Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic
1987 · Platform · Famicom Disk System
Overview
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987) is Nintendo's Famicom Disk System platformer made for a Fuji Television event — the game that was reworked into the Western Super Mario Bros. 2.
Deep Dive
Doki Doki Panic was a promotional game built around the mascots of Fuji Television's Yume Kōjō '87 event: Imajin, Lina, Mama and Papa, who enter a storybook world with an Arabian theme. Instead of stomping on enemies, which does not defeat them, the characters pull vegetables out of the ground and pick up and throw enemies and objects. Each of the four plays differently in speed, strength and jumping, and the game has to be finished with every one of them. The music is by Koji Kondo.
Developer Story
Directed by Kensuke Tanabe and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo R&D4, the game was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan on 10 July 1987. As Super Mario Bros. 2 it reached North America on 9 October 1988, and Japan eventually received that version too, as Super Mario USA, in 1992.
Did You Know?
- Its design began as a two-player, vertically scrolling prototype by Kensuke Tanabe, which was shelved when Shigeru Miyamoto asked for horizontal scrolling.
- Nintendo of America judged the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 too hard and too similar to the first game, so Doki Doki Panic was converted instead: Mario, Luigi, Toad and the Princess replaced the four mascots, a run button was added, and the game no longer had to be completed with every character.
Sources & further reading
- Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic — Wikipedia
