Squirrel King
Encyclopedia
Squirrel King is a platform
video game produced, without license from Sega
, by the Taiwan
ese developer
Gamtec
for the Mega Drive. Gamtec is also responsible for the development of a number of other games, including many for the Gamate
handheld system.
It appears to be loosely based upon Capcom
's Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System
, sharing its gameplay mechanics, although it is not licensed by Disney
. As in the aforementioned game, the main character must throw crate
s at the enemies in order to defeat them. Sometimes crates have helpful things like extra fireballs, extra lives, and health boosts. Other times, they have "power-downs" that reduce the player's health. Despite some animation issues, this game is considered to be of professional quality.
This game was eventually used as the basis for the unofficial Mega Drive Super Mario World game. Some of the levels in this game have their background music based on that of the Super NES video game Donkey Kong Country
.
as well as newly drawn sprites to make the Squirrel King characters look more appropriate in the Super Mario world. Despite its overhauled appearance, the gameplay was unchanged, so, unlike the original Super Mario Bros. game it resembles, Mario and Luigi are unable to stomp on enemies and must instead throw crates at them. However, the producers only managed to finish the first two levels. The rest of the levels are identical to Squirrel King with Mario and Luigi sprites.
Since the game is in the English language
, it is assumed that it was intended for an international audience. While Bowser is still breathing fire, the boss screen involves split screen
gameplay instead of using a single screen. It takes at least eight hits from randomly appearing crates and/or fireballs to defeat Bowser. The music in the boss fights of the game are not reminiscent of any Super Mario Bros. game and were leftovers from the Squirrel King ROM.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game produced, without license from Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, by the Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese developer
Game developer
Game developer may refer to:* Video game developer, an individual or company working on video game production* Video game publisher, a company funding video game developer* Video game producer, a manager of game development team...
Gamtec
Gamtec
Gamtec is a video game developer established in June 1989 and based in Taichung City, Taiwan noted for its unlicensed Mega Drive games such as Legend of Wukong and Squirrel King....
for the Mega Drive. Gamtec is also responsible for the development of a number of other games, including many for the Gamate
Gamate
The Gamate, known as 超級小子 in Taiwan and 超级神童 in China, is a handheld game console manufactured by Bit Corporation in the early 1990s, and released in Australia, parts of Europe and Asia, Argentina, the USA, and possibly other regions.It never sold in numbers comparable to the...
handheld system.
It appears to be loosely based upon Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System
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...
, sharing its gameplay mechanics, although it is not licensed by Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
. As in the aforementioned game, the main character must throw crate
Crate
A crate is a large shipping container, often made of wood, typically used to transport large, heavy or awkward items. A crate has a self-supporting structure, with or without sheathing. For a wooden container to be a crate, all six of its sides must be put in place to result in the rated strength...
s at the enemies in order to defeat them. Sometimes crates have helpful things like extra fireballs, extra lives, and health boosts. Other times, they have "power-downs" that reduce the player's health. Despite some animation issues, this game is considered to be of professional quality.
This game was eventually used as the basis for the unofficial Mega Drive Super Mario World game. Some of the levels in this game have their background music based on that of the Super NES video game Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
.
Super Mario World
Super Mario World, also known as Super Mario Bros. (both titles appear in-game) is a hacked version of Squirrel King that uses ripped graphics from Super Mario Bros.Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
as well as newly drawn sprites to make the Squirrel King characters look more appropriate in the Super Mario world. Despite its overhauled appearance, the gameplay was unchanged, so, unlike the original Super Mario Bros. game it resembles, Mario and Luigi are unable to stomp on enemies and must instead throw crates at them. However, the producers only managed to finish the first two levels. The rest of the levels are identical to Squirrel King with Mario and Luigi sprites.
Since the game is in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, it is assumed that it was intended for an international audience. While Bowser is still breathing fire, the boss screen involves split screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
gameplay instead of using a single screen. It takes at least eight hits from randomly appearing crates and/or fireballs to defeat Bowser. The music in the boss fights of the game are not reminiscent of any Super Mario Bros. game and were leftovers from the Squirrel King ROM.