Tama and Friends: 3 Choume Daibouken

Tama and Friends: 3 Choume Daibouken (TAMA & FRIENDS 3丁目大冒険) is a platformer published by Bandai for Nintendo's Famicom Disk System in 1989. It is based on a manga and anime for children of the same name that concerns the cats and dogs of a close-knit neighborhood. The anime was eventually licensed to 4Kids Entertainment and aired on a US cable channel.

The game has a subtitle: 3 Choume Daibouken. The "3 Choume" part refers to the district in which Tama and his friends live, while "Daibouken" simply means "great adventure".

As a game, Tama and Friends is very basic, and quite clearly meant for very young children. The goal is to simply walk right across a suburban environment while avoiding enemies like birds and random flying junk. Tama can also climb telegraph poles to help him get higher, which occasionally lead to bonus areas, and there are also bosses to be fought at the end of certain stages.

Controls

 * : Use the direction pad to control Tama. Press left and right to make Tama run in either direction.  Press up to make Tama climb up a pole if he's standing in front of one.  Press down to make Tama crouch, or to drop down a pipe.
 * : Press the A button to make Tama jump. The longer you hold A, the higher he will jump.
 * : Press the B button to summon a friend of Tama's who will run around and attack enemies if you have any fish in your inventory. The friend you summon varies each stage.
 * : Press the Start button to begin a new game, or to pause the action mid-game.
 * : Not used.

Tama
You control Tama throughout the game. Your goal in each stage is to survive a run all the way to the right until you come face to face with a bull dog, and defeat it in a boss battle. To do this, Tama must avoid colliding with any moving enemy, or jump on top of the enemy to remove them as a threat. Tama and run either left or right, and he can jump in both directions. He has few other abilities, but one thing he can do to help himself out is summon a friend. In order to summon a friend, he must possess at least one fish. Each summon costs a fish, and fish can be collected from hidden underground locations, as well as obtaining one randomly from a defeated enemy. If Tama can reach and defeat the bull dog at the end of the fifth stage, he wins the game.

Stage 1
This stage serves as your introduction to the game. The first enemy that you encounter are three nut dropping birds. They are actually easier to deal with if you use the staircase of boxes to leap up to the fence so you can jump on top of them and remove them. Following the third bird, you will encounter a series of bouncing balls. As long as you keep moving right, you'll safely run beneath all of them. When you see a garbage can ahead, watch out for a falling can. These cans land behind you and bounce forward. If you don't turn around and run the other way, the cans will hit you. The bouncing balls resume, and more cans will drop, but they will bounce off the fence and fly over your head. When a third can falls, two dragonflies will approach. The lower one will adjust its height to hit you, so try to jump over it if you can. After another can drops from the sky, you'll encounter some puddles. These puddles hurt Tama so jump over them. More sets of dragonflies will appear, with a bird in between. Avoid more puddles and continue until a can falls out of the sky. Another one will hit the fence, followed by two dragonflies. Another set of dragonflies will appear before a can falls from the sky. Prepare for the last obstacle, which is two cans that fall out of the sky together. Make sure you backtrack after the second can hits the ground so the first bounces over your head.

Then you'll encounter the boss fight with a bull dog. It will bounce around the screen, yelling out barks which are visible and can hurt you if you touch them. To defeat him, you must jump on his head seven times. You are a little bit safer on the right side of the screen, since he only ever barks to the left. You are also a bit safer up on the fence, since he stays on the ground, but it can be more difficult to hit him from up there. If you lose in this fight, you can continue, but you will be sent back to the beginning of the stage.

Stage 2
The second stage resembles the first stage quite a bit, but the roster of enemies changes completely. In some ways, this stage is easier than the first, due to the long breaks in enemies. The first enemy to appear are paper airplanes. They fly in a zigzagging motion from the top right corner of the screen to the bottom left. You are actually safe from harm if you remain up on top of the fence while they fly across. After they stop, you will begin to encounter butterflies, who fly up and down in a wave-like pattern. Jump on top of them if you are able, as they sometimes leave fish behind for you to collect. After some puddles on the ground, bouncing balls will appear. Run under them as you did in the previous stage. A mix of puddles and butterflies will appear along with the balls. When you start to see paper airplanes again, climb up to the top of the fence and continue. No enemies will appear for a while except the occasional butterfly and puddle. A short burst of airplanes will appear. After a while, the bouncing balls will resume. Along with them, you will see a bee, which approaches and does a loop in the middle of the screen. You can safely run under them. Beyond the balls, you will encounter the second boss bulldog, which is nearly identical to the first.

Stage 3
This is the first stage where you can enter into pipes. This gives you a huge advantage because there are dog enemies in the pipes that give you food which can restore your health up to a maximum of five hearts. After you leave the pipes, you can return back down and the enemies will reappear, giving you another opportunity to stock up on health. In addition to the dogs, you will also find mice who leave two coins behind every time you pounce on one. 100 coins will give you an extra life. You may even find fish underground.

As soon as you start, drop down the first pipe that you see. Collect the fish, and jump on the dog along the floor to collect food for another heart. Then jump back up through the ceiling to return to the outside. Run along the ground and butterflies will appear. The next pipe that you encounter can be explored, so keep running right. After a set of benches, a butterfly and two dragonflies will appear. Pass another pipe, until you reach a body of water. Jump onto the first rock, and then on the back of the turtle to let him ferry you across to the right. Jump to the second turtle and then over to dry land. Continue right, and you'll see a spider and two frogs. These can all easily be pounced on to clear them out of the way. Beyond the next wall is an individual pipe. Drop down and pounce on the mice and dog below. Then pass through the wall to the next room, where you can do the same for more food and money. You can go back and forth between these two rooms to max out on health. Then leap out through the ceiling, and continue right. You encounter a pair of dragonflies, a spider, two frogs, and another pair of dragonflies. You'll next encounter two pairs of dragonflies and two pairs of bees back to back before finding more frogs. As more bees approach, you'll find another pipe that you can explore. If you pounce on all the enemies here, a second hole will open up in the ceiling, advancing you further through the stage. You'll face more insects and frogs until you see a pair of pipes. Drop down the first one, and you'll find a friendly cat who restores all of your missing health. Climb back out, and face the remaining enemies that you encounter as you proceed to the right. You'll reach the end and encounter the boss bull dog who is the same as the previous two. This time you can use the fence as a way to drop down on top of the dog when he passes below you.