Woody Pop

A cutesy Sega clone of Arkanoid that utilizes a special paddle-based controller in its original Japanese console version.

Overview

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Woody Pop (also known as Woody Pop: Shinjinrui no Block Kuzugi in the Japanese Mark III box art) is a ball-and-paddle game developed and published (in the Sega My Card format) by Sega for the Sega Mark III exclusively in Japan on March 15, 1987. A mobile Sega Game Gear port was later released worldwide in 1991.

Similar to the Arkanoid series, players control an anthropomorphic wooden log (shown in the international box art as a wooden golem) as they use a ball to break bricks and other obstacles (such as toy soldiers) and collect powerups. Once they clear all breakable blocks, they can proceed to the next stage in one of three direction (allowing players to navigate through a non-linear map with 64 total stages).

The Mark III version was the last game to be released in Sega's card-based format and the first game to make use of the Paddle Control peripheral (as one of the four games requiring its use, the others being BMX Trial: Alex Kidd, Galactic Protector, and Megumi Rescue). It was bundled with the peripheral. The Game Gear version uses a much shorter playfield due to its lower resolution.

The Game Gear version was later ported to online browsers sometime in 2006. Using the Adobe Shockwave engine, it was originally hidden in Sega's Japanese website before being removed completely (although the game itself was mirrored).