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Popful Mail

 
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Shapermc
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:31 am    Post subject: Popful Mail Reply with quote

Hopefully no one other than me made the horrible, horrible mistake of thinking that Popful mail was an RPG by Falcom that involves, yes, a postal service. This game involves no delivering of any may or receiving of any. I was so wrong it is not even funny. Popful Mail is the main female elf's name.

There are actually quite a few Popful Mail games. The PC88 and PCE Duo version play like Wander's from Ys (sidescrolling Ys). I really hated Wanders from Ys and am left much less interested in those versions of the game, although I will probably attempt to burn a copy of the Duo version and test it out. They were released in '91 and '94 respectivly.


PC88 Version


PCE Duo Version

After these were released Sega released the Sega CD version of Popful Mail. They handled the programming and in doing so decided to give more control to the character and made a very different game. Working Design ported the game to the US and changed a lot of the script up and increased the difficulty of the game.


Sega CD Version

I leaned in the process of getting Popful Mail working that the Sega CD does not like Memorx CDRs.

So what is Popful Mail? The extension of the Faxanadu game. Popful Mail is the bright, colorful, and easier than Faxanadu. Hell, if somone told me they took place on the same world I would belive them. I do understand that Hudson basically took Faxanadu from Falcom, and that Sega took Popful Mail from Falcom which makes me wonder. Perhaps Falcom does not know how best to make their own games.

After the release of all these other Popful Games Falcom picked up on something. They handled the SNES port of the game and made something similar to the Sega CD version. It has a completly different stage layout and the combat is more difficult, but the control that is needed in this game is in place.


SNES Version

I don't really want to go into how good the graphics are for the Sega CD version, or how great the music is (considering I don't really like the FM chip that the Genesis uses to create most of it), but I thought I would hint at it. This is probably one of the best finds I have made in a long time related to games. In fact I purchased the Japanese version for the Sega CD for a very reasonable price.

It is nice to be finding things hidden away inside the library of older systems. I am getting Hard Corps in the mail soon and hope that, if Bloodlines is any indication of what Konami learned at the end of the Genesis' life span, it is another great gem I have missed.

I don't know, this is more a journal entry than a thread, but chat away about Popful Mail. Most of my info was obtained here.
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dessgeega
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

popful mail is totally a slightly-more-platformy xanadu game, at least the duo version. which i adore.
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Pijaibros
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Joined: 25 Jan 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Contra: Hard-Corps is ridiculous. It totally does things I thought the Genesis couldn't do with all the huge and delicious sprites, explosions, scaling and chaos. It's all edge of your seat madness and pure side scrolling bliss! With the armored tanks being the first thing to get you on your way, you know it's a hell of a ride. There's all sorts of branching paths, too! Very Castlevania 3 there. I only ever made it to about the 4th level, however. Never did beat it, it's so damn difficult.

Are you getting the JP or US version? I hear the JP ver. is more forgiving with its life bar (!) as opposed to our 1 shot 1 life version.

I always did want Popful Mail. Unfortunately any decent SegaCD titles are incredibly difficult for me to find in the wild. Anyone I deal with online will resort to inflated ebay prices for a copy (lord help me, when they claim it's in mint condition). It always did look kinda fun. Now with this Faxanadu comparison, I really want to try it now!
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Szczepaniak
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:48 am    Post subject: Re: Popful Mail Reply with quote

Shapermc wrote:
I don't know, this is more a journal entry than a thread, but chat away about Popful Mail. Most of my info was obtained here.


When in fact you should have been getting your info from HERE!!!
http://www.wordpainter.net/stuff/popfulmail/pm01.jpg
http://www.wordpainter.net/stuff/popfulmail/pm02.jpg
http://www.wordpainter.net/stuff/popfulmail/pm03.jpg
http://www.wordpainter.net/stuff/popfulmail/pm04.jpg
http://www.wordpainter.net/stuff/popfulmail/pm05.jpg
http://www.wordpainter.net/stuff/popfulmail/pm06.jpg

Thanks to Ashura on Insert Credit for the scans.

And welcome to the Popful Mail fanclub Shapes. Great games. So great, I actually sent some copies to someone, who promised me DQ8 demo in return. I never received DQ8, and ended up weeping bitter tears of sadness. Well, maybe that's an exageration... But anyway!

The Duo and SCD versions to begin with are structurally identical. But the exclusive levels later on in the Duo game, after the ice mountain, make it worth sticking with. There's a futuristic stage with Popful, with paralax scrolling and rock music. And an underwater Atlantis stage with Tato, the boy wizard, and it has some very nice saxaphone music in it. My favourite part of the game actually. Damn, love that sax.

The NEC PC-88 and NEC PC-98 versions are fun, but the Duo version is like the best of the NEC iterations. Sega CD is my personal favourite, and the SNES version is good if you played everything else and still crave more.

The mobile phone (you guys call it a cell phone?), is only available in Japan. But would have probably been awesome.

The above links have a Vic Ireland interview too if you're curious to know about the localisation and added "farting" (it came about by accident, and I was sadly never paid or even credited for it. Yes, I am a bitter person) . It should also help you when you get stuck in the caves in the SNES version (you need to find the old man!), and myself and Dess are on hand to guide you through any tricky bits in the Duo version (notably finding the bombs), though having completed a year or so ago, I'm a bit rusty. But I'm sure Dess is up to the challenge.

Enjoy the Magical Fantasy Adventure!
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Lackey
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I seem to remember Faxanadu being much more tall and stately. Also brown.

Some kind of Shaper wrote:
Hopefully no one other than me made the horrible, horrible mistake of thinking that Popful mail was an RPG by Falcom that involves, yes, a postal service. This game involves no delivering of any may or receiving of any. I was so wrong it is not even funny. Popful Mail is the main female elf's name.


Well I did. Or I hoped it was at least. Does Popful Mail make sense as a name in Japanese maybe?

ALSO: Apparantly Faxanadu was a spin-off from the Xanadu series. Hence the aesthetic incongruity?
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Szczepaniak
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Popful Mail is wierd, since the Japanese have little to no distinction between L and R.

It could be meant to be "Popfuru Mairu"

Though "Mail" could be meant to mean the armour that knights wear. Someone made a joke about breasts and mail armor that's "popping full", actually. Can't remember who...

But there's no serious answer as to what it's meant to be,

The worst thing is, when you say it to someone, they think the word is "male" not "mail".

It's a world of confusion.

Great game though.
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dessgeega
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lackey wrote:
Apparantly Faxanadu was a spin-off from the Xanadu series. Hence the aesthetic incongruity?


faxanadu is famicom xanadu. hence the name.

"legacy of the wizard" is a xanadu game. you can probably find more of a resemblance there.
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Shapermc
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Joined: 14 Oct 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Szczepaniak wrote:
When in fact you should have been getting your info from HERE!!!

Holy shit? Does almost everyone get the same impression from the game as me? (well, I guess, did I get the same impression that everyone else got that played it in the last 10 years or so)
dessgeega wrote:
Lackey wrote:
Apparantly Faxanadu was a spin-off from the Xanadu series. Hence the aesthetic incongruity?
faxanadu is famicom xanadu. hence the name.

I guess that Faxanadu was mostly handled by Hudson Soft. But yes on both parts. Part of the Xanadu series was remade for the Saturn (?) in the Falcom collection.
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