Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
From Videogame Morgue File
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is a 2.5D platform game released for the PlayStation in 1997 (in Japan) and 1998 (the rest of the world).
History
- Several pages of concept art from Famitsu's official guidebook (Japanese; February 21, 1998)
- IGN published a multi-part history of the game's development (among other topics) in 2009 to promote the Wii remake:
- "The Concept of the Original" (part 2, wherein Hideo Yoshizawa explains the inception, setting, and story of the game; March 5, 2009)
- "Character Design" (part 4, wherein character designer Yoshihiko Arai touches on Klonoa's design; April 7, 2009)
- "The Sounds of Phantomile" (part 5, wherein sound designer Kanako Kakino mentions the experience of composing the game's songs; May 7, 2009)
- "Level Design" (part 6, wherein Yoshizawa discusses just that; May 18, 2009)
Previews
Computer & Video Games
๐ฌ๐ง April 1998
๐ฌ๐ง April 1998
Also includes a very short aside comparing the game to Yoshi's Story
Magazine covers
Features
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine
๐บ๐ธ June 2001
๐บ๐ธ June 2001
Description of the demo included with the issue's cover disc (also including a screenshot from the sequel)
- Klonoa: Door to Phantomile Official Guide Book (Japanese publication by Shogakukan; February 10, 1998)
- Official Famitsu guidebook (Japanese; February 21, 1998)
Reader submissions
Advertising
Interviews
- Interview with several developers (originally printed in The PlayStation magazine in 1997; translated into English and posted online by shmuplations)
- Nintendo Power interview with Hideo Yoshizawa about many games he worked on, including Door to Phantomile (July 2009)
- Heidi Kemps and Claire "ProtonJon" Wheeler interview Hideo Yoshizawa and Keiji Yamagishi for gaming.moe, including some questions about Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its Wii remake (March 27, 2018)
- Famitsu interview with Tsuyoshi Kobayashi (a designer) and Yoshihiko Arai (who worked on the plot & graphics) about Door to Phantomile and its sequel (June 23, 2022)
Reviews
Sales
Japan
| Date | Copies sold that week | Total sold | Chart position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-12-14[4] | 48,950 | 3 | |
| 1997-12-21[4] | 24,309 | 73,259 | 20 |
| 1998-01-04[4] | 112,575 |
North America
Note that the below data was largely taken from the NPD Group's TRST system, which only accounted for a portion of approximately 81% of American game retailers (as officially stated in 2000). In addition, Walmart pulled out between July 2001 and July 2011, dropping the officially estimated coverage to 60%.[5]
| Date | Copies sold that period | Total sold |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-07-01[6] | 325 (thus far that year) 86 (May 28 - July 1) |
|
| 2001-01-31[7] | 25,830 | |
| 2001-03[8] | 25,834 | |
| 2001-06[9] | 25,842 | |
| 2001-09-01[5] | 62 (thus far that year) 5 (August 5 - September 1) |
|
| 2001-09-30[5] | 25,851 | |
| 2002-12[10] | ||
| 2003[11][12] |
United Kingdom
| Date | Total sold |
|---|---|
| 2000?[13] | 1,794 |
Websites
Forum posts
- "Length" (a brief conversation about how long it takes to beat the game on IGN's Klonoa board; began October 10, 2004, archived via Wayback Machine on February 22, 2005)
Miscellaneous
Notes
- โ Part 2 is focused on Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil.
References
- โ Japanese print ad
- โ The official website "Klonoa @ home" lists this release date for Door to Phantomile.
- โ PSM issue 13 (dated September 1998)
- โ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Niche Barrier's record of Weekly Famitsu's sales charts
- โ 5.0 5.1 5.2 August 2001 TRSTS video games report (archived on the Video Game History Foundation Library)
- โ June 2000 TRSTS video games report (archived by the Video Game History Foundation Library)
- โ LTD sales report up through the end of January 2001 (archived by the Video Game History Foundation Library)
- โ March 2001 sales report (archived by the Video Game History Foundation Library)
- โ June 2001 sales report (archived by the Video Game History Foundation Library)
- โ Archived copy of a TRST spreadsheet reporting on December 2002 game sales
- โ Archived copy of a TRST spreadsheet reporting on January 2003 game sales
- โ Post by Steven Hurdle in the alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 thread "Has the videogame market finally stopped growing?" (September 17, 2003)
- โ "2000-STD-ANNUAL-SW-UK" (archived by the Video Game History Foundation Library)
