Bana Bana Ichi-gō: Rolypolys no Sekai Daibōken
| Bana Bana Mk.1: Rolypolys Great World Adventure | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original name | バナバナ1号 ローリーポーリーズの世界大冒険 |
| Release date | November 21, 1997 |
| Format | Videogame |
| Lost? | No |
Bana Bana Ichi-gō: Rolypolys no Sekai Daibōken (バナバナ1号 ローリーポーリーズの世界大冒険, sometimes listed online as ローリーポーリーズの世界旅行, lit. Rolypolys' World Tour) is a 1997 point-and-click adventure game developed by OutSide Directors Company and published by Shinko Music Entertainment. It is the sequel to Rolypolys no Nanakorobi Yaoki, which released eight months prior.
Unlike its predecessor, the game has an overarching plotline involving Otane-chan, a music idol, being kidnapped by an evil Tengu; she can only be freed by the Roly Polys gathering 7 keys scattered around the world. The gameplay centers around the Roly Polys flying to every continent of Earth in Banaten's spaceship, the Banabana Mk. 1, while learning about the geography and culture of various countries.
Former Lost Media Status
Prior to its discovery, several old listings existed on Japanese auction sites as well as one recent one in July 2020, and one image of the game in-box had surfaced. Aside from several small screenshots on the publisher's original site, no gameplay footage existed online until Rolypolys no Nanakorobi Yaoki was found, which contained a video trailer. This trailer was rendered in-engine, meaning its assets could be ripped.
A playable demo appears on the coverdisc for the January 15, 1998 issue of MacPeople magazine. This demo only contains a portion of the North American area. An image file of this disc was shared on October 27, 2021.
Unknown to the community until the full game was found, BakuDD acquired a sealed copy back in 2022. In January of 2023, he told another collector, beanstalk, that he owned it but was hesitant to open it. The two reached a deal where, in exchange for BakuDD opening and dumping the game, beanstalk would buy a limited edition Japanese 3DO game and ship it to BakuDD.
The game was ultimately made available to the wider internet on May 31st, 2023. The checksum data was confirmed on Redump before it was dropped onto the Internet Archive the same day. BakuDD didn't post the link directly, instead teasing its existence in this post to r/osamusato; within minutes, it was found almost simultaneously by several members of the community, with the link initially posted by Camwoodstock & Tori. It was streamed by users adam and Super on the Osamu Sato Discord the same day, and for the next few days, Super would continue to stream the game on the Discord until successfully completing the game.
Known copies
As of May 31st, 2023, there are currently 8 known copies of Rolypolys no Nanakorobi. While it's possible that some of these copies are the same as others, it is generally accepted that each of these copies are unique as there is zero evidence to the contrary. Each of these copies are given a conjectural nickname for ease of discussion.
| Nickname | Information | Link | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osamu Sato's Copy | The copy Osamu Sato previously owned. It was lost on an unknown date, presumably before the 2010s. | N/A | Lost |
| Saint Auction Copy | A copy that went up for auction on Yahoo Auctions sometime between 2003 and 2010. The time of the sale, as well as whoever bought and sold it are lost. The copy sold for only 980 yen. Named after the finder of the auction, Saint. | Aucfan | Unknown Owner |
| Early Twitter Copy | A copy that belongs to an individual on Twitter, discovered when the user made a post sometime in the early 2010s reminiscing about the game. The owner did not wish to rip or sell the game, and after receiving attention they set their Twitter account to private. As such, the tweet has been lost and its URL is unknown. | Unknown | Undumped |
| 2020 Auction Lot Copy | A copy that went up for auction on Mercari on July 17, 2020. Sold as part of a lot featuring other games. The entire lot sold for 2,000 yen. Notably, the first copy that appeared since the founding of the Osamu Sato Discord. | Mercari | Unknown Owner |
| BakuDD's Copy | A copy that went up for auction on Aucfree on August 2022. Sold as part of a lot featuring other games. The entire lot sold for 87,277 yen. The copy was still factory sealed, but initially the lot went unnoticed on the Osamu Sato Discord until April 10, 2023, long after the auction had concluded. On May 31st, 2023, it was revealed that BakuDD had purchased the copy, and it was posted to redump before being uploaded to the Internet Archive not long after. BakuDD has stated he has zero intent to sell his copy of the game. | Aucfree Redump archive.org |
Dumped |
| Twitter Copy | A copy that belongs to an individual on Twitter, revealed on March 18, 2023. The owner declined offers to sell their copy, due to having strong emotional attachment to it; in addition, they did not acknowledge any questions about ripping the ISO. | Undumped | |
| Other Twitter Copy | A copy that belongs to another individual on Twitter, revealed on April 15, 2023. The owner mentioned they played the game previously in the replies of the previous Twitter Copy's tweet, and that they did not know where their copy went but planned to look for it. | Unknown (Lost?) |
Gallery
Photo of the front and back of the game's box.
Additional resources
- The game's page on Shinko Music
- The MACPEOPLE Demo Disc, which contains the demo of the game.
- Guide to running the game