''Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular!'', known in Japan as and based on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

home computer game, '' Alternative World Games'', is a child-oriented sports game that was released by

Kemco Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima. One of its best known franchises is the ''Top Gear'' series, ...

for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

on September 22, 1988 (April 1990 in North America).

Summary

This video game is a collection of six events that uses various characters from the ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' series (

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American Pekin, white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shi ...

in the Japanese version) as opponents. Events include boot throwing (similar to hammer throwing), pizza balancing, and sack racing, among others. In the background, landmarks unique to Italy are shown (i.e.,

Leaning Tower of Pisa The Leaning Tower of Pisa ( it, torre pendente di Pisa), or simply, the Tower of Pisa (''torre di Pisa'' ), is the ''campanile'', or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unst ...

) and the structures using

Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered o ...

(i.e., the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

) are shown while the player competes at the six events. Playing the "River Jump" event requires impeccable timing; like in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

event in the ''

Track & Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

'' video game Dewey (in the Donald Duck version), always pushes the lagging player ahead of the leader, allowing them to catch up. A majority of the game seems to be ported from the Commodore 64 video game '' Alternative World Games'' by

Gremlin Interactive Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...

. The graphics in the game tend to flicker while the color palette can be unusual for certain events in the game. For example, the Japanese version had Donald Duck developing green skin or his trademark blue hat suddenly becoming black.

Development

''Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular'' is a loose port of '' Alternative World Games'', a 1987 title for the Commodore 64,

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...

and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

. Kemco had signed a deal with

developer/publisher

Gremlin Graphics Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...

for the console rights to several of their computer games (such as '' Monty on the Run''). However, this was the only title of theirs to be re-released back to the West. Two songs in the game were previously used in the Japanese Famicom version of '' Spy vs. Spy II: The Island Caper'', the most notable being the menu theme.

Licensing

After the release of the

Family Computer Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System or just Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer home video game console, released only in Japan on February 21, 1986. It uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" f ...

title, ''

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, '' Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires priv ...

'', Kemco still had the rights to release

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-based video games in Japan, while the ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...

'' license expired, making them choose

and release a video game starring him in Japan.''Donald Duck''
at Hardcore Gaming 101 As Japanese video game company Capcom USA held the

license in North America, Kemco decided to license

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

instead for the North American version.

References

External links

* {{Donald Duck games 1988 video games Donald Duck video games Fantasy sports video games Kemco games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Side-scrolling video games Sports video games set in Italy Video games based on Peanuts Video games developed in Japan Video games about dogs Colosseum