Game:

Puyo Puyo (1991)

Duration: 25:55

844 views

42

Love Madou (Madoh) Monogatari? Love Puyo Puyo? Love Disc Station? Love Arcade or Arcade-style games? Then this game is for you! Even if you aren't familiar with any of the above, "Kikimora's Clean Up" (or "Kikimora no Osoubi Daisakusen" / "Kikimora's Cleaning Strategy") is a fun little maze game that can stand on its own and has a few obvious inspirations! Also released in 1995 as part of Compile's "Disc Station Volume 7" along with "Wind's Seed" and other games, KCU stars the titular Kikimora, a cute maid loosely based on the mythological Slavic Kikimora who first appeared in "Madou Monogatari: Michikusa Ibun" as a minor enemy and became very popular, getting various recurring roles in future Compile works including this spin-off title. The game's strongest influences come from Namco's Pac-Man (1980) and Alpha Denshi's "Crush Roller / Make Trax" (1981) with several twists from said games.

The goal of the game is simple enough on the surface: use Kikimora's trusty mop to rid the world of gunk and grime while defeating familiar MM/PP adversaries. Kikimora can throw her mop at enemies to defeat them and hitting multiple enemies in a single throw will give point multipliers and restore some time. However, Kiki can't clean without her mop and must go retrieve it if it is thrown and is defenseless without it, not to mention there is one obstacle that cannot be defeated by the mop, so the player has to be careful not to put themselves in a bind. One unique aspect of the game is that Kikimora will not go down in a single hit; when she is attacked or touched by an enemy, the player's time will be reduced by thirty seconds (unless you have in the ballpark of 30 or less than 30 seconds, where it will put you at the last ~10 seconds) and this can be used strategically in spots to clear a level without losing a life as she will automatically retrieve her mop.

Some of the game's 24 rounds lend themselves well to farming additional points (especially Round 15) to get the highest scores and the areas change every eight rounds to a different theme. Every enemy exhibits different traits and the player will also encounter a final boss, Black Kikimora, who is the polar opposite of Kikimora and requires two blows to eliminate. If this was the end of things, the game would be nice enough, but the game also has a brief little ending and score chart at the end where you get post-game acknowledgments for achieving certain feats (no-miss, no damage, clear bonus, remaining lives bonus, etc.) and further encourages skillful play and gaining the highest score for bragging rights. It's up to the player to determine how they want to leverage the scoring system between farming enemies or clearing stages quickly (each second is worth fifty points and you also get post-game points for every round you clear with 30 seconds or more remaining).

The game features simple but cute graphics, cool music and is overall a very playable title that fits well within the MM/PP universe. This is a simple video of the game in action showing a single run. Enjoy.

- ADDITION -

Like Us On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegamingsanctuary/

Follow Us On Twitter: https://twitter.com/GS_Vyse_and_Bel

Visit Us At: http://www.gamingsanctuary.com

Other Statistics