Original Release: Sega, 1995, Game Gear
A variety collection of games from Sega, some involving gambling, some not so much
Gamble Panic (Game Gear, Sega, 1995)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
Sega has a low-key history of dabbling in gambling titles here and there, one of the cases in point being 1995’s “Gamble Panic” for the Game Gear. This tale of degeneracy never made it out of Japan, but apparently not for lack of effort in presentation; it was one of the last titles Arc System Works did under contract for Sega, before they split off on their own and hit it big with Guilty Gear.
Aside from the gambling theme maybe causing a little hesitancy in porting, an overly linear structure is the main problem here. With a casino title you usually want to be able to browse around and play games freely, this one instead subjects you to a more traditional series of “levels” with each featuring a particular game. First you gotta beat a baby at draw poker (?), then a polar bear forces you to play a memory match game or die, then you’re off to battle some Mega Man robot in a slot tournament, etc. No battery backup either, you gotta write down numeric passwords if you’re not emulating and save stating.
The games aren’t always casino games either, as mentioned you got the Concentration variant, there’s also a virtual “crane machine” level that has you pick up plushies to win, and then the whole shebang concludes with a not-so-great billiards session!
The proceedings are all in Moon Runes and I wouldn’t expect a fan translation (unless AI makes such things trivial), so I don’t know the overall story but it appears you’re directed by the KKK to drum up funds by hustling your way through the off-Strip casino from Vegas Vacation. It’s perfectly playable without speaking Japanese, though there’s an occasional choice that I wasn’t clear on the meaning of.
Anyway, the game lost me at the slot level as it seemed to hinge entirely on getting the right random “super power” at the beginning to win. It’s also very tedious as you take turns alternating spins with the computer, it’s not the standard “slot tournament” style where everyone just spins at the same time and whoever has the most points at the end wins.
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