Pochi and Nyaa

Pochi and Nyaa
Cover art (Neo Geo)
Developer	Compile Aiky
Publishers	Taito (Arcade) Bandai (PS2)
Platforms	Arcade, PS2
Players	2 players
Release date	Arcade (WW) December 24, 2003 PS2 October 28, 2004

Pochi and Nyaa (ポチッとにゃ〜, Pochittonya~) is a puzzle video game developed by Compile and finished by Aiky after the fall of the company. It was published by Taito towards the end of 2003 for the Neo Geo. It is one of the final video game titles developed for the platform, as well as the last Neo Geo titles developed by third-party companies. Bandai released a port for the PlayStation 2 at 2004, with several improvements and new characters. The game was produced by Masamitsu Niitani, and features art by Compile artist Ichi.

Gameplay

The game has a pair of 7x12 grids, where the pieces (called Nyans or Wans, collectively referred to as blocks) fall in pairs (similar to Puyo Puyo). It is operated with an 8-way joystick and 3 buttons (for left rotation, right rotation and toggling "trigger" blocks). Unlike Puyo Puyo, the player can accumulate as many pieces of the same color and make them disappear whenever they please. By changing a falling block pair into "trigger" blocks (Spiky Nyans for P1, Spiky Wans for P2), the player may clear the accumulated pieces of the same color and trigger a chain reaction to send nuisance blocks (Intruders) to the opponent. When the skull mark shown on the screen is reached (at the top of the center column), the game ends.

Modes

The game has three modes:

• One player vs CPU
• One player in Infinite mode
• Two players

Development

The game was announced under a commercial alliance between Compile and Taito, and was initially scheduled to run on the NAOMI arcade boards in mid-September 2002. However, after that, the launch was repeatedly delayed due to Compile bankruptcy, finally being launched in late 2003 for the Neo Geo, with SNK Playmore's help in publishing the game. The characters that were announced during the development of the NAOMI version that did not make it into the arcade version were added later on as additional characters for the PS2 version released by Bandai.

Since November 2005, Aiky's IPs, including this game, have been transferred to D4 Enterprise which has re-released many Neo Geo titles (excluding this game) to the Virtual Console for the Wii.

Plot

In the heavens where several gods live, the dog god, Pochi, and the cat god, Nyaa, conduct a contest referred to as the Pochi and Nyaa Tournament. The result will determine which of the idol gods will be spoiled in the next millennium. The game takes place a thousand years after the previous Pochi and Nyaa Tournament.

The main character, Prim, is bribed into participating in the tournament by the promise of pumpkin pudding as a reward.

Characters

Primrose "Prim" Amor

The main protagonist and playable character of the story campaign. A 13-year-old novice sorceress who lives with her parents and older sister in the port town of Solciel. She is said to possess incredibly potent magic, but she concerns herself more with her own interests and lacks the motivation to study and hone her magic capability. Though, her ability to cast fire-based spells is particularly fine-tuned due to her focusing on making baked pudding. She is known to be gluttonous and a fast eater, and her favorite food is pumpkin pudding.

Liv

The newborn spirit of the world tree. A young girl of the plant race studying human society to understand the 30 billion years' worth of knowledge inherited by her from the world tree itself, which she refers to as her "mother". She is aloof and prone to making mistakes. By nature of being a plant spirit, she is rather particular about water, and she enjoys sunbathing. She also possesses the ability to manipulate plants. The flowers on her head blossom when she is happy and may be used to fire solar energy at people who do not respect flowers.

Jurado Tethtith

An oddball demon of a family of reapers without a sense of direction. Due to his brother, Paradisus, taking the position as head of the family, he decided to set off and forge his own path as a sorcerer. Though, even 300 years after leaving for magic school, he continues to wander the world. He has a rather serious personality and humbles himself before others. The scythe he carries with him, Drépanon, is a family heirloom which was passed down to him by his father when he left.

Trivia

• According to the 103^rd issue of Compile Club, Pochi and Nyaa's setting was meant to tie into that of Madou Monogatari and Compile's run of Puyo Puyo, taking place 1,000 years after the events of Arle's time and set within a neighboring continent.
  • In addition, supposedly the fourth installment of the series was meant to "let the link between the past and future truly transcend time", though a fourth game was never released, let alone a sequel to the first game.

Gallery

Boxart

• 
  PlayStation 2 version

Character Art

• 
  Primrose Amor
• 
  Liv
• 
  Kumada Udon
• 
  Misty
• 
  Graber
• 
  Jurado Tethtith
• 
  Paradisus
• 
  Pochi
• 
  Nyaa

Compile Club

• 
  Compile Club #104
• 
  COM Club #105
• 
  COM Club #106
• 
  COM Club #107
• 
  COM Club #108

External links

• Aiky website archive - web.archive.org (aiky.biz)
• Japanese Wikipedia page for Pochi and Nyaa - ja.wikipedia.org