Penguin Land

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Penguin Land
System(s): Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega R&D 2
Peripherals supported: FM Sound Unit
Genre: Puzzle
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1987-08-18 ¥5,0005,000 G-1334 US 1988-01 5501 EU 1988 5501 UK 1988-10 £29.9529.95 5501 SE 19xx KR 19xx GB-1334

Penguin Land, known in Japan as Doki Doki Penguin Land: Uchuu Daibouken (どきどき ペンギンランド 宇宙大冒険), is a Sega Master System puzzle platforming game developed by Sega R&D 2 and published by Sega. First released in Japan in August 1987, it was later brought to the United States and Europe in early 1988.

The direct sequel to the 1985 Sega SG-1000 game Doki Doki Penguin Land, the game evolves on the previous entry by introducing more block types, enemies, and level layouts and including a level editor.

Story

Introduction

Three penguin eggs are lost on a distant planet. Penguin Mission Commander Overbite must guide these eggs down to the bottom of a frigid cavern filled with traps, enemies, and secret passages to rescue them and carry them to safety.

Gameplay

Gameplay

The game is a platforming game where the player controls a penguin named Ateri (アテリー) in the Japanese version or Overbite in the Western versions. The goal of each round is to successfully push and drop an egg down a cavern of ice. Overbite can push the egg left and right, push it off cliffs onto lower platforms, and melt ice blocks to create a passage for the egg, avoiding polar bears, rocks, and other hazards. The round is completed when the egg is successfully delivered to the bottom of the level. The round is completed when the egg is successfully delivered to "Spaceship Crew" (ペンギンの 子どもたち) under the lowest platform of the level. There are 50 rounds. The first 30 rounds can be selected in any order; clearing them unlocks the last 20 rounds.

Overbite moves with and and jumps with . Walking into the egg rolls it in same direction. Overbite can melt ice blocks in front of him with , which creates a hole in that platform that he and the egg can go through. Levels scroll vertically, but the screen only scrolls when the egg is moved; Overbite can fall through the bottom of the screen and reappear at the top if the egg is not moved to force the screen to scroll. When the game is paused with  PAUSE , the level layout can be panned downward with ; the game unpauses when the player pans to the bottom of the level.

If the egg falls more than three blocks downward, it breaks. A blinking bar under the egg shows this distance. If Overbite lands on the egg, the egg rolls out of the way; if Overbite lands on it but it cannot be rolled left or right, it breaks. Gangow (ゲンゴウ) are polar bear-like enemies that attack both Overbite and the egg. If they back the egg into a corner or land on the egg, it breaks. Cameel (カミール) are birds that fly by if the egg is not moved after a set time. They drop bricks that can crack the egg. The round must be restarted if the egg breaks (and the game ends if the player runs out of eggs) or if the time limit (which is initially 99 seconds) expires. Overbite is knocked out if touched by an enemy or hazard but recovers after a moment without needing to restart the round.

Blocks

	Ice Block
	These blocks make up the majority of the platforms in the game. Overbite can melt them with when standing on an adjacent block. They are the only blocks that can be melted.
	Cracked Block
	These blocks can be broken by dropping the egg on top of them, but they cannot be broken by Overbite.
	Stone Block
	These blocks cannot be broken or moved.
	Magic Stone Block
	These blocks grow in and shrink out of existence continuously.
	Moving Stone Block
	These blocks act as moving platforms.
	Rock
	Overbite can cause these blocks to fall by jumping at them from below with or pecking at them from above with when standing on an adjacent block. After falling, they can be pushed by moving into them. Rocks can be dropped on Gangow to crush them.
	Penguin Tube
	Overbite can stand on top of one of these blocks, then pass through the block by pressing .
	Egg Tube
	If an egg is sitting on one of these blocks, Overbite pass the egg through the block by standing adjacent to it and pressing .

Items

These items are hidden in some of the blocks and appear when the block is destroyed.

	Score
	Awards 100 or 200 bonus points.
	Clock
	Adds additional time to the player. This item appears when the timer is low.
	Iron Shield
	Protects the egg so it can be dropped without breaking it.
	Spring
	Overbite can jump on a spring and launch higher into the air.
	Ghost
	Some blocks contain ghosts that invert the player's directional controls if they catch Overbite.

Rounds

Main article: Penguin Land/Maps.

Editor

Level editor

Unusually for its time, the game includes a level editor that can save up to 15 user-made levels to the cartridge's battery backup.

The level is a grid of tiles. The player can move the cursor across the grid using the D-Pad. Pressing toggles a menu that allows the player to select an object to place. Pressing places the selected object at the cursor's current location. The player can hold the D-Pad in a direction while holding to place multiple objects.

The level is divided into two halves (with the second half accessed by scrolling through the bottom of the first half).

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Penguin Land	Penguin Land
English (US)	Penguin Land	Penguin Land
Japanese	どきどき ペンギンランド 宇宙大冒険	Doki Doki Penguin Land: Uchuu Daibouken

Production credits

Penguin Land features the following text hidden within its ROM, listing some developers:

• Programmer: Y.TOYOSHIMA, T.MATSUDA, H.MOMOTA
• Sound Maker: S.TATEISHI, HIYAKASHI-TAK.HAM

Source:

Within its ROM

Digital manuals

• 

  Judgment manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Penguin Land/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Guida Video Giochi (IT) #7: "Gennaio 1990" (19xx-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Guida Video Giochi (IT) #8: "Febbraio 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in Pixel (GR) #66: "Máios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 80 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 68 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 68 Console XS (UK) PAL 77 Computer & Video Games (UK) 70 The Games Machine (UK) 79 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 90 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 68 Power Play (DE) PAL 74 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 88 Sega Power (UK) PAL 75 Sega Pro (UK) 79 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 77 Software Gids (NL) 84

	77
Based on 14 reviews

Penguin Land

Master System, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Manual

Master System, SE

Master System, KR

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 f97e9875 MD5 8ddec589f72cdcf2cd4caafb075ec8e4 SHA-1 8762239c339a084dfb8443cc38515301476bde28	128kB		Cartridge (EU/US)	8kB backup
?	CRC32 2bcdb8fa MD5 ff7502dd8a717db5adb42c711ddbc9f5 SHA-1 c01cf44eee335d509dc20a165add8514e7fbb7c4	128kB		Cartridge (JP)	8kB backup