Hansei Zaru Jiro-kun no Daibouken( a.k.a. ????????????? ) was developed by Natsume., Released in December 27, 1991
Jir?-kun no Daibouken is an action/platform/puzzle game by Natsume. The game starts as Jirou-kun, a cute little monkey, is on a day trip for a refreshing gourmet picnic. But suddenly, in the middle of a peaceful forest, a witch appears, imprisons the poor Jirou and steals all the fruits he was carrying in his backpack. And she has even more sinister plans in store for the small primate and decides to use her powers to turn all these fruits into evil monsters, forcing Jirou to use all his wits to escape his dogged pursuers and return home safely. The aim of each level is to help Jirou locate the exit door in order to move on to the next stage. However, multiple large locks (one to a maximum of six) keep it firmly shut, and the monkey must collect all the keys scattered around each level before seizing a chance to escape. Carrying out that task would be easy, if only it weren’t for the legions of enemies populating the screen. And to defend himself against these critters, Jirou only comes equipped with possibly the world’s most unusual weapon – bubbles. However, these blue bubbles come with a bit of a twist – if the player presses the action button again, the bubble pops and releases a small baseball ball, enough to strike one enemy down. And that’s not even half of it! Jirou can bounce the blue bubble on his head to power it up (from Green, Yellow to Red) and these new bubbles release even more devastating attacks, such as lines of soccer balls, spinning volley balls and rows of basket balls! And the bubbles have a lot more to offer – as such, they can stun enemies for a while or capture keys or items that Jirou wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise. And the game has a lot of items to collect, such as coins (points), Extra lives and hats. The latter come in a multitude of forms, from a Baseball Cap (helps Jirou in controlling the bubbles), Gold Crown (prevents Jirou to be affected by special platforms, such as icy surfaces), Top Hat (gives Jirou the ability to instantly grow a red bubble!), Straw Hat (Jirou can glide in the air after a jump) and Spiked Helmet (temporary armor against enemies). And Jirou must always be on his toes, because enemies can also collect items (including keys) and he will have to battle the foes if they happen to do so! Additionally, the game is filled with many special and rewarding features, such as switches (activates traps, such as Fiery Birds or Fireballs that both Jirou or enemies can operate), Cannons (throw Jirou and enemies in the air) or hidden Gold Doors (lead to bonus stages). Jirou-kun no Daibouken consists of five large areas of ten levels each, all punctuated by a requisite boss battle. Each zone also features a three-digit password system to save the player’s progress.
Other Informations:
Cartridge ID: SHVC-HJ
Released on December 27, 1991 in Japan for 7000 Yen.
Interestingly, Jirou-kun no Daibouken was first released in 1991 as a Game Boy game called “Lucky Monkey” in Japan. However, although the game is similar to the Super Famicom version (they do share the same theme), both games have notable differences – the levels as well as some of the enemies and bosses are slightly different, and the game doesn’t require the player to collect keys, but to clear each level of its enemies instead. Finally, the way to pop the bubbles is different – the player has to press and hold up to burst a bubble, making the game slightly more difficult to play. The game also features letters to collect in order to access the bonus stages (the letters spell ‘MONKEY’ in the Japanese version and ‘SPANKY’ in the western port). Finally, Lucky Monkey doesn’t seem to feature power hats nor sport balls, and bubbles split instead into black balls.
Export releases:
[US] “Spanky’s Quest [Model SNS-HJ-USA]”
[EU] Spanky’s Quest
– TIPS AND TRICKS –
Level Passwords:
Zone 1 – 000
Zone 2 – 732
Zone 3 – 354
Zone 4 – 116
Zone 5 – 988
Zone 6 – 470
Creators:
Game Planner: S. Ominami
Programmer: S. Yosikawa, K. Furuya, A. Isizuka
Sound: K. Sada
Character Design: Y. Ogawa, K. Sino, T. Fujituna, J. Kobayasi
Advisor: T. Suzuki
Special Thanks: Jim H. Yajima
Hansei Zaru Jiro-kun no Daibouken