At the height of the Tiger Electronics LCD craze in North America, Bandai was busy doing the same thing in Japan. In 1990, alongside the anime’s broadcast run, Bandai released two different Kyattō Ninden Teyandee handheld games — both part of their LSI lineup:

• Launch! Yattaro! (発進！ヤッ太郎)

• Yattaro Appears (出たな！ヤッ太郎)

These were pocket-sized games with simple gameplay, familiar to anyone who grew up with Tiger handhelds — single-screen LCDs with preset sprite positions that lit up depending on your actions. They’re clunky, charming, and very of-their-time.

These two games were the only official handhelds released for the series. The next time the Pizza Cats would appear in gaming form was the 1991 Famicom title.

What makes them especially collectible is how rare they are today. Most were inexpensive toys meant for kids, so many didn’t survive the years. Finding one complete with box and paperwork is like striking gold.

Today’s spotlight is on the 1991 Famicom game, キャッ党忍伝てやんでえ (Kyattō Ninden Teyandee), developed by Tecmo.

This side-scrolling action platformer was exclusive to Japan, which is why I ended up buying a Famicom console just to play it on original hardware. Totally worth the effort!

At the start of each level, you choose one of the three Nyankī (Yattaro, Pururun, Sukashii) as your main character. You’re locked into that choice for the stage, but you can freely swap between the Rescue Team to overcome stage obstacles:

• Gotton (Meowzma O’Toole) – digs through the ground

• Mietoru (Bat Cat) – flies over gaps & to high platforms

• Rikinoshin (General Catton) – smashes boulders

• Nekkiy (Spritz T. Cat) – handles water hazards

The gameplay has shades of Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden—fast-paced, with unique abilities that force you to think about which character to use.

The game has 11 unique stages, each with a challenging boss at the end. The game gradually escalates in difficulty, but also has a password feature.

This game features all of the usual villains, and a new edition: Dr. Purple. This character, to date, has not made any further appearances outside of fan creations.

The Famicom release remains the only official video game adaptation of Samurai Pizza Cats / Kyattō Ninden Teyandee - with the exception of their cameo in Tanuki Creative Studio’s 2024 arcade hit, Jitsu Squad.

At least, until the new game is released; according to an interview with the Blast Zero CEO, Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past is expected to see an early 2027 release.

Tonight’s feature: The Samurai Pizza Cats Collectible Pin Set by Udon Entertainment!

This set comes in a pizza box-style case and contains eight enamel pins, each shaped like a pizza slice. When arranged together, they form a full circle — a pizza of Nyanki heroes. The lineup includes:

🍕 Speedy Cerviche (Yattarō)

🍕 Polly Ester (Pururun)

🍕 Guido Anchovy (Sukashii)

🍕 Francine (Otama)

🍕 General Catton (Rikinoshin)

🍕 Meowzma O’Toole (Gotton)

🍕 Spritz T. Cat (Nekkiy)

🍕 Bat Cat (Mietoru)

The back of the box features a sleek red line art illustration of the same designs.

• Full Team Representation: Unlike the tee and singles still on sale, the boxed set gets you everyone—not just the Nyanki trio, but also Francine, Catton, Meowzma, Spritz, and Bat Cat. That’s pretty rare, since most modern merch ignores the extended cast.

• Premium Packaging: The pizza box-style presentation is genius and makes it feel like a centerpiece display piece instead of just pins.

• Limited Production: UDON doesn’t tend to restock their collectibles long-term. The fact that it’s still available in 2025 is surprising, but the singles for the side characters are long gone, so this set is the only way to secure them now.

• Title: Samurai Pizza Cats Official Fanbook.

• Publisher: Udon Entertainment.

• ISBN: 978-1-77294-038-1

• 143 pages, full color, softcover.

• First comprehensive English-language book dedicated to Samurai Pizza Cats.

• Originally published in Japan in 2012, English audiences were treated to this fully translated version in January of 2019.

• Episode Guide: Covers the first 53 episodes of Kyattou Ninden Teyandee and Samurai Pizza Cats. This book overlooks the final “special” episode (Nyanki Forever!).

• Concept Art, Pinup artwork & Model Sheets: Includes rare reference materials and designs—some of which had never been shown outside Japan before.

• Illustrations: Features promotional artwork, design sheets, and franchise visuals not typically accessible outside archival sources.

• Sequel Sneak Peek: Contains a rare glimpse at the abandoned follow-up project, Cat Keisatsu Beranmee (キャット警察べらんめえ), which never made it past planning stages.

• This book also contains interviews with people directly involved in bringing the series to life, both staff and voice cast are interviewed in a 22-year reunion round table.

• The fanbook is notorious for omitting Bat Cat’s model sheets entirely. This is true of both the Japanese and English releases.

• Officially Licensed: This wasn’t a fanbook in the doujinshi sense—it was created with Tatsunoko’s cooperation and bears the official branding.

• Global Appeal: Interestingly, Udon used Samurai Pizza Cats branding front and center, highlighting the series’ stronger cult following outside Japan.

• Print runs weren’t massive, and while it wasn’t hard to find on release, it has become progressively rarer.

• As of the date of this post, copies in good condition typically sell for $80–120+ CAD on the second-hand market, depending on timing.

• Despite being relatively modern, it’s now considered a must-have anchor piece for serious SPC/KNT collectors because of its archival material.

• Title: Ball Up (often stylized as B・ll Up)

• Circle: グループ601 (Group 601)

• Publisher: 沖由 佳雄 (Okuyoshi Yoshio)

• Date of Issue: August 16, 1992 (exactly during Comiket 42, which ran Aug 14–16, 1992)

• Printer: 集成社 (Shuusei-sha)

• Pages: 90.

• The book is effectively a fan-produced love letter to Otama, with the afterword directly stating:
  “This book is a love letter to Otama and to Ms. Korogi Satomi [Otama’s voice actress].”

• The editor acknowledges that Otama was a universally beloved character within the community and that multiple contributors wanted to celebrate her.

• Contributors also mention they wished to feature other characters like Pururun, but ultimately it became Otama-focused.

• Based on layout and tone, this doujinshi mixes illustrations, short comics, and character tributes rather than being a single long manga.