Pinocchio

From Sega Retro

For the unreleased 32X version, see Pinocchio (32X). For the unreleased Pico game, see Pinocchio (Pico).

n/a

Pinocchio title.png

Pinocchio
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: T-HQ Inc. (US), Sega (Europe)
Developer:
Supporting companies:
Distributor: Halifax (Italy)
Licensor: Disney Interactive, The Walt Disney Company
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US
T-239026
ESRB: Kids to Adults
Sega Mega Drive
EU
MK1196-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
Sega Mega Drive
PT
MDJDIO128
Sega Mega Drive
UK
MK1196-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
Sega Mega Drive
GR
Sega Mega Drive
IT
Sega Mega Drive
BR
051100
Tectoy: Todas as Idades
Non-Sega versions

Pinocchio is a side-scrolling action game for the Sega Mega Drive based on the 1940 Disney film of the same name.

Story

The game follows the story of the film (which is itself based on the 1883 Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi). An old Italian woodcarver named Geppetto carves a wooden puppet named Pinocchio. The puppet is brought to life by a Blue Fairy, who informs him that he can become a real boy if he proves himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish. The game uses intertitles between levels to convey the story, in the form of a children's storybook.

Gameplay

The game is a platformer played as Pinocchio. He can move with Left and Right, duck with Down, and jump with C. He can perform a spinning kick with A if he finds a red page. He automatically grabs ledges and pulls himself up. Some levels diverge from these controls and play differently.

Pinocchio's health is indicated by a fairy wand in the top-left corner of the screen. It goes down as he takes damage from enemies. If he loses all of his health, he loses a try. He also loses a try if he falls down a bottomless pit. If he loses all of his tries, the game ends, but it can be continued as long as the player has continues.

Items

Pinocchio, Items.png
Blue Fairy Wand
Partially replenishes Pinocchio's health.
Pinocchio, Items.png
Pinocchio's Hat
Collect a certain amount depending on the difficulty level to earn an extra try (3 on Easy, 5 on Normal, 10 on Hard).
Pinocchio, Items.png
Pinocchio's School Book
Collect a certain amount depending on the difficulty level to earn an extra continue (5 on Easy, 10 on Normal, 15 on Hard).
Pinocchio, Items.png
Yellow Page
Allows Pinocchio to fly higher on the balloons at Pleasure Island.
Pinocchio, Items.png
Red Page
Gives Pinocchio the ability to do a spinning kick.
Pinocchio, Items.png
Blue Page
Gives Pinocchio a higher jump.
Pinocchio, Items.png
White Page
Lets Pinocchio stay on the sea bed longer when underwater.

Levels

Pinocchio, Stage 1.png

An Actor's Life for Me
Pinocchio must find his way to school, avoiding the shifty con artist Honest John and his sidekick Gideon. Pinocchio can collect pages in this level that enhance his abilities. When he chooses the path to school instead of Easy Street, the Blue Fairy appears and gives him the Red Badge of Truth.

Pinocchio, Stage 2.png

Lampside Seating
Honest John convinces Pinocchio to join Stromboli's puppet show. Jiminy Cricket must fight off moths and bugs to get a good seat to watch the show at the lamppost. Jiminy moves with Left and Right and jumps with C. He attacks using his umbrella with A. He uses it as a shield with B when standing or as a parachute with B when in the air.

Pinocchio, Stage 3.png

Marionette Show
Pinocchio performs in the marionette show. This level is a memory game, and the player must copy the moves of the other puppets. If Pinocchio makes a mistake, the audience jeers and throws tomatoes that hurt him. If he does a good job, the audience cheers and throws bonus items. Pinocchio moves his arm left with Left or X, moves his arm right with Right or Z, spins with B, kicks left with A, kicks right with C, does a crouching kick left with Down+A, and does a crouching kick right with Right+C.

Pinocchio, Stage 4-1.png

Pinocchio, Stage 4-2.png

  • Pinocchio, Stage 4-1.png

  • Pinocchio, Stage 4-2.png

Pleasure Island
Honest John is paid by the mysterious Coachman to bring boys to Pleasure Island. He convinces Pinocchio to visit there, and Pinocchio quickly gets into mischief with the delinquent boy Lampwick.

Pinocchio, Stage 5.png

Escape from Pleasure Island
Jiminy learns that the sadistic Coachman is turning boys into donkeys. Pinocchio escapes, partially transformed with donkey ears and a tail. Pinocchio knocks the Coachman into the water, and the Blue Fairy rewards him with the Yellow Badge of Bravery.

Pinocchio, Stage 6.png

Search for Monstro
Pinocchio and Jiminy learn that Geppetto was swallowed by Monstro, a huge, ship-eating whale, while looking for Pinocchio. Pinocchio jumps into the sea to search for Monstro. He must collect clams to weigh himself down to the sea floor. They only last for a while, so Pinocchio must continue collecting them throughout the level.

Pinocchio, Stage 7.png

Fish!
Pinocchio is caught in a school of fish. He must jump from fish to fish, avoiding Monstro. Pinocchio is inevitably swallowed by Monstro, but he can collect more bonus items the longer he can stay ahead.

Pinocchio, Stage 8.png

Inside Monstro
Pinocchio is on a shipwreck inside the giant whale Monstro. He must collect kindling by smashing open crates. Once he has collected enough kindling, he must light a fire and then find Geppetto and escape.

Pinocchio, Stage 9.png

Escape from Monstro
Monstro is chasing Pinocchio and Geppetto on a raft. Pinocchio must duck and jump to avoid the rocks. The raft can be sped up with Left and slowed down with Right. After hitting the rocks, Pinocchio dives into the water to save Geppetto, and the Blue Fairy gives him the Blue Badge of Unselfishness.

History

Development

Similar to previous Disney properties handled by Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Aladdin, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King), animation in Pinocchio was produced by official Disney animators in DisneyWorld, Florida. Virgin would draw the basic concepts of the game in London, which would be sent to Florida for review (often being radically changed in the process) and then sent back, to which Virgin would attempt to recreate the concepts in video game form[3]. The character of Pinocchio has roughly 2,000 frames of animation in total[3].

Twenty-four Virgin staff members worked on Pinocchio[4], using an engine built from the ground up. A Sega 32X version was planned for a simultaneous release[5] (though the Mega Drive version had at least an eight month head start on development[5]), but was cancelled for unknown reasons. Disney prevented Virgin from producing a Sega Saturn conversion due to aspirations of entering the video game market on their own[5].

Production credits

  • Programming: Dave Chapman, Phil Lewin, Leo Skirenko, Richard Turner
  • Head Programmer: Mike Ball
  • Chief Designer: Dan Marchant
  • Assistant Designer: Sarah Thompson
  • Head Artist: Kevin Oxland
  • Animators: Paul Hallewell, Patrick Beirne, Stephen Cavalier, Simon Swift
  • Sprite Artists: Mark Anthony, Wayne Dalton, Marina Vydelingum, Eric Bailey, Matt Butler
  • Westwood Studios Sprite Artists: Cindy Chin, Frank Saxton, Penina Finger, Kennn Seward, Andy Wilson
  • Background Artists: Mark Bentley, Emma Cubberley, Jonathan Green
  • Music and Sound Effects: Allister Brimble
  • Storyboards: Sean Millard
  • Producer: Dave Vout
  • Assistant Producer: Paul Welton
  • Executive Producer: Tony Fagelman
  • Director: Dan Marchant
  • Lead Testers: Tony Hinds, Tony Byus
  • Testers: Michael Wenn, Alon Malka
  • Special Thanks: All the London Studios Team, Louis Castle, Jonathan Howard, Tim Chaney, Colin Gordon, David Bishop, Julian Rignall, Michael Giacchino, and All the Virgin Atlantic Staff (Florida and LA Routes)
  • Senior Producer: Patrick Gilmore
  • Associate Producer: Leila Chang
  • Project Manager: Chip Vollers
  • Production Administrator: James Mellot
  • Test Supervisor: Jeffrey W. Blattner
  • Lead Tester: Mary Schuyler
  • Testers: John Castro, Patrick Larkin, Ronny Louie, Daryl David, Jesse David, Andre Aguilar, Toby Espiritu, Weijean Strand, David Mendelson
  • Documentation: Andrea Smith
  • Special Thanks: Michael Clement
Walt Disney Feature Animation, Animation Services
  • Producer: Paul Curasi
  • Associate Producer: Chuck Williams
  • Character Design and Development: Jim Story, Seung Kim, Michael Benet
  • Supervising Animator: Chris Bradley
  • Animators: Michael Benet, Tim Massa, Tony Stanley, Craig Grasso, Darko Cesar, Rob Corley, Elliot Bour, Travis Blaise
  • Clean-Up: Arden Chan, Kevin Proctor, Merrit Andrews, Caroline Clifford, Kim Torpey, Julia Woolf, Amanda Barnes, Daniela Topham, Joanne Gooding, Annie O'Dell
  • Effects Animators: Joe Gilland, Gary Sole
  • Head of Image Processing and Color Models: Pam Darley
  • Image Processing: Cyndi Sager
  • Animation Check: Jacqueline Hooks
  • Scanning: Jay Shindell
  • Editor: Jeff Draheim
  • Post-Production Associate: Gary Blair
  • Production ManagementProduction Manager: [sic]: Cammie Cavalin
  • Production Coordinator: Laura Roberson
  • Assistant to the Producer: Annette Laguer
  • Personnel Administrator: Jan Seketa
  • Business Manager: Cindy Beltz
  • Production Accountant: Stephanie Thrift
  • Technical Support: Enrique Santos, Don Gworek, Raul Anaya, Todd King, John Outten
  • Production Assistants: Scott Hutton, Jay Shindell, Barney North
  • London CrewSupervising Animator: [sic]: Uli Meyer
  • Animators: Gary Dunn, Dean Roberts, Arnaud Berthier, Tom Lock, Panagiotis Rappis, Andreas Wessel-Therhorn, Mark Broecking
  • Clean-Up: Richard Jack, Christopher Clarke, Niel Bushnell, Michele Craig, Debbie Wall
  • Production Coordinator: Julie Pye
Source:
In-game credits
Pinocchio MD credits.pdf
[6]

Magazine articles

Main article: Pinocchio/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[7]
Cool Gamer (RU)
70
[8]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
45
[9]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
80
[10]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
82
[2]
Player One (FR)
83
[11]
Sega News (CZ)
90
[12]
Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL
70
[13]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
77
[14]
Sega Mega Drive
72
Based on
9 reviews

Pinocchio

Mega Drive, US
Pinocchio MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Pinocchio MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Pinocchio MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Pinocchio MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Pinocchio MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Pinocchio MD EU Manual.jpg
Manual
Pinocchio MD EU pcb.jpg
PCB
Mega Drive, IT
Pinocchio MD IT cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, PT
Pinocchio MD PT cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, GR

Mega Drive, BR
Pinocchio MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
Pinocchio MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Pinocchio/Technical information.

External links

References


Pinocchio

Pinocchio title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs


Sega 32X
Prototypes: 1995-12-06



Games based on Disney animated films for Sega systems
Sega Mega Drive
Fantasia (1991) | Ariel the Little Mermaid (1992) | Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest (1993) | Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast (1993) | Disney's Aladdin (1993) | The Jungle Book (1994) | The Lion King (1994) | Pocahontas (1996) | Pinocchio (1996) | Hercules (unreleased)
Sega Game Gear
Ariel the Little Mermaid (1992) | The Jungle Book (1994) | Disney's Aladdin (1994) | The Lion King (1994) | Hercules (unreleased)
Sega Master System
The Jungle Book (1993) | Disney's Aladdin (1994) | The Lion King (1994) | Ariel the Little Mermaid (1996)
Sega Pico
Math Antics with Disney's 101 Dalmatians (1994) | Pocahontas Riverbend Adventures (1995) | The Lion King: Adventures at Pride Rock (1995) | Nurie Daisuki! Dumbo no Waku Waku Circus! (1997) | Peter Pan Neverland e Ikou! (1997) | Shirayukihime (1999) | Disney Princesses: Princess ni Naritai (2003) | Disney Princesses: Ariel (2004) | Disney Princesses: Suteki ni Lesson! Hiragana-Katakana (2004) | Hercules (unreleased) | Pinocchio (unreleased)
Sega Dreamcast
Disney's Dinosaur (2000)
Unlicensed games based on Disney animated films for Sega systems
Sega Mega Drive
The Lion King II (1996?) | The Lion King 3 (1997?) | Hua Mu Lan: Mulan (1998) | Aladdin II (1998?) | Hercules 2 (1999) | Aladdin 2001 (2001)