| Panicuru Panekuru | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Year released | 2002 |
| System(s) | Arcade |
| Japanese title | パニクルパネクル |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Players | 1 |
| Modes | Single player |
Panicuru Panekuru (パニクルパネクル, lit. Panikuru Panekuru) is a puzzle arcade game which was released by Namco in 2002 only in Japan. It runs upon that company's System 10 hardware, and the player must use a 4-way joystick and a single button to take control of a dog named Īnu, who is on a mission to rescue several other animals who have been imprisoned inside panels: Kākame (turtles), Nēneko (cats), Gāgacho (ducks), Kūkuma (bears), Ūsa (rabbits), Yāyagi (goats), Ūshi (bulls), and Būbuta (pigs).
Gameplay is focused around clearing panels that appear on the playfield while avoiding being boxed in by them. To make the panels disappear, the player has to move around to place panels so that they are surrounded in a line by two of the same color, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally, similarly to capturing in the board game Reversi. When done correctly, the panels shall flash before exploding, freeing the animals that were trapped inside them and changing them to be the same color. While the panels are flashing, the player is able to pass through them and can use them to continue clearing additional panels in a combo. If Īnu ever inadvertently surrounds himself with panels on all four sides and becomes unable to move as a result, he will be given five seconds to place a panel, and if that panel does not clear the way, he will lose a life.
After saving a certain amount of animals, the current level shall be cleared. The game lasts for 6 levels on its Okiraku Course, and 12 levels on its Tegotae Course, but its Endless Course, as its name implies, continues indefinitely.
When the game was new, it also supported Internet ranking, which could be reached through a password that appeared on the screen after a run ended, but this has now long since gone from Namco's website.