Hello Everyone!  

Today, I got something interesting for the 'board! It's a game called Pepenga Pengo. Released exclusively in Japan for the Genesis/Mega Drive in 1995. It's one of the last Mega Drive games released in Japan (due to the system being discontinued there in '95)...

You may be wondering why I'm bringing this game up...well...

The following screenshots are from Hardcore Gaming 101 since I can't post my own at the moment. You can visit their old article here.


Please excuse my uppercase here but...

ITS A RIP-OFF OF BOMBERMAN!!!  

The gameplay is very similar. Basically, you play as Pengo, and your goal is to defeat enemies using ice blocks that you can make & kick. Ice blocks explode when kicked into certain things, and catching other ice blocks in the explosion can set off a chain reaction. You can also grab power-ups. There's even a two-player co-op mode!

The game is a sequel to an arcade game by SEGA named Pengo (which didn't play like Bomberman at all).

Here's a screenshot of one of the bosses.


Now, you may be yelling: "So its got cues from Bomberman. That doesn't make it interesting enough." Well...


THEY STOLE THE BATTLE GAME FROM BOMBERMAN!!!
The "Battle Game" BLATANTLY steals from Bomberman. You can battle up to 4 Human or CPU Pengoes. The goal is to be the last one standing. You can defeat opponents by kicking ice blocks into them. The game even has multiple arenas to play in with each having different gimmicks! Heck, the name of the mode is the same!

Overall, the game is ok, but it leaves one wondering why they aren't playing Bomberman instead. The shameless theft really takes away from the experience.  


Edit: Post was moved into it's own topic.

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"When Konami gives you lemons, remember that this mode is the closest we'll ever get to a Bomberman x Kirby crossover. Make of that what you will." -BakuBonba on "Super Bomberman R's Memory Cartridges in Grand Prix Battle Mode."

It's really not that similar aside from the way it looks.

Yeah like, there are actual bomberman clones, and then there's this. Like it looks like it could have learned from Bomberman or been inspired by Bomberman in how it sets up its mechanics and such, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that it's a coincidence. Like I could see the step by step thought process that would lead to certain mechanics, like the ice needing time to form because then it would be too easy to kill enemies otherwise.

Either way, looks fundamentally different from Bomberman in a lot of other ways.

Also a lot of those "Battle Game" concepts that it "steals" from Bomberman, those are literally just like standard versus mode options. Actually I'm not sure which one of those are supposed to be unique for Bomberman, you have a competition against multiple other players, with the goal of yes eliminating other players because it's a competition. You win by using the game's mechanics, and there's different levels for variety. The name "Battle Game" is the closest similarity aspect but it's also not that special of a name and who really cares for that.

Nothing wrong with being inspired by something. I love Bomberman and I'm going to try any game that's inspired by Bomberman, or even "borrows" from it.

Bit late here but i'm glad this was posted, i didnt know about it. Played the original Pengo arcade game in a retro arcade earlier this year, it was fun. Thats where the block pushing comes from.

I imagine the bomberman inspired themes compliment it nicely.