Pop Breaker

n/a

Pop Breaker
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Microcabin
Developer: Microcabin
Peripherals supported: Gear-to-Gear Cable
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-02-23 ¥3,800 (3,914)3,800e T-51017

Pop Breaker (ポップブレイカー) is a shooting game for the Sega Game Gear. It was only released in Japan.

Story

Yuki

Yuki Takeshita is a high school student who is taking the entry exam for FSWAT, a newly formed defense force. In the simulation, she pilots a hovertank named Diana.

Gameplay

Turret mounting

Gameplay

The game is a puzzle-based shooter. The player controls Yuki's hovercraft Diana from an overhead perspective and navigates through a board-like environment. The playfield is a large grid with different blocks and tiles that affect Diana's movement or weapon. Gameplay is a combination of navigating obstacles on the playfield and shooting enemies and dodging enemy fire. The D-pad changes the direction that the craft faces or moves the craft in the direction it is already facing. The movement of the craft is fixed to the grid. The craft can fire an energy bullet with but must stop before firing. It can only have three bullets out at a time. The craft can move backwards without changing direction by pressing . It can fire while moving backwards, which is the only way it can fire while moving. Diana is a 3x3 square on the grid; before the game starts, the player can choose to mount the turret on the top-left, middle, or top-right of the craft.

The goal of each stage is to destroy a green machine. The machine returns fire in the direction of the player very quickly, so the player must quickly evade it. The layout of the stage may require the player to clear the way to the machine or to use the behavior of the tiles to attack the machine. There are 50 stages in total. Blocks prevent movement; some are breakable and some are unbreakable. Some blocks and enemies require multiple hits to destroy. Arrows on the ground push the tank in a direction when the player drives over them, and triangular bumpers deflect the player's shots at right angles.

There are also various enemies that are hostile to the player. Enemies do not harm the player from contact but most have weapons. Diana can also be harmed by the explosion when enemies are destroyed. All shots are considered equivalent, so enemy shots can destroy blocks or each other and the player's own shots can destroy Diana if deflected. Diana is destroyed by a single hit, in which case the stage restarts. The player has limited lives. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. The player has unlimited continues, but the game starts at the beginning of the previously completed stage after continuing. The player can also choose not to continue the game and to receive a password instead (again, for the previously completed stage).

Some stages contain power-up items that can be collected by driving over them. Diana's weapon is initially yellow but can be upgraded to red (twice as powerful) and blue (three times as powerful). The weapon level is retained from stage to stage but lost if the player loses a life.

Before the stage begins, the player can look around the entire stage using the D-pad. After starting the stage, the player can pause the game at any time by pressing  START  and pan around the stage again.

Stages

Main article: Pop Breaker/Maps.

Blocks

	Unbreakable Block
	These blocks serve as barriers and cannot be destroyed.
	Blue Block
	These blocks can be destroyed in one standard hit.
	Green Block
	These blocks turn into blue blocks when hit, taking two standard hits in total to destroy.
	Pink Block
	These blocks turn into green blocks when hit, taking three standard hits in total to destroy.
	Chevrons
	Pushes Diana in the direction of the arrow when driven over.
	Deflector
	Deflects shots at a right angle if hit on the inside (on the hypotenuse). It can be destroyed if hit on the outside.
	Mine
	This terrain explodes immediately when the player drives over it.
	Explosion
	This terrain explodes shortly after it has been driven over, destroying anything that remains in the area of effect. The blast area stretches partly outside of the marked terrain.

Power-Ups

	T Bullet
	Upgrades Diana to a red shot, which is twice as powerful as the standard yellow shot. This item has no effect if the player already has the superior blue shot.
	P Bullet
	Upgrades Diana to a blue shot, which is three times as powerful as the standard yellow shot.
	Gathering
	Strikes an entire row or column of the board with 3x3 bombs, from the one end to the other. The row or column passes through the location of the item.
	Bomber
	Strikes random locations on the board with 3x3 bombs, destroying blocks, enemies, or the player if caught in the blast.
	Destroy
	Removes all blocks on the board, including special terrain, leaving enemies and power-ups.
	1-Up
	Gives the player an extra life, up to a maximum of 99.

Enemies

	ユニット
	The objective of each stage. Yuki must destroy this machine. It fires three volleys of three shots back in the direction of the player whenever it is hit.
	ヨキキ
	This enemy moves left and right and fires up and down.
	タキキ
	This enemy moves up and down and fires left and right.
	ンサー
	This enemy is immobile and shoots a single shot from its turret when the player drives past.
	ラダム
	This enemy is immobile and shoots in random directions from the turrets on its corners.
	タミー
	This enemy is immobile and shoots a flame that spans three squares on an interval.
	ウタオ
	This enemy shoots two shots in every direction after it has been attacked.
	タクサ
	This enemy quickly moves in any direction and attacks with two shots from the same side.
	ヒヒニ
	This enemy slowly moves in any direction and attacks by exploding. It resembles a power-up item.

Production credits

• Program: Mick, Ron Ando, Hory
• Music: Dragon, Nas
• Debug: Ito Jr
• Amuse: Papa, Hidemaro
• Thanks: Kantoku

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Pop Breaker/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

"Next Spring" advertisement in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1990-12: "December 1990" (1990-11-08)
also published in:

• Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-01: "January 1991" (1990-12-08)

"Coming soon" advertisement in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-02: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)
also published in:

• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #12: "January 1991" (1990-12-08)
• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #13: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)

"Coming 2/23" advertisement in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-03: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)
also published in:

• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #14: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)

"For sale now" advertisement in Mega Drive Fan (JP) #15: "April 1991" (1991-03-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 60 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 55 Console XS (UK) NTSC-J 68 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 70 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 70 Joystick (FR) 68 Power Play (DE) 38 Sega Pro (UK) 79 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 68 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 53

	63
Based on 10 reviews

Pop Breaker

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 71deba5a MD5 e0e2fbd5834c04574795c923b0147f39 SHA-1 9c358504d3c106dd62bd8981132b47cdb95903de	128kB		Cartridge (JP)