Janken Disk Shiro (1993)

The sixth and final game featured as the coverdisk of the Japanese Famimaga magazine. Janken Disk Shiro is a block-pushing puzzle game based on the playground game Janken (Rock, Paper, Scissors). Janken Disk Shiro, or Famimaga Disk Vol. 6 Janken Disk Shiro, is a puzzle game in which the protagonist (who looks uncannily like Disk-kun, the mascot of the Famicom Disk System) must brave a labyrinth of puzzles. In each room there are three variants of hand-shaped blocks between the hero and the exit: each one either making the "scissors" gesture, the "rock" gesture or the "paper" gesture. Pushing a block adjacent to another of a different type causes whichever was the inferior (e.g. with paper and rock, rock is the inferior) to vanish. In addition, each block has a "strength" which is signified by its color: green is level 1, yellow is level 2 and red is level 3. If a green block is pushed next to an inferior red block, the red block will instead become yellow instead of vanishing (and then green with a subsequent superior block, and then will vanish after a third). Gameplay revolves around finding the right blocks to push together to clear a way to the exit. Not every block needs to be eliminated: just those that are direct obstacles between the player and the end of the stage. The game adopts a familiar veneer of the typical 8-bit fantasy RPG: The player starts in a small town in which they can talk to NPCs and purchase power-ups, they can visit the King in his castle to begin their quest and they can visit the dungeons in which the puzzles are found (after receiving permission from the King). Janken Disk Shiro has the distinction of being the very last game ever produced for the Famicom Disk System. The peripheral had been effectively retired by the 90s due to advancements in NES cart technology.

• Release Date: January 22, 1993