Original Release: ASCII, 1985, Arcade / MSX / NES
Other Releases: Switch / PS4 (2020)
Aka Penguin Wars, this game is a unique air hockey variant.
Animal Wars (MSX, Ascii, 1985)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
Animal Wars (also called Penguin Wars) is a unique and interesting hybrid of dodgeball and air hockey, the like of which I’ve never seen elsewhere.
Each animal gets five balls per side to start each match, and the goal is to either get all 10 simultaneously on the other side or have the fewest on your own side when the match timer runs out. You can stun the opposing player with a direct hit from one of your balls. Each matchup is a best two out of three, and if you win you’re moved on to a bonus game like regular air hockey or a whack-a-mole/dodgeball fusion.
Later levels add little twists, like the appearance of the LSD Pickle which allows you to fire homing shots at the enemy while it is in the playfield. The enemy AI is consistently dumb, and it’s fairly easy to win just by strafing and spreading the balls out. There is at least one tactic you have to watch out for, though. If you cluster up all the balls in one area, don’t let the enemy hit you with return fire or they can just chain-combo dizzy you while dumping everything back to your side. This gets particularly dangerous when the LSD Pickle is in play, as the CPU can dizzy-combo you and dump everything back at you just before the timer runs out.
There isn’t a whole lot of meat to the game, as there are only four levels and then the game just loops forever. It’s fairly fun, though, and a very novel concept.
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