Gameplay Journal of: Panic Restaurant

My Review Of The Video Game  

Panic Restaurant (US & EU v)
(Or Locally Known In Japan As "Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World")

(<-- Start of the first level)

Product Information:

Released in Japan in 1992, 

developed by EIM and published by Taito.

 

This is an energetic and surprisingly expressive action platforming side-scroller, despite being limited on the 8-bit NES.

ESRB: Everyone.

Introduction: 

In order to indoctrinate whom ever decides to erudite themselves on my review; a sort of explanation of my explanation is required.

If you instead want to immediately get into the review, scroll to 'Game Review'.

This is a panoramic diagram of what a video game is:

Notice the two end points of the perimeter of this oblong hexagon, the bottom left "Intention," the upper right "Game."

The Game section is what the 'game' actually is, and is represented in the square; think of it like the screen you would actually use to play a game.

In it, their are three adjacent circles: Mechanics, Objective, Content. The most important aspects of a video game. 

And each house main components of what embodies it. Some are interchangeable, but accurate regardless.

In subjective ascending priority:

Mechanics - Systems, Design, Controls, Visuals, Audio, Game Narrative

Objective - Purpose, Risk/Reward, Progression, Fame

Content - Levels, Hazards, Abilities, Graphics, Customization, Characters, Story.

Now the Intention section is slightly ambiguous; meaning it really depends on the perspective of the sourced group. Sadly some categories cannot be expanded by me due to lack of data (intention is hard to define and am still learning about game development) and will rely more on their base descriptor for edifying the whole picture of the diagram. These shall be stricken with [N/A].   

Each sector has two groups. The left sector has groups: Developer's Expectations, and Player's Expectations; think of this one like a bulletin board where the notes are our ever changing opinions and perceptions; showing both sides of creator/profiter and enjoyer/consumer.

Now the right most sector groups are: Impact on Developers and Impact on Players. A kin to an environment where you may find yourself enraptured by a virtual world, this sector sits directly in front of the game section. 

All stimulus from game transfers to impact, and then eventually alters our expectations in turn.

Player's Expectations - Immersion

Shared - Genre, Hooks, Quality, Difficulty 

Developer's Expectations - Project

Impact on Developers - Expression

Shared - Re-playability, Enjoyment, Benefits, Unfulfillment, Recommendation

Impact on Players - Interpretation.

Final Notes:  

Lastly I will mention dissections of components that are 'entirely' my own opinion will have a '*' proceeding the passage.

That concludes the intro, by now I hope you grasp my thought process and the amalgamations of my drawn diorama; both for the concepts and for the 'game room' metaphor (there is a second metaphor regarding dimensions, I wonder if you can spot it).                                              

Game Review:

Objective:

Purpose - You need to manage your health, while discovering items to do well for further levels. Some items are in hard to reach spots, and it is 'your' input that defines how prepared your character is for the boss at the end. 

* Being curious but cautious was my most helpful stratagem. Getting distracted by an annoying moment, derailed my methodical process which would cost me more attempts then were necessary. Being an efficient examiner, was my in-game purpose. 

Risk/Reward - Timing attacks to hit enemies that are moving towards the Player, this will have the coin drop right in front of them. Which helps for time purposes so you collect the coin on the go; no need to waste time going back pick it up if you defeated the enemy right away.

There was also a slot machine at the end of some levels, this furthered the risk/reward theme. Collect coins in levels to save up to possibly get benefits from a literal gamble.

Progression - Traverse the level. Defeat the boss at the end.

Fame - You can say you beat a classic, and have expanded your game repertoire. 

Mechanics:

Systems - EIM most likely used 6503 Assembly Language (The link provides more info on that)

https://seriouscomputerist.atariverse.com/media/pdf/book/6502%20Assembly%20Language%20Programming%20(2nd%20Edition).pdf.

And with it, or something similar, programed Player values such as: Score, health, extra lives, currently equipped power ups, and coins.

Players die (well not technically, but that is the common term for when your player dies) when they run out of hearts, and for each hit they take from a hazard. The Player loses one heart (they start with two but can increase to three or four, if you find a certain health item, and find it again without getting hit yields four max hearts) and will begin a hurt animation while being invincible for about one second.

If the Player dies but has an extra life. They will spawn at the start of an area they have already progressed through, closest to where they died. They will have max health and will keep scores, certain defeated enemies will not spawn back, and the timer is reset, but acquired items and power ups will also not restock. Coins will be lost on death as well.

If the player has no extra lives on death, they will lose all data besides the saved state of level progression, and will start at the beginning of the furthest uncompleted level (scores of the whole run are still lost). The level will revert to its original state and restore any consumables you might of expended on the last attempt.

Scoring system:

100 points scored for catching eggs or fish in bonus stages

100 points scored for each leftover tick for level time

200 points scored for defeating enemies

10,000 points scored for getting the 'money jackpot' in the slot machine mini-game

> 10,000 points scored for defeating bosses.

Design - 'Moving forward' is the task this game presents and Player traversal is as follows: Move from left side of the screen to right or ascend/descend with ladders to the next stage, and then move to the left or right (usually you still will traverse to the right).

The Player can damage Enemies with a base weapon [frying pan] directly in front about a unit away. Enemies damage the player by colliding with them, and move with predetermined tasks. Liken to walk left-until obstacle-then move right and vice versa. 

Some enemies instantiate from certain points on screen scrawl. Others are placed to be dormant till the player appears.

Power ups and health items can be found throughout the level, with varying effects and versatility.

The placement generally is: Health after 2-3 areas, power up near the start of a level. Then power ups appear as a sort of divergent path; make a harrowing jump to reach a platform that holds said benefit, for an in-game example.

Level 3 (Salad) had a mostly solid game design gimmick I would like to comment on.

In it there was a giant pot seemingly impossible to cross, but attention is drawn to the rising bubbles, dissipating and resurfacing. They being just the correct distance to aid you suggests they might be platforms (the game has already had instances of uncommon moving platforms: Level one's dumbwaiter and this level's exploding pot lids).

After you time the bubble jumps, then just a few steps further you are shown another pot. This one has the bubbles considerably lower which (to me) looked dangerous because of the hot soup's (or other liquid) surface. But trusting the reasoning for how you got across the first one shows that the depth of the bubble was not dangerous.

This understanding of the bubbles was crucial for the final and longest spot, which was 2.5 times longer then the previous (it had 5 bubbles). 

You had to jump on the the first bubble just as it remerged from the stock, and jump to the consecutive bubbles. With the correct timing and full jump arcs (jumping as high as you can) you can get across. 

The Developers also placed an extra life after the second bubble, knowing this was a difficult venture thus giving you some assistance, but because of the precise timing of the jumps, processing to try and grab it, while the screen scrawls over, might actually throw you off.

This little segment encapsulates a lot of the design of the game; thought out but tonally off putting in some areas.

Controls - 

The directional pad controls left and right movement (the cross on the left). While if pressed down the Player would duck, making your hitbox (the collider that detects other colliders or triggers) lower to the ground and could be used to avoid floating enemies.

The B button attacks with your current weapon. It has the range of one unit. If the Player character is two units, then consider the tiles as a base for the units:

The Player is two tiles tall

The pan at the end of its arc reaches the second ice tile

The A button jumps, hold or press to moderate the jump arc. You also can control the Player mid-air (air control, if you will). But just left and right with their respective directional buttons.

Select pauses/un-pauses the game.

There are some stages that change the controls (but not by much). The mini-games have you move in a fixed x-axis plane where you try to catch fish or eggs that descend from the top of the screen. 

And for the final battle you could move up in down in a flying device.

All in all the controls were tight. The air control, ducking, attacks mid-air allowed for engaging input of the Player character and fit well with the design of the game.

Visuals - Sharp animations and sharp kitchen ware, make a fun and expressive style. Fighting food with kitchen utensils, worked visually and thematically. 

There were annoying glitches where it appeared certain game objects would clip into each other.

Audio -  The peppy bit crushed music helps get you into the action platformer spirit.

Damage sounds, item pick up sounds, and victory music on level complete. All enhance and provide more tones to game play.

Up beat chord for beneficial actions, dulled tone for a negative action.

A good use of audio, was in the case of dying. The animation helps sell it too:

The ice level also had faint plops of water, incorporated into the looped music, both pushing the feeling of being in a frozen room with icicles slowly melting. It also sounded nice and unique.

Nothing particularly stands out when comparing to other games of the time audio wise. I will note Players and enemies do not make sounds. Which in the grand scheme of game developing, characters sounds were a tertiary necessity. 

But for games like Mortal combat that came out in the same year, a voice line really adds character, makes a sequence of gameplay resonate besides the main input and visual stimulus. And to think just under 2 years later Doom came out in 1993, a progenitor of amazing sound design for games. 

Audio is one of the many ploys to make a game experience more rich, and this game adequately fulfills the role of good sound design.   

Game Narrative - True to advertisement your first adversaries are the cooked turkeys and carrot ladies (sausage guy first shows up in the second level) seen on the cover art make an appearance from the first level. The theme of the game is, after all, fighting malicious foods and surprising mobile inanimate objects, and find your rival "Ohdove." Like most side-scrollers your agency is traversal of linear 2d spaces, all the while being goaded by a snidely foe.

 

Content:

Levels - 6 levels comprise this game, and in-game this references dishes you would order on a menu. Which fits, since the level selection menu is a ordering menu you would use when dining.

Levels were short but sweet.

Hazards - There are 5 threats: Enemies, Bosses, spikes, falling out of bounds, and the time limit (270 seconds).

All enemies deal one damage to the Player, and hurt the Player by moving into them or shooting a projectile that hits them (but not targeting specific Player positions)

There are continuously moving Enemies enemies like cooked turkeys, and the jumping sausages. 

Enemies that shoot projectiles but stay in one position like the the 'fry gun guy' and the toaster (the toaster did send out projectiles in the form of moving enemies, and the fry thing jumped up and shot at you when falling). 

Dormant enemies that would only move when you approach a certain distance, like the floating shish kebabs, and popsicles.

Enemies that emerge from the background like the enemy fish in the last level.

And that is just a taste of the selection of enemies (albeit there were only about six more to talk about).

The bosses were well designed. My favorite was the Ice cream boss. She would shoot her multiple colored scoops towards you, and once she finished, she would travel around the stage and slam down breaking the floor's ice slabs. This coupled with the grounds slipperiness due to it being an 'ice level' made the combat engaging and perilous.

Using the rarely needed to duck action is actually viable here, because she will float right above you when moving from spot to stop. 

The spikes and falling were instant deaths if you happened to fall victim to them.

Abilities - The Player can find food items like lollypops and wrapped candy. Lollypops increase max health, wrapped candy only heals one.

Weapons like the spoon and throwing plates were fun to use and changed combat.

Extra lives were depicted as a toque (white hat/chef hat), and were sparingly placed in levels.

Graphics - Pixelated bright colors, made level's stand out for their color contrast alone. 

When compared to other games of the 80's and 90's, the graphics hold up mostly.

Sure even late 80's games like "Metroid" and "Castlevania" are not really outdated compared to Panic Restaurants graphics, they still look good for the times, and have no problems making the Player immersed. 

With computers and consoles improving, the 90's had many games that by most accounts are more visually impressive than Panic Restaurant.

But for what they had, they made a game that was stylized and it worked.

Whether you think this (Castlevania):

And this (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past):

Look better than this:

Comes down to personal preference and the game having cohesive visuals. For 2d side-scrollers of the time this game is one of the better looking ones.

Customization - [N/A]

Characters - Cookie: The Player character. They are a weirdly adorable old man. This might be less weird when you factor that the Japanese version was a kid ("Kokkun" was his name). 

Being a chef, being silly and wanting to reclaim his restaurant are his only traits.

Ohdove: Snidely villain who stole your restaurant (panic!).

Story - Ohdove appears from the top of the screen, after dropping various produce on your head. He tells you that he stole your restaurant, and then flies off with an umbrella.

When you eventually reach him on the sixth level, he insults you and flies off again. This time you fight him, and when he is defeated you stand in front of the restaurant with seemingly returned ownership.

This is the only plot, but a short game like this only needs a basic narrative to push Players on. A simple tangible goal compliments the whisper of actual plot points, given how you only see Ohdove at the beginning and the end, all you want with him is to wipe that snarky smile from his face, no backstory required or build up needed.

Intention Review:

Player's Expectations:

Genre - * I thought it was going to be a platformer but I wasn't expecting the extra mini-games.

But it was in fact; an action platforming side-scroller.

Immersion - * I did not think the game would have as much depth as it did, but I still thought it would make an interesting construct to explore. 

Hooks - * The wackiness and fun animations were eye catchers for me. And the potential of a short but sweet platformer to try to beat, was what I was seeking.

Quality - * Mostly solid experience, I could tell the team really cared about making a fun quirky game. The game is a 7 out of 10

Difficulty - Requires patience and quick reactions to dispatch or avoid enemies. Some placement irks ire due to unfair instantiation (spawning from a prefabricated model) from the sides of the screen. And some bosses/level segments require a couple of deaths to understand the range of the attack/danger. If you are in the wrong spot, against the wrong type of enemy, you will almost always get hit. Two hits and you die (unless you increased your max health to three or four, but their is 'difficulty' in actually being able get the bonus)

But enemies can be one-shot with your attack (except the onion but they get knock backed on being damaged), so there are chances where the Player can avert harm by quick thinking, but mostly strategy is the way to handle segments.

If you are too lax though, the timer will run out which gives the Player character a 'death'.

Developer's Expectations:

Genre - Action platformer side-scroller.

Project - [N/A] 

Hooks - [N/A]

Quality - Tight controls, simple direction. Shows a grounded game. * I imagine they really gave it their all, since there were plenty of great NES side-scrollers. Given the prestige of past titles of other Developers("Castlevania," "Ninja Gaiden," and of course "Super Mario Bros.". To name a few). EIM definitely had plenty of incentive to stand out.

Difficulty - * They most likely intended this to be somewhat challenging especially for the European version, classic games depended on the difficulty to give the game more mileage. A hard game turns a 30 minute experience into a "Why won't this alien just die!"

Impact on Developers:

Expression - The game has some themes of 'avoid inactivity' (with the death screen being Cookie going to bed), desire to urge the Player and grab their attention to keep playing. But to hold the attention of younger Players the Developers probably wanted to instill agency to get them to keep playing.

There were faint aspects of actually being a chef, like collecting eggs and catching fish (some chefs supply their own stock sure), and maybe there was more depth to beating vegetables and poultry with a frying pan. But like the bird in question; this theory is probably half baked.

Re-playability - [N/A]

Enjoyment - [N/A]

Benefits - * Money, experience, reputation.

Unfulfillment - * Due to the game coming out just before the SNES (Super Nintento Entertainment), sales were effected I'm sure. 

Recommendation  - When someone likes one game from a Developer, they might be inclined to play more from them. EIM only made a few games after this:

"Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2" 

"Miyasu Nonki no Quiz 18-kin - Dr. Ecchan no Shinryo-shitsu" 

"SD Gundam Sangokushi Rainbow Tairiku Senki."

But still made more games  after rebranding the company to "Warp" and then "Super Warp."

Impact on Players: 

Re-playability - * I'll probably never play through it again. Not that it wasn't enjoyable and for 1992, with a smaller selection of games (but still booming in options compared to even the years before) I wouldn't scoff at the hardcore enjoyers that cherished this game. But I would play another title of retro side-scroller instead when I get the itch for a game like this.

Enjoyment - This game is well liked in the gaming community, a sort of rare niche. Even though it's pretty much just a fun little game.

* I found the challenge and colorful levels with good design very enjoyable.

Benefits - Helped refine my retro game reaction time, positive stimulus, made me be more conscientious of my surroundings in-game * Was good material to review also.

Unfulfillment - Very short, and not much content. Slow down would happen when there were at least 3 enemies on screen. This would help in some areas but the real kicker was when your input would suffer. Not registering a button press when you are charging face first into enemies, leads to more licks then this chef wanted. 

Unfair enemy placement irked ire.

Recommendation - I would want gamers or game developers alike to play games like this. To really understand the progression of the industry, how time changes the product but not the quality. Even though later improvements in gaming have far surpassed most retro games.

There is still a lot to gleam from even short experiences like this.

Interpretation - [N/A] * I'm reviewing it, aren't I.

      Thanks for reading!

                                      (Yes that is an egg in items, you defeat the final boss with eggs)