Twinkle Tale
From Sega Retro
Twinkle Tale | ||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive | ||||||||||
Publisher: Wonder Amusement Studio | ||||||||||
Developer: Studio Ducks[1] | ||||||||||
Genre: Shooting[2][3] | ||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||
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Twinkle Tale (ツインクルテール) is a 1992 Sega Mega Drive shoot-'em-up developed by Studio Ducks and published by Wonder Amusement Studio exclusively in Japan.
Contents
Story
In the darkness preceding the creation of the world Alpherion, three lights (red, green, and blue) were created. These lights desired domination, and so tried to destroy each other, creating a new darkness and a white light in the process. The white light, desiring peace, locked the other lights and the new darkness in crystals, encased itself in a diamond, and created Alpherion.
Apprentice magician Saria (サリア) is summoned by her teacher to consult a fortuneteller. The fortuneteller alerts Saria to dark wizard Gadou's incoming forces by capturing the great wizards of Alpherion (which Saria's teacher is one). The fortuneteller gives Saria items so she can go and defeat Gadou.
Gameplay
Twinkle Tale is an overhead run-and-gun game similar to Mercs. The player guides the witch Saria through various stages in the land of Alpherion. She can move freely around the screen using the D-pad. The screen does not autoscroll but follows Saria as she moves; however, the screen does not scroll back down, so she cannot return to an earlier part of the stage. Some stages have branching sections, but these paths converge to the same path. Saria has three different magic weapons, which are all initially available. She shoots with (which can be held for rapid-fire) and switches her weapon with
. Each weapon can be leveled up twice by finding Star Jewel items. She can also find screen-clearing magic bombs, which are used with
. She can hold up to three magic bombs at a time. Magic bombs attack enemies and also neutralize their projectiles. She uses the leftmost (the oldest) first; collecting another magic bomb item when she already has three replaces the rightmost (the newest).
Saria starts the game with three health points but gains more after completing certain stages. She loses one health point whenever she takes damage. Her currently selected weapon is also downgraded one level when she takes damage. In addition to enemies, stages include numerous environmental challenges, such as falling boulders, flame traps, and moving platforms. She loses a health point when she falls off a ledge or into water but does not lose a weapon level. She starts each stage with full health and retains her weapon levels and magic bombs. If she runs out of health, the game ends but can be continued from the beginning of the current stage if the player has credits remaining. The player gains extra credits at certain points thresholds. There are three difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard), and an additional difficulty level (S. Hard) is unlocked after completing the game on Hard.
Magic Weapons
Diamond Arrow | |
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Fires multiple shots. Upgrades to a conical spreadshot. Covers a wide area and does fair damage. | |
Shooting Star | |
Fires a rapid stream of bullets that pierce targets. It becomes wider as it is upgraded. The most powerful weapon but the trickiest to target. | |
Silver Comet | |
Fires light orbs that seek targets. It fires more rapidly when it is upgraded. The weakest weapon but the easiest to aim. |
Magic Bombs
Flame Dragon Breath | |
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Summons fire dragons that sweep the screen vertically. | |
Piercing Light | |
Conjures large orbs of light that spiral around the screen seeking targets. |
Items
Chest | |
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Shoot to reveal an item. | |
Star Jewel | |
Upgrades the currently selected weapon by one level. If the current weapon is already at maximum level, upgrades another weapon by one level. | |
Partial Life Potion | |
Restores one point of Saria's health. | |
Full Life Potion | |
Fully restores all of Saria's health points. | |
Flame Dragon Breath | |
Gives the player a Flame Dragon Breath magic bomb. | |
Piercing Light | |
Gives the player a Piercing Light magic bomb. |
Stages
Stage 1 | |
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Stage 2 | |
Stage 3 | |
Stage 4 | |
Stage 5 | |
Stage 6 | |
Stage 7 | |
This stage is played as an autoscrolling shooter with Saria flying on her broom. | |
Stage 8 | |
History
Legacy
Translation group M.I.J.E.T. made an English translation of the game in 2007.
Production credits
- Executive Producer: A.Satoh
- Producer: A.Hanawa
- Planner: H.Hayashi
- Main Programmer: T.Yoshimine
- Sub-Programmer: N.Saitoh
- Map Designer: T.Kajii, T.Hayakawa
- Sprite Designer: M.Tamura, S.Kurosawa
- Music & Effects: H.Nishikawa
- Sales Manager: Y.Ikeda
- Adviser: A.Suzuki, J.Sueishi
Magazine articles
- Main article: Twinkle Tale/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
also published in:
- Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-08: "August 1992" (1992-07-08)[6]
Physical scans
Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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75 | |
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Based on 23 reviews |
Technical information
ROM dump status
System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
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✔ |
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1MB | 1992-06 | Cartridge (JP) |
External links
References
- ↑ http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/GDRI-014
- ↑ File:TwinkleTale MD JP Box.jpg
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1992" (JP; 1992-04-08), page 25
- ↑ File:Twinkle Tale MD credits.pdf
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "August 1992" (JP; 1992-07-08), page 74
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 252
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "August 1992" (JP; 1992-07-08), page 27
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 365
- ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 112
- ↑ Hippon Super, "August 1992" (JP; 1992-07-04), page 38
- ↑ Joypad, "Septembre 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 66
- ↑ Joystick, "Septembre 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 177
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 28
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "October 1992" (JP; 1992-09-xx), page 67
- ↑ Mega, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-15), page 52
- ↑ Mega Fun, "08/92" (DE; 1992-08-18), page 19
- ↑ MegaTech, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-20), page 54
- ↑ Marukatsu Mega Drive, "September 1992" (JP; 1992-08-xx), page 119
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-xx), page 108
- ↑ Play Time, "1/93" (DE; 1992-12-09), page 89
- ↑ Sega Power, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-01), page 50
- ↑ Sega Pro, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-10), page 60
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
- ↑ Sega Force, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-08), page 28
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 208
- ↑ Video Games, "12/92" (DE; 1992-11-23), page 101
Twinkle Tale | |
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