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Unreleased Neo Geo Game Writeup: QP (Quality People)

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QP - NGH 204

In May of 1995, Neo Geo Freak magazine had its first issue published. On page number 111 of this magazine, there’s a list of new releases and games currently in development for the Neo Geo platforms. In the list of Neo Geo CD games, there was a new puzzle game slated for a January 1996 release titled “QP.

QP ended up going unreleased for unknown reasons, leaving the information we have on the game, stuck in Japanese magazines like Neo Geo Freak and Gamest. Someone did create a Wikipedia article on QP, however, a lot of the information contained in the magazines is not stated on that article. Today, since I recently got in the magazines talking about QP, I wanted to do a writeup in English with the information that’s available to us. Enjoy!

After Neo Geo Freak Vol. 1, QP continued to be featured in the “in development” lists of Neo Geo Freak magazines. In Neo Geo Freak Vol. 8, December of 1995, the release date was changed from January of 1996, to simply 1996 with no month specified. A percentage of completion was also added, which put QP development at 50% complete as of December 1995. By February of 1996, a release date was no longer listed for QP, and in March of 1996 it was removed from the list of games in development. The April 1996 issue of Neo Geo Freak reinstated QP on the list, stating the same 50% of development completion and no window for release. Development completion stayed the same in the magazines until January of 1997 where the percentage jumped from 50% to 80% complete. In the next issue in February 1997, QP was changed from a Neo Geo CD title, to an MVS title. We would finally get the first look at QP in the March 1997 issue, which bumped up the development completion to 85%.

QP is a variety puzzle game with mini games, similar to something like Puzzle & Action: Tant-R by Sega. In the game you have 6 opponents to defeat in order to beat the game. They are numbered 1 through 6 and are always in the same order when you play the game.

There is a board game element when you’re playing against the opponents. As you win, you move further along on the board towards the boss. When you beat the boss mini game and defeat the current opponent, you’ll move on to the next until you’ve beaten all 6 and completed the game. On the board, there are different squares, each representing a different type of mini game. Squares marked “P” stand for “Puzzle” type mini games, “A” for “Action” mini games, and “B” for “Bonus” mini games. When you land on a puzzle or action space, the mini game played is selected at random with a roulette style. Puzzle type games involve some sort of thinking, such as spotting the difference in a picture, or solving a jigsaw puzzle. Action type games involve more input from the player, through joystick movement, specific button pressing, or rapid button pressing. Bonus squares can replenish your lives or give you items to help you in the game. It would make sense that you would lose a life when you lose in a mini game, and when your lives are out it’s game over.

In total there are 20 mini games in QP; 10 puzzle type and 10 action type games. There are also 3 different bonus games that could be played. The number of bonus games were quite a bit smaller than the main mini games, but this is possibly due to the fact that there are only two bonus spaces per 25 space board.

A developer interview was given as well, in the March 1997 Neo Geo Freak issue, by a female developer going by the name “Ito Shinobu”. About the delays in development, Ito credits other work coming in that ended up pushing QP development to the side. It was expected to be finished closer to when development started, but after the other jobs had passed, she saw that a lot of things on QP needed work. Ito states that she was glad to be able to flesh the game out more when development restarted. An interesting note is that all of the opponents were robots at the start of development, but as time passed, she decided to change things to a quirkier cast of characters. Ito gives details behind the name as well, which originally meant “Quiz” and “Puzzle” due to the game having more quiz focused gameplay earlier in development. As things progressed the quiz elements got dropped in favor of more engaging gameplay, and Ito had to come up with a new meaning behind “QP”. She ended up going with “Quality People” once development had restarted. Her last comments are about the story of the game. It involves the final boss invading the land of where the two main characters live. Apparently, the full story details were too long to explain after putting a coin in and pressing start. Ito instead put the story explanation in the attract mode loop, which looped in this order: Title screen demo – gameplay demo – story explanation.

From the screenshots that we have, the game looks to have been very cutesy. Having a female lead developer, though, it makes sense. I think it fits well with the Japanese market being it’s focus. Neo Geo Freak magazine finally pulled it off of its development list in their August 1998 issue, after four years of being listed. Would a cutesy variety game that’s four years old already have done well? Probably not. Since some of the mini games relied on the Japanese language, and development was stalled multiple times, English localization would have been a pipe dream if it was released. It’s still interesting to see what could have been, and to get a better look at QP.

QP screenshot & art gallery:
Character List
1P – Tendō Tomo
2P – Tendō Megu
1st opponent – Atamayoiko
2nd opponent – Toirino Hanako
3rd opponent – Koeruno Riki
4th opponent – Berusaiyu Nobara
5th opponent – Ran Howan & Ran Pai
6th opponent – Marīaso Tatowa Yatsuterasowa

Puzzle Mini Game List
Kurīn Pīsu (Clean Piece) – Jigsaw Puzzle
Kyatch Kopī (Catch Copy) – Find the similarities
Bunbuku Chanpuru (Bunbuku Champ?) – Find the differences
Mojimoji Anburera (Moji Moji Umbrella) – Kanji quiz
Sukuranburu Eggu (Scrambled Eggs) – Card game, Concentration, match the pictures
Tango Tango – Word guessing from scrolling English letters
Kimiwowasurenai (I Won’t Forget You) – Character memorization
Do Kan Han Kan Kuesuchon (Same Can Opposite Can Question) – Yes/No question quiz
Shippo Furi Ma SHOW! (Furry Tail SHOW! ?) – A butt with a tail mimics the brush strokes of a Japanese character, and you have to guess which one it is. The characters are all Hiragana.
Pea Bea Kyūpiddo (Pair Bear Cupid) – Word Association

Action Mini Game List
Enzeru to Gurē Teru (Angel and Grey) – Shooting game, STG
Saru Saru Ukki (Monkey Tree Climb) – Press buttons rapidly to climb the pole
Akazukin-Chan (Little Red Riding Hood) – Little Red Riding Hood themed Whack-A-Mole
Wakage no Anbaransu (Unbalanced Follies) – Balancing game, tightrope?
Kururi Mawari Ningyō (Spinning Doll) – Japanese spinning top (Beigoma) game
Moraru to Ahirunoko (Morals and Ducklings) – Shooting game like target practice involving
ducklings
Ōsama no Hana wa Buta no Hana (Flower of the King, Flower of the Pig) Childrens game of Daruma-San ga koronda, an outdoors game played for sport.
Miru Miru Yaseru (?) – Gachapon style game, pull a lever and something happens
Arabian Faiya (Arabian Fire) – Input specific commands with the joystick and buttons
Matchi Keshi no Shōjo (Match Out Girl) – Extinguish the fire by rapidly pressing buttons

Bonus Mini Game List
QP Fukubiki (QP Lottery) – Random bonus
Sutoppu Chansu (Stop Chance) – Roulette style bonus game
Parasoru Bonbon (Parasol Bonbon) – Parachute landing, possibly one lands faster than the other and that’s your bonus.
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