If you love stuffing your face with sweets, you could find yourself in much worse places
than Japan. Of course there are the traditional treats—hey, these aren't just power ups
in Ganbare Goemon, you know—but Western-style chocolates, cakes and candies make up a vast
majority of the country's sweets on offer. So many Japanese confectionery companies
with rich histories provide even richer sugar-loaded junk food that is sure to satisfy anyone's
sweet tooth. Meiji has been around for over a century and produces classic snacks such
as Kinoko no Yama and Takenoko no Sato, as well as what may be the nation's best-selling
chocolate bar. The Korean-owned and operated Lotte, actually founded in post-war Tokyo,
produces its own popular chocolate bars such as Crunky—gotta love that name—but is
most well-known in East Asia for its delicious Chocopies. And aside from being associated
with one of Osaka's most famous landmarks, Glico is behind Bisco, a childhood favorite
among Japanese, though the company is no doubt worshiped by "weebs" all over the world for
their wildly successful chocolate-covered biscuit sticks known as Pocky.
However, among these junk food giants is a name perhaps more synonymous with sweets in
Japan than any other—Morinaga. A company with a history dating back to the very end
of the 19th century, Morinaga produces just about any sugary delight you could imagine—cookies,
caramels, snack cakes, pudding, ice cream, chocolate...DARS! They are world-renowned
for their fruity Hi-Chew taffy candies, which are so good, though I think their most iconic
line of treats comes in the form of Chocoballs, chocolate-dipped peanuts represented by the
lovable mascot Kyorochan, who is also a major figure in Japanese pop culture. OK, but what
does all this talk of sweets have to do with video games, you might ask? Well, in the1980s,
rather than using their established mascots like Kyorochan or even the little angel found
in their corporate logo, Morinaga introduced a new character in Japan to promote their
chocolates, gummies, ice cream and the brand in general. The new mascot proved to be a
hit, so much so that in the early 90s he would star in his very own video game. This character?
Noobow. And the game? Hmm...Noobow.
Published for the Nintendo Game Boy on December 11th, 1992, Noobow is probably the sweetest
game you'll ever play on the handheld, which is very fitting for a candy company's mascot.
And it's really well-made, too, which should be no surprise since it was published by Irem,
a company with an excellent track record for putting out exceptional video games. At its
core, Noobow is an action adventure puzzle game where the titular character overcomes
obstacles and helps others by interacting with the environment and using objects in
a variety of ways. There are no bad guys to take out, no weapons or power ups, there's
no violence whatsoever—Noobow accomplishes his goals through hard work, resourcefulness
and just being an overall positive force in the world. For fans of traditional video games,
that may sound kind of boring and maybe even a little lame, but Noobow crafts a charming
experience that is an absolute joy to play from beginning to end.
Before we dive into the game further, let's take a minute to explore just who Noobow is
first. As alluded to earlier, this yellow, smiling...uh, thing, was used to promote Morinaga
snacks in the 80s and 90s, and his name and image were slapped onto several of the company's
new candy lines, most popular of which were the “Air in Choco” chocolate bars. During
this time period he also made appearances in quite a few television commercials, many
alongside the now notorious Japanese musician and entertainer Masashi Tashiro. Noobow was
also a merchandising machine with its own production company, which manufactured and
sold tons of Noobow-licensed goods. The little guy even starred in his own anime OVA! As
far as the character's personality, I think the back covers of the “Enjoy English with
Noobow” book series sums it up simply and quite nicely: “His body is soft and light.
He is somehow happy all the time. He makes everyone around him feel comfortable.” How
sweet.
So now that we know more than we ever needed to about a Japanese candy company's obscure
mascot character from the past, let's at last take a closer look at the fluffy yellow bundle
of joy's adventure on the Game Boy. It all starts after Noobow awakens to find himself
mysteriously stranded on a desert island, and it's your job as the player to ensure
he finds his way home. Pressing left and right on the d-pad moves Noobow, and a quick inspection
of the area rules out swimming since a shark inhabits the waters surrounding the island.
Thankfully, a boat is lying in the sand, which can be picked up with the A button and placed
on Noobow's head as he moves around. Walking to the right most edge of the island and pressing
A again will place the boat in the water, allowing safe passage to lands beyond the
sea. Once on the mainland, a block obstructs the way, but Noobow can easily climb over
it. What he can't climb over, however, is the hill right past it. He's just a bit too
short. Picking up the block and setting it at the base of the hill gives Noobow the extra
height he needs to make the climb, however. Just past this small hill is a taller hill,
but stacking up the two blocks nearby to create a stairway will allow Noobow to get to the
top. The next pit fall is a literal pitfall, and unfortunately, Noobow isn't much of a
jumper, but again, thanks to some conveniently placed blocks, he can fill in the gap and
safely walk across to reach the ladder ahead, which he can go up by pressing up on the d-pad.
Here he'll find a pogo stick, and by pressing the A button, he uses it to bounce around,
which comes in handy soon since he'll need to jump up and over another pit and some platforms.
After its served its purpose, the pogo stick disappears, which happens with many other
items in the game. Making his way through the upper area, Noobow encounters an angry
dog, but he won't bite, just bark and block the path forward. Picking up a nearby stick
and throwing it over the dog's head takes care of the mut. Just beyond is a dead end
and a great fall...jeez, I hope that dog is all right. The sign warns of danger, and it
looks like there's no way to proceed further, but because Noobow is so light and fluffy,
he's able to pick up the cloth next to the sign and use it to descend slowly and safely
down the side of the cliff. Once at the bottom, there is another stick—oh god, is that the
same one he threw earlier? I really hope that dog is all right—as well as a bucket. Well,
buckets are quite useful, so he picks that one up and continues along the path. In this
area there's a baby whale just floating in the middle of a pool, but it's too tall for
Noobow to climb onto, and he can't use the bucket to stand on. There is a small opening
on the pool's left side, though, just big enough for that stick from earlier to fit
in and create a step, so Noobow heads back to pick it up. Only one item can be carried
at a time, so pressing B drops the bucket. Inserting the stick into the pool hole makes
the climb possible, and Noobow can walk right over the baby whale to advance. Remember,
Noobow is light so he does no harm to the whale...though I'm still unsure of the fate
of that dog. Just past here is school of whales, so it seems like the little one from earlier
has been separated from its family. Noobow heads back to pick up the bucket to transport
the whale, but scooping up the little guy too soon presents a new problem, erasing a
path across the pool—I guess swimming is another thing Noobow can't do. Dropping him
back into the water and picking him up on the other end means Noobow can reunite the
whales. As an act of gratitude, the largest of these whales shoots him up into the air
through its blowhole, propelling Noobow to the next land and inching him ever closer
to home.
Obviously this short level serves as a tutorial, and from here on out is where the real game
begins. While progression in Noobow is mostly linear, the player is allowed some degree
of freedom of exploration. There are many items that Noobow will find and use throughout
his adventure, and while there is only ever one “correct” solution to the puzzles
and obstacles he'll encounter, there are some really clever ways in which he utilizes those
items that are sure to put a smile on the player's face. As stated earlier, there's
no violence whatsoever in this game—well, maybe with the exception of that dog—and
while he'll be put in some dangerous situations along the way, Noobow can never die, because
he'll stop himself before any bad accidents can occur. There are a few instances where
he can get stuck, however, particularly when working with block puzzles. Moving between
screens will reset blocks that have not been set correctly to their original state, but
if you find yourself completely trapped, you'll have to press start and select to restart
the stage from scratch. And on the offhand chance that you're just lost and don't know
where you should go next, you can press the select button and an arrow will point you
in the general direction you need to head.
After saving the young whale, Noobow has a choice of going to three stages that take
place in three different lands, each consisting of two areas. These stages are titled the
squirrel stage, the mole stage and the bird stage, and you can play them in any order
you like with no consequence to the overall game. As stated earlier, Noobow is all about
helping others, and that's exactly what his goal is in each area. The land of the squirrels
is usually a warm place, but when Noobow arrives it's freezing cold for some reason. The squirrels
dwell high above the ground on floating patches of land and travel using pulley systems, which
Noobow gets to use, sometimes through acorn bribery. It turns out that the playful god
of the northern winds has been blowing cold air from his magic bag toward the squirrels
as a prank, so Noobow must find a way make him stop and restore warmth to the land. Lately
the moles have been hot and sweaty, mainly because their showers no longer function.
It's up to Noobow to head deep underground, fix the pipes and restore the flow of water
to the showers up on the surface. To do this, he'll have to navigate subterranean mazes
and even shrink himself down to fit in the more narrow tunnels from time to time. And
in the land of the birds, Noobow is tasked with helping one of its citizens find the
scattered parts to his helicopter after a crash landing. Once restored, Noobow gets
to ride in the helicopter until he runs into a squabbling sun and typhoon. He travels through
the clouds in order to find a way to make peace between the two, and it turns out the
sun just needed a little bit of water to cool his temper, provided by the typhoon of all
things.
Completing these three stages unlocks the final stage in Noobow, where the cheerful
protagonist meets the one person who is perhaps even more full of cheer than him—jolly old
St. Nick, Santa Claus. He rests on top of a giant Christmas tree above the clouds, and
asks Noobow to help him collect eight presents he's mistakenly dropped below. This level
makes use of all the tricks learned previously, and each time a present is found, one of Santa's
little angel helpers will fly down and take it back to the sleigh, giving access to a
new area for Noobow to continue his search. Once all the presents have been accounted
for, Santa offers the helpful hero a ride home on his sleigh, bringing the journey to
an end at last. During the trip, Noobow falls asleep as all the fun and adventure of the
day has taken quite the toll. As he wakes up, he wonders if it had all been a dream,
but is delighted to find himself at home, surrounded by familiar, smiling faces, with
an enormous gift just waiting to be opened.
Unfortunately, this is indeed where the game ends, and there's no credits, just a still
screen of the happy reunion. Noobow can be easily beaten in one sitting and in just under
an hour for first time players, though passwords are provided in between each level in case
you need to pick up where you left off at a later time. You can also press start at
any time during the game to see your current password in case you missed it. Because this
title was meant to appeal to younger demographics, it doesn't provide the sort of challenge other
similar action puzzle games do, which is unfortunate but that also means just about anyone can
play it, and while it's simple in both its design and looks, it manages to be engaging
and attractive at the same time. The animations in particular are really well done, and every
movement Noobow makes somehow seems in step to the whimsical music being played. Noobow's
visual style is a perfect fit for the monochromatic screen of the original Game Boy, and playing
it on a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance makes the game look even better, as the limited
color pallet applied suits the game well. Since Noobow was released a couple of years
before the Super Game Boy, it doesn't benefit from any special features when using the device,
but it does look and play fine on the peripheral. Judge for yourself, I used a Super Game Boy
2 to record footage for this video. There are no noteworthy extras in Noobow other than
level select and sound test passwords, so replay value is extremely limited, but it's
the kind of game you'll probably want to pick up and play sometimes when you're stressed,
in a bad mood or just need to wind down, and really, everybody could use that sometimes.
By some miracle, there is an English fan translation for the game available to download online,
but it's only really necessary for non-Japanese readers who want to enjoy the story, since
there is no language barrier related to gameplay. There's not much story, either, and I'm sure
there's less text in the entire game than you'd find in one chapter of a young adult
novel. If you want a physical cartridge to play on the go, however, a loose one can be
found for relatively cheap, but those looking for a complete copy, expect to save up quite
a bit. I do highly recommend playing Noobow at least once, no matter the means. Who knew
a game based on a chocolate bar character could be so good? It's a wonderful, well-crafted
game that oozes quality, hampered only by its short length, lack of replay value and
how easy it is to beat. But the experience is surely worth whatever investment you have
to make, and I'll be damned you don't feel all warm and fuzzy inside as you play.
Well, that's Noobow in a nutshell...the game, anyway. Although it uses a Morinaga mascot
character, within the game there's really nothing tied to the company at all. The closest
I could find was that the whales in the tutorial stage bear a striking resemblance to Totomaru,
mascot for the company's Ottotto crackers, and the angel helpers in the Santa stage could
perhaps be a nod to the company's logo character. But those just might be coincidences. Noobow
on the Game Boy never got any sort of sequel, and as far as I know the game engine was never
recycled for anything else, which is a shame. And of course, the game remained Japan-only.
As far as what became of Noobow the character, sadly, his star has faded in recent years,
as his candy lines have all been discontinued for quite some time now. He does have a small
cult following of fans and is used by Morinaga once in a while for promotional purposes and
events, though it seems the last really big thing for the character took place in 2011
by using him on packaging and with the “Noobow Eco & Smile Project,” which was a campaign
aimed toward children with the goal of putting smiles on faces and teaching about the environment
through entertainment and cultivating flowers. And there's a real chance Noobow could make
a comeback, since Morinaga still has a dedicated place for the yellow blob on their official
website, where you can learn more about the character, download stuff like wallpapers
and coloring sheets, watch some cute animated shorts, and of course, buy Noobow merch.
While Noobow may not be as visible in Japanese popular culture today as he once was in previous
decades, the aforementioned Kyorochan remains one of the nation's most recognizable and
beloved mascots. And once upon a time, he too was a video game star, multiple times
at that. Not to be outdone by Noobow, he even had a couple of outings on the Game Boy, though
in 1999 a Kyoro-chan 2D platformer for the PS1 came out which could be considered a real
“hidden gem.” If this is news to you, find out all about it by watching the Ultra Healthy
Video Game Nerd's review. Go check it out!
Well, that concludes another episode of Import Gaming FTW from someone who may just be the
ultra unhealthy video game nerd, judging from all the junk food I bought for the video.
But that might also mean I'm just a plain old, regular nerd. Anyway, this is Jimmy Hapa,
hoping we follow Noobow's example and try to help each other out more in times of need.
I'll certainly try my best--take care!
Man, look at all this junk food! Time to get fat..ter. *sobs*