Puss 'n Boots: Pero's Great Adventure

Puss 'n Boots: Pero's Great Adventure is a video game released in 1990 by Electro Brain for the NES. In Japan, the game was released as Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko: Sekai Isshuu 80 Nichi Dai Bouken (長靴をはいた猫 世界一周８０日大冒険). It was loosely based on Jules Verne's book, Around the World in Eighty Days. Pero's name is also "Perrault" in the Japanese game. The character Pero, who is Toei Animation's mascot, is based on the cat from the folktale entitled Puss in Boots, by Charles Perrault. The game's title comes from that story as well.

Story
As quoted from the manual:

Count Gruemon, a notorious swine, hated mice with a passion. One day, he discovered a mouse in his castle. Frustrated and irate, Count Gruemon ordered Puss 'N Boots (Pero) to find and destroy the mouse. However, Pero was a kind-hearted cat and had become friends with the mouse, and so, helped the little creature to escape. In a fit of anger, Count Gruemon, aided by Dr. Gari-gari, a fiendish scientist wolf, sent Pero on a perilous time-travel journey around the world and into the past.

Pero must locate and defeat Count Gruemon and the mad Dr. Gari-gari, and use their time machine to get home - or be stuck in the past forever. To make matters worse, the Cat Kingdom has sent Killers after Pero because he helped a mouse and thereby violated Cat Kingdom Law. Pero must travel to exotic lands and overcome many hazards, but can he defeat the combined might of the diabolical Count Gruemon, Dr. Gari-gari, and the Killers?

Gameplay overview
The objective of each stage is to simply reach the end and defeat the boss (where applicable). There are quite a few enemies along the way, but Pero has three weapons to choose from. A weapon may be selected by pausing the game and moving the control pad to the right or left until the player finds the desired weapon.


 * Gun: Fires a gun which fires shots forward
 * Bomb: Throws a bomb forward which quickly descends.
 * Boomerang: Throws a boomerang upward. Useful for enemies above Pero.

All vehicles in the stages that use them have weapons Pero may use.

Pero has 3 lives, though the game grants infinite continues.

Stages
The game consists of 7 stages, taking place in various locations in the world.

Stage 1 - The West

A side-scrolling stage set in the old west. Many of the enemy cats don cowboy outfits.

Stage 2 - Ocean

A stage consisting of travel by boat and by submarine. A grey frog boss is at the end.

Stage 3 - Arabia

A stage consisting of travel by car in a desert and Arabian-looking town.

Stage 4 - Space Wars

A stage consisting of travel by biplane over some mountains.

Stage 5 - London

A side-scrolling stage. The enemy cats don outfits of British Foot Guards. A white and blue, sword-wielding demon monster boss is at the end.

Stage 6 - Liberty

A stage consisting of travel in an open sky area by hot air balloon.

Stage 7 - New York

A maze-like side-scrolling stage. Dr. Gari-gari and Count Gruemon are the bosses at the end, respectively. After beating them, Pero ends up atop the Statue of Liberty and the game ends.

Puss 'n Boots in Other Media
The game was featured in the episode "Once Upon a Time Machine" in the second season of the video game-themed cartoon series, Captain N: The Game Master. Basically, Kevin and Link travel into a time warp after Kevin's Power Pad and Zapper are stolen by Count Gruemon after Kevin tries to show off without using them. Gruemon flees and has a time ship, with which he can travel through time. They meet Pero and decide to rescue him from some of Gruemon's henchmen. Pero offers to help them find Kevin's equipment, yet wants to travel through time warps so he can find his way home in the process. The group travels through different times as seen in the game, eventually ending up in New York City. The last time warp is sealed and Pero hijacks the time ship to travel home, while returning Kevin's equipment to Kevin.

The episode also featured a remixed version of the Game Over music from the game during a scene on the pirate ship.

Although this episode of Captain N was based on the game, Pero looked nothing like the actual Pero of Toei's Mascot, which the video game version was actually based on. Captain N's version of Pero resembled a black bobcat in a Cowboy outfit. Although the video game seemed to be based on the 1960's anime film, the pig villain Count Gruemon didn't appear in that film.

Game credits

 * Executive Producer: Miki Hirao
 * Producer: Shuichi Sato
 * Assistant Producer: Kazumi Noda, Yoshihiko Takeda
 * Character Designer: Kenichi Suzuki, Makoto Higa
 * Programmer: Masahiro Yoshihara, Yasuhide Sakakura
 * Game Music: J-Walk Mitsuyasu