Gals Panic
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Image:Galspanic s screenshot.png
This article is about the 1990s series of bishōjo arcade games by Kaneko. For the 1990s ska-punk band from Austin, Texas, see Gals Panic (band).
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Overview
The Gals Panic games are variants of the classic game Qix: the objective is to uncover parts of the background with a marker until it is at least 80% clear. There are a few key differences with the original game, and the series themselves can be split in two clearly distinct product lines: the older "classic" Gals Panic series, and the later "S" series, having important gameplay differences and being intended for different markets.
The games were also given home releases on the Sega Saturn and PC Windows 95 systems.
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Common elements and differences with Qix
- The objective is not to uncover empty space, but the picture of a girl (sometimes naked). The parts of the background outside of the girl do not count towards the clear percentage, which means it is possible to achieve 100% clear by trapping the Qix outside.
- There are several different types of Qix, each with a variety of attacks and graphic appearances. Usually the Qix follow a theme such as robots, insects, geometrical shapes, aliens or even phallic references.
- Unlike classic Qix, there is always a "boss" Qix with greater powers than the others. This "boss Qix" is generally bigger, can resize and scale itself, can summon minions, can unleash destructive attacks and also gets "priority" when an area is closed by a player, as "minion" Qix can be trapped and destroyed by circling, while the "boss" Qix cannot.
- In all but one versions, the marker begins in the center, and the coverage extends to the border. Some games in the series allow moving across the border even when fully covered, while some do not. The only notable exception is Gals Panic 1, where the marker starts from the border.
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Differences between the "Gals Panic" and "Gals Panic S" series
- The "Gals Panic S" series uses mostly manga-style drawings for the girls, while the "Gals Panic" games use a mixture of drawings, low resolution photographs, photorealistic drawings and heavily edited photos.
- The "Gals Panic S" series are aimed at the Japanese market, and as such have little or no texts and /or speech in english, and some versions also reveal secret telephone numbers to be called when completing a certain level successfully, probably related to some sort of service or prize lottery only valid inside Japan.
- The "Gals Panic" series are more globally oriented, and as such are fully translated (speech included) and use little or no manga drawings at all.
- The "Gals Panic S" series have a special "Showtime" and "Showtime DX" extra photo or even anime (animated) cutscene for completing a round with coverages over 90% and at 100%, respectively.
- In the "Gals Panic" series, completing a round with 100% coverage usually unlocks a sort of interactive minigame, as animated scenes are not present.
- Some of the "Gals Panic S" series feature underage-looking anime girls (e.g. lolicons) or even humorous homosexual references similar to Cho Aniki games. Those themes are not particularly appreciated in the West, so the earlier "Gals Panic" games (up to Gals Panic 3) carefully avoid those themes.
- It is possible to fire at the Qix to slow it down and reduce its size only in the "Gals Panic S" series.
- In the "Gals Panic S" series the screen may scroll, while the "Gals Panic" series have single-screen layouts.
- The "boss Qix" are quite more powerful in the "Gals Panic S" series, as they have powerful attacks able to kill a player even when inactive (not drawing lines), or even to destroy/unpaint previously painted areas, so confining them to get a 100% coverage is harder. *
- The "Gals Panic S" series allow for more than one "boss Qix" per stage, even of different types, at increased difficulty leveles. In comparison, the "classic" Gals Panic's boss Qix are much more limited in power, size, and there can be only one per board.
- There are speed and attack powerups in both versions, as well as others more suitable for the specific version's mechanics.
- In the "classic" Gals Panic series, there is a sort of energy bar on top of the stage, which causes the picture to turn into a monstruous or grotesque form if it drops below a certain threshold.
- This energy bar can be replenished by drawing certain parts of the picture or collecting certain bonuses. It can also be depleted faster if certain, usually "hot" spots in the girl's picture are painted too early.
- If the energy bar is completely drained, then a life is lost.
- Conversely, if the player manages to top it up, the stage is automatically completed.
- Each game in the series offers a small bonus stage after completion of a set of levels. In Gals Panic 1, this is merely stopping a wheel from spinning at the correct time to gather a bonus such as an extra life, running the risk from stopping it at the wrong time to incur negatives such as a time penalty or even repeating the same stage again. On other versions, they range from short puzzles to joystick-fiddling and button-mashing "hot" scenes.
All the games in the series except Gals Panic 4 contain softcore pornography.
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Legacy
- Gals Panic 1990
- Gals Panic 2 1993
- Gals Panic II (Quiz edition) (?)
- Gals Panic 3 1995
- Gals Panic 4 1996
- Gals Panic S Extra Edition 1997
- Panic Street 1999
- Gals Panic S2 1999
- Gals Panic S3 2002
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Clones and similar games
- Fantasia 9x and New Fantasia series by Comad and New Japan System, similar in gameplay with Gals Panic 1 but abounding in doubtfully tasted extra gameplay elements and ripped-off music and graphics from other games and commercial songs.
- Perestroika Girls, using grayscale images on 8-bit hardware.
- Paradise (game), using 8-bit hardware and using music ripped off from the Lemmings games.
- Lady Killer, where the board to expose is made from flippable tiles and is populated by enemies making for a very action paced gameplay.
- Blue Angel 69 or Sexy Droids, an Amiga-era game which used hand-drawn cyborg girls as models.
- Several other puzzle or board games involve partially exposing a naked girl's picture or drawing as a "reward".
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