New pushes from old texts. The original text was released in June 2018. While the “Snowman Brothers Special Edition” was launched on the NS platform, I would like to take everyone to review the story of this classic game.
In the era of only red and white machines, there were only a few games that could play doubles and were fun, such as “Contra”, “Saloman Snake”, “Double Dragon”, “Red Fortress”… I was almost tired of playing. By chance, Chang-nosed Jun saw such a unique doubles game at a relative’s house——
Two dumplings in overalls buried their lovely enemies alive into snowballs, and then brutally pushed them down from a height.
Well, this game is fun to play in two-player mode. The two protagonists seem to be twins, but in actual play, there is no brotherhood. Looking at this side, he was about to build a great cause of snowballs, but he was run over mercilessly by the snowballs thrown from the other side.
Therefore, good friends have to play this game slowly. Every time the enemy turns into food, it becomes a critical moment to test friendship.
Having said that, if the two of them can’t abandon their former hatred and cooperate sincerely in the later stage, it is estimated that they will not be able to get through even one level.
In the face of such an interesting doubles game, Long Nose is unwilling to leave, and he must finish the game before he is willing to give up. When I was dragged away by my parents, I learned that this game is called “Snowman Brothers”.
Ready to eat double dog food?
On the way home, Long Nose Jun kept thinking about where he had seen this “Snowman Brothers”.
You see, this game is about a pair of brothers trying to rescue two princesses. The game can be played by one person or by two people at the same time. The two brothers have almost the same color except that they have to fire bullets at the enemy. If they hit, they will not kill the opponent immediately, but will change it into another form, and push it again to completely destroy it. Killed enemies also turn into tasty treats, providing power-ups and points. Each level is a fixed layout, there is no scroll, you can fly to the next level after killing all the enemies…
The more I think about it, the more wrong, this… this is not “Bubble Bobble”!
That’s right, “Snowman Brothers” is an action game based on “Bubble Bobble”. The same is the cute style of the Q version, the same supports two-player games, and the same is an arcade ported home machine, but “Snowman Brothers”, which was launched in 1990, was three years later than “Bubble Bobble”.
At the beginning, because of the popularity of “Bubble Bobble”, it attracted a lot of follow-up works, and even the publisher Taidong himself copied several games. Among these imitations, The Snowman Brothers is the best. It is the interesting gameplay such as stacking snowballs and pushing snowballs, as well as the picture improvement brought by the latecomer advantage, that makes “Snowman Brothers” unique.
Less than a year after the arcade version was released, “Snowman Brothers” was ported to FC. However, the plot was tragically revised, and in the end the manufacturers themselves couldn’t make it.
It turned out that the plot on the arcade was very simple. The twin princesses of the Snow Mountain Kingdom were snatched by the Great Demon King. The twin snowmen brothers stepped forward, defeated the two stone statues, rescued the two princesses, and let the players eat double dog food… , so fragrant!
Why is the MD version of the princess more beautiful? Because it was ported by the developer himself
Isn’t it cheesy? But the FC version added more bloody settings on this basis, and even the race of the family was changed.
There are two brothers named Nick and Tom. They were originally humans. When the Demon King invaded the Snow Mountain Kingdom, he turned them into snowmen by the way. I don’t know if it’s to save the princess or to seek revenge, but in short, the brothers came to the Demon King to settle accounts.
Seeing this, you probably understand that this FC version of the plot is still “borrowed” from “Bubble Bobble”. The bridges that change back to human form after completing the level are exactly the same as “Bubble Bobble”.
After such a tossing in the FC version, the original simple Mario story has become an ethical masterpiece that tortures humanity. By 2018 standards, the game should be renamed:
“Snow Mountain Country: Become Human”
The production company also thought that the changes were not enough. When the US version was released, it changed the setting of the snowman again.
The setting of the snowman brothers was originally written very clearly, and the hobby is eating sushi. Therefore, the reward items that the enemies become in the game, in addition to the potions to enhance their abilities and the coupons for grand slams, are all kinds of sushi. What kind of sushi, nigiri sushi, warship sushi, hand roll sushi…
But how can Americans understand that there are so many tricks in sushi, they probably only know Shou California rolls. The Japanese simply replaced all the sushi and turned it into candy and other common American snacks, and even the Japanese-style hospitality coupons were replaced by straightforward US dollars. The subtle taste of the East disappeared suddenly. Did you see sushi or candy?
In this way, Hu Gai brings up a question. The snowmen brothers have finally turned back into human beings. What if there is a sequel in the future? Or did you not expect a second generation at all?
A few years ago, “Bubble Bobble”, which turned into a human, handled the problem in this way. They directly made a completely new work, only using the characters of the previous work, which is “Rainbow Island”.
The developers of “Snowman Brothers” obviously don’t want to go to great lengths to overthrow and redo, and want to continue to make money from this brand. Then we have to make up our minds to completely turn the plot of the FC version into black history.
Become human? No, no, don’t talk nonsense!
If you play the FC version and play the second generation on the arcade directly, you may not be able to connect not only the plot, but also the brain hole.
The customs clearance screen of the FC version is so ordinary that it can’t be more ordinary. After playing it once, I almost forget it.
But the ending of the arcade version and the MD version is a different style.
After the princess was rescued, a red sun rose slowly on the ground, and our game was over at this time.
Goodbye Snowman Nick,
Goodbye Tom the Snowman,
Goodbye, princess puff puff,
Goodbye, princess puff puff…
Why would a small bald head suddenly appear in the sun? This is totally unreasonable.
The start screen of the game is also a terrifying poster. I thought it was just to highlight the character, but I didn’t expect it to be a sun.
Seven years later, a long-lived and good-looking British drama finally gave a reasonable explanation for the small bald head of the solar calendar.
Goodbye Tintin,
Goodbye Dixie,
Goodbye Lara,
Goodbye, Xiaobo…
You might think this is just a pure coincidence, after all, the sun in “Teletubbies” is a baby, and the sun in “The Snowman” is a teenager. They just happen to have less hair.
However, the “Snowman Brothers 2” launched in 1994 made people have to doubt the relationship between the two again.
In the sequel, players can choose four different characters to play, they are the Snow Prince, one of the protagonists of the previous work, the Prince of Thunder, the Prince of Rain and the Prince of Wind.
Since they are princes, the four of them must be Yushu Linfeng, a talent. I was looking forward to entering the selection interface, but what I saw was this picture——
Developers, have you given up on therapy altogether?
“That’s right…” an enigmatic voice replied.
Sure enough, when making “Snowman Brothers 2”, the developer really had a terminal illness and gave up all means of saving to lie there and wait to die. Yeti Brothers 2 became the company’s last arcade game. As soon as the game came out, the company went out of business.
Who is this magical company that is broken and broken?
If you have been in an arcade hall in the 1990s and are an old pilot who flew all over the world, you will be familiar with this name. The one who made “Snowman Brothers” is Toaplan, an old-fashioned shooting game manufacturer, East Asia Project.
close down, reorganize, close down again
For those who have played “The Snowman Brothers”, it is difficult to associate this cute style game with the hardcore “jerk off” game, but they are all from the same company, and the creator of “The Snowman Brothers” later also “Jerking off” game makes an important contribution.
But no matter how cute it is, “Snowman Brothers” can’t save the bankruptcy of East Asia planning. The fall of this old arcade factory also heralds the overall decline of the STG game genre.
As early as the early 1980s, there was an arcade business in Japan called Orca, which became famous in the industry for making a game called “Lifeboat”. But the good times didn’t last long. In 1983, the company couldn’t support it and had to close down.
The software department that originally developed the game had to stand on its own and set up a new company to continue making games. It closed again soon after.
The fallen development members got up again, ran under the East Asia Planning Group, and formed a new department, Toaplan, which is the “East Asia Planning” as the players called it.
“Lifeboat” comes from the predecessor of East Asia Project
The successive closures and reorganizations show the resilience of this development team. When they first arrived at the East Asia planning and reorganization team, the entire development team could only squeeze into a room in the apartment and start their game dreams again.
At the beginning of the East Asia project, it started with mahjong games, but what really made the company take off was “playing planes”.
The entire 1980s was the golden age of STG, and it was absolutely mainstream in the arcade hall. Various game companies are firing on all cylinders to produce increasingly popular flying shooters. In an environment of aliens and sci-fi fighter planes, East Asia plans to take a different approach and form a distinct style.
The debut work of East Asia planning, the publisher is bright
Style 1, East Asia Project likes to use alternative aircraft as player-controlled characters, such as propeller planes and helicopters.
In 1987, East Asia Project launched the helicopter shooting game “Ultimate Tiger” that shocked the industry. The hot scenes that fill the screen and the unique helicopter operation have influenced many later shooting games, including the familiar “Thunderbolt” for Chinese players.
The success of games such as “Ultimate Tiger” and “Flying Shark” has made East Asian planning one of the benchmarks of STG.
The second style is the so-called East Asian planning game development. To put it more simply, programmers who don’t want to compose music are not good plans.
The game development planned by East Asia has always maintained such a practice. All game music is completed by programmers, and professional musicians are not invited to compose the music. At the same time, programmers may also have multiple roles in art and planning. Therefore, the games planned by East Asia can always bring people a different sensory experience.
The visual impact of the posters of the East Asia project is always so strong
Compared with professional musicians, the music written by programmers may be simple, but they are usually very brainwashed.
The music of “Snowman Brothers” belongs to the kind of unforgettable type, and it will reverberate in my mind from time to time after playing. The people who composed the music for this game are programmers Ota Ri and Uemura Kenya, the latter is also the programmer and composer of “Ultimate Tiger”.
Because the OST is a platter, the cover is more mixed
Even with the versatility of programmers, companies inevitably fail. Judging from the historical itinerary, the failure of the East Asian project is almost inevitable.
After entering the 1990s, the popular genre of arcade games has undergone tremendous changes. With the introduction of “Street Fighter 2”, the arcade hall has been completely occupied by fighting games. Manufacturers with a keen sense of smell have begun to follow the footsteps of CAPCOM in full swing, but East Asia planning is satisfied with the thrill of “jumping”, clinging to STG’s thigh without any movement, and finally being abandoned by the times along with STG.
Tracing its origins, the game department of East Asia Planning has always been imprisoned in the cycle of bankruptcy and reconstruction. Beneath the ruins, new hope has gradually emerged.
He, changed the barrage
Today’s talk is obviously “Snowman Brothers”, why is there a barrage? This matter still has to be said from the closure of East Asia Project.
On the eve of the company’s imminent collapse, the employees of East Asia Planning were all panicked, but Kenichi Takano, the producer of “Snowman Brothers”, was calm because he found a new direction.
This is not the first time Kenichi Takano has seen opportunity beckon him.
In 1984, the young Kenichi Takano found that many arcade rooms appeared overnight on the side of the road when he was shopping. Emerging video games quickly occupied people’s entertainment life. In primary and secondary schools, FC penetrated into the home of every Japanese student at an alarming rate.
Kenichi Takano, who originally knew nothing about games, realized that an era of video games was coming. He had a fascination with computer graphics and taught himself programming and drawing. In the days when computer graphics were still very crude, he firmly believed that “this is the possible direction in the future.”
The keen Kenichi Takano believed that the game had a bright future, so he entered the East Asian project this year and became a gamer. After several years of struggle, Kenichi Takano finally took the position of game producer and began to lead the development team to fully control the development of the game. “Snowman Brothers” is one of his important works.
In 1994, Sony joined the game industry and launched its own home game console PS, and the graphics technology of the game began to change from 2D to 3D. At the same time, East Asia plans to enter the final stage of bankruptcy and liquidation.
Kenichi Takano had a hunch that game production technology would undergo earth-shaking changes, and he began to step up the time to recharge himself and prepare for the coming new era.
Only by continuous learning can you never go bankrupt.
While others were busy looking for a next home, Kenichi Takano spent his last moments before the company collapsed, eagerly learning 3D game development techniques. For an East Asian planning employee who can program, draw and plan, Kenichi Takano not only keenly captures the opportunities of the times, but also leads his colleagues to a better future together.
In the same year, East Asia Project collapsed, and Kenichi Takano led his team, the brothers who made “Snowman Brothers”, to set up a brand new game company Cave, and he became the big boss of this company.
If you have been paying attention to the development of flying shooting games, you must have heard the name Cave, as well as their famous work, the representative work of the new era of “aircraft” games – “Angry Leader Bee”.
In 1997, three years after leaving East Asia Project, the new company Cave released the sequel to their hit game “Angry Boss Bee”, and players were surprised to find that the STG had changed!
I’m sorry, I was disabled when I played “Saloman Snake” back then, this kind of game is really unplayable
The screen is full of dense bullets, slowly staggering each other, gradually approaching the player’s aircraft. Looking for fleeting gaps, dodging bullets in the sky, and killing huge enemies in seemingly impossible gaps, this new gameplay has become a new pursuit for STG fans. Players were so excited that they called this new form of “aircraft” game a “barrage game”. And Cave’s definition of this type of game is-
Dazzling flowers, changing freely.
Since then, bullet screen games have become the new mainstream of flying shooters. I’m embarrassed to call myself “jump plane” when I don’t see the full screen. Chinese players have gradually accepted this setting, and even enjoy games such as “Just Persevere for Twenty Seconds” (“Special Training”). Looking at the popular domestic flying shooting mobile games today, they are all bullet screens without exception.
Although there is much debate among Oriental fans and Cave supporters as to who was the earliest barrage game, there is no doubt that “Angry Boss Bee” is a masterpiece of this type of game. Who would have thought that the person who recast STG and the East Asian planning spirit is actually the biological father of “Snowman Brothers”.
Kenichi Takano once said that imagination is more important than marketing .
Unemployment and bankruptcy are not a problem for him. If a person can continue to enrich himself like a snowball, even if he is pushed to the bottom, he can still stand on the top again.
end
Time went back to the old days. Long-nosed Jun Ye thought about his dream and hoped to play “Snowman Brothers” again. In the end, he had to use the eight-in-one to exchange it from his classmates.
He happily inserted the game card with “Snowman Brothers” written on it, turned on the power, and this picture popped up on the TV——
“Your name is “Snow Mountain Brothers”, this is the real “Snowman Brothers”.” The classmate who used the low-K game to deceive Chang-nosed Jun’s feelings slyly defended.
Your English is taught by a physical education teacher? It’s called “ICE Climber”!
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