SUN SHINE

by ALPHA DENSHI

NEO GEO MVS NGM-008

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

Sunshine was among the first twelve initial game software products programmed & intended for the NEOGEO system's launch. Alpha Denshi co-developed the NEOGEO system and worked as an in house second party programming team for the first year until they essentially broke away and became the first official third party licensee for the NEOGEO. Some of the other very early Alpha Denshi games include Magician Lord and Ninja Combat.

Sunshine was a very basic puzzle game. It was small in size and scope. Gameplay consisted of catching and arranging pairs of falling blocks onto a platform. The player controlled the platform (known as the sundish) with the joystick. The level progression is undetermined, but one feature unique to Sunshine (which was removed from Block Paradise) was that the player is only allowed to "drop" or "pass" 3 blocks and if a 4th block is dropped, it's game over! Icons at the bottom of the screenshots show this feature as: "PASS" with "3,2,1, and ZERO".

In Sun Shine, the A button is used to fire shots at the falling blocks. Shooting a block once increases the speed of its fall and shooting it twice rotates the block end over end. The B button activates a special item called a SQUALL, causing a large yellow lightning bolt strike which clears the entire playfield of all blocks of the same color. Points are scored and levels are gradually raised by matching 3 blocks of the same color horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Matching 5 blocks in an X shaped pattern or configuration, results in an immediate level raise as well as an on screen display of the words Sun Shine. If any block lands too high on the sundish whereas it does not clear the top borderline, then the game is over.

Sun Shine was the first puzzle game developed for the NEOGEO system and was only 18 megs in size. It did not perform well at its location test and was subsequently canceled. However, the game was reassigned and underwent additional modifications and enhancements. The title was changed to Block Paradise and that version of the game was greatly improved. However, despite this effort, it too never saw release. As such, SNK's 22 meg game Joy Joy Kid / Puzzled would eventually earn the distinction of becoming the first officially released puzzle game for the NEOGEO system.

INFORMATION TIMELINE:

-- July 1990 -- Sunshine was location tested at "The Gorilla" arcade, located at the underground level of the Ikebukuro Sunshine Mall in the Ikebukuro Ward in Tokyo, Japan.

-- September 1990 -- arcade promo flyer printed for the arcade industry.

-- October 1990 -- Sunshine is exhibited at the 1990 AM Amusement Machine Show.

-- November 1990 -- Game Machine Magazine reports on the show with a screenshot.

-- November 1990 -- Famitsu #114 publishes an article with screenshots.

-- November 1990 -- Joy Joy Kid (Puzzled) is released as the first NEOGEO puzzle game.

-- November 1990 -- Sunshine is canceled. Block Paradise is built from it.

-- December 1990 -- Gamest #52 publishes an article with a screenshot.

-- ?? -- An unknown magazine publishes an article with a screenshot.

-- March 1991 -- Electronic Gaming Monthly #20 publishes an article with screenshots.

CURRENT STATUS: REMAINS LOST


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