Software:Clu Clu Land

From HandWiki
Short description: 1984 video game

Clu Clu Land
North American NES box art
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Composer(s)Akito Nakatsuka[1]
Platform(s)NES, arcade, Famicom Disk System, Sharp Zaurus, Nintendo e-Reader, Game Boy Advance
Release
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNintendo VS. System

Lua error in Module:Lang/utilities at line 332: attempt to call field '_transl' (a nil value). is a 1984 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in 1984 in Japan for the Family Computer, in North America in 1985 as a launch title for the NES, and Europe in 1987. It was ported to the Famicom Disk System in Japan as well as arcades through the Nintendo VS. System as VS. Clu Clu Land. The game was later re-released on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as well as the Nintendo Classics service.[9]

Title

Although "Clu Clu Land" is the official English title for the game, "Clu Clu" is actually an anglicization of "Kuru Kuru", a Japanese onomatopoeia that refers to something going "around and around". This is derived from the main gameplay mechanic, in which Bubbles (the protagonist) moves around mazes via grabbing onto poles, hence spinning "around and around". The same phrase is also the basis for the title of the Game Boy Advance game Kuru Kuru Kururin and its subsequent sequels.

Gameplay

NES version, showing Bubbles (red), Unira (blue), and treasures

The player controls a female balloonfish named Bubbles, known as Lua error in Module:Lang/utilities at line 332: attempt to call field '_transl' (a nil value). in Japan, who swims around in a maze trying to uncover all the golden Ingots.[10]

The story starts with a type of sea urchin, the Unira, stealing all the treasures in the underwater kingdom of Clu Clu Land. Bubbles, the heroine, sets out to retrieve the treasure. The objective is to uncover all the gold ingots in each stage while avoiding the Unira and Black Holes. Ingots usually form a shape such as a heart or a mushroom. The only way Bubbles can turn around to change directions is by means of Turning Posts located throughout the stages. She can stun the Unira by using a Sound Wave. When they are stunned, she can push them into a wall to get rid of them and receive points. If Bubbles is hurt by the Unira, she will lose a life. A life is also lost if she falls into a Black Hole, or if time runs out. The game ends when Bubbles has lost all her lives.

In later levels, the player must pass over the ingots an odd number of times to uncover them, as they will alternate between their uncovered side and a dull side.

Ports

An expanded edition known as Lua error in Module:Lang/utilities at line 332: attempt to call field '_transl' (a nil value). was released for the arcade Nintendo VS. System. It contains twice as many puzzles, a new enemy named Boss Unira, different level themes, and other adjustments. A port of this version was released as the final game for the Family Computer Disk System (FDS), titled Clu Clu Land: Welcome to New Clu Clu Land. It contains a few minor enhancements such as difficulty selection.

In September 2001, a port was released for the Sharp Zaurus series of PDAs.[6]

The game was re-released in 2004 for Game Boy Advance as part of the Famicom Mini series.

Reception

In a June 1986 survey of the NES catalogue, the Chicago Tribune's Steven Kosek and Dennis Lynch singled out Clu Clu Land and Ice Climber for "[keeping their] interest after repeated plays".[11]

Legacy

Various elements from Clu Clu Land appear throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. Bubbles appears as a trophy in Melee, and the Unira enemy appears as an item in the series from Brawl onwards. A medley of various tracks from the original game can be selected as background music for a number of stages in several games in the series, and Bubbles and Unira are featured as Spirits in Ultimate. Bubbles appears as an unlockable playable character in DK: King of Swing, which features gameplay inspired by Clu Clu Land.[12]


Both the NES and FDS versions are unlockable in the first Animal Crossing, with the latter retitled Clu Clu Land D outside Japan. It was playable through its Nintendo Space World 2000 demo[13] as well as the final game. Clu Clu Land is included in the NES Remix series. Hamster Corporation released the game as part of the Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.[14]


Notes

References

  1. ↑ Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 (Media notes). Scitron Digital Contents Inc. 2004.
  2. ↑ https://www.famitsu.com/games/t/9030/ [bare URL]
  3. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006) (in ja). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 37. ISBN 978-4990251215. 
  4. ↑ "FAMILY COMPUTER Software List 1992" (in ja). http://tk-nz.game.coocan.jp/gamedatabase/software/DB_NTC1_FC1992.html. 
  5. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "CHIBI JAPAN WEEKLY 3". September 7, 2001. https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/09/07/chibi-japan-weekly-3. Retrieved November 23, 2014. 
  6. ↑ Harris, Craig (April 10, 2003). "NES Series 3". https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/04/10/nes-series-3. 
  7. ↑ "Famicom Mini - Round 2". April 14, 2004. https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/04/14/famicom-mini-round-2. 
  8. ↑ Liam Doolan (May 7, 2019). "Nintendo Adds Three More Games To The Switch Online NES Library Next Week". Nintendo Life. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/05/nintendo_adds_three_more_games_to_the_switch_online_nes_library_next_week. Retrieved May 28, 2019. 
  9. ↑ Brett Weiss (12 November 2012). Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988: A Complete Reference Guide. McFarland. p. 180. ISBN 978-1-4766-0141-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=F01wiUr9LKQC&pg=PT180. 
  10. ↑ Kosek, Steven; Lynch, Dennis (1986-06-27). "Audio/video: Video machines increase power to hold market". Chicago Tribune: p. 82 (Section 7). https://newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-video-machines-increase/110187348/. 
  11. ↑ Fletcher, JC (August 22, 2008). "Virtually Overlooked: Clu Clu Land". https://www.engadget.com/2008-08-21-virtually-overlooked-clu-clu-land.html. 
  12. ↑ "NINTENDO SPACEWORLD 2000開幕". PC Watch. 2000-08-25. https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/20000825/nintendo.htm. Retrieved 2024-08-03. 
  13. ↑ Dickens, Anthony (2019-06-27). "Nintendo Download: 3rd July (North America)" (in en-GB). https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/nintendo_download_3rd_july_north_america. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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