PenPen TriIcelon

UPC: 020295150044

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: Infogrames North America, Inc.

Developer: General Entertainment

Category: Racing

Style(s): Running

Synopsis: There is a small planet somewhere in the cosmos that is home to alien creatures known as PenPen. This world is simply called the Iced Planet, since it is completely covered in snow and ice. Needless to say, there aren't many things to do for fun -- unless you happen to enjoy the bitter cold and the great outdoors. Fortunately, the PenPen are quite fond of their arctic world, and they have devised the ultimate athletic competition to heat things up a bit: the TriIcelon. Close in spirit to what we humans know as the triathlon, the TriIcelon is composed of three distinct racing events: ice walking, belly surfing, and swimming. The annual event has the winner earning medals, gaining the respect of his or her peers, and even receiving a coveted cereal endorsement. Okay, the cereal endorsement was a slight embellishment. The athletes making up this tournament are composed of the following types of creatures: a male and female PenPen (both resemble penguins in appearance), a PenDog, PenOctopus, PenSeal, PenShark, PenHippo, and a Pen that has yet to be identified. Once you have selected a suitable alter ego, you can then participate in an Easy, Middle, or Long Icelon. The difficulty level you select influences how many events you'll have to race as well as the performance of your competition. Both the Middle and Long Icelons also feature obstacles to avoid while racing! No matter which mode you choose, the goal is the same: to win each race and eventually become champion. There is an added incentive to win a race, however. Every time you finish first, your character will receive items that can be used to "dress up" your PenPen! After collecting all of the various items in the one-player mode, gamers can take on a few friends in the split-screen Vs. Icelon mode. PenPen TriIcelon also features a Time Trial mode that involves racing against the clock without computer competition or obstacles to hinder your progress. Players are free to race on any of the following four courses (each supports all three events): Sweets, a course made entirely of candy and desserts; Jungle, a course filled with huts and animals; Toys, a course made up of blocks and playthings; and Horrors, a course that features a haunted house, ghosts, and even a graveyard. Of course, there may be a few more surprises waiting to be unlocked if you are talented enough to win the TriIcelon! In order to continue progress, save medals, and keep track of your accumulated items, a VMU with at least four blocks of free space is required. Players can also snap in a Jump Pack to feel vibrations while racing! See you at the finish line! ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Package Contents: Registration Card

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

The manual offers a brief bio on each character as well as course descriptions. It does the job. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Each world has a goofy theme, so you'll be able to compete in strange worlds that are filled with things like giant cupcakes, restless natives, and dangerous jellyfish. Everything is extremely sharp, so you can clearly see the action when four players compete on a split screen. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Every console system always seems to have a game that can only be described as "wacky" during its initial run. Soon after its September 9, 1995 release the PlayStation offered Jumping Flash! to players, a game which involved controlling a giant robotic rabbit that had the ability to leap several screens in the air. The Super NES had an offbeat game called The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, which offered so many strange elements that not many owners knew quite what to make of it. Even the Nintendo 64 offered Chameleon Twist soon after its release, starring a goofy looking chameleon that could wrap its tongue around the entire screen. Of course, the common link between these games is their point of origin: Japan. All of these titles are decidedly Japanese in nature, with colorful, cheery visuals and strange environments to play in, meaning U.S. audiences had to swallow any preconceived notions of how a game should play and learn to adapt to a new perspective on things. After all, variety is the spice of life. PenPen TriIcelon is one of those "wacky" games that almost has to be seen to be believed. For starters, it features bizarre cartoon-like creatures that are closer in design to Ren and Stimpy than Mickey and Minnie, with bulging eyes, enormous faces and tiny bodies. Since the animals are mutated variants of penguins (well, that's what the instruction manual would have you believe), they are all short and stocky with an inherent ability to swim, walk (waddle is a more appropriate term), and slide on their bellies. That's a good thing, of course, because the game has you doing exactly those three things as part of the "TriIcelon." Since the events are linked together like a traditional triathlon, the game tries to be more of a test of endurance than one of raw speed. This means the action is slower compared to other racing titles -- you have to constantly press a button to keep moving at a steady pace (at least in two of the events). Unfortunately, this is where things become tedious. While the control is fine in this game (purposely kept simple so human PenPens can start playing as soon as they pop in the disc), there is really no technique involved while racing. You would think any game that patterned itself after Olympic-style racing would have some sort of stamina meter so you could develop a sense of rhythm while stroking underwater or propelling yourself down the ice. This is important since it would prevent players from rapidly tapping the button and help them learn to pace themselves for the long event -- like a real marathon or similar competition. PenPen TriIcelon doesn't bother with this scheme, probably to make it appeal more to children, but the strange part is that the game still feels slow. Wouldn't younger children want to move as fast as they can down a giant hill instead of pressing a button to stroke every other second? In the belly surfing game, you have to repeatedly press a button to keep your character gliding down the ice. A better method would have just involved pressing one of the triggers (using the flippers as rudders) to steer your character as you traveled down the slope. This means you would be free to move at high speeds instead of the relaxed pace of the current system. The next event, ice walking, will likely have players reaching for the power switch the moment it begins. This event is excruciatingly slow and there is absolutely nothing to do besides jumping at certain points to avoid running into an obstacle. Now this type of event could have been much more rewarding if the developers tried to mimic the speed-skating event in titles such as Winter Games. This is both a surprise and a disappointment -- the game's offbeat visuals, crazy characters, and bouncy music make you wonder why the action was reduced to a snooze-fest. If nothing else, the title makes you excited for a REAL cartoon-like racer in the mold of a Mario Kart or Diddy Kong Racing with the same level of graphic detail. With only five courses, simplistic controls, and a neutered sense of high-speed mayhem, PenPen TriIcelon can only be recommended to the youngest of family members who are more impressed by dressing up their characters than in competitive racing. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The replay value is helped somewhat by the four-player mode, but there aren't any dedicated battle modes or other features to help extend the replay value. The action is quite tame compared to other racing titles, so this one is only for younger audiences. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The music is strangely infectious, but the variety isn't there. The characters all speak in Japanese, which takes some getting used to! ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The game is better as a four-player title, but the lack of courses and modes nearly kills the replay value. You can collect 44 different items (such as hats and shoes), but they don't appear to have any affect on your character's racing ability. What's the point? ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.