Flappy
Encyclopedia
Flappy is a puzzle game by dB-Soft in the same vein as the Eggerland series and Sokoban
that is obscure outside of Japan
. It features Flappy, a somewhat mole-like character who must complete each level by pushing a blue stone from its starting place to the blue tile destination.
Flappy first appeared on the Sharp X1
home computer in 1983. This debut was soon followed by with conversions to a number of popular Japanese computers in the early 1980s, including the NEC's line of PCs and the Fujitsu
FM series. As a puzzle game, it was well suited to these early systems since it didn't require a tremendous amount of graphical sophistication. Ports for the MSX
computer line and the Nintendo Famicom
were released in 1985. DB-Soft produced a sequel with more difficult puzzles called King Flappy for the benefit of anyone who managed to clear the original 200 levels. A Nintendo Game Boy
port was released exclusively in Japan in 1990 and was published by Victor Musical Industries. Over time, Flappy has continued to see many graphically improved upgrades, such as on the Windows
platform and on several mobile phone devices. It was released on Japan's Virtual Console
in 2007.
Two officially-unreleased variants of Flappy, Floppy and Beyond Floppy, were programmed by Greg Hale and Ted Cohn for the Apple II
platform. Floppy featured special names for each of the game's levels. Included with both Apple II games was an editor which allowed the user to create their own custom levels.
of Blue Star, home-planet to a young boy named FLAPPY, is invaded by Dark Emperor Ngalo-Ngolo. The proud inhabitants of Blue Star, wanting neither war nor the invasion, self-destruct along with the planet on a path of self-determination. FLAPPY, however, is boarded onto an escape capsule headed for neighboring Planet Seviras by his father and so survives. From his capsule he sees fragments of the exploded Blue Star rain down incessantly on Planet Seviras.
Wandering aimlesslessly about Planet Seviras, FLAPPY reaches an oasis where he suddenly hears a voice from the sky saying, 'Gather up the fragments of Blue Star, the Blue Stones, to this Blue Area. When all of them have been gathered...' FLAPPY, believing a miracle has just occurred, begins on a journey to gather all the Blue Stones.
s at the enemies to knock them out for a while, or drop stones on them to crush them permanently. There are, however, many obstacles along the way: brick walls you must work your way around, brown stones which you can crush but which can also crush you if they fall on you, holes or dead angles in which the blue stone becomes unretrievable if it falls into them, and moving enemies. The game features just two enemies: Unicorns and Ebira. Unicorn
s are green creatures that move in mostly-repetitive horizontal patterns. Ebira are red crab
-like enemies (the word "ebi" is a Japanese term for shellfish
) that relentlessly chase Flappy both horizontally and vertically. Ebira tend to mimick Flappy's movements, so Flappy must be careful to avoid being charged by a persistent Ebira.
Sokoban
is a type of transport puzzle, in which the player pushes boxes or crates around in a warehouse, trying to get them to storage locations. The puzzle is usually implemented as a video game....
that is obscure outside of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It features Flappy, a somewhat mole-like character who must complete each level by pushing a blue stone from its starting place to the blue tile destination.
Flappy first appeared on the Sharp X1
Sharp X1
The X1 is a series of home computer released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It was based on a Z80 CPU.Despite the fact that the Computer Division of Sharp Corporation had released the MZ series, suddenly the Television Division released a new computer series called the X1...
home computer in 1983. This debut was soon followed by with conversions to a number of popular Japanese computers in the early 1980s, including the NEC's line of PCs and the Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
FM series. As a puzzle game, it was well suited to these early systems since it didn't require a tremendous amount of graphical sophistication. Ports for the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
computer line and the Nintendo Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
were released in 1985. DB-Soft produced a sequel with more difficult puzzles called King Flappy for the benefit of anyone who managed to clear the original 200 levels. A Nintendo Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
port was released exclusively in Japan in 1990 and was published by Victor Musical Industries. Over time, Flappy has continued to see many graphically improved upgrades, such as on the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platform and on several mobile phone devices. It was released on Japan's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in 2007.
Two officially-unreleased variants of Flappy, Floppy and Beyond Floppy, were programmed by Greg Hale and Ted Cohn for the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
platform. Floppy featured special names for each of the game's levels. Included with both Apple II games was an editor which allowed the user to create their own custom levels.
Storyline
The beautiful planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
of Blue Star, home-planet to a young boy named FLAPPY, is invaded by Dark Emperor Ngalo-Ngolo. The proud inhabitants of Blue Star, wanting neither war nor the invasion, self-destruct along with the planet on a path of self-determination. FLAPPY, however, is boarded onto an escape capsule headed for neighboring Planet Seviras by his father and so survives. From his capsule he sees fragments of the exploded Blue Star rain down incessantly on Planet Seviras.
Wandering aimlesslessly about Planet Seviras, FLAPPY reaches an oasis where he suddenly hears a voice from the sky saying, 'Gather up the fragments of Blue Star, the Blue Stones, to this Blue Area. When all of them have been gathered...' FLAPPY, believing a miracle has just occurred, begins on a journey to gather all the Blue Stones.
Gameplay
Gravity, gaps in the floors, and wandering enemies stand in the way of Flappy reaching his goal. Flappy can pick up and throw sleeping mushroomMushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s at the enemies to knock them out for a while, or drop stones on them to crush them permanently. There are, however, many obstacles along the way: brick walls you must work your way around, brown stones which you can crush but which can also crush you if they fall on you, holes or dead angles in which the blue stone becomes unretrievable if it falls into them, and moving enemies. The game features just two enemies: Unicorns and Ebira. Unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
s are green creatures that move in mostly-repetitive horizontal patterns. Ebira are red crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
-like enemies (the word "ebi" is a Japanese term for shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
) that relentlessly chase Flappy both horizontally and vertically. Ebira tend to mimick Flappy's movements, so Flappy must be careful to avoid being charged by a persistent Ebira.
Ports and sequels
- FLAPPY
- Sharp X1Sharp X1The X1 is a series of home computer released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It was based on a Z80 CPU.Despite the fact that the Computer Division of Sharp Corporation had released the MZ series, suddenly the Television Division released a new computer series called the X1...
(1983) - Sharp MZSharp MZThe Sharp MZ is a series of personal computers sold in Japan and Europe by Sharp beginning in 1978.-Overview:...
-800 (1984) - PC-6001mkII ・FM-7FM-7FM-7 is a home computer released in 1982 in Japan.The Fujitsu FM-7 was Fujitsu's first entry into the Japanese home computer market, and for their debut computer, they chose to come out with a 6809-based personal computer very similar to Radio Shack's Color Computer.-Hardware:*Two MC 68B09 CPUs @...
・PC-8801 ・PC-8001mkII (1984) - MSX (1985) (as FLAPPY Limited '85)
- Nintendo FamicomNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(1985) - PMD 85PMD 85The PMD 85 was an 8-bit personal computer produced from 1985 by the companies Tesla Piešťany and Bratislava in the former Czechoslovakia.They were deployed en masse in schools throughout Slovakia, while the IQ 151 performed a similar role in Czech part of the country.PMD 85s were famous for their...
(1988) - i-modeI-modeNTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocol, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data...
(2004) - Yahoo! Mobile (2005)
- Virtual ConsoleVirtual consoleA virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
(2007)
- Sharp X1
- King Flappy
- Sharp X1 ・PC-8801mkIISR ・PC-8001mkIISR (1985)
- Flappy 2 - The Resurrection Of Blue Star
- X68000Sharp X68000The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030...
(1989)
- X68000
- Flappy Special
- Nintendo Game Boy (1990)
- Flappy for Windows
- Microsoft Windows (1995)
- FLAPPY95
- Microsoft Windows (1996)
- Flappy World
- Microsoft Windows (2001)
External links
- Picture solution guide to all 200 Famicom levels (Japanese)
- Video solution guide to all 200 Sharp MZ-800 scenes (part 1, part 2, special effects)