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Pinobee: Wings of Adventure

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Pinobee: Wings of Adventure
North American GBA cover art
Developer(s)Artoon
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Naoto Ohshima
Yutaka Sugano
Producer(s)Yoji Ishii
Designer(s)Toshihiko Machita
Yutaka Sugano
Artist(s)Masamichi Harada
Composer(s)Chikako Kamatani
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance, PlayStation
ReleaseGame 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)Platform
Mode(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

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Development and release

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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

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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

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  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.
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