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モアイくん
©Konami 1990
Release: 1990-03-09 (¥4800)
Cartridge KDS-M9
Action/Puzzle
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Moai Kun is a cute action/puzzle game by Konami.
Moai-Kun, a monolithic and cute Easter Island statue
that any fan of Gradius will almost immediately recognize,
sets on a quest to rescue his friends from the clutches of the hideous
Skull King and his minions.
The goal of the game is simple - in each screen, Moai
must rescue his trapped friends and then escape through an exit door
within a time limit. As
expected, the path forward is far from clear of obstacles and each level
features a number of enemies and hazards to overcome. Additionally
Moai Kun is entirely made out of stone and this greatly hampers
his ability to jump... Despite his best efforts, our hero can only
make tiny jumps and is barely able to reach platforms directly in
front of him. Although jumping is not his best asset, his unique
constitution allows him to use his incredibly hard head to move
boulders, break blocks or head-butt his enemies. To further
help him in his quest, Moai Kun can also carry a limited
supply of bombs (usually scattered around each level) and use them
to obliterate breakable blocks beneath him. The game of course
features a full variety of gameplay elements, such as spikes,
springs (hi-jumps), Earthquake Stones (stunt enemies for a
short amount of time) or special blocks (such as indestructible,
collapsing or icy platforms). Finally, it is also worth noting
that Moai Kun is a puzzle game at heart and getting stuck
is a common occurrence... For this reason, the game provides the
player with an option to commit instant suicide. Moai Kun
consists of fifty six increasingly mind-bending levels and the
game awards the player with a short six-digit password (every
four levels or so) in order to save his progress.
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Moai heads (also known as Easter Island Heads)
featured in Moai Kun (which can be translated as 'Moai Kid')
have a long and illustrious history
with the Japanese developer Konami. Moai heads were
first introduced as an enemy in the highly successful and
influential horizontal arcade shooter Gradius (aka Nemesis)
originally released in 1985, where they appeared in their own
exclusive level and came armed with lethal energy rings (picture on the left). Well, this part
is open to discussion since Pandora's Palace, a coin-op
platform game released by Konami in 1984, also featured
Moai heads... but Gradius was definitively the
game that put them in the spotlights. The heads quickly became
a defining hallmark for Konami (close to a pseudo-mascot)
and the Japanese developer included them in countless other titles
and series ever since (such as Akumajō Dracula,
Kyukyoku Sentai Dadandarn, Snatcher,
Metal Gear Solid, Dream Mix TV World Fighters and of
course Parodius to only name a few). Moai also appeared
as a playable character in
Wai Wai World (Famicom, 1988)
where he was given the formal name of 'Moai Alexandria', and as
a driver in Konami Wai Wai Racing Advance (aka
Konami Krazy Racers) released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001.
Well, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Moai Heads
have always been a sort of fascination for Japanese game developers.
Although they are not part of Japanese culture, they have made
numerous cameos appearances in countless Japanese video games,
from Arkanoid (Namco), Space harrier
(Sega) to Final Fantasy (Square Soft),
Magic Sword (Capcom),
Zelda (Nintendo), Super Mario Land
(Nintendo) or Makai Prince Dorabocchan (Naxat Soft).
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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Programmer
Shibata
Character Design
Kisimoto
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Sound Design
H. Ueko
Special Thanks
Shimoide
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Directer
Muraki
Umezaki
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Level Passwords:
Stage 1 - 664000
Stage 5 - 4E4308
Stage 9 - C010C0
Stage 13 - CE57EE
Stage 17 - 030E36
Stage 21 - 2D091A
Stage 25 - E71894
Stage 29 - AF399E
Stage 33 - 54C401
Stage 37 - 5C816B
Stage 41 - F690C1
Stage 45 - B8F189
Stage 49 - 51EC31
Stage 53 - 7DAF5B
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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I am a huge fan of Gradius and I couldn't pass on a game
that stars the emblematic Moai head! However,
Moai Kun isn't a shooter (not even close) and it requires
you to use your head rather than your triggering finger. In a
weird sort of way, the gameplay can be best discribed as a co-op
between you and Moai Kun - both have to use their
heads and while Moai uses it to clear obstacles, the
player uses his to solve each level's demonic puzzle. And be
sure that Moai Kun will keep your brain working overtime
- although it starts off easy, it quickly becomes really
challenging and will throw some nasty scratch-your-head moments
at you. The game is also fairly decent in the graphic department
and Moai-Kun looks adorable. The levels are fairly
varied and have this colorful and sugar-coated look that really
fits the game. Moai Kun has its flaws though - the game can be
a bit repetitive (and there's no replayability once you've
completed it) and I wished each level had its own password
(going through levels that you have already cleared, again
and again, is a bit of a chore).
All in all, Moai Kun is a really fun game and an
underrated little gem.
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