Yuu Maze

Famicom Disk System · 1988 · JP

Publisher: Taito · Developer: Daiei Seisakusho · Genre: Puzzle

Yuu Maze ("Maze Play") is a single-screen maze game akin to Namco's classic Pac-Man and its many other imitators in that the goal of the game is to drive the futuristic vehicle around a maze collecting dots while avoiding (or temporarily eliminating) the enemies. Taito, one of the largest manufacturers of Arcade games at the time (not to mention the creators of Space Invaders), would produce similarly Arcade-reminiscent games for the system in order to tap into the portion of the market nostalgic for classic Arcade experiences.Yuu Maze adds a few innovations to the format: Each maze has a different structure, different enemies and different lay-outs for the pellets that are required to complete the level; the player can find power-ups which grant weapons, shields and speed-ups to their vehicle. The player's vehicle also has some degree of inertia: There's a slight delay when attempting to accelerate after stopping or performing a U-turn, but if the player keeps moving and changes direction only at 90 degree intervals, they can keep moving at their maximum speed. This is often necessary to keep ahead of the fast moving enemies.