The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993) is like a mini version of the Super Nintendo classic A Link To The Past (1991) – both games share more than just the same DNA. At times Link’s Awakening feels like A Link To The Past without colour. Which is a huge compliment because A Link To The Past is one of the best games ever made. This, too, is among the best Game Boy games of all time.
Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Game Boy
There have been quite a lot of excellent 2D Mario games over history, which makes the Game Boy Super Mario Land series easy to overlook. All three Super Mario Land games, however, are stunning and unique ‘best-in-class’ examples of what the Game Boy is actually capable of – ie. shifting lots of sprites around the screen, smooth scrolling, great sounds and perfectly responsive controls.
Continue reading Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Game Boy
Liquid Kids is a bizarre-but-fun platform game by Taito, first released into video game arcades in 1990.
Crystalis was SNK‘s response to Nintendo‘s Zelda games back in 1990, it being an action adventure with real-time combat, just like Zelda. But Crystalis is definitely something more than simply a Zelda clone – it is one of the best games on the system and a great game in its own right.
This 1995 Japan-only Taito release is a follow-up (spin-off, rather than a sequel) to Landstalker on the Sega Megadrive.
Continue reading Lady Stalker: Challenge From The Past, Super Nintendo
Automania – developed by Chris Hinsley for Mikro-Gen in 1984 – is the first ever appearance of the character Wally Week.
Terry Cavanagh‘s VVVVVV is an extremely smart-but-simple platform/indie game that feels a lot like a Commodore 64 game from the ’80s, although it was actually released in 2010.
Known as Gimmick! in Japan and Mr. Gimmick everywhere else, this 1992 release was an attempt by Sunsoft to push the graphical powers of the Nintendo Entertainment System further than they’d ever been pushed before (in order to compete with the Super Nintendo, which was relatively new on the market).
In order to do this, Sunsoft used all kinds of clever programming techniques using graphical tilesets and colours, and the end result is very striking. But it wasn’t enough to compete with the newer consoles of the time and Mr. Gimmick sank without a trace, into relative obscurity.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance is a brilliant mix of platforming and level-grinding.
The ‘twist’ in this game is that you control both Mario and Luigi simultaneously during the game, and can switch between each character – or use them in tandem – to solve certain puzzles.
Continue reading Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Game Boy Advance
Day of the Tentacle – the original, classic point-and-click adventure, released by LucasArts in 1993 – was given a high-definition facelift in 2016, courtesy of Double Fine Productions.
And it really gives this game a much-needed re-airing to the general public. Because Day of the Tentacle is too good a game to leave languishing in the recesses of history.
The King of Grabs 