Kid No Hore Hore Daisakusen, 1987 Nichibutsu

Cute scrolling maze game where you control some kid in a.. helmet and spacesuit..? Anyway, your main goal is to collect all the treasure chests in the maze, find a giant key, then make for the exit. Enemy characters prowl the maze, with most of them looking to catch you (contact is fatal). Various items and power-ups can help you in your quest. The items include warp holes (they teleport you to another warp hole), springboards (bounce you forward in any of 4 directions), doors (can smack an enemy or knock you backwards into an enemy, only hurting them), and ice blocks that you can slam into enemies. Power-ups will often be in boxes labeled "P" or "?" and include: Yo-yos, speed skates, torches, ice lasers (that freeze enemies into ice blocks), speed shovels, and a stop watch. Your basic weapon is a call back to the old game HEIYANKO ALIEN, in which you dig holes for enemies to fall in and then bury them. You also dig holes and then bury enemies when they fall in them, but you can accidentally fall into your own holes and die here! Upon completion of a stage you will get 1,000 points for each enemy you buried successfully. With the speed shovel you open up a whole mess of holes at once, allowing for several enemies to fall in and then you can bury them all. This is a potentially very lucrative enterprise! The music in this game is terrific, and the action and bells and whistles are engaging and cute.. but it's not terribly clear how long you get your power-up's power for. You can run out of it and think you can fire a laser at the enemies at close range, then realize you're out of that power and are trying to dig a hole in too close of range to the enemy and get caught. Since the maze is so large it's a good idea to kind of scan around with your eyes to look for ways to avoid being trapped by enemies. And remember that when you collect the last treasure, it's not over! You must find the large key and then the exit door to advance-- you'll see the exit door even as you start the maze. But the door won't open until you get the large key. This game has two sequels/follow ups, both home system or handheld ports-- one on the Famicom and one for the Game Boy, as BOOBY KIDS and BOOBY BOYS (!) respectively. Hope you all have a much better 2021 than 2020, folks, and enjoy your weekend! See you soon with another request!