Pinobee: Wings of Adventure

2001 video game
2001 video game
  • JP: Hudson Soft
  • NA: Activision (GBA)
  • NA/EU: Konami (PS)
Director(s)Naoto Ohshima
Yutaka SuganoProducer(s)Yoji IshiiDesigner(s)Toshihiko Machita
Yutaka SuganoArtist(s)Masamichi HaradaComposer(s)Chikako KamataniPlatform(s)Game Boy Advance, PlayStationReleaseGame Boy Advance
  • JP: March 21, 2001
  • NA: June 11, 2001
  • EU: June 22, 2001
PlayStation
  • JP: September 5, 2002
  • NA: April 17, 2003
  • EU: October 10, 2003
Genre(s)PlatformMode(s)Single-player

Pinobee: Wings of Adventure, known in Japan as Pinobee no Daibōken (ピノビィーの大冒険, Pinobī no Daibōken, lit. "Pinobee's Great Adventure") or Pinobee: Quest of Heart, is a platformer for the Game Boy Advance, developed by Artoon and published by Hudson Soft.[1] The game was released as a launch title for the system, on March 21, 2001 in Japan and June 11, 2001 in North America.[2] A version was developed for PlayStation in 2002, simply titled Pinobee outside Japan.

A sequel, Pinobee & Phoebee, was released only in Japan in 2002.

Gameplay

Development and release

Pinobee: Wings of Adventure was developed by Artoon, which was founded by former Sega senior director Yoji Ishii in August 1999 with other ex-Sega staffers such as Yutaka Sugano, Naoto Ohshima, Manabu Kusunoki, and Hidetoshi Takeshita.[3] Sugano, who co-directed and co-designed the game, stated that Ohshima conceived the game as a story that expressed the growth of the human heart.[3] The story about a robotic bee brought to life by a grandfatherly scientist was inspired by the fantasy novel The Adventures of Pinocchio.[4][5] The game's original main theme was that of the love between a parent and child, but this was eventually toned down.[6] Ishii claimed that the transition from Sega platforms to the GBA and the game's development were smooth due to the handheld's 32-bit CPU and C-based programming. The new GBA hardware presented a unique challenge for the project team and was chosen as the best fit to represent the game's art style.[3] The characters were created using pre-rendered CG models while the backgrounds were hand-drawn.[3] The CG models differed little from their initial concepts, although the antagonists changed from living insects to robots.[6] The game's world map was modeled after the Vincent van Gogh oil painting series Langlois Bridge at Arles.[7]

Leading up to the release of Pinobee, it was shown at Nintendo Space World, the European Computer Trade Show, Jump Festa, and the Tokyo Game Show.[4][5][8][9][10] The game was published by Hudson Soft as a launch title for the GBA in Japan on March 21, 2001. A software bug that softlocks the game in two instances was found by consumers shortly thereafter. A workaround for the bug and an apology was posted by Hudson on its official Japanese website on April 11, 2001.[11] Activision struck an overseas distribution deal with Hudson to release Pinobee alongside the GBA in North America and Europe on June 11 and June 22, 2001 respectively.[12][13] Artoon and Hudson collaborated on a sequel titled Pinobee & Phoebee, released in Japan for the GBA on July 18, 2002. The game gives players the ability to switch between the titular brother-sister duo, each with unique abilities, in search of 20 heart pieces in every stage.[14] Ohshima said Hudson suggested Pinobee could be enjoyable as a PlayStation game and a port of the original game was developed for it.[15] Hudson began advertising both the port of Pinobee and the GBA release of Pinobee & Phoebee (including English language promotional artwork for the sequel) on its North American website in 2002.[16][17] Konami acquired the distribution rights to the Pinobee series and displayed both games at its E3 booth in May 2002.[18] Hudson released the PlayStation port of Pinobee in Japan in September 2002 while Konami handled its release in North America and Europe in 2003.[19][20][21] Pinobee & Phoebee remained exclusive to Japan.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GBAPS
GameRankings67%[22]50%[23]
Metacritic61/100[24]N/A
Review scores
PublicationScore
GBAPS
AllGame[25]N/A
Edge5/10[26]N/A
Electronic Gaming Monthly6.5/10[27]N/A
Famitsu25/40[28]27/40[29]
Game Informer8/10[30]N/A
GameSpot5.4/10[1]N/A
GameSpy65%[31]N/A
IGN6/10[2]N/A
Next Generation[32]N/A
Nintendo Power[33]N/A
Nintendo World Report6/10[34]N/A
Official U.S. PlayStation MagazineN/A[20]

The Game Boy Advance version received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[24] NextGen called it "A cute but ultimately underachieving entry in an already crowded market."[32] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 25 out of 40 for the GBA original,[28] and 27 out of 40 for the PlayStation version.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b Gerstmann, Jeff (June 11, 2001). "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 6, 2001. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Nix, Marc (June 14, 2001). "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d TNP staff (October 5, 2000). "Exclusive: The Pinobee Interview". The Nintendo Project. IGN. Archived from the original on February 4, 2001. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Artoon staff (2001). "Pinobee: Quest of Heart". Artoon. Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Harris, Craig (January 28, 2001). "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure (Preview)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Artoon staff (2001). "Story Board". Artoon. Archived from the original on November 20, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Artoon staff (2001). "The World of the Adventure". Artoon. Archived from the original on November 20, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (August 25, 2000). "Hands On: Pinobee: Quest of Heart". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 14, 2002. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  9. ^ Lake, Max (September 3, 2000). "ECTS: Small GBA Showing". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  10. ^ Dengeki staff (December 22, 2000). "マンガとゲームのイベント「ジャンプフェスタ2001」。いよいよ23日から開催！" [Manga and game event "Jump Festa 2001". It will finally start on the 23rd!]. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on September 17, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  11. ^ Hudson staff (April 11, 2001). "Bug report". Hudson Soft (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 27, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  12. ^ Harris, Craig (April 18, 2001). "Bomberman and Pinobee for US Launch". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  13. ^ TGG staff (June 2001). "Pinobee: Quest of the Heart [sic] [Import]". Total Games Guide to... Game Boy Advance. No. 1. Paragon Publishing. pp. 26–27. ISBN 1-873650-87-6.
  14. ^ Hudson staff (June 2002). "ピノビィー＆フィービィー". Hudson Soft (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 1, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  15. ^ Leone, Matt (August 9, 2004). "Talking: Naoto Ohshima". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 4, 2004. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  16. ^ Hudson staff (2002). "Current Games". Hudson Soft. Archived from the original on August 5, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  17. ^ Hudson staff (2002). "Wallpaper". Hudson Soft. Archived from the original on October 11, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  18. ^ IGN staff (May 23, 2002). "Konami: E3 Booth Report". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  19. ^ Hudson staff (September 9, 2002). "ピノビィーの大冒険 【ハドソン ザ ベスト】" [Pinobee's Great Adventure {{[Hudson the Best]}}]. Hudson Soft (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 4, 2004. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Steinman, Gary (May 2003). "Pinobee". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 68. Ziff Davis. p. 98. ISSN 1094-6683. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  21. ^ Bramwell, Tom (November 26, 2002). "Konami Karts in 2003". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  22. ^ "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure for Game Boy Advance Reviews". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  23. ^ "Pinobee for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  25. ^ Carroll, Tom. "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  26. ^ Edge staff (May 2001). "Pinobee: Quest Of Heart [JP Import]" (PDF). Edge. No. 97. Future Publishing. p. 79. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  27. ^ Johnston, Chris (July 2001). "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 144. Ziff Davis. p. 91. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  28. ^ a b "ピノビィーの大冒険 [GBA]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  29. ^ a b "ピノビィーの大冒険 [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  30. ^ "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure". Game Informer. No. 99. FuncoLand. July 2001.
  31. ^ Bub, Andrew S. (March 14, 2002). "Pinobee: Wings of Freedom [sic]". GameSpy. GameSpy Industries. Archived from the original on April 8, 2002. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  32. ^ a b "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure". NextGen. No. 79. Imagine Media. July 2001. p. 66. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  33. ^ "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure". Nintendo Power. Vol. 145. Nintendo of America. June 2001.
  34. ^ Metts, Jonathan (July 1, 2001). "Pinobee: Wings of Adventure". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  • PINOBEE（ARTOON） - Internet Archive
  • Pinobee: Wings of Adventure at MobyGames
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