[TOC]
INTRODUCTION [INTR]
MECHANICS [MECH]
Break vs. Original [BREA]
Single vs. Double [DOUB]
Scoring [SCOR]
Attacks [ATTA]
GAME MODES [MODE]
Frontier Mode [FRON]
Endless Mode [ENDL]
Time Attack Mode [TIME]
Stage Attack Mode [STAG]
Multiplayer: Vs. Mode [MULT]
CHARACTERS, PLANETS, AND SKINS [CHAR]
Vincent from The Twinkling Tumbleweed, Star Bit [VINC]
Sherry, from The Milky Vale, Meowston [SHER]
Nick the Hacker, from The Gadgeteer's Paradise, Haxxor [NICK]
Thomas, from The Ever-night Moon, Miles Noctis [THOM]
Domingo, from The Galactic Safari, Palapalan [DOMI]
Bobby, from The Satellite of Samba, Sow Paolo [BOBB]
Pike, from Planet D.O.G. [PIKE]
Patrick, from Rubadub Dubstar [PATR]
Hank, from Cos Vegas [HANK]
US/JAPAN AND WONDERSWAN/DS/PSP DIFFERENCES [DIFF]
Differences in Presentation [DPRE]
Differences in Gameplay [DGAM]
UNLOCKABLES [UNLO]
EXTRAS [EXTR]
G-Note's Gallery [GNOT]
Sound Box [SOUN]
Easter Eggs [EGGS]
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS [FAQU]
CREDITS [CRED]
Change Log [CLOG]
Copyright [COPY]
[COT]
Gunpey is a puzzle game invented by and named after Gunpei Yokoi, the
inventor of the Game Boy, Game & Watch, and many other influential
ideas and products in the video game industry. It was developed for
the WonderSwan handheld, and so never reached the US or Europe (and
did not do very well in Japan either).
Gunpey DS is a remake of the same game for the Nintendo DS. It was
developed by Q Entertainment, makers of Meteos (DS) and Lumines (PSP,
Xbox 360). With a creative design, lots of depth, and excellent
presentation, this game is destined to be immediately forgotten by
most gamers.
Q's Gunpey remake, like their other games, blurs the line between
music and sound effects and generates the soundtrack dynamically based
on your character ("skin") and actions. People who have played Rez,
Lumines, Every Extend Extra, or Meteos should be basically familiar
with this. Everyone else, be prepared for an awesome new game
experience.
Gunpey is played on a field 5 panels wide and 10 panels tall. Pieces
scroll up the field at a regular rate; all columns scroll up
simultaneously. When a piece is pushed off the top of the field, the
game is over.
The goal is to clear lines by making a continuous path from one side
of the field to the other. There are four types of pieces, which look
sort of like ASCII characters: /, \, _, and V (goes across the top).
You can move pieces by dragging them with the stylus, and tap the up
arrow to advance the field. This is the fastest, but I find it's less
accurate, so I prefer using the buttons. The d-pad moves your cursor
around. Y swaps the two selected pieces. Holding down X will "grab"
the selected piece (like the stylus), and you can use the d-pad to
move it directly. B advances the columns.
When a line is made, you have a few seconds to link up even more
pieces to it for more points, and in some modes, a special
attack. You can also advance the columns to force the line to
disappear. After it disappears, things above it fall down.
So, for example:
This..... becomes this
_
V /\ _
/\/ V
\ \
The lines can be as complicated as you want, as long as they go from
one side to the other. They can split, rejoin, loop, or break:
___
/ \ is a single huge line (16 panels total), and will all
\/\ clear at once.
_ /\/
VV \
Break vs. Original [BREA]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The default mode in Gunpey DS is "Break", which means the pieces fall
automatically when they are cleared. This is an easier mode that also
allows for constructing chains. However, there's also "Original" mode,
in which pieces don't fall after a clear. This is sometimes less
confusing, but usually harder.
This..... becomes this
_ _
V /\ V
/\/
\ \
The choice between Break and Original is available in all game modes.
Single vs. Double [DOUB]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Double, you have two fields to play on. They may be different
skins. You can press L or R, or tap the circle icon, to switch between
the two fields. You can see the inactive field on the top screen, but
not interact with it. The inactive field moves slower than usual, so
it's not as insane as it sounds. The choice between Single and Double
is available in Endless and Time Attack.
Scoring in Gunpey is based the number of pieces cleared at once. Scores
grow according to the quadratic function Score(X) = 100 * X * (X - 4),
where X is the number of piece cleared.
In Double mode, the number of lines being cleared across both screens
is counted. That is, if you clear 5 lines on one screen and 6 on the
other, you get Score(5+6) = 7700 points.
If you clear the entire field, there's a 10,000 point bonus.
If clearing one line causes another to clear, there is some kind of
score bonus. I think the formula is Score(X) * 2, where X is the total
number of pieces cleared.
I don't know if the bonus increases for triple chains and beyond.
In Frontier and Vs. modes, you can "attack" your opponent by clearing
a huge number of pieces at once. Each character has three attacks that
all other characters share, and one special attack. Remember that the
AI (or the other human) can use them on you, too.
Slot (Clear 14/15 panels, or clear your entire field): Randomize your
opponent's field.
No Touch (Clear 16/17 panels): Your opponent can't use the stylus and
must use the d-pad and buttons to move pieces. This doesn't seem to
affect the AI much, and if you take my advice and use the d-pad most
of the time anyway, it won't really affect you either.
Special (Clear 18-20 panels): This depends on the character.
Rising Sun / Vincent
- Push opponent's pieces three rows up
Mocking Bird / Domingo
- Random special move
Sweep Dreams / Patrick
- Push opponent's panels to the right
Shades of Love / Sherry
- Opponent can only see a 3x3 area around the cursor
Shock / Nick the Hacker
- Level 4 shock, see below
Fashion Check / Thomas
- Delete every other panel on the opponent's screen
Bassline Blinder / Pike
- Hide every other row of the opponent's field
Bacon Shakedown / Bobby
- Empty one of the opponent's columns
Rags to Riches / Hank
- Flip the opponent's field upside-down
Shock (Clear 21+ panels): Hide the top and bottom three rows of the
opponent's field.
You'll rarely see any attacks besides Slot. Hank's attack is totally
unbalanced, and is essentially instant death at high speeds.
_________________________________________________________________________
GAME MODES [MODE]
_________________________________________________________________________
There are five basic game modes in Gunpey DS (four single-player). If
you count all possibility combinations of mode, single vs. double, and
break vs. original, there are 14 potential configurations. That's a
lot of modes.
All modes have some G-Note's Gallery unlocks.
All modes have different high score tables for Break vs. Original and
Single vs. Double, but are shared across stages/characters.
In Frontier Mode, you face up against four opponents on their home
turf. You have infinite continues, so failing isn't horrible, but your
score will reset. Also, the levels are random each time. So just
restarting when you lose can help if you're failing because the skin
is distracting or the AI's special move is really screwing you up.
Characters and skins change gameplay significantly in this mode, since
they change the available attacks.
Winning this mode is the only way to unlock more characters, and skins
for other modes.
High score tables are shared across all difficulty levels.
In this mode, you choose one skin and play it until you die. You
should try to get as high a score as possible.
G-Note hangs out here. If you want a real challenge, try getting as
many points as possible without dropping him.
Time Attack Mode [TIME]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this mode, choose one skin and play it for a set time (or until you
die), trying to get as high of a score as possible.
This mode isn't as much fun as Time Attack in Lumines. Big scores
require much longer to set up than in Lumines, and the maximum time is
only 90 seconds. Stylus use is required if you want a good score.
High score tables are different across different lengths of time.
Tetris fans will be familiar with this mode. You set a start speed and
an initial height, and try to clear the given number of pieces to
advance to the next level. At higher speeds this is really insane.
There is no high score table for Stage Attack.
Multiplayer: Vs. Mode [MULT]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gunpey DS supports two player multiplayer over local wireless. There's
not much to say about it. Both players pick characters and fight to
the death. The interface is annoying because you need to reconnect
after every game.
Characters and skins change gameplay significantly in this mode, since
they change the available attacks.
The game stores your win/loss record against everyone you play against
(your "Rivals"), which is nice.
Single-card multiplayer is _not_ supported. A single-player demo can
be sent, but not played in versus mode. I realize several reviews have
said single-card is supported; most reviewers seem to only read the
back of the box.
_________________________________________________________________________
CHARACTERS, PLANETS, AND SKINS [CHAR]
_________________________________________________________________________
Gunpey DS has nine different characters, each with their own
planet. Each planet corresponds to a different genre of music (though
all are very poppy), and at least one skin (sound set).
Vincent from The Twinkling Tumbleweed, Star Bit [VINC]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch out for this space cowboy's trademark frog hat. he's got a
sense of justice the size of the cosmos, and he's never lost a
gunfight... so how does Sherry always walk all over him? The newest
chapter in his journal to find a worthy opponent begins today!
The men of this frontier planet ride horseback as a matter of
policy. That machismo, coupled with their hardened good looks, has
made them the targets of desire for countless young ladies the
universe over.
Star Bit features the Country sound set.
Sherry, from The Milky Vale, Meowston [SHER]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
City savvy meets space cowgirl! This adorably lovely...oh, who are
we kidding. This feisty kitten marches to the beat of her own drum
and always looks out for number one. Let her smooth gunplay
mesmerize you, and her taste in music won't be the only thing that
goes pop.
A 40,000 ft. tower crowns this metropolitan planet, standing as a
symbol for the seaside capital's creed: Taller! Smarter! More
beautiful! The midnight cityscape makes for an intoxicating date
spot.
Meowston features the Pop sound set. The name may be a reference to
Fhloston, a paradise planet in the movie The Fifth Element.
Nick the Hacker, from The Gadgeteer's Paradise, Haxxor [NICK]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mechanical genius of the century and poster child for mad scientists
everywhere, this twisted tot is only interested in two things: toys
and candy. He keeps the mischievous glimmer in his eyes well-hidden
behind his trusty goggles.
Most of the junior space cadets on this planet rely on computers
even just to walk around. The parents of tomorrow's top robotics
engineers wish their kids would work more than just their
brains...
Haxxor features three skins, Haxxor I, II, and III. The sound set is
based on electronica (possibly minimalism).
Thomas, from The Ever-night Moon, Miles Noctis [THOM]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This timid trumpeter's lonesome heart calls out to a certain someone
every night. He's a lover, not a fighter, but he's ready to lay it
all on the line if he has to!
"...But do I really have to?"
The birthplace of sound-yesterday, today, and always. Any night
you're feeling down, come to Miles Noctis and let the soothing
sounds of live local music welcome you with their comfortable
caress.
Miles Noctis features a jazz/band sound set. The name is probably
intended to be a pun on the name Miles Davis and the Latin phrase
"milles noctis" meaning "one thousand nights".
Domingo, from The Galactic Safari, Palapalan [DOMI]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This gaudy interplanetary parrot tackies up the galactic safari park
Palapalan. The copycat techniques he uses are sure to infuriate
anyone. He claims to be the prince of the savanna, but... there's just
no way.
Come on out and explore the grandest galactic safari park in all of
space! Palapalan's legendary cosmos tiger, said to bring luck to all
who spot its stripes, is supposedly the root of Pike's success.
Palapalan's sound set is mostly chanting.
Bobby, from The Satellite of Samba, Sow Paolo [BOBB]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Literally made to party, this robotic festival hog's electrifying
maraca show is sure to shock. A few sparks too many, though, and he'll
wind up a luau entrée. The unstoppable dance moves this ample piggy
pulls off are guaranteed to leave spectators totally spellbound.
Flamboyant fanfares consistently fill the air on this festive
planet. When it comes to Sow Paolo, the party never stops. It's the
perfect spot for all your celebrations, from birthdays to bar
mitzvahs!
Sow Paolo's sound set is based on samba music. The name refers to São
Paulo, a city in Brazil.
Pike, from Planet D.O.G. [PIKE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't have this character/planet unlocked yet.
The sound set borrows elements from hip-hop and turntablism. "D.O.G."
is a reference to "O.G.", or "original gangster".
Patrick, from Rubadub Dubstar [PATR]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't have this character/planet unlocked yet.
As suggested by the name and Patrick's hat, Rubadub Dubstar's sound
set is based on dub, a subgenre of Jamaican reggae music.
Hank, from Cos Vegas [HANK]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't have this character/planet unlocked yet.
The name refers to Las Vegas, a popular vacation city in the US.
_________________________________________________________________________
US/JAPAN AND WONDERSWAN/DS/PSP DIFFERENCES [DIFF]
_________________________________________________________________________
Q Entertainment and Bandai released a version of Gunpey for the
PlayStation Portable concurrently with Gunpey DS. This has caused some
confusion since the two games feature different modes and vastly
different presentation.
In the US, the full title of the DS version is "Music x Puzzle: Gunpey
DS", and the full title of the PSP version is just "Gunpey".
In Japan, the DS version is known as "音をつごう! グンペイりば~す",
"Oto wo Tsunagou! Gunpey Reverse" or "Let's Connect the Sounds! Gunpey
Reverse". The PSP version is called "Gunpey-R" or "グンペイ リバース".
The "reverse" in both titles refers to the fact that the pieces scroll
from the bottom to the top; in the original Gunpey, they went from the
top to the bottom.
As far as I know there were no changes made to either version during
localization, aside from the translations.
Differences in Presentation [DPRE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The PSP version does not have characters or a "story". Like most
puzzle game, it's a more abstract presentation. The music is also more
like Lumines, grounded in electronica rather than the more poppy DS
version.
Differences in Gameplay [DGAM]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The PSP version does not have "Frontier" mode. Instead it has
"Challenge", which plays through all the skins in the game in order.
- The WonderSwan story mode featured different characters with
different abilities.
- The PSP features a "10x10" mode, which is a single field that's
twice as wide as usual.
- Both the DS and PSP versions feature Double mode. On the PSP, the
second field is off to the side.
- The WS did not support multiplayer. The DS and PSP support local
wireless multiplayer.
- The WonderSwan and PSP version do not have touchscreen support. This
can make it much more difficult.
- The WS version did not have the Break clear mode.
- The WS version had some game modes not available in either the DS or
PSP versions. These were a "puzzle" mode in which you had to
clear a preset field, and "free" mode in which you couldn't fail.
- Neither the WS nor PSP version have the Sound Box or G-Note's Gallery.
This table shows what modes are in which game, and what modes are
basically the same across the different games.
WS Mode DS Mode PSP Mode
-------------------------------------------------------
Endless Endless Single Skin
Story Frontier
Stage Stage Attack
Endless Double Skin
Time Attack Time Attack
Puzzle
Free
Sound Box
G-Note's Gallery
Challenge
10x10
Gunpey has a ton of unlockable things. Initially you only have two
characters (out of nine), two G-Note moves (out of 100), and two sound
sets (out of nine, maybe).
New things are unlocked as you reach certain milestones in the
game. You'll be unlocking G-Note's Gallery moves like crazy, since you
get them for incredibly mundane things (I got one after starting
Endless and exiting immediately).
I'm not entirely sure of any of these, since I can't test the
condition again. So this is more "what I did to unlock them" rather
than "the best way to unlock them".
Character Condition
----------------------------------------------------------------
Vincent Always available
Sherry Always available
Nick The Hacker Beat Frontier as Vincent (on Easy)
Domingo Beat Frontier as Vincent (on Medium)
Bobby Beat Frontier as Sherry (on Easy)
Thomas Beat Frontier as Domingo (on Medium)
Sound Set Condition
----------------------------------------------------------------
Country Always available
Pop Always available
G-Note is the little guy you might have noticed dancing around the
screen during Endless Mode or while playing with the Sound Box. He wants
to show off his moves, and you can help him find them. As you play
through the game, you'll unlock more actions for G-Note. He'll perform
them randomly during gameplay, but in this mode you can set up paths
on the field for him to follow, and tap his actions to make him do
them. There are a total of 100 moves to unlock.
The field in this mode is only nine panels tall, one fewer than during
regular gameplay.
G-Note and his horse (#11) are the icon displayed in the DS operating
system when it boots and Gunpey DS is inserted. He also appears,
performing random unlocked moves, in the sound balance options.
In case you're wondering, there's no real goal in this mode. But I
think it's more fun than the regular picture collection found in other
games.
Sound Box mode lets you play with the characters' sound effects and
program patterns for music. The manual, however, is absolutely useless
in describing how to use it.
There are three parts to this mode. First, you program up to four
possible backtracks in the patternizer. Second, you construct up to
four sound sets, based on the sound effects from the game. Finally,
you "play" the sound box by selecting from your four patterns, four
sets, and entering the sound set data.
I suggest starting with the patternizer. When you enter Sound Box
mode, tap the stop button on the bottom of the screen to turn off all
sound effects, then tap the "P" button. The controls for pitch is
fairly self explanatory, but note that the bottom row is actually
"off", not the lowest note.
Tapping the first panel beneath the pitch meter changes the instrument
for that note. There are 13 possible pitches, and they follow a
chromatic scale. There are ten different instruments. The bottom-most
panels affect the duration of the note. If a note is marked (blue), it
will be held for all marked and turned off notes after it, until the
instrument's sound runs out. The very bottom meters control the
volume. The stop button on this screen only stops the pattern; if you
have a sound set playing, it will continue playing.
You can program patterns A, B, C, and D. Saving and loading affect all
four patterns at once, so you can save a total of 16 patterns (four
save slots of four patterns each).
Next, tap the back button, and then tap the "S" button (you might want
to stop the pattern playback first). This screen lets you construct
custom sound sets, which requires an explanation of Gunpey DS sound
sets work. There are up to five effect tracks playing at once. Each
track is playing one of four possible sounds, all of which last one
stanza (one full run of the pattern). Each planet has its own sound
set; Country and Pop are available initially. In addition, you can
make up to four custom sound sets which mix and match the tracks from
other patterns. Select the set you want, then drag the track (A, B, C,
D, or E) to the bottom. To preview the sounds for that track, tap one
of the four positions in each column. Again, saving affects all four
custom sets.
Finally, once you have your four patterns and four sound sets, you're
ready to "play" your DS. On the initial Sound Box screen, you can
switch between your four custom patterns and four custom sound
sets. You can select different sounds for each track, which will take
effect during the next loop of the patternizer (marked by the red cell
on the left). You can also select the default sets by tapping the
arrows or using L/R.
You can control the tempo (in beats per minute) from any of the
screens. It ranges from 90 to 200. The BPM is global; you cannot have
one BPM for the pattern and another for the sound sets.
Like G-Note's Gallery, Sound Box doesn't affect the main game at
all. However, it's another novel alternative to the sound test modes
found in other games (in fact, it's feature-comparable to Yamaha's
early handheld synthesizers).
Q: How many skins are there?
A: At least 12 (one for each planet, 3 for Haxxor), possibly more.
Q: Is there some way to reset the data (scores, unlocks, etc)?
A: Not as far as I can tell. L+R+A+B+X+Y when starting doesn't do it.
Q: How are sound sets unlocked?
A: I don't know, I haven't unlocked any yet.
Q: The game is too hard! / The game is based too much on luck!
A: Yes it's hard, but no, it's not based on luck. The chances of
advancing all ten rows without finding a piece in one, and filling
up another, is ridiculously low. The trick is to plan ahead and
keep rows down. If you've got a column with 5 pieces and another
with zero, make sure you clear more than one piece from the full
column when you finally get a line.
Q: How do I use single-card multiplayer?
A: You can't. Reviews that say you can are wrong. The box does have
the "Wireless DS Single-Card Download Play", but that refers to the
broadcastable demo, rather than multiplayer. Cooking Mama has the
same deceptive box.
Q: Should I get the DS or PSP version?
A: If you have enough money for a DS and a PSP, you probably have
enough money to buy this game for both systems. The experience is
very different, and both versions are excellent. The PSP version is
much harder. It has more skins, but it's not as cute, and doesn't
have any "extras".
Copyright 2007 Joe Wreschnig. This document may be freely used,
copied, and/or modified, in any medium, as long as this notice remains
intact. New versions are uploaded to GameFAQs.
The character and planet descriptions are Copyright 2006 Namco Bandai
Games, and are included because it's nearly impossible to read them in
the time alloted on the selection screen.
