Kitten Kaboodle/Nyan Nyan Panic, 1988 Konami
7Meh puzzle/action game very similar to the superior PENGO released by Sega 6 years earlier. As a cat (and a 2nd player can be the other cat for simultaneous play) you must uncover and collect 4 keys to open a door to advance to the next level. To uncover the keys you must kill the enemies that appear on the playfield. To kill the enemies you must push the blocks in the playfield to crush them, and some of the enemies will leave a key behind. If you kill an enemy and they don't leave one, don't panic (or, "Nyan Nyan Panic"); the enemies will re-spawn and you'll have another chance. Killed enemies often leave behind coins for bonus points, but take out a group of them with one block and there will be more lucrative bonuses. Different types of blocks will appear in the different stages and when you connect 3 together they can wipe out enemies for you with a special effect, or perhaps stop time for a little bit or give you invincibility for a short time. Don't forget you also have a "Jump" button, which makes you invincible for the duration of the jump, and you can jump through enemies and over walls. Sounds like fun thus far, but it's a fairly dull slog. But the worst part is that the bonus rounds you can enter aren't triggered by anything remotely obvious-- you'll be wandering around and BAM-- you're transported out of the stage into the bonus round, which upon returning from you must still complete the stage. The bonus stages are a slot machine (where you can win more money-- yes, your score is a monetary figure), a shop (buy the bombs!), and a bomb battle where you must kick more bombs over to your opponent's side than they do yours before the time runs out-- SUPER hard to do-- and you'll lose a life if you fail!). Perhaps Konami tried to recapture the fun of Sega's classic PENGO, but they failed pretty spectacularly IMHO. Well, even the great Konami has its failures. Suggested by YouTuber user MonsterJamer The Old Schooler 99.