Hebereke

Hebereke[lower-alpha 1] is a video game series developed by Sunsoft that was released primarily in Japan, with a few releases in Europe and one release in North America. It was one of the company's main franchises during the 1990s. Hebe, the main character of the series, became Sunsoft's main mascot during this period, appearing on the company's logo in several games and commercials. The series features a comical, yet surreal setting and characters. The title of the series comes from a Japanese colloquialism for drunkenness. The series covers several different genres from platforming to puzzle, though they are all set in the same fictional universe. Although there are 9 games in the series, only 3 of them were released outside of Japan: Ufouria: The Saga for the NES, Hebereke's Popoon for the SNES, and Hebereke's Popoitto for the SNES, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn. All three of these games were only released in Japan and Europe, with no North American release, although Ufouria: The Saga would be released on the Wii Virtual Console in North America almost 18 years later, and on the Wii U Virtual Console in North America almost 22 years later.

This article is about the series. For the game known as Hebereke in Japan, see Ufouria: The Saga.
Genre(s)Various
Developer(s)Sunsoft
Success
Publisher(s)Sunsoft
Platform(s)Family Computer, Arcade, Super Famicom, Sega Saturn, PlayStation
First releaseHebereke
September 20, 1991
Latest releaseHebereke Station Popoitto
May 26, 1995

The first Hebereke game for the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the PAL region under the title of Ufouria: The Saga, which changed the names of the main characters, while two of them had their looks changed. A North American release was planned, but canceled; however, the PAL region version was later added to the Wii Virtual Console in North America. A later set of games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System were also released under the Hebereke title, which retained the original names and looks from the Japanese version.

List of games

Developer Sunsoft used the characters and world featured in Hebereke in a series of games for Family Computer, Super Famicom, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, coin-operated arcades and mobile phones.[1]

Hebereke

Original release date:

September 20, 1991

 1991: Famicom

1992: NES

Notes:
  • Side-scrolling action-adventure video game
  • Released on NES in PAL regions, with title and characters' names changed, in 1992, as Ufouria: The Saga.
  • Ufouria was originally intended to be released in North America. In 2010, the game was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in both the PAL region and North America, marking the first Hebereke release in the latter region.
  • Re-released on PlayStation with Rough World as Sunsoft Memorial Vol.5.
Hebereke no Popoon

Original release date:

December 22, 1993

 1993: Super Famicom

1994: SNES, Arcade

2011: Microsoft Windows

Notes:
  • Falling-blocks puzzle video game, similar to Puyo Puyo.
  • Released on SNES in PAL regions in 1994, as Hebereke's Popoon.
  • Released on Windows Store in 2011, part of Project EGG.
Sugoi Hebereke

Original release date:

March 11, 1994

 1994: Super Famicom

2020: Nintendo Switch Online

Notes:
Hebereke no Oishii Puzzle

Original release date:

August 31, 1994

 1994: Super Famicom
Notes:
    Hashire Hebereke

    Original release date:

    December 22, 1994

    		 1994: Super Famicom

    2011: Microsoft Windows

    Notes:
    • Isometric racing game where the characters sprint on foot
    • Released on Windows Store in 2011, part of Project EGG.
    Popoitto Hebereke

    Original release date:

    March 3, 1995

    		 1995: Saturn, PlayStation, SNES

    20??: Mobile phone[2]

    Notes:
    • Falling-blocks puzzle video game, similar to Puyo Puyo.
    • Japanese PlayStation version released as Hebereke Station Popoitto.
    • Released outside of Japan on Saturn and SNES in 1995 and PlayStation in 1996 (PAL regions only), as Hebereke's Popoitto.
    • Japanese PlayStation version re-released in 1999 and 2001, under "SunKore Best" and "Value 1500" labels respectively.
    O-Chan no Oekaki Logic

    Original release date:

    September 9, 1995

    		 1995: PlayStation, Saturn, Super Famicom

    2001: WonderSwan

    Notes:
    • First of a series of puzzle games similar to Picross, focusing on the character O-chan.
    • Japanese PlayStation version re-released in 1998 and 2001, under "SunKore Best" and "Value 1500" labels respectively.
    O-Chan no Oekaki Logic 2

    Original release date:

    September 27, 1996

    		 1996: PlayStation
    Notes:
    • Sequel to O-Chan no Oekaki Logic.
    • Japanese PlayStation version re-released in 1999 and 2001, under "SunKore Best" and "Value 1500" labels respectively.
    O-Chan no Oekaki Logic 3

    Original release date:

    January 11, 2001

    		 2001: PlayStation
    Notes:
    • Sequel to O-Chan no Oekaki Logic 2.
    • Unlike its predecessors, it only released under "Value 1500" label.
    O-Chan no Oekaki DX[3]

    Original release date:

    2004

    		 2004: Mobile phone
    Notes:

    A game titled Hebereke's Pair Pair Wars was developed to be released on Neo Geo arcade platform in 1996, but was not released.

    • The Hebereke characters made a cameo appearance in Sunsoft's Mega Drive port of Lemmings, appearing in level 18 of the "Sunsoft" setting.
    • O-Chan appears on one of the courts in Yeh Yeh Tennis (Wai Wai Tennis 2 in Japan) for the PlayStation.
    • Hebereke was listed in the credits of Journey to Silius in 1990.
    • The characters from Hebereke also made an appearance in Barcode World, along with other Sunsoft characters, but only as cards that come with the game.
    • Hebe appears as a random encounter (by far the highest experience-granting enemy in the game) in Benkei Gaiden: Suna no Shou.
    • In Honō no Tōkyūji: Dodge Danpei, has an extra secret password, HEBE, that gives you a menu to view all game cutscenes, including the ending.
    • In Honō no Tōkyūji: Dodge Danpei 2, Hebereke appears in the ending image two times in voice circles.
    • In the Shanghai series, the Hebereke characters made a cameo appearance in the mobile game, Shanghai Musume: Mahjong Girls.
    • The Hebe from Hebereke was a brief as Artistic Photo of Symbol Art from Phantasy Star Online 2 on 2012.
    • The characters from Hebereke appeared as guest characters as downloadable content in the remake of Penguin Wars for the Nintendo Switch on 2017 in Japan.

    Merchandise

    Comic strip

    Uchimich "Ucchii" Ryoji, the series' character designer, drew a series of four-panel strips based on the games that were serialized by Tokuma Shoten in the Japanese magazine Family Computer Magazine (also known as "Famimaga" for short). During publication, the strip had its title changed to Pemopemo, only to be changed back to Hebereke. The first two years' worth of strips were reprinted in a collection titled Hebereke no Hon,[4] but the remaining strips were never republished. The comic was canceled in 1998, after the magazine changed its name to Famimaga 64.

    A panel mangas based on video game Hebereke titled Dai Eppyo[lower-alpha 2] (Daichi P), released for 4koma on August 12, 2013 and published by Comic Market in Japanese Markets.

    Original soundtrack

    A soundtrack titled Takusan Hebereke was released that features original versions of the music from the first three Hebereke games: Hebereke, Hebereke no Popoon and Sugoi Hebereke. The soundtrack also includes original versions of songs from another Sunsoft game, Gimmick! (known in Europe as Mr. Gimmick). The soundtrack was composed by Naoki Kodaka, Phaseout & MuteC, Masashi Kageyama and arranged by Hitoshi Sakimoto. It was published by DATAM Polystar and released on June 25, 1994.

    Characters

    The series sports characters and graphics that are typically Japanese cuteness in design, done in the style of Bomberman, The New Zealand Story, Kirby and particularly Hello Kitty. The series primarily involves a cast of four main characters and four minor characters.

    Major characters

    Hebe[5] (sometimes referred to as "Hebereke", Bop-Louie in Ufouria)

    • Gender: Male
    • Species: Small white penguin (Little boy in Ufouria)
    • Voice actor: Megumi Hayashibara

    O-Chan (Freeon-Leon in Ufouria)

    • Gender: Female (Male in Ufouria)
    • Species: Cat/Little girl wearing a cat suit (Lizard in Ufouria)
    • Voice actor: Mika Kanai

    Sukezaemon (Shades in Ufouria)

    Jennifer (Gil in Ufouria)

    Minor characters

    Booboodori

    • Gender: Male
    • Species: Purple bird
    • Voice actor: Shigeru Chiba

    Pen-Chan

    • Gender: Female
    • Species: Penguin/Little girl wearing a penguin suit
    • Voice actor: Megumi Hayashibara

    Utsuzin

    • Gender: Male
    • Species: Cat-like alien/Cat wearing an alien suit
    • Voice actor: Norio Wakamoto

    Unyohn

    • Gender: Male
    • Species: Alien (wearing a helmet)
    • Voice actor: Norio Wakamoto

    Notes
    1. Japanese: へべれけ
    2. Japanese: だいえっぴょー

    References
    1. お手軽ゲーム満載！ケータイサイト「上海ｉパズル」 (in Japanese).
    2. http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/soft/keitai/keitai_i.html
    3. http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/soft/keitai/keitai_i.html
    4. Ucchii. Hebereke no Hon (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. ISBN 978-4-19-790013-8.
    5. へべれけ　キャラクター紹介　へべ　おーちゃん　すけざえもん　ヂェニファー. Retrieved on 01-26-10.
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