japanese release is important when evaluating a title (Like how Ultimate Battle 22 on the PS1 was considered merely a so-so fighter in 1995 rather than one of the worst when it was released in the US in 2003)
Looking forward to dipping back into the world of Sega 8-bit, because even if I knew very little about most of these Famicom games, I know even less about the world of early Sega and I look forward to absorbing the juice news on them. And perhaps I'll be a little more open to abaorbing said info if it's about games revolving atound something a bit juicier than just, well... balls.
I played the game apparently known as "Penguin Wars" when I was a kid, when my brother was given a copy as one of his first Gameboy games. However, what he actually got was a bootleg cart renamed "King of the Zoo", which had an unusual cart shape, but was otherwise identical. Memorable only as one of the first few video games I ever played in my life. No charge attacks in the NES version, though?
I used to think developers get unilaterally better at making use of a particular hardware over time but this chronology shows that the curve is much more complicated. Every successful platform gets its time where the majority of releases are subpar, from the Atari 2600 to the Famicom, all the way to modern consoles like the Switch. Then as the platform goes inactive there is a sudden bump in quality as only the best stick around that long.
Yeah, that’s definitely what they’re supposed to be. They propel the ball back in the same direction that it came from. They’re called pop bumpers, jet bumpers, or thumper bumpers.
I'll recommend checking out the modern Penguin Wars reboot on Switch/PS4. It adds tons of game modes, decent online play, super moves, a ridiculous disco vibe, and DLC that adds Hebereke characters for additional old game obscurity.
I hope you continue to cover Famicom games. I’d love to know more about the culture and impact these games had during their original release in Japan. Maybe an Episode on Zelda on Disk System?
4:30 I won't be surprised if the balls are actually animated background tiles and not sprites. Also, with some user interface touchup (More intuitive ways to guide the balls maybe) and 2 sticks, this could be a decent modern indie game.
Yeah, it reminds me of how Gauntlet handles the screen full of enemies for quite a few releases. They're just background tiles that get shuffled around.
Really great series that I hope you continue in a limited format. There are definitely some Japanese releases in the next couple years which have a major effect on American NES titles in the near future. Genre-defining releases like Dragon Quest I, II, and III for example won't see the light of day in America for several years despite their influence being all over a variety of NES games, and experimental games like Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei I and II, Final Fantasy II and Mother were never released here. It would be cool for you to show those off in some capacity. Either way, really enjoy your work!
Have to say, I am a bit disappointed that this series is ending before it can cover some of the notorious kusoge from this era of the Famicom. Hopefully at some point we will actually get coverage of Atlantis no Nazo and Super Monkey Daibouken, at least. It really feels like we've been teased, considering how often Jeremy has used footage of those games as punch lines!
@@JeremyParish I'll look forward to it, as they say! Thanksn I'm really interested in the Segaiden series too. I know very little about them, having been an NES loyalist back in the day.
Lot Lot's original incarnation was as a reader-submitted type-in program for MSX in "Program Pochette", a companion mag for Technopolis. Called "LOTLOTLOT" here, It polled fairly well with readers, so Tokuma decided to give it a brush-up and license it out as a means to break into the arcade/console market. (The later physical MSX release uses the Famicom port as a base and is quite different)
There’s something organically unsettling about the barriers being called ‘membranes’ as if we’re watching some otherworldly spawning of spherical life cascading towards freedom, only to be consumed at the last minute by that pesky intergalactic Zoidberg.
I started collecting Famicom in earnest in 2018. It's been fun to go back and check out these older titles using this series as a guide. It has definitely enriched by enjoyment of the system and I'll miss seeing it. (Though, I can understand that one can only take so much kusoge and maintain a will to live)
If you haven’t seen them yet, I highly recommend Chrontendo as a resource for Famicom history, along with Famidaily!
I don't know WHAT to make of that ball-dropping game but I'm positive there's a smartphone version out there making thousands of dollars a day because the balls are fruit or bugs or something with personality
With no knowledge of the video game, my little sister and I happened to invent Penguin Wars in parallel growing up. We sat at opposite ends of the hallway and chucked rolled up pairs of socks at each other in a desperate attempt to clear all pairs from our side.
I think I may have mentioned it here before, but...
In terms of hardware, I think the two factors that enabled the Famicom to be the right system in the right place at the right time were its sprite support, for even with flickering 64 sprites at once is pretty awesome for the time, and its hardware scrolling support.
I cut my coding teeth on a Commodore 64, which had pretty good graphics for its time. But it only had eight hardware sprites at once (raster tricks could increase that number but those carry a performance cost), and while it had hardware support for scrolling, it was _really_ processor intensive, requiring the system to often have to spend most of a frame laboriously shifting every character over one space. It also had separate color memory, and while its character display could be redirected quickly by changing one value in one of the VIC-II chip's registers, color data could not be so redirected. As a result, scrolling games on the C64 were severely limited.
The NES could redirect its character map to point anywhere within a bank of 2K of PPU RAM, and up to 4K if the cartridge supplied the PPU with additional memory. Because the tilemap was so flexible, not only did the CPU not have to move all of that graphics data around in the processor thread, leaving much more time for game logic, but it also could prepare upcoming screens of background data in multiple frames. To a former C64 programmer, it seems rather luxurious.
Those look like really fun games. I'll need to check them out. Goodbye 1985, hello 1986.
When you had said you reached the end of NES Works Gaiden, I originally interpreted that as that you'd reached the end of 1985, would take a break for a time, and then would return at some point and resume with 1986. You were just on the cusp of reaching the Famicom Disk System, and I was psyched to hear your analysis and commentary on it. From what I am now reading, it seems like you're going in a different direction? I'm still holding out hope. Either way, I'm here for the ride. Totally understand the need for a change of scenery.
I just realized I had totally forgotten that you did a system retrospective a year ago with episode #18. Still, I would love it if you got around to covering at least some individual disc system games in the future.
Nice to see you were able to mention Epoch's consoles, the TV Boy, and the Casio one as far as Japanese Famicom competitors. Definitely looking forward to more Segaiden.
The text under Astro Wars II mentioned coming up in NES Works Gaiden Epoch so we will be getting more info regarding that console at some point baring a major schedule change. Whether or not it’s a single video or a full chronology as was the case for the SG1000 remains to be seen.
@@MrJWTH Jeremy is currently doing a Patron exclusive series on the Cassette Vision and will also include Super Cassette Vision games in that series. The public is scheduled to get it around 2024 I think.
No more Famicom Gaiden? Wha-what are you saying~? No, Jeremy…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I appreciate your dedication to chronicling a Lot Lot (sorry.)
The music for Penguin-kun Wars is a chiptune take of "Motto sekkin shimasho" by Hidemi Ishikawa, a song which sounds _suspiciously_ similar to "The Glamorous Life" by Sheila E. (It even has the line "glamorous ni daite"...)
LotLot seems to do its many moving objects by drawing the tiles directly on the background, which explains why they don't roll smoothly but jerk along. Long long ago I wrote a Commodore 64 game that used a similar kind of engine.
I'm guessing here, but I wonder if Lot Lot draws the balls as background titles to have a lot (lot) of them on the same horizontal axis and just updates the screen very quickly, I seem to recall Gauntlet does a singular thing with enemies.
Also! Actually stoked to see you cover Penguin-kun Wars!! I picked up the Famicom cart at my local retro game shop after learning about it in your Game Boy Works episode from forever ago (had that one as a kid) despite not yet having the hardware to play it on. This is just one of my favorite game concepts, and I think this version does a whole lot in a very simple framework and limit set. I'm having a lot of fun with it now and I'm very proud that it's my first Famicom game!
Yeah, I figured the game uses background tiles to render the balls, but the way they incorporated an illusion of animation and fluid dynamics is pretty impressive, since was the days before bank-switching. HAL was so cool in the 8-bit era.
@@JeremyParish
I'll grant the physics, even if they're not asking for much. The animation? C'mon. All that accidentally simulated sprite flicker is doing a lot of work that the instant teleportation isn't.
That said, I was surprised to see professional work from people who take pride in their craft. I can only imagine what it's like for you to stumble on such an oasis.
Is the Penguin Wars I remember playing the gameboy version as a used gameboy loose copy. I distinctly remember playing it laying down on the floor at the tail end of the summer break of 1997 when they said that princess diana was dead.
Is that penguin.... twerking?
Donkey kong 94.
I remember when the very planet was in the loving grip of the Pax Softnica.
i got surprised shitless when i saw that the exed exes shiny version (the one with the swirly stickers) is a limited edition, as i have one. Then i saw the "platinum members sticker" and remembered that mine is a bootleg :(
Great video. Lot Lot looks like fun to me, at least for small bursts. And... 13:25 Last Starfighter? Hell yeah... absolutely love that game!
That Penguin-Kun stage music sounds a lot like "The Glamorous Life" by Sheila E., co-written and with backing vocals by Prince.
I am glad that this available on modern hardware
Ill miss this series. Thank you for making it and if you ever feel the want to make more Id love to hear you talk about Fire N Ice!
Good stuff, looking forward to more Segaiden!
I arrived a little late, but I do hope to hear more about important famicom games in their historical content, but I also understand why the FDS would make for a good enough cutoff point for a dedicated series
I feel like when it comes to any game that has a US release years apart from its original Japanese release is important when evaluating a title (Like how Ultimate Battle 22 on the PS1 was considered merely a so-so fighter in 1995 rather than one of the worst when it was released in the US in 2003)
Looking forward to dipping back into the world of Sega 8-bit, because even if I knew very little about most of these Famicom games, I know even less about the world of early Sega and I look forward to absorbing the juice news on them. And perhaps I'll be a little more open to abaorbing said info if it's about games revolving atound something a bit juicier than just, well... balls.
Sukeban Deka in the opening clip, neat! =D
Thank you for another awesome year of content!
So, Pokemon Mini Works when? 😉
I played the game apparently known as "Penguin Wars" when I was a kid, when my brother was given a copy as one of his first Gameboy games. However, what he actually got was a bootleg cart renamed "King of the Zoo", which had an unusual cart shape, but was otherwise identical. Memorable only as one of the first few video games I ever played in my life. No charge attacks in the NES version, though?
This series was amazing. Thank you very much!
Strangely, Penguin Wars was one of the few games I had for Game Boy when I was young.
I used to think developers get unilaterally better at making use of a particular hardware over time but this chronology shows that the curve is much more complicated.
Every successful platform gets its time where the majority of releases are subpar, from the Atari 2600 to the Famicom, all the way to modern consoles like the Switch.
Then as the platform goes inactive there is a sudden bump in quality as only the best stick around that long.
Happy new year to this channel. 😀👍🎮
those bonus hame saucers look like giant Pinball Bouncers... like real old analogue ones from electromechanical pinball tables
Yeah, that’s definitely what they’re supposed to be. They propel the ball back in the same direction that it came from. They’re called pop bumpers, jet bumpers, or thumper bumpers.
I'll recommend checking out the modern Penguin Wars reboot on Switch/PS4. It adds tons of game modes, decent online play, super moves, a ridiculous disco vibe, and DLC that adds Hebereke characters for additional old game obscurity.
I used to think the Lot Lot arrows were characters, like some sort of mages in large hat and robe. It did not help me make sense of it all.
There are a sequel of Penguin Kun Wars on MSX2
Looking forward to TMNT and DuckTales being discussed along with Mega Man 2, and Friday the 13th.
I hope you continue to cover Famicom games. I’d love to know more about the culture and impact these games had during their original release in Japan. Maybe an Episode on Zelda on Disk System?
If I double dip into Zelda, that’s going to be your sign that I’m desperate for money
The "balls" count is strong with this video!
4:30 I won't be surprised if the balls are actually animated background tiles and not sprites.
Also, with some user interface touchup (More intuitive ways to guide the balls maybe) and 2 sticks, this could be a decent modern indie game.
Yeah, that was my suggestion, and it’s impressive if so given the way the balls appear to flow and animate.
Yeah, it reminds me of how Gauntlet handles the screen full of enemies for quite a few releases. They're just background tiles that get shuffled around.
Really great series that I hope you continue in a limited format. There are definitely some Japanese releases in the next couple years which have a major effect on American NES titles in the near future. Genre-defining releases like Dragon Quest I, II, and III for example won't see the light of day in America for several years despite their influence being all over a variety of NES games, and experimental games like Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei I and II, Final Fantasy II and Mother were never released here. It would be cool for you to show those off in some capacity.
Either way, really enjoy your work!
Hey ive played this in a pachinko parlor in nagoya. Much more era friendly though
Wooohoo! Love Penguin Kun Wars
The name Lot Lot didn't suggest Lottery to me. I thought of something in the sense of "a lot of" / "many".
Those pucks appear to be pinball bumpers to me.
Just looking at Lot lot gives me a mad headache
What was the anime at the beginning?
55 sweet episodes.
Looking like they're using pinball bumpers.
Thumbs up for great video and sukiban dekka
Lot Lot looks incredibly confusing
Lot lot vs Door Door
Lot Lot might have the most inane nonsense mechanics I've seen you cover to date.
Have to say, I am a bit disappointed that this series is ending before it can cover some of the notorious kusoge from this era of the Famicom.
Hopefully at some point we will actually get coverage of Atlantis no Nazo and Super Monkey Daibouken, at least. It really feels like we've been teased, considering how often Jeremy has used footage of those games as punch lines!
A man can only deal with so much kusoge, but I'm sure I'll dabble in some of the more notable muck in due time.
@@JeremyParish I'll look forward to it, as they say! Thanksn
I'm really interested in the Segaiden series too. I know very little about them, having been an NES loyalist back in the day.
Jeremy Parish discord server when?
Retronauts has one, find me there
@@JeremyParish where can I find a link?