Game Boy Games #5

Choplifter II: Rescue and Survive (1991)
By: Beam Software  Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy First Day Score: ???,???
Also Available For: Nothing

I've never really been a handheld gamer for some weird reason - it was always the home consoles that interested me - so when I saw that Choplifter III had been released on the SNES I was mildly startled. I had long enjoyed the original game on my delightful Master System, and here, apparently, was the third game, but what in the blue blazes had happened to the second game? The answer wouldn't find my eyes until many moons later but it turned out that Choplifter II was a Game Boy exclusive of all things. Crikey, I exclaimed! Once I got over the shock of this unexpected news and considered the game for a moment, I was immediately sceptical that such a game would work on the small, blurry screen. The view of the action would have to be much more zoomed-in so you could actually see stuff for one thing, and that would open you up to being killed by something when it scrolled onto the screen right next to you. I suppose I should play the game before condemning it for my imagined slights (to partly quote Thor from The Avengers) though, huh?!

Pinball Games #3

Revenge of the 'Gator (1989)
By: HAL Laboratory  Genre: Pinball Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy First Day Score: 278,570
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: Nintendo 3DS

I'm not sure why I never got 'into' the whole handheld console scene but as a result there are millions of cracking games I missed out on, and continue to miss out on until I eventually look at them here. One I remember getting lots of positive press in its day was Revenge of the 'Gator which, despite the strange name, is actually a pinball game! This is well skillish since... Well, I was going to say since I like digital pinball games thanks to the Crush series, but they are about the only examples I played extensively in their day. This effort arrived a year after said series debuted with Alien Crush so it's possible it was 'inspired' by the Compile classic, but it's immediately apparent that it's at least a decent one, perhaps even a corking one. It even has a two-player link-up option but alas, I don't have any friends with Game Boys. I don't have any friends with any handhelds, in fact, so I will have to focus on the one-player mode, although I suspect there are few who have ever played it any other way.

Game Boy Games #4

Mr. Chin's Gourmet Paradise (1990)
By: Romstar Inc Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy
Also Available For: Nothing

In the days of yore, I often found that games that had anything to do with food were pretty great. Perhaps not as great as a really hot curry or a meat feast pizza but pretty great. This particular example is, I believe, a little-known Game Boy release which casts the player as the titular Mr. Chin, apparently a Chinese gentleman who has "come all the way from China" in pursuit of his favourite treat - luscious gourmet peaches. Where he's come to is anybody's guess but, while this mysterious land may be rich in curvy peach goodness, getting his hands on them may not be quite as simple as all that. Most of them, it seems, are actually terrifying creatures known as Momos which are apparently a special branch of the fruit family, and they aren't quite ready to be turned into peaches. Luckily, our hungry Chinese friend does have one fairly effective way of doing this - zapping them with his 'Demoe Beam' - but even this can be a little tricky too.

Game Boy Games #3

Wave Race (1992)
By: Nintendo EAD Genre: Overhead Racing Players: 1-4 (via link) Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy
Also Available For: Nothing

To many gamers, the Wave Race name means the N64 game, which is indeed fantastic and well worthy of such attention, but the series actually started elsewhere. On the humble Game Boy, no less, with this very game. Unsurprisingly, that means it didn't start out as a splooshy polygonal into-the-screen racing experience but rather as a humble overhead-viewed game and, very strangely, one that was not even released in Japan at all. The rather basic set-up involves something called the 'Personal Water Craft' (PWC) National Series competition which features "riders from all over the U.S.". Presumably that means people from those mysterious realms beyond the borders of North America are either not deemed to have the necessary skills to compete or are simply not welcome, and that's odd since many locations through the game are based outside the vast continent in question. Either way, you, as an American 'PWC' rider, actually have two competitions choose from.

Platform / Puzzle Games #5

Toki Tori (1992)
By: Two Tribes B.V. / Capcom Genre: Platform / Puzzle Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy Color
Also Available For: Nintendo 3DS, PC, Android, iOS
Download For: PlayStation Network, Wii Virtual Console, Wii U 

Early 80's platformer, Chuckie Egg, is undoubtedly an all-time classic and has been one of my favourite platform games for a great many years now too, so when I recently stumbled upon the superbly-named Toki Tori it was hard to avoid noticing a few similarities between the two games. The most obvious is that the objective of both is to collect all the eggs on each given stage, but whereas the older game cast you as Henhouse Harry who was presumably a farmer seeking to collect and sell the many eggs produced by his possessive (and deadly) cluckers, this more recent effort casts you as the former occupant of a recently hatched egg who has bravely taken upon himself to liberate his as-yet unhatched brethren who were whisked away by a mysterious and no doubt evil force. Spying the eggs from atop a cliff (as seen in the brief intro sequence) which are now being held in and around a spooky castle, Toki Tori (for that is our hero's name) ventures forth undaunted...

Gaming Memories - Part 14

As a slightly strange person, there are many things about me that are odd, and that includes some gaming stuff. Indeed, ever since I discovered video games I've been interested in every system around to one degree or another, and I've owned most of them some stage too. However, despite numerous attempts, I've never really managed to embrace any handheld systems.

The first one I owned was Atari's Lynx which, though technically impressive and home to many decent games, failed to keep my attention for too long, so I decided to try the less advanced but much more popular Game Boy. Indeed, even though in my eyes Nintendo's machine was little more than an updated Game & Watch (which I also never really got on with), the various games magazines of the time were constantly burbling on about it to such an extent that figured it was worth a punt. It was duly acquired, along with Tetris or course, and even I, as a seasoned Sega fan-boy, could concede it was a decent bit of kit. It looked quite nice, the batteries lasted a while (unlike my Lynx - eeek!), and even better, it fitted perfectly in the inside pocket of my leather jacket which meant I could carry it around effortlessly and 'whip it out' at a moment's notice, looking undeniably cool in the process - reason enough to own one by itself!

Game Boy Games #2

Solar Striker (1989)
By: Nintendo EAD Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy First Day Score: 143,600
Also Available For: Nothing

Gunpei Yokoi certainly seems to have been a busy fellow during the lead-up to the Game Boy's launch. Not only did he design the system itself but also had a hand in the development of some of its launch titles as well! One was Solar Striker, the first shmup for the new handheld (in the UK at least), and one that has a slightly unusual back-story for such a game. It's set in the year 2159, soon after the establishment of the Earth Federal Government and along with it the Earth Federal Army. This all seems sensible enough for a newly space-faring race. However, it seems that having such an army available wasn't a sufficient comfort for Earth's leaders who instead decided to launch an unprovoked attack on the nearby Turin system. Amusingly, we got our arses kicked in the process! Did we then apologise and skulk back to our insignificant little planet? No, we didn't. We instead developed a 'very advanced space fighter' called... yep, the Solar Striker.

Game Boy Games #1

Gargoyle's Quest (1990)
By: Capcom Genre: Arcade Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy
Also Available For: Nothing

Since the mid-80's Capcom have been among the most revered and celebrated of Japanese developers and a big part of the reason for that is the numerous franchises for which they churn out many apparently endless instalments. One of the first of these was that of Ghosts'n Goblins, the splendid Sir Arthur-starring platform/run 'n' gunners which have long been notorious for their insane difficulty as well as splendour, but how many fans are as enthusiastic about the spin-offs? One of the first was Gargoyle's Quest, released exclusively for Nintendo's little handheld and strangely devoid of the main star of the previous games. In place of our brave and noble knight is something which should be familiar to fans of the original game - a scary red demon who goes by the name of either Red Arremer (Japanese version) or Firebrand (Western versions) who must battle to save the Ghoul Realm from the evil wrath of King Breager.

Bomberman Series - Part 9

Bomber Boy a.k.a. Atomic Punk, a.k.a. Dynablaster (1990)
By: Hudson Soft Genre: Maze Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy
Also Available For: Nothing

Usually with any long-running videogame series, the first few sequels stick to the same format as the original game while trying to add to it and improve it, but with the Bomberman series the opposite seems to be true. It was among the first few years of the franchise that Hudson experimented with it, trying new styles, features, even main characters, before settling into the routine that would comprise the later and more successful years of their hero's games. I've already looked at a few of these spin-offs earlier in this series of features, the last of which was exclusive to the Game Boy. Nintendo's handheld was blessed by another visit from our explosive friend though, and this game would be a bit more familiar to fans of his better known outings. Indeed, despite again being released outside its native Japan in a Bomberman-less guise, Bomber Boy was unmistakably a Bomberman game, but was it a good one? As always, I was eager to find out...

Bomberman Series - Part 8

Bomber King Scenario 2 a.k.a. Blaster Master Jr. (1991)
By: Aicom / Sunsoft Genre: Maze Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy
Also Available For: Nothing

It's not uncommon for games released in Japan to make it overseas in reworked, or at least renamed forms. Quite often it's because the original game is based on an anime series or something else that's popular in Japan but unheard of elsewhere, but sometimes the reasoning behind it is difficult to understand. Take the prequel to this very game, for example - released as part of the splendid Bomberman series in Japan but rejigged into an all-new game called RoboWarrior for its release elsewhere. This was strange as Bomberman was already a well-known and well-liked character, even outside of Japan. Strange or not though, a potential new franchise had been created so when the sequel appeared in Japan, again Bomberman themed, surely it would be released as RoboWarrior 2 in the US and Europe? Actually, no. Bomber King 2 was actually turned into a semi-sequel to hit NES game, Blaster Master, which has nothing to do with Bomberman, even in Japan!

Bat 'n' Ball Games #4

Alleyway (1989)
By: Nintendo EAD Genre: Bat 'n' Ball Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy First Day Score: 2,745
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: 3DS Virtual Console

For some reason the Game Boy's launch is one that I still have very clear memories of. Maybe it's because it was one of the few console launches that enticed me enough to buy the system in question. Actually, I think it was the unanimous praise being heaped on Tetris that most persuaded me, but what of the other launch titles? I didn't get around to playing many of them but I do remember they all looked ideally suited to the little grey handheld including this Breakout clone developed by the Game Boy designer himself, Gunpei Yokoi. It literally is a Breakout clone too, with everything being kept very simple by Nintendo's legendary designer. Games have come a long way since Atari's classic though, even ones of this type. Could he work the same magic on games as he could on the system that hosted them?