Famicom World - Yumekoujou Doki Doki Panic

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Doki Doki Panic

LAST UPDATED: 10/29/06

REVIEWED BY:

FamicomJL

"I can't sing enough praises for

this game. I just wish more people

would stop referring it as the game

Nintendo of America stole."

[No disk image available]

THE DATA

NAME

Yumekoujou Doki Doki Panic

PLATFORM

Disk System

DEVELOPER

Nintendo

PUBLISHER

Nintendo

PLAYERS

1 player

RELEASE DATE

1987

GENRE

Platformer

SAVING OPTION

Yes

NES NTSC

No

NES PAL

No

THE RATINGS

STORYLINE

3/5

GRAPHICS

3.5/5

AUDIO

4/5

GAMEPLAY

3/5

CONTROL

3/5

FUN FACTOR

5/5

FRUSTRATION

4/5

OVERALL

3.5/5

THE REVIEW

Ahhh...Doki Doki Panic. I can't think of any other game that is more well known then played. It was developed by Fuji TV and Nintendo, and believe it or not, wasn't much of a smash hit; however, it was popular enough to be used as the catalyst for Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES. You see, for some reason Nintendo of America thought that the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 simply was TOO HARD for American gamers. So, they took this game, changed the sprites and music, and voila! Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES. The Japanese had it better, however, as they got to play both Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario USA, better known as Super Mario Bros. 2 in United States.

STORYLINE 3/5

A family with a Mama (Luigi), Papa (Toad), Brother (Mario), Sister (Princess) have two children kidnapped by a huge hand while reading a book. The family must save them or else Wart will do...something? Whatever...an ok storyline, but it's obvious that's not what the developers were focusing on the whole time.

GRAPHICS 3.5/5

Crisp and clear, but those damn waterfalls! They go down slow in Super Mario Bros. 2, but in Doki Doki Panic they fall FAST, which is very dangerous. I would not be shocked if kids had gotten a seizure from looking too long at those waterfalls...other than that there are no complaints. The backgrounds are a little bland, but that's the only thing I don't see as right.

AUDIO 4/5

The same tunes you know and love from Super Mario Bros. 2, only sounding a little different. I personally prefer the songs in this game to the ones in Super Mario Bros. 2, but that may just be me. Everything else sounds great. The sound effects are quite neat. I like the music you hear when you get the Starman.

GAMEPLAY 3/5

Doki Doki Panic is quite long compared to its NES counterpart, as you must beat every level with EVERY CHARACTER if you want to fully complete the game. Thank god for being able to save or else this game would've been even less popular. The game was made for the Disk System; if you were to put it in cartridge form, you'd have a lot of people complaining.

CONTROL 3/5

Points taken off for not being able to run, which is a feature only in the NES version. It makes the game much tougher to not be able to move fast. Other than that, the controls seem fine.

FUN FACTOR 5/5

I honestly cannot love this game more than I already do. While it's quite different from the NES version, it's a fun game. I always find it fun and challenging. The bosses are very tough later on in the game. Speaking of bosses, Clawgrip is exclusive to the English release; instead of the big lobster you face off against Mouser a third time.

FRUSTRATION 4/5

With the loss of running, many portions of the game are much, much harder. It's a pain in the ass sometimes to dodge a lot of things, resulting in many lives wasted.

OVERALL 3.5/5

Doki Doki Panic is a must-have in any Famicom collection. Even without the asterisk hanging over it, this is a fun and challenging little sidescroller. It's hard to find, but is worth the time it take to look and the money it costs to buy it. I can't sing enough praises for this game. I just wish more people would stop referring it as the game Nintendo of America stole.

SCREENSHOTS

Yumekoujou Doki Doki Panic (screenshot)

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