Pen Pen TriIcelon

Pen Pen TriIcelon (ペンペントライアイスロン), known simply as Pen Pen in Europe, is a video game created by one of the first Japanese companies to reveal Dreamcast development, General Entertainment, otherwise known as Land Ho! It was released in Japan as one of four launch titles.

Pen Pen TriIcelon
Developer(s)	Land Ho! General Entertainment
Publisher(s)	JP: General Entertainment NA: Infogrames North America EU: Infogrames Multimedia
Platform(s)	Dreamcast
Release	JP: November 27, 1998 NA: September 9, 1999[1] EU: October 14, 1999
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Gameplay

A TriIcelon is similar to the real-world triathlon. TriIcelons consist of three separate sporting styles in one game: running, sliding, and swimming. These three things combine to make a race where everyone competes for first place. The TriIcelons take place in four courses: Sweets, Jungle, Toys, and Horror.

The player controls little penguin-like characters called Pen Pen, in a race consisting of the three separate sporting styles. Both the sliding and swimming parts are raced by tapping and holding the action button in a rhythmic motion to maintain a smooth flowing pace. The running section is controlled simply with the analogue stick, also with the ability to jump, and charge into other competitors. The playable characters include the Pen Pens Sparky and Tina, the Pen Hippo Ballery, the Pen Shark Jaw, the Pen Walrus Back, the Pen Octopus Sneak, the Pen Dog Mr. Bow, and the unknown-species Hanamizu.

Story

The Pen Pen are said to live on a small world called Iced Planet, and was here that the strange alien race were first discovered. Since the closest animal on Earth they resemble is the penguin, they were first given the name Pen Pen. The Pen Pen pretty much inhabit most of the planet's surface. It is believed they do, in fact, have their own language, but if so, it is totally incomprehensible to humans.[2]

It was later discovered that they come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Other types came from other planets to visit the Iced Planet. Six types have been discovered so far.

In a world of snow, ice and water, the Pen Pen have mastered the arts of running, sliding and swimming, and always used to play about on an iced field. These creatures saw the Pen Pen and came up with an idea, and thus, the TriIcelon was born. This soon became the most popular sport on the Iced Planet. Pen Pens enjoy this sport everyday and never get bored of competing, but once a year, they hold a grand TriIcelon race to determine the number one TriIcelon player. The PenPen characters later made a cameo appearance on several posters in Blue Stinger's Christmas mall area.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score GameRankings 64%[3] Review scores Publication Score AllGame [4] Edge 5/10[5] EGM 5.5/10[6] Game Informer 4/10[7] GamePro [8] GameRevolution C+[9] GameSpot 6/10[10] GameSpy 3.5/10[11] IGN 6.6/10[12] Next Generation [13]

Adam Pavlacka reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for Next Generation, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "If you regularly play games with a group, pick it up – otherwise make it a rental"[13]

The game received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator GameRankings.[3]

References

1. "PenPen TriIcelon - Dreamcast". IGN. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
2. From Issue #36 of Sega Saturn Magazine
3. "Pen Pen TriIcelon for Dreamcast". GameRankings. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
4. Marriott, Scott Alan. "PenPen TriIcelon - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
5. Edge staff (January 1999). "PenPen TriIcelon". Edge (67).
6. "Pen Pen TriIcelon". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1999.
7. Helgeson, Matt (October 1999). "Pen Pen Tri-Icelon". Game Informer (78). Archived from the original on May 31, 2000. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
8. The D-Pad Destroyer (1999). "Pen Pen Tri Icelon [sic] Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 20, 2005. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
9. Dr. Moo (September 1999). "Pen Pen Tri-Icelon (Japan) Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
10. Gerstmann, Jeff (December 11, 1998). "Pen Pen TriIcelon Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
11. Fragmaster (September 10, 1999). "PenPen TriIceLon". PlanetDreamcast. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
12. Gantayat, Anoop (September 8, 1999). "Pen Pen Tri-Icelon". IGN. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
13. Pavlacka, Adam (December 1999). "Finals". Next Generation. Vol. 2 no. 4. Imagine Media. p. 104.

External links

• Pen Pen TriIcelon at MobyGames