Flicky
Flicky | |
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Sega System 1 |
Flicky
The idea for Flicky came from Sega senior leadership, who wanted to exceed the success of Namco's Mappy (1983). Yoji Ishii and Yoshiki Kawasaki developed Flicky at Sega over one year. Originally, the game simply had the player catch ambiguous dots in a maze. Taking inspiration from a popular song in a Japanese variety show, Kawasaki gave the game an urban theme and bird characters. The game was originally titled "Busty", then "Flippy", before finally settling on "Flicky".
Flicky was first ported to the SG-1000 in Japan, and then later to other Japanese home consoles. In 1991, Flicky was released in North America and Europe on the Sega Genesis. The character has made cameo appearances in other Sega games, most notably within the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
Gameplay
Flicky is a
Collected Chirps will disperse if their chain comes in contact with an enemy.
Development
The spark to develop Flicky came from Sega's desire to exceed Namco's Mappy (1983) which had become very popular in Japanese arcades. Sega game designer Yoji Ishii's boss wanted him to design a similar "dot eater" game but better.[4]
Flicky was developed over the course of one year and was designed by Yoji Ishii in collaboration with artist Yoshiki Kawasaki.[1][2] The game evolved from a simple game that Kawasaki first envisioned where the player would catch dots in a maze. He took inspiration from a popular song about sparrows on power lines from a 1970s Japanese variety show, Migoro! Tabegoro! Waraigoro!,[b] and so made the main character a sparrow and the platforms and walls wires. However, he found the power line theme boring, and thus changed the background to an apartment building after taking inspiration from one outside his office window.[2] Kawasaki felt that anyone who is around children has experienced the emotion of wanting to keep children safe from the outside and returning them safe to their home. From this, the team wanted to imbue a message to "protect the children" with the game, and according to Kawasaki, "it's that emotion that drives Flicky".[4]
Kawasaki used a poorly calibrated graphics tablet to draw all the game graphics. The Chirps were originally ambiguous dots that would disappear when collected. Kawasaki changed this so the dots trailed the player, then increased their size to 8x8 pixels to make way for a more interesting design. The size was just large enough for a simple chick design. To add difficulty to the game, some Chirps were programmed to behave more unpredictably when touched by an enemy. These Chirps were given sunglasses and deemed the "bad" Chirps. When game testing began, the team had created 100 levels but only four background designs, and there was barely any space left in the game. Kawasaki was able to change the colors of the backgrounds to create more variety. After testing, Iggy was added to the game.[2]
Flicky was originally titled "Busty", but an American Sega branch asked the team to change it because of the term's slang usage in English.[4] The game was then titled "Flippy" but this was changed shortly before release.[2] In 2002, Ishii stated this was because of trademark issues in the United States,[2] but in 2018 said it was because "Flippy" was too similar to "Mappy".[4] Flicky was released in arcades in May 1984.[1]
Ports
Like many early 1980s Sega arcade games, Flicky was ported to the
Reception
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Mean Machines Sega | 88%[8] |
Mean Machines | 92%[9] |
MegaTech | 88%[10] |
In July 1984, Game Machine listed Flicky as being the second most popular table arcade unit in Japan during that period.[11]
The Genesis port of Flicky was reviewed by multiple Western publications, most of which found the game to have highly addictive and enjoyable gameplay while criticizing it for having poor graphics and sound. Reviewers noted poor initial impressions based on appearance and sound, finding the sprites to be simple, the colors garish, and the music repetitive. However, when they began to play the game, they found that the simple appearance complemented the simple yet engaging gameplay.[6][10][9][5] Computer and Video Games described Flicky as a guilty pleasure and discussed its cute appearance in positive light.[6] Reviewers from Electronic Gaming Monthly concluded that the game was aimed for children based on the game's cuteness aesthetic, and provided lower scores accordingly.[7] Critics from both Computer and Video Games and Mean Machines wrote that employees in their offices were disappearing into their game room to play Flicky.[6][9] Julian from Mean Machines wrote: "It's crazy, I know, that a game so crappy, so laughably-simple and pathetic sounding as this can prove to be more addictive, more challenging and more long-lasting than virtually any other Mega Drive game, but it's true."[9] In 2017, Gamesradar ranked Flicky 42nd on their "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time."[12]
Legacy
Numerous Sega video game compilations feature Flicky. A CD-enhanced version of the Genesis port was featured in Wondermega Collection, a compilation bundled with the
The Flicky character has made cameo appearances in several other Sega arcade games, effectively becoming a mascot for Sega's early arcade years. In Teddy Boy Blues (1985), she appears as a shooting target among other Sega mascots such as Pengo. In the puzzle game Bloxeed, she can be used as a special weapon to drop blocks on the playing field. She is also playable in SDI (1987) with the use of a cheat code. Flicky has a minor cameo appearance in Flash Point, where she will wish the player good luck before each round, and in the racing game Super Monaco GP (1989), where she appears on the racetrack banners and the game over screen. Flicky has also become an entire species and reoccurring minor character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and is featured most prominently in Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (1996), the game mechanics of which were inspired by Flicky.[17] Flicky has continued to have minor cameo appearances in other Sega titles, including Shenmue (1999), Gunstar Super Heroes (2005), and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007).[1]
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Derboo, Sam. "Hardcore Gaming 101: Flicky". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "名作アルバム - 『フリッキー』 - 1". Sega (in Japanese). 14 May 2002. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ a b c Flicky instruction manual. (Sega Genesis, North America, 1991)
- ^ a b c d Szczepaniak, John (2018). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Vol. 3. SMG Szczepaniak. pp. 274–276.
- ^ a b "Flicky". ACE. No. 50. November 1991. p. 110.
- ^ a b c d "Flicky". Computer and Video Games. No. 120. November 1991. pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b "Flicky". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 21. April 1991. p. 24.
- Mean Machines Sega. No. 1 (October 1992). September 1992. p. 138.
- ^ a b c d "Mega Drive Review: Flicky". Mean Machines. No. 13. October 1991. p. 94.
- ^ a b "Flicky". MegaTech. No. 1. December 1991. p. 78.
- ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 239. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 July 1984. p. 25.
- ^ GamesRadar Staff (2017-06-21). "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
- ^ "WonderMega Collection (Game)".
- ^ "ワンダーメガコレクション | メガドライブミニ2 | セガ".
- ^ "フリッキー". Sonic Team (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 26 May 2005.
- ^ "Flicky™ on Steam". Steam. 26 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Cover Story: Sonic 3D" (PDF). Mean Machines Sega (45). July 1996. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
External links
- Flicky at the Killer List of Videogames
- Flicky playable for free on the Internet Archive