1989 · Namco · Maze · Puzzle

Rompers

The player must take up control of Chap, a gardener wearing a straw hat, who must collect all the keys in sixty-one maze-inspired gardens in order to rescue his girlfriend, Rumina; he can push the walls in the gardens over to crush the various enemies that pursue him, but they shall immediately be resurrected in the form of eggs which hatch after a few seconds. Each round also has a preset time limit to ensure that the player does not dawdle - and once it runs out, a green-haired female vampire known as Tsukaima (who cannot be crushed by the walls) shall appear in search of Chap's blood, as the Yamaha YM2151-generated song (and all the enemies) speed up. The game's enemies include white blobs known as Pyokorin, pink Triceratops-esque creatures known as Kerara which can breathe flames, armadillos known as Gororin which can roll over Chap, purple seals known as Todorin which can breathe ice, sponges known as Bekabeka, which can push walls onto Chap, turquoise blobs known as Fumajime Pyokorin, which occasionally pause to take a long drag on their cigarettes, helmet-wearing creatures known as Nachibo, which take two crushes to kill, wolves known as Taggus which can throw bombs at Chap, spiders known as Oogumo, which can spin webs for Chap to run into - and this game's main antagonist, an evil scientist named Gurerin who only appears on the final round, where players not only have to collect all the keys, but also push the walls onto his four clones (two of whom can breathe fire, but the other two can breathe ice).

Released: 1 February 1989
Platforms: Arcade
Genres: Maze Puzzle
Developers: Namco
Publishers: Namco
Themes: Action
Country: Japan

About

Rompers is a 1989 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released only in Japan in February 1989. It was designed by Akira Usukura, who had designed Splatterhouse the previous year.

Keywords

digital distribution

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls Chap (チャップ, Chappu), a gardener wearing a straw hat, who must collect all the keys in 61 maze-inspired gardens in order to rescue his girlfriend, Rumina (ルミナ, Rumina); he can push the walls in the gardens over to crush the various enemies that pursue him, but they shall immediately be resurrected in the form of eggs which hatch after a few seconds. Each round also has a preset time limit to ensure that the player does not dawdle - and once it runs out, a green-haired female vampire known as Tsukaima (使い魔, Tsukaima) (who cannot be crushed by the walls) shows up and pursues Chap for his blood, as the Yamaha YM2151-generated song (and all the enemies) speed up. The game's enemies include white blobs known as Pyokorin (ピョコリン, Pyokorin), pink Triceratops-esque creatures known as Kerara (ケララ, Kerara) which can breathe flames, armadillos known as Gororin (ゴロリン, Gororin) which can roll over Chap, purple seals known as Todorin (トドリン, Todorin) which can breathe ice, sponges known as Bekabeka (ベカベカ, Bekabeka), which can push walls onto Chap, turquoise blobs known as Fumajime Pyokorin (ふまじめピョコリン, Fumajime Pyokorin), which occasionally pause to take a long drag on their cigarettes, helmet-wearing creatures known as Nachibo (ナチ坊, Nachibō), which take two crushes to kill, wolves known as Taggus (タッグス, Taggasu) which can throw bombs at Chap, spiders known as Oogumo (オオグモ, Oogumo), which can spin webs for Chap to run into - and this game's main antagonist, an evil scientist named Gurerin (グレリン, Gurerin) who only appears on the final round, where players not only have to collect all the keys, but also push the walls onto his four clones (two of whom can breathe fire, but the other two can breathe ice).

A cutscene called "The Rompers Show" also appears after every tenth round, and once Chap has rescued Rumina at the end of the game, they both go back to free Tsukaima (who, ironically, is trapped under a wall, given that she cannot be crushed by them in the game), and wrap her feet up with bandages; Chap then starts to carry Tsukaima off on his back, which angers Rumina.