One Piece: Become the Pirate King!

One Piece: Become the Pirate King! is a turn-based strategy game for the handheld WonderSwan console, loosely adapting the events of the East Blue Saga (along with One Piece: The Movie). Designed by Soft Machine and published by Bandai, it was released on July 19, 2000 - the first official video game under the One Piece license.

Following the game's release, five more One Piece games would be produced for WonderSwan consoles, though Become the Pirate King! remains the only one compatible with the original monochromatic system.

Gameplay


The game mainly revolves around path-building, with players laying tiles across a sea map. The piecemeal paths depicted on these tiles must be connected so players can reach objectives such as islands and enemy crews.

Tiles come in four basic path formations - straights, elbows, T's, and crosses - that can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. A tile's "strength" is determined by its texture; dark tiles (carrying "smooth" rivets) can be replaced by new tiles, while light tiles (carrying "dotted" rivets) stand permanent.

Players are limited to a "hand" of five tiles at any given time. After a tile has been laid, its successor must be chosen from a randomized "deal" of five new tiles.

Game Modes
Four different modes may be accessed from the Top Menu, including several multiplayer modes able to support up to four players. Note, however, that none of these modes support play via WonderSwan link cables; instead, a single WonderSwan console must be passed back and forth between players.

Solo
The Solo (一人) mode adapts the Straw Hat Pirates' East Blue adventures - including the non-canon events of One Piece: The Movie - into seven levels of exploration and combat:


 * 1) The Pirate King and the Great Swordsman (海賊王と大剣ごう)
 * 2) Femme Fatale (ましょうの女)
 * 3) 800 Lies (ウソ)
 * 4) Soup (SOUP)
 * 5) Tears (なみだ)
 * 6) The Legend Begins (伝せつははじまった)
 * 7) The Golden Isle (おうごんのしま)

Each level contains a mixture of racing missions and boss battles, interspersed with text and illustrations drawn (in most cases) directly from the original manga.

Exploration
During exploration, the player may take any of the following actions:
 * Move (移動): Access and set tiles for movement.
 * Tools (道具): Utilize (or discard) any items currently in possession.
 * Crew (仲間): Display (and rearrange) the current crew roster.
 * Detail (情報): Examine the capabilities and morale of current crew members.

Combat
Combat takes place on a 3x3 grid, with the opposing crews positioned on opposite ends. The top and bottom rows of this grid are pre-laid with identical paths; both sides must take turns assembling a path through the middle row that will successfully reach the enemy (or, alternatively, block the enemy's reach). A crew member who successfully reaches the enemy side will attack whichever enemy is at hand; if no enemy is, the attack will be made on the enemy ship instead.

Two win conditions exist: either defeat every member on the enemy crew, or sink the enemy ship.

Together
The Together (いっしょ) mode allows players to assemble their own pirate crews and race each other across a variety of pre-programmed sea maps.

Hyper Battle
An electronic adaptation of the Carddass Hyper Battle system attached to the official One Piece card game. Supports up to four players.

Trivia

 * The Solo mode depicts the Going Merry as Luffy's ship from the very beginning, rather than an acquisition from Syrup Village.
 * On its initial release, the game's instruction booklet was packaged with six exclusive Carddass cards, all based on the game's box-art. One used the box-art directly, while the other five depicted the individual Straw Hat Pirates.