Yume Koujou: Doki-doki Panic

About

Yume Koujou: Doki-doki Panic is a side-scrolling platformer where a family of anthropomorphic characters enters a fractured storybook world to rescue kidnapped twins. Players control Papa, Mama, Lina, or Imajin as they navigate levels based on the book’s dream world, leaping over hazards and squashing enemies with vegetable-themed attacks. The Muu land’s weather depends on dream quality, and foes range from floating heads to giant snails. Progress involves restoring the book’s missing page while thwarting the mischievous Mamu. The game’s quirky aesthetic and family-friendly cast stand out, blending whimsical art with straightforward platforming. While its 1987 release on the Family Computer Disk System made it a niche title, it later resurfaced in the West as Super Mario Bros 2, though its original Japanese identity remains distinct. With levels that test timing and teamwork, it offers a retro challenge that feels fresh in its presentation. The link to Nintendo’s later design choices makes it a curious footnote for fans of platformer history.

Storyline

The game takes place inside a storybook. The book's story tells of the dream world of Muu, where the quality of dreams determined the quality of the weather the next day. Because of this, the Muu citizens invented a dream machine so they could always have good dreams. One day, a mischievous being named Mamu invaded the land and used the dream machine to make nightmarish monsters. However, the Muu people learned of his weakness to vegetables and used them to defeat him. The old storybook had found its way into the hands of a pet monkey, Rūsa, who gives the book to the young twins Poki and Piki. However, the twins quarrel and end up ripping out the last page of the book, causing its ending to be erased. Mamu, freed, reaches through the pages and grabs the twins, pulling them into the book. Rūsa gets the twins' parents, Mama and Papa, their brother, Imajin, and Imajin's girlfriend, Lina, and they enter the book to rescue them.