Zupapa! [Model NGM-070]

SNK Neo-Geo MVS cart. published 23 years ago by SNK Corp.

Listed in MAME

Info

Zupapa! © 2001 SNK [Shin Nihon Kikaku].

In this whimsical action game, you take control of an uber cute, long-eared, boxing-gloves wearing hero and his 4 little sidekicks (called 'Zooks' by the way!) in order to tackle colorful yet dangerous enemies in fun looking worlds such as Nightmare Land, Circus Land, Toy Land, Jungle Land, Dino Land, Japan Land, Sci-fi Land, Dragon Land & Virtual Land! Features very colorful graphics, nicely animated characters, fun bonus stages to mix things up and a simple yet really catchy soundtrack! Grab a friend for some truly awesome platforming fun!

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TECHNICAL

Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
Game ID : NGM-070

Players : 2
Control : 8-Way Joystick
Buttons : 2
=> [A] Punch/Toss Zooks, [B] Jump

TRIVIA

This game runs on the SNK Neo-Geo MVS hardware and was not released on the Neo-Geo AES home console.

On February 22, 1994, SNK third party developer Face debuted Zupapa at the AOU Show in Japan, however the game was released by SNK for its MVS system in 2001. That is the reason the game was long thought to be a prototype-only title! So far, this is the only NeoGeo un-released prototype game that finally saw an actual official release.

The game was finally released a few months after the 'success' of "Nightmare in the Dark" (because they are very similar, only graphics and levels change). They are so close that some players consider that Nightmare in the Dark is the adult version of the game (with dark graphics) and Zupapa the children version (with its cute animations).

This is one of the very few Neo Geo games that does not show the names of its developers at the ending, it also deems this title as Episode 1 but chances of a sequel are next to none! Too bad... :(

Default highscore table (RANKING) :
RANK NAME SCORE
1st KAT 100000
2nd GON 80000
3rd OKI 60000
4th SET 40000
5th HAR 20000

TIPS AND TRICKS

* You can find a few power-ups in the different levels :
S : Increase Zupapa's speed.
P : Increase Zupapa's power.
J : Add points whenever Zupapa jumps.
A : Add points whenever Zupapa punches.
X2 : Double the score of all score items.

* Destroy all enemies in any stage with a single Zook Bomb in order to be rewarded with a golden Zupapa trophy!

* Do not throw the Zooks if you do not need to, otherwise they will run away from you making the current stage more tricky to clear!

* After clearing the first world, when you start playing in the second world, at the end of each round when you've killed all the enemies, you are given a few seconds before being warped to the next stage. During this time you can keep jumping or pushing the punch button. Every time you push any of the buttons, you are awarded 100 points. Quite good for making high-score rewards.

* When you throw those small kids at the enemies and they are out cold for a few seconds, try to kill them by touching them when several other enemies are in the needed radius, this will of course kill that enemy but also kill the others in the certain radius and you'll get extra fruits hence bonus.

* Beat the game without continuing to see an extra congratulatory image in the ending.

SOURCES

Game's ROM.