Oil Panic
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- This article is about the Game & Watch game. For the move used by Mr. Game & Watch in the Super Smash Bros. series, see Oil Panic (move). For the microgame from WarioWare: Touched!, see Game & Watch Oil Panic.
Oil Panic is a dual-screen Game & Watch game released as part of the Multi Screen series on May 28, 1982.[1] It was the first game in the Multi Screen series. It was remade for Game & Watch Gallery, in which it could be played in either Classic Mode or Modern Mode. It is also one of the games in the Museum in Game & Watch Gallery 2. Oil Panic is also one of the games included in the Nintendo DS title Game & Watch Collection, especially owing to how both Oil Panic Game & Watch units and Nintendo DS systems utilize two screens.
The alarm indicator of this game is a policeman that is located in the lower screen, under the lower screen's miss counter, and the policeman swings a bell when the alarm goes off.
Gameplay[edit]
Classic version[edit]
The game is set in a gas station where a leaky pipe is dripping oil. The Station Helper must collect these drops in a bucket and dump them into his boss's oil drum so that he may take them to the cars waiting beside the defunct gas pumps. The Station Helper also needs to be quick, as the dripping oil is right above flammable sources that will cause a major fire if the droplets make contact with them (specifically, a smoking ashtray as well as two lit stoves). The bucket can hold only three drops of oil. For every drop of oil the Station Helper catches, he receives a point. He earns a point for dumping one drop of oil into the oil drum, two points for dumping two drops, and five points for dumping three drops. As the game progresses, the oil will drip faster. If a drop is missed, if the bucket overflows, or if the Station Helper dumps his bucket on a customer instead of in his boss's drum, he loses one of four lives. If the player earns 300 points without any misses, another boss with an oil drum will appear for 20 to 30 seconds, and any oil the Station Helper dumps into either boss's oil drum will be worth double points. If the player has any misses at said score, all misses will be removed instead. This game uses two miss counters: one for missed or overflowing oil, and the other for spilling the oil onto customers. If the player gets three misses from either of those categories, they receive a Game Over.
Modern version[edit]
The Modern version is even farther from the original in that Bowser is actively dumping the oil from on top of a castle, forcing Mario to collect it in not one but two buckets and give it to Yoshi for removal. Even if Yoshi is not close enough to Mario when he dumps oil to him, Yoshi can still catch it with his tongue. In this version, Mario earns three points for feeding Yoshi three drops of oil, six points for four drops, seven points for five drops, and 10 points for six drops. If Mario feeds Yoshi six drops of oil when Yoshi is on the edge of one side of the castle, he will blow a fireball that will create a Rotating Block. If he creates four Rotating Blocks on the castle's left side, he will scale them and blast Bowser away from the castle, awarding the player 15 points. If Yoshi creates a Rotating Block on the castle's right side and blows a fireball on it, it will release coins for bonus points. If Yoshi is not facing the proper direction, the oil will instead fall on either Luigi or Donkey Kong Jr. below, angering whichever one it hits. If the player has any misses at 200, 500, or 700 points, a ? Block will appear on the castle's right side, and if Yoshi blows a fireball on it, it will release a heart, which removes a miss if Mario catches it. However, if the player gets a miss before Yoshi blows a fireball on the ? Block, the block will disappear. The Modern version also features music, with the tempo changing depending on the speed of the game.
Controls[edit]
Classic version[edit]
(left and right): Move
: Move left
: Move right
Modern version[edit]
- (left and right): Move
- and : Spin
Appearances in other games[edit]
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic move in the Super Smash Bros. series is inspired and named after this game. It involves Mr. Game & Watch collecting projectiles instead of oil, and when the bucket fills, he dumps it on an opponent, causing them damage.
A background Mr. Game & Watch spills a tub of oil in the Flat Zone stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee, a homage to Oil Panic (though the similarity ends there, as the spilled oil actually remains and makes the ground slippery for a while in Super Smash Bros. Melee). Also, Oil Panic is one of the many Game & Watch games that appear in Flat Zone 2 in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Flat Zone X in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
WarioWare: Touched![edit]
Oil Panic appeared as a microgame in WarioWare: Touched! called Game & Watch Oil Panic. There is also a similar microgame called Drop in a Bucket.
Profiles[edit]
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U trophy[edit]
| Name | 3DS trophy | Wii U trophy | Category | Appears in | Trophy Box | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil Panic | 
|
|
Stage | G&W Oil Panic (05/1982) | 56: Game & Watch | The Game & Watch Multi Screen series is the big, big brother of the Nintendo DS. One classic title was Oil Panic, which puts you in charge of a petrol station that's sprung a leak. As oil drips down on the upper screen, you've got to catch it in buckets on the lower screen or risk an angry customer with a face full of oil! |
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit[edit]
| No. | Name | Image | Series / game | Type | Class | Strength / effect(s) | How to obtain | Spirit battle | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent(s) | Battle conditions | Stage | Song | ||||||||
| 702 | Oil Panic | 
|
Game & Watch Series | Support (2) | Advanced | Sticky-Floor Immunity | World of Light (Light Realm); Spirit Board | Mr. Game & Watch ×4 | Rule: Slippery Stage
|
Flat Zone X (Oil Panic) | Flat Zone |
Gallery[edit]
-
Artwork depicting the Modern version of Oil Panic
-
Gameplay screenshot of the Game & Watch Collection version
Trivia[edit]
- This is the very first Game & Watch title to have at least two miss counters.
- The Classic version of this game depicts its Super Game Boy border as if the original game was released on the New Wide Screen series, despite being released only on the Multi Screen series.
- In the Modern version of Oil Panic, Yoshi blasts Bowser away from the castle in one of four ways: blowing a fireball at him, laying an egg and throwing it at him, spitting watermelon seeds at him, or shooting him with a laser gun.
References[edit]
- ^ Oil Panic info page on In The Attic, a website dedicated to classic videogames Retrieved 13 November 2010
