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The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening (GB)
by brownskin91
It's just so well done all round! You can never go wrong with Zelda games, except links crossbow training what was all that about?
There is a well thought out story line which provides hours of game play, there are many times of weapon and equipment that you collect and use to help you solve tasks as the game progresses. You ... can play this game over and over and never bore of it, as you can with most Zelda games.
It was this game that first got me into the Zelda series, then i worked backwards and played the previous games.
This game along side the oracle of season and ages I think are the best portable games that have been made to date, including all the new titles.
The graphics are obviously pre-dated, but if you have never played this game then don't let that put you off! Its enjoyable for anyone!
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Pokemon Blue and Red Versions (GB)
by xisorosix
NB*I own the red version of the game.
This game was responsible for so many good memories when I was growing up - sad, I know! The game starts off with you picking a character name and listening to Professor Oak as he takes you through the very basics of the Pokemon world. (You can choose to speed up the text if you read ... quickly/get annoyed quickly!) You also get to meet your ready-made rival, Gary. He's basically this annoying boy with a trendy haircut who will get in the way of pretty much all the tasks that you're meant to do and the major Pokemon battles! You actually get to choose a name for him if you don't like the default options (e.g. Gary)...here your imagination can run wild...
With the keys, you control the player whilst viewing the whole game from an overhead perspective, that is until you meet a trainer and begin battling. The gameplay then switches to a face-to-face perspective where different Pokemon are sent out as you defeat them one by one, failing that if you get defeated and run out of healthy Pokemon (i.e. ones that haven't fainted yet...), you get blacked out. This bit I hate because you end up in a Pokemon Centre with you friends all healed, but (a) this could be quite far away from where you were before, and be (b) you have less money then before :( There are Pokemon Centres and Poke mart located in every town, here you take your Pokemon to be healed or buy things like potions and Pokemon balls to catch new Pokemon with.
The game is based in the region of Kanto. You start off in your bedroom in Pallet town from where you walk downstairs to greet your mother who is waiting at the table. From there on you visit different houses where pretty quickly you'll find Professor Oaks house. (You can approach any character and talk to them - most of the time they are quite boring, but sometimes you'll get a freebie or some advice.) Your Pokemon journey begins here in his lab where he allows you to pick one Pokemon of your choice. Note that Gary will pick a Pokemon immediately afterwards that will be stronger in type than your Pokemon e.g. a grass Pokemon will be weak against a fire Pokemon. The aim afterwards is to defeat all the gym leaders and thwart the plans of Team Rocket to finally reach the Elite Four. There is also a very powerful and rare Pokemon that you have an opportunity to try catching at the end!
The game is really intuitive - it becomes apparent very quickly what the buttons do, and where you must go. The map is clearly laid out so you know where the next town should be. There are also a limited number of paths you can take, so it's pretty hard to be at a lost with this game. The Pokemon battles do get repetitive and tedious, but unfortunately are necessary in order for your Pokemon to gain experience points and to progress to evolving into different Pokemon. Having said that, if you encounter a wild Pokemon, there is always the option to "Run away!" if you can't be bothered...NB* Rattata and other mousey Pokemon are really nasty and won't let you run away...they're also kind of ugly...(just a side note...)
I would definitely recommend this game if you're looking for something fun and simple to do to pass time. Maybe you've seen the TV series, but never were really sure about the game...which actually has been out in the UK since 1998...Then I'd definitely recommend it to you if you're in this category, as chances are you'll find it very enjoyable. This game is aimed at people from a young age, so I didn't really find the game that challenging. I really wish there were harder problems to solve! Unlike some games, this game will take at least a few days to complete despite it being a very straight-forward game. I'm reviewing the Red version of the game, but the Blue version is exactly the same. The Blue version just features different Pokemon to the Red version. For instance, in certain areas of grass, say, you're used to finding certain types of Pokemon, but in the Blue version these Pokemon are just different to the Red version. Nothing more to it! You can trade Pokemon if you and your friend have different versions and the necessary cable.
I hope you enjoy the game - if you do get stuck or want any hints or tips, there are a LOT of walkthroughs/cheats online. You'll find these on Youtube or dedicated websites!
I would award this game 4* out of 5 since I do find that the game isn't that challenging, enjoyable though it is!
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Ms Pacman & Super Pac Man (GB)
by davidbuttery
** Background **
The arcade game Pac-Man probably needs no introduction, and even in the unlikely event that it does, it's pretty easy to explain: you rush around a maze eating dots (and sometimes fruit) and keeping out of the way of ghosts, apart from when you eat a power pill at which point you can chase them. Simple! ... Unsurprisingly given the original's enormous success, it spawned a number of sequels which enjoyed a greater or lesser degree of success. This 1999 cartridge for the colour Game Boy brings together versions of the first two follow-up games: Ms. Pac-Man from the dim and distant days of 1981 and Super Pac-Man which originally appeared a year later.
** Ms. Pac-Man **
It's really rather remarkable that Ms Pac-Man managed to gain as much success as it did, given how very similar its gameplay is to its progenitor. It's true that for an arcade game to have a female protagonist was a very unusual thing in the early 1980s, and the game itself is well designed and pretty enjoyable to play, but you don't really get a *lot* out of it over and above what you can take from the original. One of the changes that is significant is that, while in the original Pac-Man the ghosts' movement followed very definite patterns, here there's a certain amount of (pseudo-randomness) which means that the old expert's trick of "blindfold" Pac-Manning won't work here.
The graphics and sound are very much in the same mould as with the original Pac-Man, but I rather prefer them. In particular, the little intro jingle that plays just before the game proper begins is much nicer than its equivalent bleepy tune on the older game. The character design for Ms. Pac-Man herself is not exactly original - she gets a ribbon in her hair and a dimple on her cheek - but I suppose when you're writing a game in which the central personality is a circle with a segment chopped out of it, there isn't an enormous amount of room for manoeuvre! The old "wokka-wokka" sound of dot-eating has gone the other way, in that I think the earlier game's sounds had more tension and drama to them.
** Super Pac-Man **
The other game in the pack is slightly more of a mould-breaker - though "slightly" really is the operative word here! You still control a (male) Pac-Man, and you still wander around a maze wary of ghosts... but it's now fruits (apples on the first stage) which play the part of basic score-racker-upper and which have to be cleared. Scattered around the maze are little keys, and when you collect one of those entry is enabled to certain other parts of the screen - you need to collect all of them, since the level cannot otherwise be completed. As you continue through the game, you'll find an extra challenge provided by the fact that keys no longer always open *nearby* doors!
The traditional power pills are still in existence, and still allow Pac-Man to gobble up ghosts; but now there's a second sort of pellet too, which when eaten will turn your little yellow character into an outsized version of himself - the "Super Pac-Man" of the title! This makes him invulnerable to ghosts (though he can't actually eat them) and allows him to barge down doors without having found the requisite key. Another potential way to rack up points is the "bonus box" which sometimes appears close to the centre of the screen, containing rapidly changing symbols; how many points you get for eating it depends on just what those symbols are at the time.
Although it's a later and rather more complex game (as is also demonstrated by the existence of against-the-clock bonus levels here and there) I'm not really anything like as enamoured by Super Pac-Man as I am by Ms. Pac-Man. Especially on the Game Boy's small screen - which itself forces a slightly annoying scrolling viewport of the maze - the enormous sprite that is the "super" version of the character looks rather silly, almost as though there'd been a strange bug in the programming! Apparently when it came out a number of players found it rather confusing, and I'm not entirely surprised. It didn't do anything like as well in the arcades as the earlier (or many later) iterations of the franchise.
** Buying and verdict **
Both these games are brought to the Game Boy Color with considerable fidelity, allowing for the obvious limitations of the handheld's hardware. These are old enough titles that even the frankly feeble sound capabilities of the GBC don't really get in the way, while the aforementioned scrolling viewport undoubtedly *is* annoying but can't be helped without making the sprites so tiny as to be eye-straining anyway. It's not a terribly rare cartridge, though you might have to shell out Ł7 or so, and if you can see past the really rather hideous pink-dominated label (and box, if you have it) design then Ms. Pac-Man is a great game, Super Pac-Man perhaps rather less so. Three and a half stars, nudged down to three because Ms. Pac-Man alone will be cheaper and almost as much fun.
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