Hirake Ponkikki was a long-running Japanese children's program similar to Sesame Street; this game features the show's two main characters, Gachapin the dinosaur and Mukku the yeti, in a little friendly competition. Five mini-games repeat over the course of five islands, and each island must be cleared of all five games before proceeding to the next.
The set-up is mainly intended for two players, with one player controlling Gachapin and the other Mukku. In one-player mode, either character may be selected, but the CPU will not compete at any game other than rock-paper-scissors. Players begin with a limited number of lives which may be lost by colliding with enemies or performing poorly at minigames; one extra life is also awarded at the end of each island.
There is also a password system which allows the game to be resumed from any island. The minigames are as follows:
Platforming: Collect fruit while avoiding enemies in a slowly auto-scrolling platforming game. Whoever gets the most fruit wins.
Shape Matching: Hurry to match the most shapes before time expires.
The Shell Game: Pick out the spaceship with the other character in five rounds of the shell game.
Rock-Paper-Scissors: Defeat the other character a set number of times at the classic hand game.
Maze Chase: Race against the other player to collect the most candy apples before exiting. In later levels, avoid worms as well.
Hirake Ponkikki was released on the Famicom in 1992-04-17 , and is an action & adventure game.