j.jpg https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/30/307326/3037027-3878535681-ss7.j.jpg Pinobee: Wings of Adventure, known in Japan as either Pinobee no Daibouken ("Pinobee's Great Adventure") or Pinobee: Quest of Heart, is a 2D fantasy side-scrolling platformer developed by Artoon and published by Hudson (with Activision (Company) co-publishing it outside of Japan) for the Game Boy Advance (Platform) (as a launch title in all regions) in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, and in Europe on June 22, 2001.
The first title from Artoon (a studio made up of ex-Sega staffers, notably Naoto Oshima (Person)), Pinobee stars the unfinished robotic bee of the same name as he reluctantly sets out to rescue "Grandpa Bee" from Vestor's evil robot insect army.
Much of the gameplay involves navigating Pinobee around using his signature air-dash (which gets upgradable through the course of the game for additional dashes) while defeating enemy robots, collecting power-up items, and reach the end of the stage. It features a bingo-style inventory system where players collect item capsules of different colors and numbers and must form full rows or columns to activate special upgrades. Players can also trade item capsules with others through the system's link cable.
One of the game's key features is its "Diary" mechanic, which details Pinobee's adventures while affecting both the game's difficulty (as failing to defeat all golden enemies cause additional enemies in the next stage) and the game's ending (as certain actions against friendly characters can change how successful he is and how he feels about it).
It later received a console conversion for the PlayStation (Platform), released in Japan on September 5, 2002 (as part of the Hudson the Best budget line), in North America on April 17, 2003, and in Europe on October 10, 2003. Both North American and European versions were published solely by Hudson and their titles were shortened to just Pinobee. While this version is nearly identical to the GBA version, it features some new additions, such as a stage map that can be accessed at any time and a bonus gallery for the game's ending and concept art.
The game later received a Japanese-only GBA sequel, known as Pinobee andamp;amp;amp; Phoebee.
