Flicky

n/a

System 1 NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J SG-1000 PC-8801 MSX
Flicky
System(s): Sega System 1, SG-1000, Sega Master System, Sega Game Toshokan, Sega Mega Drive, Fujitsu FM-7, MSX, PC-8001 mkII, PC-8801, Sharp MZ, X1, Steam
Publisher: Sega Bally Midway (US) Micronet Samsung
Developer: Sega R&D 1 Sega R&D 2 Sega CS Micronet Lavastorm
Supporting companies: T's Music (audio)
Licensor: Sega
Sound driver: SMPS Z80
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1984-05 ¥? ? US 1984 $? ? JP ▼ (Game Toshokan) 1991-01 US 1991-04 1022 EU 1991-09 1022 UK 1991-09 £34.9934.99 1022 AU 199x CA 199x BR 1991 JP 1984-12 ¥4,3004,300 G-1036 EU 198x NZ 1985-02 TW 198x KR 19xx SG50C JP 1986 ¥4,4004,400 JP 198x ¥6,8006,800 MF-103005 US ▼ 2010-10-26 $2.992.99 71111 EU ▼ 2010-10-26 €2.492.49 71111 UK ▼ 2010-10-26 £1.991.99 71111 AU ▼ 2010-10-26 $3.493.49 71111 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 71111 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 71111 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 71111 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 71111 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 71111 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 71111 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 71111 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 71111
ESRA

Flicky (フリッキー) is a Sega System 1 arcade platform game developed by Sega R&D 1 and manufactured by Sega. First released to Japanese arcades in May 1984, it was brought to the United States by Bally Midway later that year. Critically and commercially successful, Flicky has established itself as a classic and seminal first-party Sega title, and has appeared on numerous compilations and ports to additional platforms.

Notably, the game was ported to the Sega SG-1000 by Sega R&D 2 in 1984, and later to the Sega Mega Drive by Sega CS in January 1991. The SG-1000 version was released in South Korea as a Sega Master System game, taking advantage of the system's backwards compatibility. Additionally, the Mega Drive version was first released in Japan as a Sega Game Toshokan exclusive, and was later published on cartridge in all other territories.

Gameplay

In the game, the player controls Flicky, a bird who has to save the Chirps (Piopio in Japan) from cats named Tiger (Nyannan) and iguanas named Iggy (Choro). The player has to collect all of the Chirps and guide them through the exit, with a bonus increasing in proportion to the amount of Chirps saved at once.

There is only one button in the game, which both causes Flicky to "jump" and, if he is holding and item, throw it across the screen. Items thrown at enemies will knock them off the screen temporarily, however they will re-spawn at specified locations until the game is over.

Players start with three lives and can gain more lives by acquiring certain scores, however only up to five lives can be gained by scoring.

There are 48 proper levels ("rounds") in the game. Completing these yields a "congratulations" message, followed by the possibility of playing through the game again at a faster speed. These levels are numbered 49, 50 and so on, and levels which previously did not contain Iggy may contain it. Furthermore, some throwable items are replaced with different ones. Once the game has been completed a second time (passing level 96, the "fast" version of 48), the game repeats again, but there is no speed increase (i.e. level 97 is identical to level 49), and the game simply carries on in this fashion until the player loses all his/her lives.

History

Legacy

Following its release, Flicky was ported to the Sega SG-1000, MSX, PC-8801, X1, Fujitsu FM-7 and Sega Mega Drive. A version for mobile phones was also released through various distribution portals.

Interestingly despite its Japanese origins, the Mega Drive version of the game was only released in cartridge form in the US and Europe. In Japan Flicky was only downloadable through the Sega Game Toshokan service, or available in the Mega CD compilations Wondermega Collection and Game no Kanzume Vol.1 . The game was also included as an unlockable game in Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Mega Collection Plus and has been included in numerous Mega Drive compilations, from the 1996 Mega Drive release of Classic Collection to the 2009 release of Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

If the player completes the first ten levels with a high score in the Mega Drive version, (i.e. all under 20 seconds with a perfect score eventually totalling 240 000) a girl in a bikini will show up in one of the windows. It may also happen at few other certain levels. A level select screen can also be accessed by holding , , and  START  between the title and "round 1" screen.

While no direct sequels were ever made for Flicky, the Flicky character has appeared in numerous Sega games, most notably the Sonic the Hedgehog series (where Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island can be seen as a spiritual sequel to this game). Flicky has also had cameos in Bloxeed, Flash Point, SDI, Super Monaco GP and Teddy Boy Blues, while the Chirps appeared in Gunstar Super Heroes. In Bloxeed's case, Flicky even appears on the cabinet marquee.

Development

Flicky was designed by Youji Ishii, and during development was known as Busty and Flippy.

Versions

Comparisons

Main article: Flicky/Comparisons.

Production credits

System 1 version

• Programming: Hideki Ishikawa, Shuichi Katagi
• Game Design: Yoji Ishii
• Character Design: Yoshiki Kawasaki
• Security/Copy Protection: Shuichi Katagi

Mega Drive version

• Director: K.Fuzzy
• Designer: Yumi
• Programmer: O.Samu
• Sound Design: T's Music
• Special Thanks: Lee, Bo, Arcade Flicky Staff, Test Players

Source:

In-game credits

FM-7 version

• Staff: Y.Kitano, K.Endo, R.Komaita

PC-8001, PC-8801, X1 versions

• Staff: Y.Koideya, M.Kobayashi, M.Yamada, R.Komaita, I.Nanji
• Copyright by: Sega
• Produced by: Micronet

Source:

In-game credits

Digital manuals

• 

  Steam manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Flicky/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

PDF

System 1 US flyer

System 1 JP flyer

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-02: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)

Artwork

• 

  Cover art (Mega Drive)

• 

  Logo (Mega Drive)

• 

  Cover art (SG-1000)

• 

  Logo (SG-1000)

• 

  Flicky art (SG-1000)

• 

  Tiger/Nyannan art (SG-1000)

• 

  Chirp/Piopio art (SG-1000)

Physical scans

System 1 version

System 1, US

System 1, JP
Instuction card(s)

SG-1000 version

SG-1000, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

SG-1000, EU
Cover

SG-1000, NZ
Cart

SG-1000, TW

Master System version

Master System, KR
Cover
Card

Master System, KR (cartridge)
Cart

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 30 ACE (UK) PAL 75 ACE (UK) PAL 75 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 57 Console XS (UK) PAL 67 Computer & Video Games (UK) PAL 84 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 53 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 20 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 85 Games-X (UK) 58 Games-X (UK) 70 Joystick (FR) 62 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 28 Mega Force (FR) PAL 50 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 50 MegaTech (UK) 88 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 55 Mean Machines (UK) PAL 92 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 88 Player One (FR) 55 Power Play (DE) 66 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 50 Sega Power (UK) PAL 75 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 37 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 27 Video Games (DE) 60

	60
Based on 26 reviews

Flicky

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, CA
Cover

FM-7 version

Fujitsu FM-7, JP
Cover

FM-77 version

Fujitsu FM-77, JP

MSX version

MSX, JP
Cover
Cart

PC-8001 mkII version

PC-8001, JP

PC-8801 version

PC-8801, JP (cassette)
Cover

PC-8801/X1 version

PC-8801, JP (disk)
Cover

MZ-2000 version

MZ-2000, JP
Cover
Cassette

X1 version

X1, JP (cassette)

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 4291c8ab MD5 805cc0b3724f041126a57a4d956fd251 SHA-1 83d8bbf0a9b38c42a0bf492d105cc3abe9644a96	128kB	1991-02	Cartridge (US/EU)
✘	CRC32 31091537 MD5 a6e4e2806e804876d4a1991bf794979f SHA-1 aaeaa10251667a843519a4a0a223e40c59ffded9	256kB	1991-02	Sega Game Toshokan	Modified header
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	256kB	1991-02	Sega Game Toshokan
?	CRC32 bd24d27b MD5 b52e308e1c0005bc1dba2ba900ad44d0 SHA-1 39a91b5ad6b139ca5d8ac60b78520210e84944bd	32kB		Cartridge (JP)
?	CRC32 26d2862c MD5 0bb6d2a43b340f56366edabd7e21fed4 SHA-1 51947fc0ae2bc3442b0fee2cccf2344b7a94a167	32kB		Cartridge (JP)	(Alt)
?	CRC32 cd0666a7 MD5 5d4c4c65e668196a3d0eadcd260a0bf6 SHA-1 a04ce8c70eddfac0adbf9489c0abbaaae613037c	32kB		Cartridge (TW)

External links

• Flicky on Steam

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Flicky