Software:Kwirk

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Kwirk
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North American Game Boy cover art
Developer(s)Atlus
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Tsukasa Masuko
Platform(s)Game Boy, Famicom Disk System, PC Engine
ReleaseGame Boy
  • JP: November 24, 1989 (1989-11-24)
  • NA: March 1990 (1990-03)
  • EU: 1990
Famicom Disk System
  • JP: November 16, 1990 (1990-11-16)
PC Engine
  • JP: February 22, 1991 (1991-02-22)
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Kwirk, known in Japan as Puzzle Boy (パズルボーイ, Pazurubōi), is a puzzle video game developed and published by Atlus in Japan on November 24, 1989, for the Game Boy. The game was later published in North America in March 1990 by Acclaim Entertainment.

Plot

Kwirk and his girlfriend Tammy were both out "painting the town red" when they decided to explore the unnamed city's subterranean labyrinth below. While down there, Tammy suddenly disappears and Kwirk, with his Veggie Friends, now has to find her in the labyrinth and bring her home.

In the original Japanese version of the game, the player character is an anthropomorphized potato called Spud. This was changed to a tomato named Kwirk for the US release. In both releases, the damsel in distress is a tomato.

Gameplay

Kwirk has three game modes: Going Up?, Heading Out?, and Vs. Mode, each one with its own set of rules. The object is to get from one end of the room to the staircase on the other by rotating turnstiles, moving blocks, and filling holes with blocks.

The game has three skill levels: Level 1 - Easy, Level 2 - Average and Level 3 - Hard. After, one of two viewpoints may be selected: Diagonal or Bird's Eye. In Diagonal view, characters and blocks have shadows and appear in crude 3D, whereas in Bird's Eye view everything is 2D, viewed from the top down. The three skill levels and two viewpoints are featured in all three game modes.

Going Up?

In "Going Up?" the object is to go from floor to floor by rotating turnstiles, moving blocks, and filling holes with blocks to get to the staircase on the other side. There are ten floors for each Skill Level for a total of thirty floors. Along the way at certain levels, Kwirk will receive help from his Veggie Friends, who can be taken control of by pressing the Select button. The Going Up? game mode offers a menu screen (upon a press of the A button) that allows the following;

  • Redo – Restart the entire stage from the beginning.
  • End – Return to the menu.
  • Back – Undo the last move made, up to eight times.

Scoring is based on the time taken to complete the stage and the number of steps taken to get to the stairs.

Going Up? serves as the story in which Kwirk has to rescue Tammy from the maze. Although the game features no storyline to progress the game, each stage ends with Tammy displaying the score, and after ten floors to each Level, Tammy and Kwirk are reunited.

Heading Out?

In "Heading Out?" the object is to complete a certain number of rooms consecutively to get a high score. There are a total of 99 rooms, any of which can be selected to run through by the player. Once started, the player sprints through each room solving the puzzle. Bonus Points are earned upon completion of each room. The Bonus Points start at 2000, decreasing during the course of the room, and resets after entering a new room. A timer is included to track the time through the course. After running through all the rooms the player's score is then recorded on a top four list.

Vs. Mode

Vs. Mode is a race using Heading Out? mode between two players. Each player selects a number of rooms to race through, but both player do not have to select the same number of rooms as a handicap. Then a Contest is selected to decide the win condition; 1 Game playoff, or a Best of 3, 5, 7, or 9. Once started, the players can monitor each other through a Progress meter on their respective screens. The match ends when one player completes all the rooms.

Obstacles

In each room, Kwirk must navigate around and interact with various obstacles in order to progress.

Obstacles:

  • Brick Walls – Cannot be moved nor walked through. Brick walls must be maneuvered around and blocks must be pushed around them.
  • Turnstiles – Blocks set on an axis that turn 90 degrees when pushed by a character. They come in single, double, triple, and quadruple variations. They cannot turn if something is blocking their radius of movement.
  • Blocks – Basic blocks of various sizes. They can be pushed by characters and may block paths necessary for a character to reach the stairs. Blocks can also fill holes to allow characters to walk past.
  • Holes – Can not be walked over. Instead, blocks can be used to fill holes or characters must maneuver around the holes.

Kwirk’s Veggie Friends

At certain points in the game "Going Up?", one or all of Kwirk's Veggie Friends will appear to help. They do not have special abilities, but instead play exactly like Kwirk to allow maneuvers that are not possible with only one character. The player switches between characters by pressing the select button and all of the Veggie Friends must be brought to the stairs to clear the floor.

The Veggie Friends:

  • Curly Carrot
  • Eddie Eggplant
  • Pete the Pepper
  • Sass the Squash

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM5.0/10.00[1]
GameSpot7.5/10.0[2]
Mean Machines85%[3]
Video Games (German)85%[4]
Console XS81%[5]

Kwirk received largely positive reviews. Reviewers praised the game's challenging difficulty. According to Mean Machines, which rated the game a score of 85%, Kwirk is one of the "simple, but very addictive" puzzle games, as stated by Julian Rignall. Because of the number of different screens, it doesn't "become boring quickly". Rignall stated the game gets "incredibly hard" and "really taxes" the player's brain. Matt Regan criticized that once the player has solved each puzzle, there is "no interest left".[3] The German magazine Video Games reviewed Kwirk in its very first issue and awarded it a "Video Games Classic" due to a score of 85%. The magazine's editor Stephan Englhart praised the game's variety of modes and puzzles. He stated that Kwirk captivates with a "well-elaborated and harmonious overall concept" ("wohl durchdachtes und stimmiges Gesamtkonzept").[4] Console XS gave review score of 81% and described the gameplay as "pleasing and occasionally confounding" and opined that Kiwrk is one of the best puzzle games.[6]

Ports and sequels

A port for the Famicom Disk System was released on November 16, 1990, and a port for the PC Engine on February 22, 1991. These versions were only released in Japan, and retain the potato protagonist of the Japanese Game Boy version.

A spin-off called Spud's Adventure, known as Totsugeki! Valetions in Japan, was released for the Game Boy in 1991. It was published by Atlus in the U.S. instead of Acclaim. Unlike the first game, Atlus did not change the protagonist into a tomato, but left him as his original character of a potato. Unlike Puzzle Boy, it is an action/adventure game.

A second sequel Amazing Tater (known in Japan as Puzzle Boy II) also for the Game Boy was released later in 1991 in Japan, and in 1992 in the US. Like Spud's Adventure, the protagonist remains a potato called "Spud". It retains much of the gameplay of the first game.

In October 2018, the original game's North American publishing rights were acquired by Canadian production company Liquid Media Group along with other titles originally released by Acclaim.[7]

In other media

Kwirk's only appearance outside of the Game Boy game was on the television show Video Power, as part of a 15-minute cartoon short called The Power Team, which featured characters from Acclaim games.

References

  1. ↑ EGM staff (April 1990). "Review of Kwirk". Electronic Gaming Monthly 9
  2. ↑ Gamespot Other Reviews page for Kwirk. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2008-11-04
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kwirk - Nintendo Gameboy - Mean Machines review. Mean Machines (April 1991) Retrieved on 2008-11-04
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 A. German Video Games staff (January 1991). "Review of Kwirk". Video Games, p. 68
  5. ↑ "A-Z Software". Console XS (1): 158. June 1992. https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/158/mode/2up. Retrieved March 25, 2022. 
  6. ↑ "A-Z Software". Console XS (1): 158. June 1992. https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/158/mode/2up. Retrieved March 25, 2022. 
  7. ↑ Orselli, Brandon (2018-10-02). "Liquid Media Acquires Rights to 65 Classic Acclaim Entertainment IPs". nichegamer.com. https://nichegamer.com/2018/10/02/liquid-media-acquires-rights-to-65-classic-acclaim-entertainment-ips/. 
  • 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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