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Doki Doki Panic,
developed by company called Fuji TV, is a marvelous
gem of a video game originally made for Nintendo's Famicom
Disk Add-on in 1987. The title did exceptionally well for
itself at that point in time. Doki Doki had the makings
of being a full-fledged classic: unique physics that depended
on the choosen character, bizarre enemies and locales, and
some very, VERY fun game-play.
A year later Nintendo bought
the rights to Doki Doki Panic and received ownership.
At that time gaming guru Shigeru Miyamoto had leant his
energy to release a seguel to the original Super Mario
Bros.--entitled Super Mario Bros. 2--that served
more as an update to the first title than really a sequel.
In fact, as a whole, everything looked identical except
for its 'rip-your-hair-out, fuck-this-is-tough' difficulty.
Nintendo decided, instead of shipping out the original sequel
made by Miyamoto to the rest of the world, to modify Doki
Doki and release it as a "hack job". Super
Mario Bros. 2 was born (later to be converted into
the FDS and Famicom video game: Super Mario USA,
in Japan). This 'new version' had nearly everything of the
original Doki Doki save for a few different menu
screens, items, and the Mario crew sprites.
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A few weeks ago I receive
an e-mail from a nice fellow from France asking if I would
be interested in buying his mint-conditioned Doki
Doki Panic Famicom Disk in its original casing and
sleeve. I replied, as any other hardcore NES fan would,
with an enthusiastic "Oui, oui!". When I received
the game days later - this marking my first FDS ownage
- I was quite taken back by the size of the thing (the
disk itself).
(look at the comparison
of FDS-to-NES carts)
The plastic case (enclosing
the game and the small instructions/disk picture cover)
is quite similar to that of a trading card container
able to hold about a deck of playing cards.
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Closing in on the
internal game case--there's the usual copyright,
general use info, and some interesting precaution
labels to read.
(As seen on the right
picture, the warnings say to prevent: excessive
sunlight, the use in a blender(?), or the spilling
of drinks onto the game disk.)
Below is the actual
game disk tucked into its paper-thin sleeve. Further
observation brings us to the Doki Doki logo, the
"Fami-Disk guy" Nintendo character on
the bottom right on the blue portion, and another
picture logo of what I assume is of Doki's creators
on the left, middle, white part of the label.
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MARIO'S BACK!
BIGGER AND BADDER
THAN EVER BEFORE!
This time it's a fierce action-packed battle to free the
land of Sub-Con from the curse of the evil Wart. It's up
to you, along with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Princess,
to fight your way through bizarre multi-level worlds and
find him! This time you've got a brand new kind of power
- plucking power - and now anything you find can be a weapon.
But beware! You've never seen creatures like these! Shyguys
and Tweeters! Ninji and Beezos! And you've never had an
adventure like this! Only cunning and speed can save you
now...
-Back of Super Mario Bros.
2 Box
| Super
Mario Bros. 2 |
Traits |
Sprite |
| Mario |
Average
Jumping |
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| Luigi |
Slow
Jumping, Highest |
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| Toad |
Least
Jumping, carrying items do not hinder |
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| Princess |
No.
3 in Jumping, Float in Air for 1.5 seconds |
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SMB2, truthfully,
didn't strive to be any more unique than the predecessor
game it is based upon. As I've mentioned before, aside from
there being a few new item sprites, the hacks of main characters
(enemies including Shy Guys, Ninji, and Wart weren't touched
at all), black-to-red plant stems, the overall plot/cut-scenes,
and a few modified locations -- very little in game-play
and general menus differed.
 
Final Statements:
Doki Doki is an extraordinarily amount of fun -
worthy of being called classic - and is often referred to
as the greatest "Mario game" to date. Everyone
in Japan knew how much fame and rave the the game was generating,
including the almighty Nintendo. And when they did purchase
the game's license from Fuiji TV, they did not act so blindly.
I'm glad to have been given
the chance to own its original greatness, but yet, sad to
see a phony ownership credited towards a game title that
many hold dear to heart.
Unfortuantely, money conquers
this sad-felt emotion for the 'little guy', and in further
generations the credit for major accomplishments such as
this one will be given to those who possess the most currency
(not talent), a dirty fact that is such in our world. (SMB
Advance released in June of 2001 comes to mind - almost
15 years after the initial release of Doki Doki - Nintendo
remains to be profitable by their purchase.)
To end on a less somber note,
this deal did achieve one positive thing for both sides:
it gave millions of players that would have probably never
gotten the chance to play Doki Doki Panic back in
the day that opportunity to engage in the sheer enjoyment
of a game made by a simple Japanese company called Fuji
TV.
-all pictures credited and copyrighted, MJB, NES Player
-Some images contributed by Giovani
"Cospefogo" Faganello
-Thanks to SMB2 Worship for character info
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