App Reviews

Classic MSX Puzzler Nyanpi Debuts in App Store, $7.99

D4 Enterprise exploits two of my biggest weaknesses — 8-bit graphics and cute kittens — with its latest iPhone conversion of a classic MSX computer title. Following up on December’s release of Aleste is Nyanpi ($7.99), a Compile-developed puzzler that, in all likelihood, you’ve never even heard of. I sure hadn’t, anyway.

From what Google Translate could make out from the official website, Nyanpi (also known as Goro Nyan Puzzle) originally found fame in the Compile-produced MSX disk magazine Disk Station. The closest I could get to a gameplay description was “They break all the yellow balloons move the kittens!” Which…yeah, good enough, I guess.

Nyanpi includes 40 levels and 8 different kinds of kittens. It should be interesting to see what kind of audience Nyanpi attracts, especially at its comparatively high App Store price point. Are MSX fans willing to pay eight dollars for a single game that was once featured in a disk magazine compilation? D4 seems to think so.