Subject: Doki Doki Panic FAQ v1.0 From: kensu@madison.tdsnet.com (Chris Schumacher) Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 21:02:40 GMT Reply-To: kensu@madison.tdsnet.com Newsgroups: rec.games.video.nintendo There have been several inquires about this over the years, one would think they would go away with the advent of Famicom emulators, but the most popular ones don't emulate the Disk System, soooo.... Any corrections or additions will be most welcome. ! DOKI DOKI PANIC FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: What does the name mean? A: Yumekojo Doki Doki Panic translates literally as "Dream-Castle Throbbing Panic", some translate Doki Doki as "Crazy Crazy". Q: What's the story? A: Ah..uh...some kids get sucked into a book, and...uh, their family goes in to get them. Q: What's with the monkey/mouse thing that paces during the intro? A: Damned if I know. Q: Why was this released in lieu of SMB2j in the US? A: The official line is that SMB2j was too hard for the American audience. This is suggesting, of course, that it was not too hard for the Japanese audience. Let's face it folks, SMB2j was too hard for ANYONE. I tend to think because of the difficulty level and lack of anything that was really NEW in SMB2j, Nintendo of America had a throbbing panic on their hands. SMB2j was as much a sequel to SMB as Ms. Pac-Man was to Pac-Man. If they released it, they could have alienated millions of their fans. Chances are that YKDDP never would have been released in the states, so NOA saw an opportunity and took it. To be bluntly honest, I'm glad they did. YKDDP is a better game than SMB2j by a longshot. Q: I thought the game that SMB2a was hacked from was called "Dream Factory". A: If you made an alteration of a game called "Throbbing Panic" would YOU give out the real name in publicity material? Q: Where can I get it? A: Since you'd need to get a Famicom Disk System, a Famicom, and manage to find a secondhand copy of the disk, it would probably be for the best to use an emulator. I suggest Famtasia for the emulator. Do a search for Doki Doki Panic through Hotbot or any other good search engine and you'll be able to find the rom. I downloaded the rom quite some time ago, and since emulation sites have a life-expectancty little longer than the amount of time it takes bread to mold, my information would be fairly useless, hence no sites are mentioned in this FAQ. Q: Isn't that illegal? A: I wonder. You see, the thing is that having roms is not illegal IF you own the program that they are backing up. Since most of the code of YKDDP is contained in the SMB2a cartridge I own, is it really illegal for me to have it? However, the SMB2a title screen does not contain a copyright notice for YKDDP. If it did, I don't think this would be a problem. When in court, make certain to recount this argument. Besides, YKDDP may already be out of copyright. Q: Argh! The %^&*ing title-screen keeps looping! What do I do? A: The rom is rather anal about these things. First of all, you need to set Disk 1 Side A to even get it to load. When you reach the point where it says "Set Side B", select "Eject" from the menu, and THEN choose "Disk 1 Side B". It won't bother looking for Side B until it detects the ejection. Annoying, huh? Q: Were there ever any sequels? A: I once read about a game with used a similar engine (right down to selection screens that were carbon-copies of the ones in SMB2a) but I don't remember the name of this game or whether or not it was a direct sequel. Q: Fuji-TV is listed as one of copyrights on the title screen. Was this an anime series? A: I don't know about this, does anyone reading know? LIST OF DIFFERENCES - Obviously the characters were different. See Character Stats for more information. - Character system worked differently. Whichever character you chose had to go through the game unaided by other characters. There is a "chapter map" which constitutes the other side of the "book" that is the level information screen we see in SMB2a. - Many graphical and sound differences, which I will now go into. General alterations represent ones made by NOA to make it an SMB game. Technical alterations represnt modifications made to game to improve the system. With the extra added space of the cart the NOA programmers couldn't help but make a FEW changes. (General) - No selection screen as we know it. There was simply a chapter map status page which played to a choppy rendition of the music we now know. - Level screens were a page of a book, the actual number of the level (i.e. 1-1 - Page 1, 2-1 - Page 4, et cetera) adorned the lower right hand corner of the book. Character selection screen was the other "page" of the book. Interesting to note that the book went from left to right, instead of the Japanese standard of right to left. Interesting also is the book is lying on its front [hence the back is showing] during the ending credits, indicating that it was read from right to left, which it wasn't. - All enemies, not just bosses, screamed when hurt/killed. - Subspace potion were replaced by an arabian oil lamp (think Aladdian). The music in subspace was not a slow rendition of the SMB theme but a short Arabian tune played at normal speed. - When you collect the Star to become invincible another tune played. The star WAS, however, a reference to SMB. - Power Mushrooms didn't exist. In their place are heart containers. - 1-Up mushrooms didn't exist. Head icons of your current character represent the extra lives. - Shells were not used to mow down enemies. A strange looking vegetable did the same job. Personally, I think they should've called a spade a spade and made it a shell. - In order to win the game you had to free the Subcons with all four characters. Hence the game takes four times as long as SMB2a! - In place of mushroom blocks were little mini jars with faces painted on them. They look like something you'd see in a hack, too. - The sound effect when a bomb explodes was spelled as "BOM" in the game, not "BOMB" as in SMB2a. (Technical) - The main characters had, I've noticed, fewer frames of movement. - Many of the sound effects and music have been smoothed out in SMB2a. Most noticable are the sounds that Tryclyde and Wart make when they vomit their projectiles. The music when you fight Wart is also a weaker version of the SMB2a theme. - Some large vegetables were merely sketches of what they looked like in SMB2a. - Some building blocks (especially the floor of Wart's lair) were drawn less spectaculary. - The key guardians (known as Phantos) were more crudely drawn. Also, they did not start to chase you until you took the key from their room, picking it up did NOT set them off. I tend to think that this was a technical limitation rather than an interesting cultural detail of the Phantos. - The masks at the end of each level were drawn differently. They appeared to be a simple jade mask and looked nothing like a hawk at all. - In place of the slot machine was a low-tech, low-resolution version. Interestingly enough, the vegetables changed to reflect what chapter you were in. - The "POW" on the POW blocks didn't move. - You couldn't pause within tubes. - There is no red pulse of energy within the crystal ball you use to open the jade mask at the end of levels. Characters Stats: Note: In scales 1 is best, 4 is worst. IMAJIN Appearence: Short, thin, turban wearer. Running Speed: 2 Jumping Power: 3 Lifting Power: 2 Encumberedness Factor: 2 SMB2a Equivalent: Mario Evaluation: Imajin is the most well-rounded character of the game, hence you will find his conquest of the game the easiest. LINA Appearence: Female, wears tiara, pink hair and pink dress. Running Power: 4 Jumping Power: 2 + Float Lifting Power: 4 Encumberance Factor: 4 Smb2a Equivalent: Princess Evaluation: Lina's abilty to float is extremely useful because it allows her to make jumps that no one is capable of off. She can also jump the second highest in the game, and her lack of lifting and running abilities are easily compensated for by her jumping abilities. MAMA Appearence: Female, purple robes. Running Power: 1 Jumping Power: 1 Lifting Power: 3 Encumberance Factor: 4 Smb2a Equivalent: Luigi Evaluation: Aside from being the fastest runner and highest jumper, Mama is also extremely well read. When playing with her you can skip the first chapter right off the bat. Mama tends to be people's favorite character. PAPA Appearence: Plump turban-wearer. Running Power: 3 Jumping Power: 4 Lifting Power: 1 Encumberance Factor: 1 Smb2a Equivalent: Toad Evaluation: Papa is not encumbered by holding an item, hence he is able to jump and run at normal speed with items. Like Lina, this enables him to go to places and do things which no other character can do. Although his lack of running speed and minor jumping abilities will get him into trouble, his quick pick-up abilties will net him a lot of extra lives (via the slot-machine) and allow him an edge when fighting enemies. THAT'S ALL--- For now. I would appreciate it if someone could get me a scan of the original instruction booklet, or even a translation of the text would be fine, it would help fill in some of the gaps in this FAQ. Also, any information on the story (why was Fuji TV involved?) and and about that possible sequel would be appreciated. If Famtasia ever develops a screen-shot option I'll make an HTML version of this, but I don't think that likely.