Lost In Translation/Pengo

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.

Pengo
Manufacturer	Sega
Released	1982
Control Method	4-way Joystick 1 Button(s)
Main CPU	Z80 (@ 3.072 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono Namco (@ 96.000 kHz)
Video Details	Raster (Vertical) 288 x 224 pixels 60.61 Hz 512 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	14 ROMs 50,720 bytes (49.53 KiB)
MAME ID	pengo · pengo2 · pengo2u · pengo3u · pengo4 · pengob · penta

About The Game

Pengo is a maze-based arcade video game.

Pengo the Penguin is the eponymous star of Pengo the video game. The basic layout of Pengo is akin to that of Namco's legendary 'Pac-Man'; featuring, as it does, a top down, single screen, maze-like arrangement. Pengo's enemies, the Sno-Bees, are also similar to the Blinky, Inky, Clyde etc. - the ghosts that pursued Pac-man; not least because Sno-bees also come in 4 different varieties, each represented by a different colour.

One aspect that distinguishes Pengo from the Namco classic is that the Maze itself is a wholly interactive environment. Each section of wall is represented as a block of ice, which can be pushed onto the Sno-bees to destroy them. The Sno-bees themselves will destroy the ice blocks as they move around each level, so speed is of the essence. Some of the blocks are 'Diamond blocks' which cannot be destroyed, and can be re-used by Pengo.

The outer wall of each level can also be utilized; if the player pushes against the wall when a Sno-bee is next to it, The Sno-bee will be temporarily stunned; allowing Pengo to move in for the kill.

Trivia

Released during September 1982.

Rodney Day holds the official record for this game with 1,110,370 points.

A bootleg of this game is known as "Penta".

Updates

(Set 2) draws its maze much more quickly and has snappy original music, whereas (Set 1)'s music is a copy of an instrumental pop song (Hot Butter - Popcorn - 1972).

Scoring

Item / Action	Points
Vibrating a wall	30
Smashing an ice block	30
Smashing an ice block with a Sno-bee inside	500
Walking over a stunned Snow-bee	100
Killing a Snow-bee with an ice block	400
Killing two Snow-bees at once with one ice block	1,600
Killing three Snow-bees at once with one ice block	3,200
Killing four Snow-bees at once with one ice block	6,400
Lining up the three diamond blocks with none of them touching a wall	10,000
Lining up the three diamond blocks with one or more touching a wall	5,000
Completing screen in under 20 seconds	5,000
Completing screen in 20-29 seconds	2,000
Completing screen in 30-39 seconds	1,000
Completing screen in 40-49 seconds	500
Completing screen in 50-59 seconds	10
Completing screen in 60 seconds and over	no bonus

Tips and tricks

• The last remaining Sno-bee on the screen will try to escape. If you do not kill it before it reaches one of the corners it will disappear.
• The indicator at the top of the screen tells you how many Sno-Bees are remaining on the level, including those still in ice blocks.
• At the start of each level some ice blocks will flash. This indicates that there is a Sno-Bee inside and you can destroy the ice block to kill the Sno-Bee before it emerges.
• When you kill the last Sno-bee you have a couple of seconds before the level ends. Use this time to crush an ice block for an extra 30 points.
• Concentrate your efforts on lining up the diamond blocks. The 10,000 points are the biggest single score in the game, and stunning all the Sno-bees is also a valuable side effect. You can then kill them easily by pushing ice blocks onto them rather than running over them (400 points as opposed to 100).
• Try to kill more than one Sno-bee at a time, as 2 or more together are worth more points than killing them individually.

Staff

Designed & Programmed By

Nobuo Kodera

Tsutomu Iwane

Akira Nakakuma

Shinji Egi

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Pengo arcade cabinet.

• 

  Pengo flyer.

• 

  Alternate Pengo flyer.

Ports

Consoles

Atari 2600 (1983)

Atari 5200 (1983)

Atari XEGS

Sega Game Gear (1990)

Sega Saturn (1997, "Sega Memorial Selection Vol.1")

Computers

Atari 800 (1983)

Commodore C64 (1983)

Commodore C64 (1983, "Petch")

Tandy Color Computer (1983, "Pengon")

Amstrad CPC (1986, "Troglo")

Others

LCD handheld game (1982) by Bandai

VFD portable game (1983) by Bandai

Mobile phones (2001)

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Legend of Game Music 2 ~Platinum Box~	SCDC-00473~82	2006-01-18	Scitron Digital Contents	8 CD version.
Segacon -The Best of Sega Game Music- Vol.1	SVWC-7092~4	2001-10-24	SME Visual Works	3 CD version.
Classic in Game Music - Legend Compilation Series	SCDC-00463	2005-09-21	Scitron Discs	CD version.
Arcade Ambiance 1983	N/A	2003-01-01	Andy Hofle	Digital download only.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.