is a series of Japanese

eroge An ''eroge'' (, ''eroge'', or , ''erogē'', ), also called an H-game, is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. The term encompasses a wide variety of Japanese games containing erotic content across multiple genres. The first ''eroge'' were crea ...

(adult video games) by

Kaneko , stylized as KANEJapanese

arcades. The gameplay in the ''Gals Panic'' series is similar to

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

's classic puzzle game ''

Qix ( ) is a 1981 puzzle video game developed by husband and wife team Randy and Sandy Pfeiffer and published in arcades by Taito, Taito America. ''Qix'' is one of a handful of games made by Taito's American division (another is ''Zoo Keeper (1983 v ...

''; the objective is to control a marker on a board and uncover backgrounds, which depict women in a sexual nature who progressively strip to nudity. Many clones of ''Gals Panic'' were made after the original game achieved popularity in the 1990s.

''Gals Panic''

In the first game, the round is over when the at least 80% of the

silhouette A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...

is uncovered. The Japanese girls in the background, which are

photographs A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and pra ...

or drawings, undresses in the filled-in areas, while on the playing area one large and several small enemies hinder the undressing process. There are various symbols as bonuses. In addition to useful effects such as the asteroid storm that is used for defeating enemy sprites, there are also loser symbols that can transform the girl into a frog or octopus. There is also a bonus game. The six models that appear in the game are: Marina Matsumoto, Ayami Kida, Nami Ozawa, Yuki Miho, Emi Nakahara, and Shiori Asano. ''Gals Panic'' was released in November 1990 published by

and was released by Kaneko USA in America in March 1991. The U.S. version has some

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

such as placing bras on the girl during round three instead of being topless.

''Gals Panic II''

''Gals Panic II'' was released in 1993 with a number of enhancements, including an eight-way joystick, stereo audio and the Card Dispenser option. The gauge is now changed to a time-based one. An alternate version was also released subtitled ''Quiz Mode'' which features an additional gameplay element of a

quiz A quiz is a form of mind sport in which people attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief Educational assessment, assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abil ...

presented by each girl. A ''Special Version'' was later released with improved graphics and other changes. Mainichi Communications released a

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

and

PC-98 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit Personal computer, personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it inc ...

version for Japanese home computers in December 1996, distributed via bookstores, under the name ''Gal Pani II''.

''Gals Panic 3''

''Gals Panic 3'' was released in October 1995 and runs on the Super Kaneko Nova System hardware, on which all future arcade ''Gals Panic'' games would be built on. The drawings of the girls are more realistic than before.

''Gals Panic 4, SS,'' and ''Silhouette Stories''

''Gals Panic 4'', also known as ''Gals Panic for you'', was released in 1996 on the Super Kaneko Nova System. From this title onwards, the girls that appear in ''Gals Panic'' games are in

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

style, although this game is tamer and there are no topless girls in it. The same year came ''Gals Panic SS'', an expanded port of the fourth game released for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

home console in Japan in 1996. ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' scored the game 25/40. On the very same day, Kaneko released ''Silhouette Stories'' on

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, which does not contain any stripping or explicit elements, but does have a story mode; ''Famitsu'' rated this game 23/40.

''Gals Panic S, S2, S3''

The "''S''" series had key differences in gameplay and was intended for a different market than before. ''Gals Panic S: Special Edition'' (1997) restored topless characters, adds scrolling screens and has more powerful bosses. It was followed by ''Gals Panic S 2'' (1999), as well as a non-explicit version called ''Panic Street'' (1999). As Kaneko was struggling financially and exited the market, the follow-up and final official game, ''Gals Panic S 3'' (2002), was published by Able Corporation.

Clones and similar games

Games by other companies that itself cloned or at least imitated ''Gals Panic'' include

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

's '' Dancing Eyes'', ''Lady Killer'' by

Mitchell Corporation Mitchell Corporation (株式会社ミッチェル) was a Japanese video game developer based in the Suginami ward of Tokyo. Roy Ozaki served as president, and Koichi Niida served as vice-president. Some employees were former Capcom and TAD Corpor ...

, numerous titles from South Korean Comad such as ''Gals Pinball'' and ''Miss World'', ''Gal Pani X'' by To Heart, and in more recent times, ''Pretty Girls Panic!''.

References

{{Notelist Qix clones Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1990 Erotic video games Kaneko games Arcade video games Video games developed in Japan Puzzle video games Eroge Softcore pornography