A History of Korean Gaming

수호성 (Suhoseong) - Arcade (1997)

A faux card gambling game.

원더 덩크 (Wonder Dunk) - Arcade (1997)

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Another sports game, but for once the discipline of choice is basketball instead of baseball.

퍼즐 브레이크 (Puzzle Break) - Arcade (1997)

Puzzle Break (Arcade)

Another variation on a popular classic, this time Breakout. Or maybe rather Arkanoid, since the game features all kinds of different upgrades and weapons.

비씨 스토리 (B.C. Story) - Arcade (1997)

Flyer

One of the more interesting games by Semicom is this neolithical olympics "simulation" in the vein of Track and Field. Three prehistoric athletes, the muscular Sonlo, the skinny Ballo and the voluptuous deliverer of fanservice Milo test their skills in ten crazy disciplines, which can be seen below.

점핑팜 (Jumping Pams) - Arcade (1997)

Jumping Pams (Arcade)

The description of this single screen labyrinth game submitted to the rating board leads to assume another Pacman clone.

바리온퓨처 어설트 (Baryon Future Assault) - Arcade (1997)

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The PC shoot-'em-up Baryon by Acro Studio apparently was successful enough to warrant an arcade port. Semicom's version uses assets from the PC game, but it changes so much that it is effectively and entirely new game. Players now get to choose between four ships with different weapon systems. The game is quite long for a shooter, but it cycles the same backgrounds twice, which makes for a strong deja-vu feeling in the second half.

XESS: The New Revolution - Arcade (1998)

XESS unites three different games in one ROM: Cookie & Bibi, Hyper Man (a more cautiously titled Hyper Pacman) and New Hyper Man, the latter of which curiously isn't known as a standalone game.

One would just expect another Pacman clone update, but in reality New Hyper Man turns out to be an 8-way arena shooter.

데이트 퀴즈 고고 (Date Quiz Go Go) - Arcade (1998)

데이트퀴즈고고에피소드2 (Date Quiz Go Go Episode 2) - Arcade (2000)

The nameless protagonist takes out one of three possible dates in this game of love, and what do young people usually do on their dates? Exactly, they ask each other trivia questions. First they drive around town using dice to determine at which places to stop, and the topic for the questions is alway dictated by the place — sports at the stadium, culture in the theatre and so on. Every once in a while the couple is stopped by a cop for some law related questions, too. But as only dry questioning tends to put people to sleep fast, the game features several mini games as well, from pig grabbing to catching burger ingredients in the right order in a fast food restaurant.

Two years later the fun continued with Date Quiz Go Go Episode 2, featuring a silly backstory presented in Windows Media Player style, an unfitting mix of comic book characters in front of photographed backgrounds. The formula for the game stayed mostly the same. Although mini games are few and far between, those that are in feel more wholesome compared to the first episode.

모아모아 (More More) - Arcade (1998)

모아모아 Plus (More More Plus) - Arcade (1999)

More More Plus Flyer

Semicom's second pure mini game collection relies on quick and simple challenges in the same vein as Bishi Bashi, borrowing its input scheme of three colored buttons. Seventeen games in four tears wait for their completion, ranging from boring stuff like "find the differing image" or "choose the right exit from the labyrinth", to more inventive tasks where the player evades Gozilla's stomping feet or performs magic tricks in form of button combinations.

The presentation is nothing to write home about. Everything looks distinctively low budget, especially the narrow color range leaves a rather weird impression.

Gaia: The Last Choice of the Earth - Arcade (1998)

Flyer

It appears kinda odd seeing a full-blown vertical shoot-em-up among all the minimal budget stuff Semicom usually put out. The game appears as kind of a progenitor to Wyvern Wings, also by Semicom. The screenshots on the flyer show a vertical orientation, yet the one known dumped ROM has a 4:3 resolution, suggesting that there might be different versions like with several of the games by Afega.