The core gameplay mechanic is genius.

But this is difficult to pick up and even more difficult to master. Masochistic like so many Japanese games from this era! Practice makes perfect has never been more true.

Perhaps this was easier ~2000 running on a low-end PC than it is running inside some virtual environment in 2023.

Anybody know what's going on with the development and release of this game?

Been waiting for this since ...2016! Bravo for making it through development.

It looks better than expected, but the gameplay is completely at odds. Mechanics can be explained as Resident Evil meets Assemble With Care, with nothing original or memorable. Some very odd interactions are required which would make more sense if the game was motion or touch controlled, but it's not. The story is very slight and doesn't really go where you'd hope. End ending, meh.

Sigh, I'm a bit gutted such beautiful and imaginative graphics didn't come with its equal in gameplay. Where's the game!?

Graphics: 4.5
Gameplay: 1.5
Story: 3.0

This is a good version of SameGame. The best thing about it is the つめがめ "Tsumegame" mode of preset puzzles.

Manual: https://gamemanual.midnightmeattrain.com/search?q=さめがめ

It's an expanded version of "Undake30 SameGame Daisakusen Mario Version" but still has the problem of not being able to see the whole field at once. Except in puzzle mode as it has smaller fields!

You can't see the whole board at once which makes playing this infuriating. Plus, the Mario shoe-in is very a mediocre cash grab.

I'm so torn on this. On one hand it plays really nice, animation and responsiveness and options are all there. Including various 2- and 4-player modes, which must be a riot!

BUT, the music and graphics are so bad/annoying. And there's no puzzle mode!?

The most popular version of SameGame for 90s Windows PCs. Pretty straight.

This is a fun idea, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. You have to adjust your way of playing SameGame to defeat various monsters with different characteristics.

The concept (SameGame meets RPG battle system) was revisited later by Oink Games for their title Mujo. https://oinkgames.com/en/games/digital/mujo/

Finishing this 100% is my standout 3DS memory. Loved it. It was such a huge effort I doubt I'll go back to the game, ever.

The only bad recollections I have was the weird floaty stalling behaviour in the jet plane. And the landings being tricky to do perfectly, annoying when you're trying to 100% the game.

There was a tiny bit of slowdown, but that goes away if you play it at New 3DS speeds on a modded device.

Oh, and I even had some crazy photos of me in flying gear taken by friends on release day. Good times!

In order of quality:
1. MSX
2. Atari 8-bit
3. C64 (avoid)

The craziest in the series. I held off playing this for so long because the PAL version is really slow. Thankfully the NTSC-U version is faster (but not fast) and far more enjoyable. Features 2 scenarios with similar, but different, levels and goals. Marginally better than the PS2/3DS games.

Astonishing attention to detail, plus a lot of things I've not seen before or since. Phenomenal handling. Can be persuaded to run in 480p using GSM and external scaler. Uneven computer results/timings lose it a little love.

Runabout 3 (PS2) & Runabout 3D (3DS)

Reviewing these together because the 3DS game is effectively a remake of the PS2 one, with almost identical goals but with cleaner presentation and slightly less content. The PS2 game has slightly more humour and more collectables. Pick one.