Game Club 199X #13 - Wonder Project J (SNES)

[Snarboo]

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Wonder Project J (SNES)


November's game of the month is Wonder Project J for the SNES! Wikipedia has everything you need to know on the subject of raising robots:

SPOILER: Click to show

Wonder Project J: Kikai no Shōnen Pīno (ワンダープロジェクトＪ機械の少年ピーノ Wonder Project J: Machine Boy Pino) is a Japan-exclusive video game published by Enix for the Super Famicom in 1994. The game was developed by Almanic, who also developed the Enix-published E.V.O.: Search for Eden.

The game is a raising simulation in which the player raises a Pinocchio-esque boy, whose default name is "Pino", to succeed in various challenges and confrontations to activate virtue circuits, with his final task to foster relations between humans and the robot-like Gijin. Its sequel, Wonder Project J2: Koruro no Mori no Josette, was released on the Nintendo 64 two years later.

Wikipedia's Wonder Project J Article

PRO TIPPZ:

• Bobinator has some starting tips for the thread!
  
• "Incidentally, be warned everyone - Pino can activate things himself, so keep a close watch on him. You can also increase the pointer speed and text speed in the options menu." courtesy of kal
  
• "He'll always wander around a bit on his own, even opening doors and picking up items and such. If he's in a real sour mood, he'll ignore practically all of your orders. It's best to always keep some pudding on hand in case he gets pissed off." courtesy of Succubus
  
• Snarboo has some tips on how to start your game with minimal tragedies.
  
• Sotenga also has some tips on controller rascally robots.
  
• "Make sure you save your game reasonably regularly - this can be done by activating the POD thing and you can even skip the energy step (staying on the same day but saving your game). This is important because there are events that CAN INSTANTLY GAME OVER YOU for like no reason or warning." courtesy of kal
  
• Succubus has further tips on how best to raise Pino.
  
• Succubus has a brief guide on how to conquer the game's challenges.
  
• Sketcz has a few tips on item usage and purchases.
  
• "Off the top of my head, I think praying to the little turtle figure that you find in the forest increases luck. If you buy the locked chest and learn how to open it successfully, I think that increases luck too." courtesy of Succubus
  
• Snarboo has some tips on how to make the best of Pino's home and how to balance his stats.
  
• "I should mention there's a CONFIDENCE BOOSTER in the store which is incredibly helpful if you accidentally end up with no confidence since that stat itself seems hard to level effectively." courtesy of kal
  
• "I think praising Pino boosts his confidence a good bit, along with his trust, which I think determines how often he'll get pissy at you and not do what you say." courtesy of Bobinator
  
• "I've noticed a few stats are mutually exclusive, namely aggression/sensitivity and athleticism/intelligence. Finding items that only raise one of these stats without lowering another is very difficult, but so far the treasure chest and Corlo's sword both seem to raise stats without lowering anything else." courtesy of Snarboo
  
• Sotenga has advice on how to clear the trials in Chapter 4 & 5.
  
• Succubus has posted more general tips for progressing in the game.
  
• "Pino's stats will change depending on how he opens doors, so watch his stats closely if you're trying to balance them carefully!" courtesy of Snarboo.
  
• Doors got ya down? Snarboo has some tips on opening them!

Voting ended on November 5th at 10:30 PM EST.

*NOTE*: When voting, please choose a game that you want to play - and will play - but have not beaten entirely or beaten recently, say within 5 - 10 years. All votes are final, so no going back if you change your mind. If you're going to vote, we'd like to have you along for the ride!

Previous GC9X Threads:

• Game Club 199X #1 - Snake's Revenge (NES)
  
• Game Club 199X #2 - Wasteland (PC-DOS, C64, Apple II)
  
• Game Club 199X #3 - Dai Ma Shikyou Galious (NES)
  
• Game Club 199X #4 - Vagrant Story (PS1)
  
• Game Club 199X #5 - King's Quest V (PC, NES)
  
• Game Club 199X #6 - Landstalker (GEN)
  
• Game Club 199X #7 - Wonder Boy in Monster Land (SMS) and Wonder Boy III: Dragon's Trap (SMS)
  
• Game Club 199X Summer of Love: Gauntlet II Challenge
  
• Game Club 199X Fight #1 - Beatdown X-TREEM
  
• Game Club 199X Fight #2 - Scores, Scars & Stripes (guest director Weasel)
  
• Game Club 199X #10 - Deus Ex Ultra-team Challenge
  
• Game Club 199X #11 - Crystalis (NES, GBC)
  
• Game Club 199X #12 - Hybrid Heaven (N64)

[Deleted]

I'm going for the witchy two-fer. I'll consider it a late Halloween choice in light of Dark Seed not winning last month. That, and I need an excuse to beat the Krion Conquest. I forget which one's easier, KC or its Japanese version, Magical Doropie. But I'll beat at least one of those, to be sure.

[Bobinator]

Ecco, for me.

[Weasel]

Wonder Project J sounds like exactly the sort of thing this podcast would have the most fun with.

[susanismyalias]

Wonder Project J cause yolo

[megatronbison]

I'd be tempted by the Witchathon - seems something I would be realistically able to dedicate enough time to. You could say the same of Ecco but I just hate that game. As for Wonder Project J - always wanted to give it a try since reading about it in Super Play beards ago but I don't think now is the time for me to play it.

[Scylla]

I vote Wonder Project J because everybody needs to play that game. Granted, my vote is kinda invalid because I've played it within the last 5 years, but I'll gladly play it again. Plus, I'd be happy to type out my "quick and dirty" WPJ FAQ, that I scribbled on a sheet of paper the last time I played. Despite being on just one sheet of paper, I guarantee that it's more useful than any English FAQ currently online.

[Feynman]

I vote for the witchathon. I haven't played either game, which makes it something new.

[kal]

I didn't expect to see the Witch double bill get so much early interest, that being said I'll still be shocked if Ecco doesn't end up being the go to game. My votes going to WPJ because there's nothing remotely like it and since it's only got an English patch in the last couple of years web interest/knowledge is extremely low - making it excellent Podcast flak.

*edited for words*

[Deleted]

I'm voting for Moe Witch Double Header, because it's the best. Did you know that the main character in Magical Pop'n is voiced by a porn star?

And I swear to everyone, I will go to your house and flence you if Ecco wins. And then I'll make a tarp out of your skin before the police arrive.

EDIT: Seriously though, it'd be a pretty short podcast for Ecco. Although I'm not changing my vote, Wonder Project J is a pretty interesting looking game too. Vote for new and weird games, people!

[Scylla]

Nov 3, 2012 0:38:50 GMT -5 Joseph Joestar said:

Seriously though, it'd be a pretty short podcast for Ecco.

Because it's too absurdly difficult for anyone to beat or because they'll be too terrified of the horrifying undersea world to even try? :P

That said, I still <3 Ecco, haha.

[Feynman]

The ideal podcast for Ecco would just be thirty minutes of nonstop swearing.

[lightingman]

I don't know ecco's cool but wonder project j is more obscure. I will ho with ecco we need a megadrive game so ecco

ECOO EEE E EE EEEE

[TheChosen]

Wonder Project is a fantastic and interesting game, well worth to talk about. I'll vote that. Gives me a good reason to continue where I left off years ago.

[xerxes]

I don't wish Ecco any specific harm, but that's probably because I've never tried to beat it. I don't believe for one minute, though, that we couldn't find something to talk about if it were chosen.

I added Wonder Project J to the randomizer list because (IIRC) it was talked up in the first issue of SCROLL. Supposed to be very inventive.

Krion is kind of a clumsy game that looks like it should be better than it probably will turn out to be. That said, always wanted to give it a serious shot, because it's so wacky.

Magical Pop'n is one of my favorite SNES platformers. It's a genre that often feels too slow on 16-bit consoles. This game is fast-fast-fast. The play control is great too. Although you're some kind of child-princess-fairy thing, once you master the controls you'll feel like the most badass child-princess-fairy thing ever glittered.