Original Release: Kaneko, 1990, Arcade
While not the absolute first of the “uncover the GIF” arcade games, Gals Panic was the Qix-like template that many others copied from throughout the ’90s.
Gals Panic (Arcade, Kaneko, 1990)
Where to Buy: KLOV, eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: Master-B
Peepshow Qix clones were abundant in the arcades of Japan in the 1990s; I’m not sure if Gals Panic was the very first one, but it was certainly the template that most of them were based on. The rest of them lifted many of its conventions such as the score bar that flips the image to some sort of horror show if it dips too low.
It also stands out as it has higher production values than the games most of the bootleg fly-by-night companies would make, thanks to the involvement of Taito (by way of subsidiary Kaneko). It has markedly nicer art and sound than most games of this sort from the time period. The game also gives you a drawn version of each of its models, which is replaced by a picture of the actual model once you win through to the nakey pics. The models tend to look like bar girls that were picked up somewhere in Thailand or Vietnam, but the art is actually pretty nice.
Gals Panic certainly makes you work for your nudie pics, though. You have to grind through several levels of striptease to get to each one. Some levels are extremely difficult, with too many little enemies moving around too fast and changing directions at random. There also seem to be some pretty random rules about what will earn or lose you points for the picture flip in terms of how you draw lines.
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