Toy Pop
{{Short description|1986 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Toy Pop
| image = Toy Pop arcade flyer.jpg
| caption = Advertising flyer
| developer = Namco
| publisher = Namco
| designer = Takefumi Hyodoh
| artist = Hiroshi Fuji
| composer = Junko Ozawa
| platforms = Arcade, Sharp X1
| released = {{vgrelease|JP|April 1986}}
| genre = Multidirectional shooter
| modes = Single-player, multiplayer
}}
{{nihongo foot|Toy Pop|トイポップ|Toi Poppu|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a multidirectional shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. The game was later rereleased as part of Namco Museum Vol. 1 for the original Sony PlayStation in 1995.
Gameplay
Toy Pop is a top-down multi-directional shooter that can be played both single-player or with two players simultaneously. The first player plays as a wooden puppet named Pino, who resembles Pinocchio, and the second player plays as a doll named Acha, who resembles Little Red Riding Hood. The players venture through 44 floors (the game uses the toy-themed term "Box" as opposed to "Floor", to fit with the game's setting) collecting four gold hearts contained in jars on each floor in order to advance. Along the way, the players must open gift-wrapped containers concealing either weapons or score-increasing bonus items; these various weapons are used to defeat several different varieties of enemies (Heitai, Cars, Tanks, Domdoms, Trumps, Osaru, Robots and occasionally the evil wizard Mahou), with many typically vulnerable to only one type of weapon. On the 44th floor, the players battle the evil witch Majyo, who can only be defeated by finding all eight gold hearts scattered around the room.
Development
Toy Pop was developed by Namco and produced by Takefumi Hyodoh.{{cite book |last1=Szczepaniak |first1=John |title=The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers |date=August 11, 2014 |isbn=978-0992926007 |pages=363 |publisher=SMG Szczepaniak |edition=First}} He had previously directed Battle City (1985), a well-received sequel to Tank Battalion (1980).{{cite book |author1=Zeku |title=Mr.ドットマン -小野浩 全仕事- 後編 |trans-title=Mr. Dotman ― Hiroshi Ono All Work ― Part 2|date=August 10, 2019 |publisher=Junlin Club |language=ja |asin=B07VJWW44P}} This led him being transferred to a higher-ranking development department within the company and assigned to produce a new arcade game. Hyodoh, who hadn't taken the position of a planner before, struggled to adapt and worked slower than usual. Nonetheless, he created a prototype named Space Alamo where players fought enemy aliens in an open-world, science fiction-inspired setting, similar to Namco's previous game Warp & Warp (1981). Hyodoh's colleague, Yoshiro Kishimoto, suggested making it a fantasy game with characters and visuals that appealed to young girls. He took his suggestion and turned the game into one based around fairy tales and Christmas, making its characters toys and renaming it Toy Pop. The characters and artwork were created by Hiroshi Fuji, the artist and character designer for Valkyrie no Bōken, while the in-game sprites were drawn by Hiroshi "Mr. Dotman" Ono. Its ragtime-inspired soundtrack was composed by Junko Ozawa.{{cite web |last1=Inamoto |first1=Tetsuya |title=東京ゲームタクト2019「レジェンドコンポーザーズ・トークショウ2019」レポート。ゲーム音楽界のレジェンド4名が秘蔵のトークを展開 |url=https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20190603088/ |website=4Gamer.net |publisher=Aetas |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225164402/https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20190603088/ |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |language=ja |date=June 7, 2019}}
Toy Pop was released to arcades in Japan in April 1986, using the same hardware as Libble Rabble (1983).{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |date=October 13, 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n54 53] |edition=First |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005 |accessdate=August 16, 2019}} A conversion for the Sharp X1 was produced by Dempa Shinbunsha in 1989. Toy Pop did not garner much attention until 1995, when it was ported to the PlayStation through the compilation Namco Museum Vol. 1, alongside six other Namco arcade games from the early 1980s.{{cite web |author1=IGN Staff |title=Namco Museum Vol. 1 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1996/11/25/namco-museum-vol-1 |publisher=IGN |accessdate=31 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429224206/https://www.ign.com/articles/1996/11/25/namco-museum-vol-1 |archive-date=29 April 2019 |date=25 November 1996}}{{cite news |last1=Glide |first1=Tommy |title=Namco's Museum Volume 1 |url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_086_September_1996/page/n65 |accessdate=31 July 2019 |agency=GamePro |issue=86 |date=September 1996 |page=64}} The PlayStation version uses the original source code running through a JAMMA emulator, making it a near-perfect conversion.{{cite magazine|title=Finals ― Namco Museum Vol. 1|magazine=Next Generation|issue=21|publisher=Imagine Media|url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-021/page/n151|date=September 1996|page=148|accessdate=30 July 2019}} Toy Pop is also included in Namco History Vol. 1 (1997), a similar compilation released for Windows in Japan.{{cite web |author1=Kayama |title=Weekend Watch【'97/5/30版】 |url=https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/970530/weekend.htm |website=PC Watch |publisher=Impress Group |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208142216/https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/970530/weekend.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2021 |language=ja |date=May 30, 1997}} In 2009, the game was digitally re-released for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan.{{cite web |title=バンダイナムコゲームス、バーチャルコンソールアーケード向けに20タイトル追加配信決定！ |url=https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2009/08/20/37214.html |website=Inside Games |publisher=IID |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504175249/https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2009/08/20/37214.html |archive-date=May 4, 2019 |language=ja |date=August 20, 2009}} In 2022, Toy Pop was also re-released under the Arcade Archives label for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch worldwide.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| Allgame = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web |author1=Brett Alan Weiss |title=Toy Pop - Review |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11405&tab=review |website=AllGame |publisher=All Media Network |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116012311/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11405&tab=review |archive-date=November 16, 2014 |date=1998}}
| rev1 = Technopolis
| rev1Score = {{rating|6|7}}{{cite news |title=おもちやと戦うメルヘンゲーム ― トイポップ |trans-title=A Fairy Tale Game Where You Fight Against A Rice Cake Maker ― Toy Pop|url=https://archive.org/details/technopolis-1989-07/01_journal-1989-07/page/n37/mode/2up |access-date=March 21, 2021 |agency=Technopolis |volume=8 |issue=83 |publisher=Tokuma Shoten |date=July 1989 |page=36 |language=ja}}
}}
In Japan, Game Machine listed Toy Pop as being the country's twentieth most popular arcade game of May 1986.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25|magazine=Game Machine|issue=285|publisher=Amusement Press|date=June 1, 1986|page=21|lang=ja}}
Legacy
A theme based on Toy Pop is featured in Pac-Man 99, as special DLC.
Notes
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References
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