The PlayStation version of Konami‘s Azure Dreams is an excellent level-grinder, and this Game Boy Color version is also very good, but differs somewhat from the original.

It still takes place in the provincial city of Monsbaiya, and you are still a Monster Hunter. Whereas the PlayStation version uses a 3D isometric viewpoint, this one instead goes for an overhead, 2D view. With titchy characters and intricately-detailed locations rendered as flat pixel art.

The combat in GBC Azure Dreams is different to that seen in the PS1 original too. In this it is presented similarly to Pokémon combat, where you fight on a new, dedicated screen, instead of directly on the battlefield.

You can recruit monsters to fight with you, obviously, but you can also hatch them from eggs to nurture a stronger bond with them.

Azure Dreams is all about exploration and turn-based combat. Fighting monsters for gold and experience. Shops and items are important for you to buy consumables and other special items. You draw cards to initiate special events (like teleporting out of a tower), and talking to NPCs is important between excursions. You can also collect and use “Alacseeds” to boost your skills.

Pressing Start brings up a menu, with Items (inventory), Status (detailed stats of each character), Skill (character skills), Plan (to set the type of attack for your party members), Fusion (combine old monsters into new monsters) and Map.

The GBC version of Azure Dreams is also bigger than the PlayStation version. It has an extra tower to compensate for the town-building and dating elements having been removed, and also double the amount of monsters.

The Game Boy Colour version of Azure Dreams was first published in 1999, by Konami. It was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya (KCEN). A spiritual sequel, Tao’s Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal, was released for the Nintendo DS in 2005.

More: Azure Dreams on Wikipedia