Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Release: 01/25/91 Genre: Action
I find that as I have grown older my tastes in games have gone a certain way. When I was young I was willing to play just about anything; its video games! All video games are great! Oh to be that young and dumb again. But with dwindling free time I find myself looking at the quirky stuff less. Which is admittedly a shame as there are some real hidden gems out there. Yume Penguin Monogatari is one such title, a good but weird platform adventure that has that Konami quality but might turn off some with its easy difficulty.
Yume Penguin Monogatari is the third game in Konami’s penguin series, of which we missed all of them. Penta the penguin has settled down into married life. Some would even say he has become too settled as he has become overweight. His girlfriend Penko dumps him and now Penta is trying to burn the fat to win her back, with her new boyfriend Ginji standing in his way.
There are quite a few oddities in Yume Penguin Monogatari. Penta does not have a life bar. Instead he has a fitness meter. The meter is broken down into three categories, with each endowing Penta with different abilities. Initially he is chubby and has a mean kick attack. Eat too much food and he becomes obese. As you can imagine when obese Penta waddles around and can barely jump. But, and I cannot believe I’m saying this, obesity has its benefits in that he can body slam enemies. A thin Penta shouts at enemies to defeat them and is generally more nimble than his other forms.
Perhaps the strangest decision is surrounding death; there is none. Technically you cannot die. Every level has a weight loss target, designated by a heart. Provided you reach the end of the level at that point or above it you are golden. If you come in too fat or do not beat the clock than you will receive an angry phone call from Penko berating you for being a lard ass. That is the closest the game comes to a fail state. But the game is so simple you have to actively try to fail.
Considering there are almost no stakes why play the game? Because this is still a Konami title. Yume Penguin Monogatari is well aware of its silly premise and goes all in with it. The object of each level is to lose as much weight as possible. You will find that hitting the target is fairly easy. Staying there until the end is not. Every enemy is on a mission to feed you to death and even the environment can be dangerous. Falling into water will skyrocket you to obesity as Penta inflates due to water weight. Get too close to food and Penta will reach out and eat it wholesale. The fat shaming in this game is taken to extreme levels but at least it is in service of having fun.
Ultimately aside from the low stakes the only crippling flaw in Yume Penguin Monogatari is its length. There are only six levels, two of which are brief shooting stages. Granted, they are solid all around but they feel out of place next to the pure platforming stages. There is a lot of creativity that went into the game and it screams that Konami quality that we loved back then. You will just wish there more of it. Also even if there were death in the game it would still be easy. The time limit is never an issue as clocks drop every few seconds. The platforming can be challenging but nothing most veterans of the genre haven’t seen before. I realize difficulty isn’t the point of the game but it could have used some teeth.
Even though it switches genre Yume Penguin Monogatari is a clear step up over its predecessors visually and in line with other late NES releases. Each level is incredibly detailed, with a color palette that almost defies the hardware. It is very similar to Kirby’s Adventure in that regard although this came first. More impressive than its backgrounds is the animation. Penta is loaded with many humorous reactions depending on the situation and it lasts up until the final moments. The only lacking area is the music which is instantly forgettable.
In Closing
Yume Penguin Monogatari is a solid game but a tough one to judge. I enjoy its mechanics but also found the lack of any fail state to be off-putting. But at the same time that seems to be the point. If that does not bother you this might be worth seeking out if you are looking for something a little different.
