Sanrio: Notebook Boys Line Stickers

passion idols x sanrio (pt. 1)

Sanrio Carnival for Nintendo Famicom (1990)

(ファンアート / サンリオ　マイメロディ)

Vintage Sanrio characters - Pokopon & Hana-chan

I love the colors in this.

cozy !!!!

μ's with Sanrio character

How cute they make Nontan mix with pokopon ^o^

Pokopon and Friends's Fun Journey to the West (1990) ぽこぽんのゆかいな西遊記

Producer: Sanrio Genre: Animation Country/Region of Production: Japan Date: Jul 21, 1990 Duration: 60 minutes Also known as: Pokopon no Yukai na Saiyuuki Type: Crossover

Summary:

Released on July 22 1989 nationwide Toho Western at 58, Sanrio has produced 24 films since entering film production in 1975, but has recorded a cumulative deficit of 5 billion yen. Although they withdrew from the film business for a while after making, Doraemon movies, film production has resumed as the anime movie market is expected to expand. Due to the steady popularity of the movies, it was announced as Sanrio's first new movie in four years. Sanrio characters, which were under construction at the time of the screening, were featured in the animated film. Tama Sanrio Communication World (currently Sanrio Puroland) aim was to promote and raise the profile of the first theatrical animated film starring Sanrio characters. The total production cost for the three films was 170 million yen and recorded an attendance of nearly 500,000 people.

Source: https://myanimelist.net/anime/32621/Pokopon_no_Yukai_na_Saiyuuki

Link: N/A

outside from pompompurin, who's your favorite sanrio characters? (can be the popular ones like the hapidanbui gang or lesser known ones like wish me mell, pokopon's diary, etc)

i also like cinnamoroll and pochacco! i guess i just really like dogs...

030: Sanrio World Smash Ball

CANON FIRE is made possible by the generous contributions of readers like you. Support more writing like this on Patreon. Thank you! Alongside Space Invaders, racket sports are one of the elemental forms of games to me. Pong and Breakout remain instantly recognizable, and still have interesting variations built on their foundations. Sanrio World Smash Ball combines the two, while adding a little of the nuance back from the racket sports they abstract. All while starring Sanrio characters. I say Sanrio characters, because despite being featured on the cover and showing up as a referee, Hello Kitty isn’t playable, with only Keroppi, Tabo, Pokopon and Hangyodon available. 

Despite that major drawback, Sanrio World Smash Ball manages to carve its own competitive niche, carried on the charm of the character designs and colorful environments. The base mechanics involve rallying the ball with your left and right directional hits, attempting to break through the blocks on your opponent's side and cross into their goal. Continuing to hold the attack button while planting your feet builds meter, and when full you can unleash a powerful spin attack that hits the ball forward at high speeds, lasting long enough to hit multiple times. 

The calculation between standing to build meter and moving to defend yourself echoes the tennis’ rhythms of stamina conservation and bursts of movement, forming a satisfying baseline. The calculation gets more interesting when introducing different stage designs to the mix, which radically change the way you approach the match. Typical balanced designs give you one or more goal lines on each side, with either a small opening to sneak through or defensive line of blocks that need to be broken before scoring a goal. Some have bumpers or fans that direct the ball into other directions, and one notable stage has both players entirely encased in blocks, allowing you both enough time to charge a full meter before the competition really begins. 

On the opposite tack, one stage is a narrow corridor with no blocks, reducing the game to an exercise in keep and throwing off rally rhythms. Some of my favorites remove the separating line between players, allowing you to run into your opponent’s side and smack the ball out of their grasp, right into their goal. It’s the kinda playful, kinda chaotic design you wouldn’t see in a more traditional racket sports game. 

Powerups pile on the chaos, altering character and ball speed, giving you a full meter, or straight up removing the opponent’s blocks. The swings in momentum make it a bit more of a party game than a pure competitive one, ending up closer in spirit to something like Bomberman than Windjammers. It doesn’t stop it from being competitively exciting, and I’ve even brought it with me to my local fighting game meetups and had it be a hit. 

Sanrio World Smash Ball was only released in Japan, but received an English translation courtesy of Suicidal Translations, although I personally prefer the Tournament Edition Hack by Omnigamer. Tournament Edition provides an English translation, makes more stages and characters available, and slightly rebalances the game by turning all power ups into a full meter bonus. It keeps the competition a little more consistent, and avoids the one sided advantages you can get by losing all of your defensive blocks, while keeping the mad scramble for the powerups. 

Sanrio World Smash Ball is charming and easy to introduce people to, with just enough nuance and variety to keep it fresh round to round. Simply put, it’s one of my favorite titles on the Super Famicom. Even if it doesn’t let you play as Hello Kitty. 

Vintage Sanrio characters - Pokopon and Hana-chan