Hirake! Ponkikki

Hirake! Ponkikki was a long-running Japanese children’s program similar to Sesame Street; this game features the show’s two main characters, Gachapin the dinosaur and Mukku the yeti, in a little friendly competition. Five mini-games repeat over the course of five islands, and each island must be cleared of all five games before proceeding to the next. The set-up is mainly intended for two players, with one player controlling Gachapin and the other Mukku. In one-player mode, either character may be selected, but the CPU will not compete at any game other than rock-paper-scissors. Players begin with a limited number of lives which may be lost by colliding with enemies or performing poorly at minigames; one extra life is also awarded at the end of each island. However, there is also a password system which allows the game to be resumed from any island. The minigames are as follows: Platforming: Collect fruit while avoiding enemies in a slowly auto-scrolling platforming game. Whoever gets the most fruit wins. Shape Matching: Hurry to match the most shapes before time expires. The Shell Game: Pick out the spaceship with the other character in five rounds of the shell game. Rock-Paper-Scissors: Defeat the other character a set number of times at the classic hand game. Maze Chase: Race against the other player to collect the most candy apples before exiting. In later levels, avoid worms as well.