Growl

From Sega Retro

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Growl MDTitleScreen.png

Growl
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Taito
Developer:
Original system(s): Taito F2 System
Developer(s) of original games: Taito
Sound driver: SMPS Z80
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥6,8006,800 T-11153
Sega Mega Drive
US
11076
Sega Mega Drive
KR
GM4016JT

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Growl, known as Runark (ルナーク) in Japan, is an arcade beat-em-up by Taito developed in 1990 and released in 1991. The game was ported to the Sega Mega Drive in 1991 and released only in the US and Japan (though the arcade version was also released in Europe).

Gameplay

You play as one of four early-20th-century rangers trying to stop a group of poachers from making many species of wild animals extinct. A punches, B jumps. If an enemy drops a weapon, A picks it up and uses it, and C lets it go. If you don't have a weapon in your hand, C performs a spinning kick, Up+C performs a spinning jump kick, and Left+C and Right+C performs a leaping kick in the appropriate direction.

Battlefields

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Machanga

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The Unwelcome Passenger

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Down on the Docks

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Cargo of Death

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Jungle Battle

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Daggers in the Dark

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The RAPO Base

Versions

Even though the arcade machine supported up to four players simultaneously, the Mega Drive version of Growl is a one-player only game. All sampled speech has been removed in the Sega conversion, and is substituted with captions at the bottom of the screen.

Localised names

Also known as
Language Localised Name English Translation
English (US) Growl Growl
Japanese ルナーク Runark

Magazine articles

Main article: Growl/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Growl/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
55 №1991-12, p36[1]
54 №, p85[2]
70 №32
70 №40, p138[3]
40 №1991-12, p89
62 №4
70 [4]
50 [5]
70 [6]
58 №18, p67
84 [7]
Sega Mega Drive
62
Based on
11 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
30
[8]
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) NTSC-J
30
[9]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
55
[10]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
55
[11]
Console XS (UK) NTSC-J
78
[12]
Cool Gamer (RU)
50
[13]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
50
[14]
Games-X (UK)
70
[15]
Génération 4 (FR)
70
[3]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
40
[16]
Joypad (FR)
62
[17]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-J
70
[4]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
59
[18]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC
50
[19]
Power Play (DE)
45
[20]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
70
[21]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
58
[22]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
54
[23]
Supergame (BR) NTSC-J
84
[7]
Tricks 16 bit (RU) NTSC-U
59
[24]
User (GR) NTSC-U
52
[25]
Sega Mega Drive
57
Based on
21 reviews

Growl

Mega Drive, US
Growl MD US cover.jpg
Cover
Growl MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Growl MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, JP
Growl MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
RUNARK MD JP CartTop.jpg
Runark MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, KR
Runark MD KR cover.jpg
Cover
Runark MD KR Cart Back.jpgRunark MD KR Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, SE (Rental)

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 f60ef143
MD5 3152ebc067925b0ca35d20290de0985a
SHA-1 63a08057fe9fd489590f39c5c06709266f625ab0
512kB 1991-11 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 0894d8fb
MD5 5a41a9e23515f2a6097fcb279e345ba8
SHA-1 25a0322db3b82e3da6f1dab550b3e52f21be6b58
512kB 1991-11 Cartridge (JP/KR)

References

  1. File:BeepMD_JP_1991-12.pdf, page 38
  2. File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 87
  3. 3.0 3.1 File:Generation4 FR 040.pdf, page 138 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Generation4 FR 040.pdf_p138" defined multiple times with different content
  4. 4.0 4.1 Joystick, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 114
  5. MegaTech, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-20), page 50/51 (50)
  6. Sega Pro, "Christmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-12), page 60/61 (60)
  7. 7.0 7.1 Supergame, "Julho 1992" (BR; 1992-07-xx), page 17
  8. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 132
  9. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 197
  10. Aktueller Software Markt, "März 1992" (DE; 1992-02-14), page 116
  11. Beep! MegaDrive, "December 1991" (JP; 1991-11-08), page 38
  12. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 133
  13. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 179
  14. Famitsu, "1991-11-15,22" (JP; 1991-11-01), page 39
  15. Games-X, "28th November-4th December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-28), page 30
  16. Hippon Super, "December 1991" (JP; 1991-11-05), page 89
  17. Joypad, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 1991-12-1x), page 90
  18. Mega Drive Fan, "February 1992" (JP; 1992-01-08), page 89
  19. MegaTech, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-20), page 50
  20. Power Play, "3/92" (DE; 1992-02-12), page 136
  21. Sega Pro, "Christmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-12), page 60
  22. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67
  23. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  24. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 83
  25. User, "Ioúlios 1992" (GR; 1992-0x-xx), page 88


Growl

Growl MDTitleScreen.png

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Sega Mega Drive
Prototypes: 1991-08-26