2006 · Q Entertainment · Puzzle · Rhythm

Gunpey

PlayStation exclusive

Gunpey is a new kind of musical puzzle game where you flip lines and flip the music. In this one-of-a-kind puzzle experience, your objective is to flip the lines, located in squares, to connect them over five columns. Connecting lines from left to right remove the connected row. If an incomplete line reaches the top of the screen, the game is over.

Released: 19 October 2006
Platforms: PlayStation PlayStation Portable WonderSwan
Genres: Puzzle Rhythm
Developers: Q Entertainment
Publishers: Namco Bandai Games
Modes: Single-player
Age ratings: PEGI 3 ESRB E10+

About

Gunpey (Japanese: グンペイ, Hepburn: Gunpei), often stylized as Gun Pey or GunPey, is a puzzle video game series created by Koto Laboratory and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The first game in the series, Gunpey, was released as launch title for the WonderSwan in 1999, and has since seen versions published on the WonderSwan Color, PlayStation, arcades, mobile phones, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, iOS, and Android. Gameplay consists of moving line fragments vertically in a grid in order to make a single branching line, connected horizontally from one end of the screen to the other. The objective often differs depending on the selected game mode.

The series was named as a tribute to Gunpei Yokoi, known for developing several handheld consoles such as Nintendo's Game Boy, Virtual Boy, and Bandai's WonderSwan.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Gunpey features a 5×10 cell grid and line fragments spread across it, varying from shapes such as caret (∧), inverted caret (∨), left slash (\), and right slash (/). The player controls a cursor that can be moved around the play-field. The cursor can only flip vertically-adjacent cells, allowing the player to move line fragments or switch them with another segment. The goal of the game is to piece the fragments together to form a connected line horizontally from one end of the screen to the other.

After a line is completed, it will temporarily flash before disappearing, during which the player can connect additional branching segments to achieve a combo bonus. A bonus is also awarded when all of the line segments are cleared from the play-field.

Reception

Retro Gamer ranked the original WonderSwan game #2 on its "Top Ten WonderSwan Games" praising its simplicity and variety of modes it offers. Modojo gave Gunpey EX a 3 out of 5 giving it a mix review stating: "The fact is Gunpey's focus on individual circuits instead of complex combos coupled the clunky vertical shuffling of the wires made it an experience I couldn't lose myself in, like so many other titles. Still, it's good to see that the puzzle genre still has life left, and Gunpey EX is a fairly robust package".

NintendoLife gave the game a 6 out of 10: "The concept just isn't compelling or addictive enough to grant the game classic status and the developers haven't really added anything to change that". GameSpot gave both the DS and PSP version a 7.7 out of 10: "Not only is it fun and challenging, but it's got a crazy sense of style and a rewarding level of difficulty". Eurogamer gave the PSP version 7 out of 10, praising its level designs and difficulty but criticizing the time it takes to play the game. IGN gave the game a 6.1 out of 10: "Gunpey is a somewhat fun puzzle game, but it'll never reach classic status because it's one of those games that relies too much on random placement of tiles". IGN, however, gave the PSP version a less favorable review criticizing the gameplay for it being dull and boring.