Factory Panic

From Sega Retro

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  • JP

FactoryPanic GGTitleScreen.png

GanbareGorby GG JP Title.png

Factory Panic
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Puzzle[2][3], Action[4]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Game Gear
JP
¥3,5003,500 G-3210
Sega Game Gear
EU
2308
Sega Game Gear
UK
£24.9924.99[10][11] 2308
Sega Game Gear
BR
013440
Sega Game Gear
KR
GH1005JG

Factory Panic, known in Japan as Ganbare Gorby! (がんばれゴルビー!) and in Brazil as Crazy Company, is a Sega Game Gear puzzle game developed by Japan System House and published by Sega. It was first released in Japan in June 1991, and was later brought to Europe, Brazil, and South Korea.

Despite being released only two months after the similarly-themed Nintendo Family Computer title Gorby no Pipeline Daisakusen, the games are unrelated.

Story

In the Japanese and Korean versions, the player character, "Gorby," must deliver supplies to needy people in a country where supplies are scarce. Gorby takes his name and likeness from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President of the Soviet Union at the time. The Soviet Union was dissolved mere months after the release of the game in Japan.

In the Western versions, the player character has been replaced by an unnamed blond boy. A corrupt business magnate named I.M. Greede has been buying up the local factories and hoarding food and other necessities from the people of Segaville. The player must sneak into the factories to distribute goods to the people who need them.

Gameplay

Factory Panic GG, Gameplay, Switch.png

Switch stage

Factory Panic GG, Gameplay, Bridge.png

Bridge stage

The game is a puzzle game where the player must guide goods down conveyor belts to people queuing outside a factory. The player controls Gorby or an unnamed blond boy from an overhead perspective of the factory floor. Items include bread, meat, medical supplies, and Game Gears. Each person needs a specific kind of item. Gorby or the boy must step on switches or place conduits quickly enough to reroute the goods on the network of conveyor belts. By rerouting an item at the right time, Gorby or the boy can deliver it to a person who is waiting for it. Once every person in the queue has received their items, the player advances to a more challenging stage. Factory guards try to impede the player from succeeding.

Each stage has a timer that starts with 999 seconds. Items continue to roll in until the stage is completed or time runs out. The player loses a life if time runs out or if a guard injures Gorby or the boy. Later guards are armed with guns. The game can be continued a limited number of times if lives run out.

There are four rounds with eight stages each, and there are two types of stages. Rounds 1 and 3 contain "Switch Mode" stages where Gorby or the boy steps on a switch to rotate a conveyor belt junction. The color of the switch corresponds to the color of the junction that it operates. The switch is only active for as long as Gorby or the boy is standing on it. In these stages, there are two types of items, one desirable and one undesirable (for example, fresh bread and moldy bread). When a person receives a desirable item, they go away happy; when a person receives an undesirable item, they are unhappy (penalizing the player with a loss of time) and continue waiting for another item.

Rounds 2 and 4 consist of "Bridge Mode" stages where Gorby or the boy rearranges conduits to make or break links between conveyor belts. In these stages, there are multiple different kinds of items, which must be delivered to the right person. The player is penalized with a loss of time if a person receives the wrong item.

Gorby or the boy moves in any direction using the D-Pad. He automatically jumps over the conveyor belt line when he moves over it. He can scream at guards with 2, which is a short-ranged projectile attack that can be aimed in the four cardinal directions. Screaming at guards knocks them back and temporarily stuns them. In the conduit stages, Gorby or the boy can pick up a bridge link with 1 and then place it anywhere with 1 again.

People and goods

Each person wants a particular type of item.

Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Mrs. Peabody (おばさん)
She wants
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Fresh Meat and does not want a
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Bone.
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Little Hughie (子ども)
He wants a
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Game Gear and does not want a
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Gear.
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Grandpa Tataglia (おじいさん)
He wants
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Fresh Bread and does not want
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Moldy Bread.
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Pierre (ケガ人)
He wants
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Medicine and does not want
Factory Panic GG, Goods.png
Poison.

Items

Items occasionally roll down the conveyor belts and can be collected by touching them.

Factory Panic GG, Items.png
Weight
Weights can be pushed onto switches in order to hold them down without needing to stand on them.
Factory Panic GG, Items.png
Megaphone
Increases the size, range, and power of the scream attack.
Factory Panic GG, Items.png
Electric Guitar
Causes the guards to dance uncontrollably, stunning them for a duration.
Factory Panic GG, Items.png
Clock
Adds another 100 seconds to the timer.
Factory Panic GG, Items.png
Lucky Star
Gives the player an extra life.

Stages

Main article: Factory Panic/Maps.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as
Language Localised Name English Translation
English Factory Panic Factory Panic
Japanese がんばれゴルビー! Ganbare Gorby!
Portuguese (Brazil) Crazy Company

Magazine articles

Main article: Factory Panic/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-07: "July 1991" (1991-06-08)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Mega Force (ES) #11: "Marzo 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
ACE (UK)
86
[11]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
60
[17]
Consoles + (FR)
67
[18]
Console XS (UK) PAL
90
[19]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
85
[20]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
53
[21]
Game Mania (UK)
81
[22]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
60
[23]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
86
[24]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-J
66
[25]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
82
[26]
Power Play (DE)
51
[27]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
50
[28]
Sega Power (UK)
55
[29]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
86
[10]
Sega Pro (UK)
86
[30]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
86
[31]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
55
[32]
Sega Game Gear
71
Based on
18 reviews

Factory Panic

Game Gear, JP
FactoryPanic GG JP Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngFactoryPanic GG JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
GanbareGorby GG JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Ganbare Gorby GG JP Manual.pdf
Manual
Game Gear, EU
FactoryPanic GG EU Box Back.jpgFactory Panic GG EU BoxSpine.jpgFactoryPanic GG EU Box Front.jpg
Cover
FactoryPanic GG EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Factory Panic GG EU Manual.pdf
Manual
Game Gear, BR
FactoryPanic GG BR backcover.jpgNospine.pngFactoryPanic GG BR Box.jpg
Cover
FactoryPanic GG BR cart.jpg
Cart
Game Gear, KR
FactoryPanic GG KR Box Front.jpg
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 59e3be92
MD5 784f3ff02e544e3a9cf18b3b1da1f062
SHA-1 94beb8b6334bb9dc104ffdb0ad2bdd4964ed91a5
128kB Cartridge (EU)
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 a1f2f4a1
MD5 4d965f99be3edd9593af1c365d6a2653
SHA-1 cd3e8910a99bf6717e63aed3aa212ead0597e5cd
128kB Cartridge (JP)

External links

References

  1. http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Biox
  2. File:FactoryPanic GG EU Box Back.jpg
  3. File:FactoryPanic GG JP Box Front.jpg
  4. 4.0 4.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/gamegear/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-12-07 04:57)
  5. Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1991-10-21), page 21
  6. Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1991-11-04), page 27
  7. Games-X, "7th-13th November 1991" (UK; 1991-11-07), page 5
  8. Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1991-10-21), page 21
  9. Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1991-11-04), page 27
  10. 10.0 10.1 Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 36
  11. 11.0 11.1 ACE, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-08), page 94
  12. Supergame, "Abril 1992" (BR; 1992-04-xx), page 50
  13. Mega Drive Fan, "July 1991" (JP; 1991-06-08), page 120
  14. Hobby Consolas, "Marzo 1993" (ES; 1993-xx-xx), page 29
  15. Todo Sega, "Abril 1993" (ES; 1993-03-15), page 2
  16. Micromanía (segunda época), "Abril 1993" (ES; 1993-0x-xx), page 2
  17. Beep! MegaDrive, "July 1991" (JP; 1991-06-08), page 32
  18. Consoles +, "Février 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 126
  19. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 147
  20. Computer & Video Games, "September 1991" (UK; 1991-08-15), page 89
  21. Famitsu, "1991-xx-xx" (JP; 1991-06-28), page 20
  22. Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 70
  23. Hippon Super, "July 1991" (JP; 1991-06-04), page 115
  24. Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 43
  25. Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 173
  26. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 143
  27. Power Play, "12/91" (DE; 1991-11-13), page 183
  28. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 61
  29. Sega Power, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-02), page 53
  30. Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 57
  31. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 74
  32. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 88


Factory Panic

FactoryPanic GGTitleScreen.png

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