Not really a "game" per se
Panic! is less of a game and more of an electronic diversion. It was the sort of thing you played after getting bored playing through games like Double Switch, Jurassic Park or any other FMV-centric Sega CD title that you bought instead of Sonic CD or Snatcher. Rather than follow any sort of gaming convention, Panic! is a disc crammed with mind blowing, Japanese-style insanity. If you thought Bayonetta was crazy, you haven't seen anything yet.
Story:
Panic! has a story, but the game doesn't explicitly mention it. The opening cutscene (which is set to some Spike Jones-style music) depicts the people of Earth succumbing to malfunctioning cars, short circuiting appliances and sinks that vomit up green goo. Something clearly is wrong with the world and it's up to...well, no one really. There's no great superhero who steps into the spotlight in order to determine the root of the problem. Instead, you'll control a small boy who, along with his dog, manages to get sucked inside his television. Through a series of screens and random button presses, he'll need to travel to the center of the system and fix the malfunction.
Gameplay:
As I said, Panic! isn't your typical game. There are no levels, just a series of screens. You'll fight no enemies or bosses, but instead press a series of buttons that will either advance you forward a screen or send you back. There is an in-game map that is supposed to give you an idea of where you are within the system, but I don't recall an instance when it was useful. Other button effects include the destruction of a famous landmark or the initiation of a prank. The pranks are the game's most bizarre andf "humorous" experiences. For example, pressing the prank button on the painting of the Mona Lisa will feature a short cartoon of a mountain climber appearing from the woman's cleavage and head up to the top of her head. A prank button in a laboratory will cause the main character to develop breasts. Pressing a prank button on the side of a house will cause the clouds to resemble either a naked woman or poo.
There is nothing that connects the various screens to one another, which really gives you a sense of not being able to expect just what the game is going to throw at you. One minute you're in a regal concert hall, the next you find yourself in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. The one gag I remember finding funny was that there were a series of screens that involved you having to press a button on the side of the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Graphics:
Panic! is a 2D game that blends cartoon style graphics with photos of real objects, people or places. Some of the screens range from being visually complex (such as an undersea world) to very simple (a small house situated on a green lawn).
Sound:
If there was something about Panic! to praise, it would be the sound. More specifically, the soundtrack which combines original tracks with public domain classical music from Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and more. One of the reasons I went back to this game as much as I did back in the day was just so I could listen to the music (this was before I realized you could pop a Sega CD disc into a CD player and listen to tracks).
Essentially, Panic! is a party game, nothing more. It offers no challenges, no awards, no sense of accomplishment. Instead, it's just a crazy diversion made of pure golden insanity. It was the sort of thing you bring to a friends house and fool around with before he yells at you to show him a real game. All that being said, I have nothing but fond memories of this weird little game.
Story:
Panic! has a story, but the game doesn't explicitly mention it. The opening cutscene (which is set to some Spike Jones-style music) depicts the people of Earth succumbing to malfunctioning cars, short circuiting appliances and sinks that vomit up green goo. Something clearly is wrong with the world and it's up to...well, no one really. There's no great superhero who steps into the spotlight in order to determine the root of the problem. Instead, you'll control a small boy who, along with his dog, manages to get sucked inside his television. Through a series of screens and random button presses, he'll need to travel to the center of the system and fix the malfunction.
Gameplay:
As I said, Panic! isn't your typical game. There are no levels, just a series of screens. You'll fight no enemies or bosses, but instead press a series of buttons that will either advance you forward a screen or send you back. There is an in-game map that is supposed to give you an idea of where you are within the system, but I don't recall an instance when it was useful. Other button effects include the destruction of a famous landmark or the initiation of a prank. The pranks are the game's most bizarre andf "humorous" experiences. For example, pressing the prank button on the painting of the Mona Lisa will feature a short cartoon of a mountain climber appearing from the woman's cleavage and head up to the top of her head. A prank button in a laboratory will cause the main character to develop breasts. Pressing a prank button on the side of a house will cause the clouds to resemble either a naked woman or poo.
There is nothing that connects the various screens to one another, which really gives you a sense of not being able to expect just what the game is going to throw at you. One minute you're in a regal concert hall, the next you find yourself in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. The one gag I remember finding funny was that there were a series of screens that involved you having to press a button on the side of the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Graphics:
Panic! is a 2D game that blends cartoon style graphics with photos of real objects, people or places. Some of the screens range from being visually complex (such as an undersea world) to very simple (a small house situated on a green lawn).
Sound:
If there was something about Panic! to praise, it would be the sound. More specifically, the soundtrack which combines original tracks with public domain classical music from Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and more. One of the reasons I went back to this game as much as I did back in the day was just so I could listen to the music (this was before I realized you could pop a Sega CD disc into a CD player and listen to tracks).
Essentially, Panic! is a party game, nothing more. It offers no challenges, no awards, no sense of accomplishment. Instead, it's just a crazy diversion made of pure golden insanity. It was the sort of thing you bring to a friends house and fool around with before he yells at you to show him a real game. All that being said, I have nothing but fond memories of this weird little game.