Developed by Namco and published – in Japan only – by NEC Avenue in 1989, Wonder Momo is a conversion of a weird Japanese arcade game featuring a female lead character who must fight off attackers during a theatre stage play. And, if that sounds bizarre, then – well – that’s because it is! Unlike the arcade original, the PC Engine version of Wonder Momo has been fan-translated into English and Spanish, so is more accessible to Western audiences.

You play an actor who assumes the role of Momo in a play. The theatre curtain rises and falls between acts, and during these acts you’ll be attacked by waves of enemies. As Momo, you can kick and jump, and for every opponent you knock out, your “Wonder Meter” will increase. When the Wonder Meter is filled, you can then transform into Wonder Momo by either spinning, or by stepping into a moving tornado icon. As Wonder Momo you’ll then be able to throw a circular disc, called the “Wonder Hoop“, at enemies, and can also fire out small waves of energy when crouching. A more powerful version of these waves, called the Wonder Typhoon, can also be performed by spinning. The Wonder Hoop, however, can take time to return to Momo, and she cannot use it while it is away from her, so it needs to be used carefully and re-collected as soon as possible.

At the end of each act, Momo must defeat a boss character (sometimes more than one) to continue. And as the acts progress, the number of enemies – and their aggressiveness – increases, adding to the challenge.

The most important thing during a game is to protect Momo‘s vital energy (health bar), which is shown at the top of the screen. If this is completely depleted before an act ends, it’s game over. You can partially top up Momo‘s life bar by collecting pills dropped by defeated enemies, although these are not very common. Completing an act will also re-fill the bar a small amount.

The PC Engine version of Wonder Momo is a close (if not mostly identical), experience to the original arcade game. Some of the backdrops are different, and the game now contains cut scenes, but all the characters and enemies are the same, as are the game mechanics (although I’m not 100% sure that Momo jumps as high as she does in the arcade version, because I had trouble jump-kicking flying enemies). It contains all the risqué underwear-flashing of the original; the photographers trying to get sneaky upskirt photos (which will stun Momo temporarily), and the animated audience at the bottom of the screen.

Wonder Momo is a fun game to play, and will probably intrigue anyone who appreciates Japanese video game weirdness on some level. It’s not as easy as it looks, though – especially when you get past the first couple of acts. You can continue from the last act after a ‘game over’, though.

More: Wonder Momo on Wikipedia
More: Wonder Momo on romhacking.net