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Shun · Sep 16, 2014

ファイアーエムブレム新・紋章の謎 ～光と影の英雄～
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem ~Heroes of Light and Shadow~
aka Fire Emblem 12

I feel like the Fire Emblem series as a whole is widely under appreciated and that long time series fans have felt somewhat alienated with the growing resurgence with the popularity of Awakening and the fact that newer fans haven't given the rest of the series a chance.

For those who did enjoy Awakening but do not want to go back to the retro Super Famicom games, the DS Remake of Fire Emblem 3, Marth's second game is by far one of the best Fire Emblem games edging out to be within the Top 3, alongside Genealogy of War and Thracia 776.

Fire Emblem 12, is the second most recent entry of the series for the Nintendo DS and the game itself introduced several of Awakening's features such as a "casual mode", DLC units, MyUnit/Avatar Character, etc.

For those who enjoyed Awakening's gameplay, Fire Emblem 12 is definitely a Strategy RPG that will definitely ease you in much more than the older entries.

It has a huge, memorable cast as well as one of the stronger stories in the series. Much like the inferior Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, you can even play multiplayer battles and compete against other custom troops.

The game itself is slightly more difficult than Awakening mainly because of the lack of the broken Pair Up option, but the game's learning curve isn't as big as those in the past and it is extremely accessible. Fire Emblem 12 really is Awakening, before Awakening came out and without the unnecessary fluff and watered down mechanics.

If you are looking for a challenging SRPG with several different difficulty options, a strong cast, customization, and multiplayer, Fire Emblem 12 is definitely a gem that you should pick up.

IMPORTANT: The game is Japanese ONLY, which did hurt it's sales and accessibility but if you want to appease your Fire Emblem itch there is an English Patch for those who do not understand Japanese.

Fire Emblem 12, due to it's circumstances, is largely underrated and appreciated, especially amongst newer fans and Western fans and I really do urge those interested in the Fire Emblem franchise to give older games a chance. This DS addition is definitely a step closer to appreciating an amazing and long time franchise that deserves much more than it has endured over the years.

Those who have never played a Fire Emblem game, definitely pick up this gem and give it a chance alongside the other, older Fire Emblem games before heading to Awakening!

It is unnecessary to play the previous game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, to play this game and I really suggest not going through one of the worst Fire Emblem games. It's not worth your time.

Here are OST Samples, the Fire Emblem series itself rearranges it's mainstay themes and there are a few unique tracks with each individual game. The OST will likely be familiar for anyone who's played any Fire Emblem game.

The OST
Endless Battle
Dark Emperor Hardin
Puppets Don't Cry

Edit: I would also suggest Valkyria Chronicles 2 and 3 for the PSP for those who are interested and have yet or are going to jump onto the Valkyria Chronicles series.

Krammy · Sep 16, 2014

While it's no platformer, Zok Zok Heroes is one hell of a hidden gem that was released for Game Boy Color in 2000, and was developed by Media Factory. The game is unique in that it came bundled with a motion sensor henshin device!

This bundled device allowed players to make certain motions and gestures that would be sent to the Game Boy Color's Infrared Sensor, allowing the in-game character to transform into one of several Heroes that had been collected throughout the story. The story revolves around Ippei or Mina who are tasked with stopping the nefarious Galagang, who attempting to take over the planet by transforming objects and creatures into their henchmen (all with the unique Gala- name, ie. Galainjection). Through a series of events, the player ends up with a device that allows them to transform into either Brightboy or Brightgirl, as well as capture and battle Heroes. The gameplay is similar to Pokémon, with one-on-one battles where each Hero has a unique set of abilities that can only be used a number of times.

While I wouldn't call the music award-winning, it's certainly fitting for a JRPG and sets the mood very well. I especially love the Battle Theme and the Town Theme (when transformed), they're pretty catchy.

My actual experience with the game is that I discovered it a couple years ago when I was looking into games that made unique use of Game Boy Color features (like the Infrared Sensor). I'm a big fan of Hideo Kojima's "Boktai" series, so things like this always set me off. It was tough as nails to play with no knowledge of Japanese, but with the help of some friends and a lot of trial-and-error, I made it pretty far into the game. Since then, I've been trying to inform people about this little gem, since I've yet to find anyone who's actually played it. I'd especially recommend it if you can actually read Japanese fluently!

Shun · Sep 16, 2014

Krammy said:
Post

Funny enough that was one of the few games I owned as a child when I had a Game Boy...

Zeldana · Sep 16, 2014

I realize the forum is no stranger to Cavanagh's games, but I wanted to mention that VVVVVV has an awesome mix of addictive exploration and difficulty, contains a phenomenal soundtrack, and is available for the 3DS (and Vita?) as well. The developer has a knack for keeping the focus on pure gameplay and teaching you to push beyond the limitations you assume you're stuck with based on simple controls that never actually change as you progress. And lastly, while V's is not very long, collecting all the trinkets can really try your patience. x_x

daydream · Sep 16, 2014

This thread makes me miss 2D Looney Tunes games.

Starwolf_UK · Sep 16, 2014

genjiZERO said:
So I'm probably going to lose because I don't have a handheld game nor a platformer to talk about, but I used to love to play this add game called Landmaker in the arcade at my university. It was an old Taito game, and the reason I played it was because it only cost a quarter and was easy enough that I could stretch that quarter. The game seemed to be based on Chinese mythology, but I've never been able to tell for sure. Anyway, the game was a puzzle-attack game similar to Puzzle Bobble. The difference was that the board was set up in a triangular fashion and as you added the same coloured blocks those blocks would become giant buildings which would attack the other player when you broke them. I found it therapeutic because I was going through a tough times then, and it allowed me to escape my worries for a few minutes.

Here's a video of the gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pRiY6jIGVw

This game got a PS1 port. It was titled Bulider's Block in North America (thanks Jaleco). The PS1 port contains the arcade game and a separate game using dull 3D graphics (this has 1 player puzzle mode though) and pretty bad 8-bit sound (shame as the arcade game is good on this front). The back of the box shows the modes:

Top--bottom: Arcade Puzzle, Battle (I think you can also do this in arcade).

At risk of turning this into one of those boxart posts, the European release is an interesting contrast:

It should be noted the Japanese boxart is similar to the US one. But the EU blurb still makes a much better sales pitch. I wonder if it is due to having to make a point in a few words due to the EFIGS back.

The game is out on Japanese PSN but due to different (maybe defunct) publishers for the USA and EU releases it is unlikely to come to those PSN stores.

I find it sad that the game seemed to be skipped in the Taito memorial series (Cleopatra Fortune was a Taito puzzle game out about the same time as Landmaker, gameplay wise that one is much different though).

It really takes me back to the days when puzzle games being colourful was a popular thing rather than the acid trip or techno style popularized by things like Lumines and Meteos (I like playing those games)

maxcriden · Sep 16, 2014

This thread is really schooling me in under-appreciated gaming greatness. Thanks guys!

Piccoro · Sep 16, 2014

What an awesome thread, so many cool games!

I'm not in this for the prize because I don't have a 3DS and I'm in Europe.
But I want to mention this great beat'em up with some platforming sections:
Gekido Advance:

Gekido_Advance_-_Kintaro%27s_Revenge_Coverart.png

made by an Italian team, but the game feels a lot like a Japanese fighting game, like Streets of Rage or Final Fight. It has a few platfoming stages, and it's very hard.

Had lots of fun playing it!

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 16, 2014

Developed by Sunsoft in 1992, when that meant real quality, Batman Return of The Joker for the Game Boy is a completely different game from the NES equivalent, and a much better one in my opinion.

As usual with a Sunsoft game, the graphics are fantastic with beautiful backgrounds and sprites that animate very well. The amazing music was composed by Manami Matsumae, the legend behind the original Mega Man, Mighty No. 9, a couple of tracks in Shovel Knight, among other stuff. Batman controls fine yet somewhat quirky and might take some getting used to. You can wall-jump, hang from a hook shot from the ceiling, throw boomerangs, punch the crap out of enemies, the usual stuff Batman does. The level design is interesting, with five stages built around demoralizing you with their difficulty. There's sewers flooding, big crushing machinery, bulky giants atop moving trains, etc. Everything is trying to kill you and very effectively too. You get 3 credits, can take 5 hits, and that's it.

This was one of the first games I played on my Game Boy, which me and my brother got in 1992 with Tetris and Gargoyle's Quest. What a start! It was our first videogame console too, handheld or otherwise. There weren't that many consoles back then where we live (still aren't that many!), so those who had them had to trade games a lot, often with people who were practically strangers who just happened to knock on your door, sent by someone who you traded games with once before. That's how someone lent us Batman and I have absolutely no idea who he was or what he looked like, but I do remember the game. Playing all summer at my grandparent's house, looking over my brother's shoulders when it was his turn. How we beat the game back in the day is a wonder when I have trouble getting past the second stage nowadays! There are a lot of games I played back then that I could have written about, like Gargoyle's Quest, Capcom's Roger Rabbit, Castlevania The Adventure or Nemesis, but I guess this is the one that better fits the theme of "sidescroller, portable, relatively unknown." It's too bad the license means it's not likely to ever be released on Virtual Console.

Music samples: Title Screen / Stage 1 Sewers / Stage 3 Train

And that's it! If you get the chance, check out Sunsoft's Batman Return of The Joker for the Game Boy. Please consider by entry for the giveaway!

maxcriden · Sep 16, 2014

Just updated the rules a bit, BTW. As with previous giveaways, you can enter as many times as you like.

MissileTrick · Sep 16, 2014

While thinking of other lost loved games of mine I remembered Sabre Wulf for the GBA.

Basically the point of Sabre-Wulf is to steal treasure from this wolf at each level. Throughout the level you come across platforms that you must jump over/on, but with some platforms are hard to reach so you must call on your animal friends to help you pass them. The main role, Sabreman can collect different animals to help him get to the wolf and treasure. So there is a bit of puzzle aspect which makes the game more interesting.

Now after you grabbed the treasure you must make a mad dash and escape from the wolf. During this part you are just jumping and running away. The game is pretty simple overall, but has a good chunk of replay value since it scores you on how fast you complete each level and there's also a challenge level for each level. In the challenge levels they give you a certain requirement in completing them , such as use only one type of animal or none at all. That's one of my favorite things about this game, there's more than one answer to most puzzles. Even though the difficulty level jumps around a bi and it looks a bit dated , it's still worth a play through. Plus it has DKC vibe going for it, who doesn't love that?

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 16, 2014

A mix between action platformer and RPG, Gargoyle's Quest is a unique, fantastic game and a joy to play. The graphics, sprite work, game design, level design, music, sound, art direction, atmosphere, and controls are, in my opinion, well ahead of the competition on Game Boy at the time, first party included. The meat of the game is in the sidescrolling segments. Whenever you jump into a wall, you stick to it and can even jump-climb your way up. This mechanic adds a lot of verticality to the level design and is used very well throughout the game with interesting results. There are several "weapons" to choose from and the length of your flight is extended as you advance through the game. Between these stages, there's an RPG style overworld to navigate through and get from stage to town to the next stage, etc. In this simple overworld there are random encounters played as mini stages with the objective of killing a couple of enemies. I never found this annoying or too repetitive.

Contrary to the trends of the time, the difficulty is severely lacking: this is an easy game and nothing will present much resistance throughout the entire thing. For some reason I've heard a few people say it's extremely difficult. I do not know what they were on. I beat this game when I was 7 years old and it was the first game I owned. There's a password system (or Resurrection Spells) to continue where you left off, collectibles to gain more health, NPCs to talk to in the simple towns, big bosses to beat, different paths to take, excellent music to listen to (this can't be said enough), and pretty pixels to look at. What more can you ask? The first videogame I owned and it's still one of my favorites.

Gargoyle's Quest is available on Virtual Console. It's two sequels, Gargoyle's Quest 2 for the NES and GB, and Demon's Crest for SNES, are also very good games and are both available on Virtual Console (or will be soon, in Demon's Crest case).

Music Samples: Intro and Title Screen / Overworld / Stage 1 / Best Password Music

maxcriden · Sep 17, 2014

The more of these that are on VC, the better. I plan to check out anything on VC as soon as I have a chance.

P.S. I played a good amount of Sabre Wulf but ended up being really put off by its hunting/trapping trading sidequest.

aechris · Sep 17, 2014

maxcriden said:
Just updated the rules a bit, BTW. As with previous giveaways, you can enter as many times as you like.

If that's the case, I don't need to worry about making sure my entry in a platformer!

One of my favourite games for the GBA and one that I keep coming back to year-over-year is Kururin Paradise!

It's a spinning stick game where you don't want to let it hit the walls. That pretty much it. I feel like the lead in and training through levels is so well done that by the time you realize that the game is getting pretty tough you are a super-star already. Always appreciate games that help you get good without making it feel like practise.

The thing that keeps me going back to it is the brutally strict "best time" score. You have to be near perfect to be able to beat those times (which naturally makes me retry again and again and again).

Apparently this was the second in the series. The first came out in the west I guess but I never saw it here. The sequel, Kururin Squash, for GCN (Japan-only) is also amazing.

Man, I really miss no region lock.

nynt9 · Sep 17, 2014

Scurge: Hive

This game is Metroid: Fusion, but in isometric 2.5D. Really. Don't believe me? Check it out:

Female space mercenary Jenosa Arma is our protagonist.

She gets sent to respond to a distress call from a lab on a lurid planet. Turns out the planet has been overtaken by a genetic parasite. She gets infected by the parasite which causes her to gain and lose some abilities. She fights the parasite back as she gains new abilities. The new abilities let her unlock access to new areas and help her solve puzzles.

The game is played from an isometric perspective and has a lot of platforming. Your main attack is a blaster shot. There are creatures on the planet infected by the parasite, and they can increase your infection level. When the level is too high, you start losing health, and if you die, you become a host for the infection. The game is quite fast paced, as you balance taking more infection and killing enemies efficiently. You also fight huge bosses.

The game is quite atmospheric and tense, as you explore unknown areas shrouded in mist, cold, unforgiving labs and abandoned expanses. You acquire different elements to your attacks, which have different effects on enemies.

Any of this sound familiar?

It's quite underrated and really fun, if a bit flawed. It's definitely worth playing, especially if you like Metroid. Originally released on GBA, the DS port adds some second screen stuff and is the better version.

Dash Kappei · Sep 17, 2014

Got this game already and it's awesome!

Hero of Legend · Sep 17, 2014

Hmm, after some thought on my game choice, I decided to enter with a thought on Order Up!! on 3DS by SuperVillain Studios.

Order Up was a Wii game originally and was a mere budget title published by ZOO, but I think everyone who played it will agree that it took EVERYONE by surprise and because a shining example of a diamond in the rough.

So finally years later they ported the game to 3DS and PS3, so far I've only played it on 3DS.

I tried the demo and was very surprised at how much personality and how wonderfully the touch controls work for this game, I would imagine it maybe working better on Wii as that was its original design, but I think Cooking Mama taught us all that touch controls are the real meat and potatoes here. HA!

The 3DS game does run a bit inconsistently, it fluctuates I think even from 30-60fps. My thought is that this NEEDS a Wii U port, with touch and Wiimote controls and a nice graphical polish, not sure if the latter was done on PS3.

I bought it during an eShop sale think it was $5. I haven't touched it in a long time, but I really should get back to it (and like, a bajillion other games XD).

SuperVillain have unbelievable talent for what seems to be a tiny studio, I think with the right nurturing and funds they can make true greatness. I hope they finally get on board Wii U like they want to (they said on twitter they wanted to get Tower Wars on Wii U but the lack of publisher interest and funds put it on hold. They also want to revive the Wizard RPG they had cooking on Wii at some point. Oh hey, who discovered that game long ago? I DID! XD

I also remember them saying they were working on a Wii version of a AAA Gears-clone based on a movie franchise that got delayed and their version got cancelled.

Signs point to it being Transformers: War for Cybertron (TF does have a huge movie franchise now you know

), would've gone BONKERS for that! They could've done a wicked game on Wii if Activision let them.

So yeah, that's it from me, hope you liked what I had to say.

KingDirk · Sep 17, 2014

So now's when I talk about Final Fantasy Legends III, right? The game I thought I dreamt up until recently?

The Game Boy was my first console ever. My parents were terrified about potential media consumption by me when I was young (no violent shows, limited TV time, etc) and I reeeeally has to sell them on letting me get a GBC for Pokémon-- saving up, doing extra chores, etc. When it came time to round out my catalog, too, my only options for game purchases were Wal-Marts or, more often, Sam's Clubs. I also barely knew how to use the internet so most games were mysteries to me. Final Fantasy was only a half-familiar name, if that.

Trying to remember this weird game is hard for me as I'm sure I skipped through a lot of text, but some bits I remember vividly--humans becoming mutants! The spaceship was the main character's dad! World traversal! I'm also fairly sure crystals were involved.

There are times when I wish I could engage with games the same way I could as a child. When I play Pokémon now, for instance, I am much more focused on type match-ups than constructing a weird shadow narrative about who my trainer really is and what each Pokémon means to him. Likewise, I am less likely to create my own in-world explanations for glitches or inconsistencies. Having played so many Final Fantasies and RPGs now, would a game like lodge itself into my subconscious again?

Less a story, I guess, than a musing.

Stencil · Sep 17, 2014

Oh! Oh! I've wanted to play Yumi ever since I saw Kacho Arino play it on CX...

Ok, Silhouette Mirage

A game that I picked up under typical cash-strapped 5th grader on a Friday night in the video store circumstances. This particular purchase was probably the first time I picked up a game based solely on the developer, Working Designs, whom I recognized from the Lunar series.

It was a run n' gun a la Gunstar Heroes but it had a mechanic where there were two types of baddies and you had two types of weapons. Enemies that were blue could only be attacked with blue bullets, and the red the red yadda yadda. Tough as nails for a kid my age.

It had animated intro & cutscenes, and this was at a time when, without internet or cable, I wanted to get into anime as much as I could, but it wasn't much more of a curiosity without modern technology. I went on to draw much of the enemies and characters from the game in my various notebooks, there were some great character designs.

That's my story. Don't see it mentioned here often. Runner up would've been Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck

(I honestly don't remember much other than what I wrote here)

Syril · Sep 17, 2014

I don't want to enter the giveaway (because I already have Yumi's Odd Odyssey), but I do want to mention a game for the thread. And that game is:

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night GBA version

Now, I'm not really familiar with any of the other Spyro games outside of the original Spyro the Dragon, nor do I know much of anything about the reboot trilogy that this was a part of. To be honest, that screenshot right there doesn't really say much about this game either. What does illustrate this game well is this trailer here, where it's clear that this game is pretty much Devil May Cry in 2D. As awesome as that is on its own, the part that really makes this game stand out to me is how important your surroundings are during fights. All the levels are filled with uneven ground and hazards which are just as dangerous to the enemies as they are to you, and forcing them to deal with spikes and lava and what have you is totally a valid tactic. While the Normal difficulty strikes a nice balance of being very doable without being a cakewalk, Hard makes all the enemies way more relentless and is quick to punish you for dropping combos or leaving yourself open. All in all it's just really fun and was also one of the last GBA games to ever be released. Most recently, the main designers of this game made Volgarr the Viking and are currently working on Eternal Helix.

digita1alchemy · Sep 17, 2014

The first thing that comes to mind for me would be Maestro! Jump in Music for the Nintendo DS:

This game was only released in Europe (there was a version for DSiWare in the US, but more on that later). This game is AMAZING. It's a delightful music platformer that I only found out about after I accidentally found a demo for it. You know, the DS demos buried in the Nintendo Channel on the Wii that you had to then transfer to your DS through download play and that subsequently vanished after you turned off your system... In the game you guide a bird named Presto who walks across the screen at a steady pace. You direct him by strumming on bars, which also makes music. Strumming up makes him jump, and strumming down makes him drop down one level. Its simple at first, but the complexity ramps up as the game progresses and it starts throwing all sorts of obstacles at you such as chickens to tap, eels to strum and black holes to spin. I imported the game to the US and I don't regret it, but there is also an abbreviated version on DSiWare. I'm guessing they had to cut a lot of things to meet the size requirement. Also, the track list is incredible:

Ludwig Van Beethoven– Symphony No. 5
Antonín Dvořák– New World Symphony
Madness– Our House
Traditional Japanese song - Sakura Sakura
Johann Sebastian Bach– Little Fugue
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart– A Little Night Music
Perren, Mizell et al.– ABC
Traditional French song - Vent Frais, Vent du Matin
Eduardo di Capua- 'O Sole Mio
The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Traditional English song– Greensleeves
Erik Satie– Gymnopédies No. 1
Pyotr Tchaikovsky– Sugar Plum Fairy
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins– I Put a Spell on You
Traditional Russian song– Otchi-Tchor-Ni-Ya
Johannes Brahms– Hungarian Dances
Edvard Grieg– Peer Gynt
Leonard Bernstein– The Magnificent Seven
Traditional song adapted for Georges Bizet's Carmen - El Arreglito
Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford– Fame
Ennio Morricone– The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Isaac Albéniz– Asturias
American Traditional song– When the Saints Go Marching In

Tutorial play
O Sole Mio
More varied gameplay

genjiZERO · Sep 17, 2014

Starwolf_UK said:
[Things Landmaker]

Woah, I never knew that. Super hype. I should hunt it down. Cheers

Hours Left · Sep 17, 2014

Cho Aniki Zero - PSP

The Cho Aniki series has long been viewed as just an oddity in the world if gaming, but in reality, it's a really fun and OTT ode to how to play tropes in video games in a lighthearted and playful way.

As a gay gamer, some people might think I should scoff at such outlandish portrayals of male sexuality in gaming, but it's for that exact reason that I think it's important to give these games the spotlight.

The Cho Aniki series might be a bundle of stereotypes of hyper masculine gay men as portrayed in Japanese media, but it's done without a hint of malice, and firmly with tounge in cheek. I think be celebrating these types of portrayals, and showing it's okay to poke fun at yourself, it goes a long way toward having more inclusive and enjoyable gaming experiences. Inclusive gaming means providing a variety of content, and that definitely includes the absurdist take.

As for the specific game in the series, Cho Aniki Zero, it was the first one to be officially localized into English, and is a an excellent mix of the gameplay and wackiness. While past games tended to skew to far in either direction, it was great to see an installment that struck the perfect balance. The gameplay is challenging, but rewarding, and the artstyle is vivid and engaging, and even sexy!

Overall, I think it's a wonderful game that is woefully overlooked, and I hope one day to see this fun and unique series continue on and find and even larger audience.

CloakBass · Sep 17, 2014

maxcriden said:
Glad to hear it! I'll be looking forward to reading about it.

Apologies for the wait. Some really good entries so far. Definitely a handful of games I should check out. Glad to see Astro Boy mentioned a few times. That game was way better than anyone could have reasonably expected it to be. Let’s talk about Balloon Kid!

Every Nintendo fan worth their salt is familiar with Balloon Fight, the classic Arcade/NES game. Among the modes added to the home release was Balloon Trip, which would become one of Balloon Fight’s most enduring legacies.

A few years later, Nintendo’s R&D1 division would return to the concept in 1990’s Balloon Kid for the Game Boy. With legendary names like Yoshio Sakamoto, Hirokazu Tanaka and Gunpei Yokoi at the helm, you know you’re in for a treat. Balloon Fight’s tense balloon pumping and flight mechanics return, but are now joined by a completely new atmosphere featuring a female protagonist, traditional platformer level structure and even boss battles. In essence, Balloon Kid is an extended, glorious realization of Balloon Trip. And hey, if you want to kick things old school, you can even select the original Balloon Trip from the game’s menu.

The melding of Balloon Fight’s mechanics with traditional platformer level design is brilliantly realized. The game revels in forcing the player into tricky situations as they shed balloons to fit through tunnels or furiously pump balloons before the autoscrolling lurches them into a watery death. Make no mistake, when you reach the end of the journey, your brain will be programmed to furiously inflate balloons at every idle moment. Balloon Kid is a short adventure, typical of Game Boy games of the time, complete with a Game Over screen that actually means Game Over.

No small amount of credit should be given to the wonderful atmosphere Balloon Kid crafts. A few seconds of backstory and we’re off controlling Alice as she travels in search of her brother. I guess there’s some sort of morality tale for people who want to play with balloons when they’re living in a city named “Pencilvania”. The first level transports you to a city of buildings shaped like pencils while Hirokazu Tanaka’s instantly nostalgic music takes you back to childhood. Any child at heart will feel immediately attached to this world that seems to have been borne of the decorations in a kindergarten classroom. There are throwbacks to the original Balloon Fight sprinkled throughout, including a familiar Game Over tune, bonus stages accessed through a giant Game Boy and a particularly troublesome fish.

Balloon Kid had an interesting release history to say the least. The game was released only in North America and Europe, while Japan got a version of it on the Famicom with a Hello Kitty skin. Hello Kitty World itself is almost identical to Balloon Fight, but benefits from the Famicom’s expanded color palette with bright pastel graphics that enhance the charming, child-like atmosphere. For that reason, I actually recommend this version. I unironically made sure I picked up a cart of it while I was at Nakano Broadway in Japan. Just know that it lacks the Balloon Trip mode found in the portable release. A portable version of Balloon Kid without the Hello Kitty skin was eventually released for the Game Boy Color in Japan in 2000. It features new package art, a world map, battery saves and, of course, color.

All this to say you should download Balloon Kid right now! It’s only $3 on the 3DS eShop and worth every penny. The cart itself is also quite cheap as retro games go, being something of an actually forgotten classic. Alice hasn’t so much as made a cameo since Balloon Kid, with Balloon Fight itself shouldering the brunt of the Nintendo nostalgia mindspace, but I’m always holding out hope we might see a microgame here or an assist trophy there to pay tribute to one of Nintendo’s finest lost gems.

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 17, 2014

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? for the Game Boy has nothing in common with LJN/Rare's horrendous NES game except the license and title. This is a tough game to describe to someone who's never seen it. While it mostly plays like a top-down adventure game, walking around a relatively big town, talking to characters from the movie, using items to solve puzzles, finding out what to do, etc, there are more action parts as well, where you shoot and "punch" weasels, with boss fights and the like.

All in all, this is a fun game that probably benefits from players having the patience and the will to get through it. It's pretty short and nowadays I can beat it in one not-very-long-at-all sitting. But I still find it entertaining and have no problem recommending it. There are some similarities with Goof Troop, maybe because they're both among the first games Shinji Mikami worked on, and they probably share more staff. It's mostly just in the graphical style, music, the perspective and maybe the use of items, nothing more.

As expected of Capcom, what could have been just another cash-in license game without any effort put in, like the terrible Laughing Joking Numbnuts NES game, is actually very enjoyable and has some nice ideas, music and graphics. I've always wondered if the people who worked in all those terrible licensed games knew that clueless parents would still buy their terrible games and didn't even bother trying, or if they really were that bad at their job. Or maybe I'm just bitter at THQ for tricking my innocent grandfather into spending his money on buying me Home Alone 2 for SNES... In any case, Konami and Capcom, among a few select others, were never guilty of this and I'm very grateful for it. Roger Rabbit, TMNT4 Turtles in Time and Aladdin SNES were money well spent. And thinking about it, I traded Home Alone 2 for A Link to the Past, so everything kinda worked out in the end! Thank you, grandpa!

I can't find music samples on youtube. A search only comes up with complete game playthroughs.

maxcriden · Sep 17, 2014

I'm surprised a game like Balloon Kid is actually a good game after all. I had written it off after Nintendo Life's middling to poor 4/10 review. Just goes to show I should rely more on GAFers who love and appreciate a game for a better understanding of what the game is going for. Which I guess I already knew, but it's good to be reminded of this.

Celine · Sep 17, 2014

Contrary what You might think by reading the game name, this isn't a port of a preexisting GNG game instead it's a brand new episode in the Makaimura series, known as Ghosts 'N Goblins in the west.
For those who are intimidated by Ghosts N' Goblins notorious difficulty, fear not!
Makaimura for WS is one of the more approachable entry in the series, in part thanks to the saving feature.
Makaimura suffers from a few technical flaws partly due to it being an early release in the WonderSwan lifespan:
there are noticeable slowdown with more than 2 enemy sprites on screen, the music quality is poor compared to what the series offered in the past and the graphics in general is a bit too dark (but it can be played fine with good light conditions).
Yet despite all of these problems the game is very enjoyable, with detailed 2D graphics and a few well done twists (for example the vertical stage and the branching paths in the mid of the game).
This particular episode was never ported to other systems thus it is an essential pick up for those who love the series or games in the same mold.

(I really should complete my WS centric site

)

Images:

SOLDIER · Sep 17, 2014

Okay, I'm ready for my submission. There are lots of under-appreciated 2D games I could list on PC and other platforms, but for the sake of the contest I'm sticking to a handheld game.

You're probably thinking "What? Under-appreciated? Lots of people know about that game!". You would be correct in that Super Mario Land gets plenty of appreciation as a nostalgic look at the original Game Boy...but I don't think it gets enough appreciation as a Mario title.

I'll start off with the biggest reason I like Super Mario Land so much: it's weird.

The Mario franchise has fashioned itself into familiarity with its recurring characters, worlds and enemies, but Super Mario Land was set during a time when Mario was still "finding himself", as it were. The normal Mario conventions that people were used to were turned upside down in this game; Koopa Troopas were replaced with turtles that had exploding shells. The fireball power-up was replaced with an Arkanoid-like ball that would bounce all over the place. Instead of a flag pole at the end of each level, you would have an exit leading to a bonus stage that would get progressively harder to reach. And let's not forget the shoot-em-up stages.

It was bizarre and unfamiliar....and it was also great. Super Mario Land was breaking new, unfamiliar ground, forcing players to change their perspectives on what a Mario game was and having to adapt to the new, demanding mechanics. Everything was new and challenging, and persevering led to great rewards. To use a tired anecdote, Super Mario Land was the Dark Souls of Mario games.

The bouncing ball may have been unwieldy in taking out enemies, but it was fun as heck when used to collect coins. Arino of Game Center CX said as much, which is why you should also check out the episode where he plays it.

Another reason I love Super Mario Land so much is that it also made Mario feel like a much bigger hero than he does now. I loved the concept of Mario traveling to other far-off places to rescue princesses from enemies beyond Bowser. After Super Mario Bros 2, I thought this was what Nintendo had planned for their star mascot, but ultimately they've kept the majority of Mario's antics within the Mushroom Kingdom's borders. It's ironic that for all the flak Nintendo gets about not innovating their properties enough, they had no qualms having Mario fight Egyptian monsters and Chinese vampires back in the day. It really emphasized the "Super" in "Super Mario" for me, thinking he was this great hero who could do everything everywhere.

Super Mario Land also holds the distinction of spinning off into the darkest Nintendo-themed story ever in the form of its Valiant Comics adaption: http://4thletter.net/2009/07/the-game-boy-comic-now-youre-reading-with-power-portable-power/

The human antagonist in this story is so pathetically antisocial that he plays Super Mario Land up to the end just so he can let the final boss defeat Mario. By videogame comic levels, that is surprisingly deep and unnerving. Tatanga is a much more ruthless villain here than the game would have you believe, and the imagery of cartoon-style videogame villains going 9/11 on realistic buildings was also unnerving.

The music is great stuff too. Who doesn't love the ending theme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYtBAbqJO9k

It's also had some good remixes too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WyyrAN5XV8

So yeah, Super Mario Land may not be obscure enough in light of the games mentioned in this thread, but it's certainly obscure and under-appreciated compared to the rest of Mario's long history. But it's a part of history that should not be forgotten, and hopefully one day will be revisited.

MissileTrick · Sep 17, 2014

Aw man I remember being so pumped for maestro . I was bummed when it didn't come out for the US. Thanks to this thread I'm reminded of it and must track down a copy.

daydream · Sep 17, 2014

Killer Yakuza B said:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? for the Game Boy

Thanks for the writeup, I have a knack for overlooked licenced games on Gameboy platforms!

bizzarewars · Sep 17, 2014

I have a knack for really odd games on handheld systems and oh boy, do I have a pretty obscure handheld title I want to bring up.

Pinobee: Wings of Adventure

This is by far one of the strangest platformers I've ever played. It was one of the first launch titles for the GBA back in 2001 and was developed by Artoon, a studio formed by the original character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog Naoto Ohshima. The studio created Blinx: The Time Sweeper for the original Xbox a year later. It was among the first games that I played on the system along with a port of Earthworm Jim. At the time, Pinobee was a graphically impressive game, really showcasing what Nintendo's true follow up to the Gameboy could handle, but it definitely had it's quirks.

Pinobee is the titular character of the game; a robotic bee without a heart created by his grandfather. The goal of the game is to save your grandpa when he is kidnapped. That's the basic gist of it, and despite the fact that the main character is essentially Pinocchio meets Buck Bumble, it's a story that's been told hundreds of times in games media. The unique aspect of the game's story is how the plot is conveyed. Every time you complete a level a diary entry written from a first person perspective is shown elaborating on the events that took place during it. This led to a lot of exposition on what would have been an otherwise nonexistent story, but mainly served to show how much of a jerk the main character was (the dude was missing a heart after all).

The overall gameplay is surprisingly solid for a launch title released over a decade ago.
It's an overall simple platformer with a varied and plenty assortment of collectibles and a relatively unique movement system. Pinobee could walk and jump to defeat enemies as is typical of the genre, but he also could utilize air dashing to get around levels faster. Air dashing was very important for getting around levels and finding collectibles, and you would earn more dashes as you progressed through the game. It really was one the most appealing features of the game, plus Pinobee's head would get huge for no reason when you ran out of dashes.

The collection aspect was interesting to say the least. The game had multiple endings, and if you wanted to you could breeze through it very quickly. Level design honestly left a lot to be desired, with the collecting of various objects taking up the bulk of the levels themselves rather than getting from point A to point B. Pinobee would even mention collecting some of the objects in his diary entries. The fact that the game was graphically impressive at the time was a plus, but it was pretty easy to see that because of this they had to skimp on other aspects of it. The music, excluding the main theme, is one of the parts that suffered because of that.

The game definitely had a lot of flaws and was panned upon release, but honestly it was a pretty unique game that had a lot of interesting ideas. Although the majority of those ideas weren't executed very well it was still a pretty fun game, and definitely an interesting look at a failed mascot character that not many people remember. I would have completely forgotten about this one if it weren't for a flea market visit a few years back.

maxcriden · Sep 17, 2014

Thanks for sharing Pinobee. I feel like I heard about it or played a bit of it at some point. I'd like to check it out now regardless. I love the early 2000's weird surge of mascot platformers, such as Tak and Ty.

Rubikant · Sep 17, 2014

Syril said:
I don't want to enter the giveaway (because I already have Yumi's Odd Odyssey), but I do want to mention a game for the thread. And that game is:

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night GBA version

Now, I'm not really familiar with any of the other Spyro games outside of the original Spyro the Dragon, nor do I know much of anything about the reboot trilogy that this was a part of. To be honest, that screenshot right there doesn't really say much about this game either. What does illustrate this game well is this trailer here, where it's clear that this game is pretty much Devil May Cry in 2D. As awesome as that is on its own, the part that really makes this game stand out to me is how important your surroundings are during fights. All the levels are filled with uneven ground and hazards which are just as dangerous to the enemies as they are to you, and forcing them to deal with spikes and lava and what have you is totally a valid tactic. While the Normal difficulty strikes a nice balance of being very doable without being a cakewalk, Hard makes all the enemies way more relentless and is quick to punish you for dropping combos or leaving yourself open. All in all it's just really fun and was also one of the last GBA games to ever be released. Most recently, the main designers of this game made Volgarr the Viking and are currently working on Eternal Helix.

Here's a higher-quality version of that trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI3RujfHQUM

Also an example of a boss fight with a ninja monkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfoQsP28RNo

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 18, 2014

One more entry from me. I sorta really want to win, in case it wasn't very clear by now >.<

I know "Metroid" and "under-appreciated" don't usually go together in the same sentence but this game is definitely not appreciated enough. How the first game gets more praise than the clearly superior sequel is a wonder to me. Well, OK, I know why that is, but still.

Metroid 2 plays somewhat differently from the rest of the series. Instead of exploring a huge map, retreading your way after getting new items and power-ups to find previously unavailable passages, this game has a relatively more straight-forward map, which doesn't mean at all that there's no exploration. In order to advance, you must hunt down and kill the different kinds of Metroid in each area before before moving on to the next. A counter at the bottom of the screen lets you know how many Metroid you have left and seeing it slowly go down throughout the game until only 1 remains is very satisfactory. There are more Metroid types than in the other games, from the classic round thing to some really freaky and scary looking creatures. As expected, the atmosphere is superb and the extermination twist on the Metroid formula does wonders for the usual horror theme the series has going on. Things can get quite scary and tense, maybe more so than in the rest of the series. Sometimes just finding the discarded husk of a Metroid cadaver is enough to raise the tension in preparation for the incoming boss fight.

Most of the usual power-ups from the Metroid series can be found here, some of them for the first time: high jump, different suits, space jump, screw attack, missile expansions, bombs, jump ball, and so on, with the addition of the awesome sticky ball or whatever it is actually called (me and my friends called it the fried egg when we were kids). This one lets you stick to the walls and even the ceiling when in ball form, leading to some "interesting" exploration sessions.

To top things off, the graphics are great, particularly the Samus and different Metroid sprites. The music, by Ryoji Yoshitomi, who later worked on the Wario series, is just plain awesome if a bit scarce. If the song from the beginning doesn't get you itching to kick some Metroid ass, I'd check for a pulse, and the title screen music is downright beautiful. The whole final part of the game is particularly well done, with a great final boss and a nice ending sequence that leads directly to the Super Metroid intro.

Music samples: Title Screen / SR-388

If you like Metroid and haven't checked this game out, you owe it to yourself. All in all, it feels like a much modern game than Metroid that advanced the series towards the fan favorite, wonderful Super Metroid. Metroid 2 Return of Samus is also available on Virtual Console.

daydreaming said:
Thanks for the writeup, I have a knack for overlooked licenced games on Gameboy platforms!

My pleasure! I would have probably overlooked it too if it hadn't been the third game I ever owned. But well, it's by Capcom and has Shinji Mikami as a designer, so there's not much that could go very wrong with it. Give it a try, it'll be interesting at the very least.

@MUWANdo · Sep 18, 2014

Is there a cutoff point for this thread? I'll drop a few games on ya at some point but I'd like to get some sleep first...

maxcriden · Sep 18, 2014

@MUWANdo said:
Is there a cutoff point for this thread? I'll drop a few games on ya at some point but I'd like to get some sleep first...

I'm happy to keep the giveaway open at least until tomorrow.

bizzarewars · Sep 18, 2014

maxcriden said:
Thanks for sharing Pinobee. I feel like I heard about it or played a bit of it at some point. I'd like to check it out now regardless. I love the early 2000's weird surge of mascot platformers, such as Tak and Ty.

Absolutely! I have to agree with you when it comes to the weird mascot era. It's really interesting how many developers were throwing so many crazy characters at the wall to see what stuck. I completely forgot about Ty. Those were actually some pretty good games from what I can remember.

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 18, 2014

Trax is a really charming overhead shooter published and developed by HAL for the Game Boy in 1991. You control a little tank that can rotate its cannon to shoot in 8 directions, rampaging his way through 4 levels, leaving no sprite intact. It's really fun to just obliterate everything in your path, from enemy tanks to innocent boulders, buildings, trees, whataver happens to be in the cute little tank's way. Each stage has a sub-boss and a big boss, complete with a boss rush of sorts in the final stage. The screen scrolls both vertically and horizontally and you can move pretty much everywhere on screen, except over obvious obstacles.

Holding down the B button auto-fires, the A button rotates the cannon clockwise, there's a variety of weapon pick-ups (5, I think) and getting hit defaults your weapon back to the basic shot. You have a life bar and a couple of lifes to lose before getting the Game Over screen, but there are infinite Continues so it never gets exactly challenging. Maybe you'll lose a couple of times if you're not paying attention, but that's probably it. There's a deathmatch mode that looks like fun but I've never played it.

The cutscene style, the super charming sprites and animations, the (lack of) difficulty, a lot of things in this game will remind you of the original Kirby and it's evident that both games share a lot of staff. In fact, the tank has made a couple of cameo appereances in Kirby games. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me knows who worked in this game, but sadly there are no in-game credits. Playing it recently reminded me a bit of Mii Force, the 3DS StreetPass Plaza shooter by Good Feel; mostly because of the rotating cannons thing and the charming style.

In the end, this is a very cute, fun little game. Emphasis on the "little" part, since it's only 4 stages long and not particularly challenging, so it will take less than an hour to beat. Wether that's good or bad depends on what you expected to get from it. I like it.

Music Sample: Intro / Boss

aechris said:
One of my favourite games for the GBA and one that I keep coming back to year-over-year is Kururin Paradise!

This is a good game! I was gonna write about Kuru Kuru Kururin but there's no need to since most of what you said about the sequel applies to the first game as well. All three games were published by Nintendo, developed by Eighting (Bloody Roar, Naruto Gekito Ninja Taisen series, a bunch of super rad shooters, co-developers of Tatsunoko vs Capcom). There are Adventure and Challenge modes and it looks and sounds rather nice. This one, the first game, was the only one to come out of Japan to Europe. They're really nice games that everyone should give a try, given the opportunity.

Coincidentally, the music of Kururin series was composed by Atsuhiro Motoyama, who co-composed the music of Umihara Kawase, the SNES prequel to Yumi's Odd Odyssey. Maybe he worked on YOO as well but I don't know since I haven't played it. I'm hoping to find out soon! XP

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 18, 2014

This game always gets a bad rap around these parts and I can sort of see why, but I think that it's often not given a fair trial. If you play it more than just in passing without paying attention, with patience, conscious of the time it was released on and the games that had come out on Game Boy at that time, knowing its faults and strengths, you'll see it for the good game it is. If you open a rom on an emulator, get mad the slow main character and quit after falling on the first pit, chances are you're gonna hate it.

Sure, the main character moves like a slug and controls poorly, but that was common in a lot of Game Boy games back then. It's the absolutely superb level design and the amazing music that are among the very best on Game Boy, and that's why you should give this game a chance. There are only four stages, all very well designed, taking you not only from left to right, but up and down and to the left as well. Stage 3 in particular is very original, challenging and fun, filled to the brim with one-hit-kill-spikes that even chase you around the level. There are no sub-weapons like in most Casltevania games, but there are three whip upgrades and a couple of other items to pick up from the traditional candles. The difficulty lies mostly in trying to control the game, I guess, although once you get into the groove and start being more careful about where you stand everything becomes a lot easy.

Most people say that the sequel, Castlevania 2 Belmont's Revenge, is a much better game but I've never had the chance to play it. From what I've seen, it moves just as sluggish as this one and the level design can't be that much better given that it's already excellent in the first game. Castlevania Legends, the thirs Game Boy game in the series, is supposedly terrible and from what little I've seen of it, it certainly looks like it. There's a very good WiiWare game titled Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth that Konami and most of the Internet on calling a remake, despite it most definitely not being one. It only shares part of the title and the rolling eyeballs and a preference for spikes in one of the levels. Nothing else, not even the music, is the same. A real remake that fixes the problems the original has but keeps the fantastic music and level design would have been really good. It's a pretty cool game in its own right though, so check it out as well.

Compared to the NES Castlevanias or the second Game Boy Castlevania, this one will always come up short. That doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile game. If nothing else, at least you'll enjoy the awesome music. Castlevania The Adventure is available on Virtual Console. Sadly, the sequel isn't (yet?).

By the way, I've never known for sure if the title of this game is Castlevania The Adventure or The Castlevania Adventure. Wikipedia and GameFAQs call it Castlevania The Adventure so I went with that, but the game logo itself doesn't make it clear.

Sorry for only taking screenshots of the first stage but I hate playing on an emulator and this game demands a certain level of attention. I'll try to update the pictures later, or think of this as a avoiding spoilers...

Music Samples:
Amazing Stage 1 / Wonderful Stage 2 / Incredible Stage 3

Apologies for the double post!

maxcriden · Sep 19, 2014

No apologies necessary for the double post, KYB! I'm loving reading all of these entries and this thread has really widely exceeded my hopes for the kinds of games we'd see in here.

(I was saddened to see Trip World is only on the EU VC so far, though!)

Salsa · Sep 19, 2014

alright, here's another one that also fits the go go beckham "this should suck but is actually damn good" criteria, also for the GBA, also a 2D platformer, and also another game I ended up having completely by chance

say whaaaaaat

yeah boii

LILO & STITCH FOR THE GBA aka the most ambitious licensed game ever?

developed by digital eclipse, this game is actually a 2D platformer/shooter. Treasure-like. where you can aim your shots up, down, diagonally, etc

465675-disney-s-lilo-stitch-game-boy-advance-screenshot-stich-going.png

graphics and animation are beautiful, action is fast, controls are tight and responsive, you name it

Structure is pretty basic in which you have your weapons and basically go through levels and shoot everything on sight while grabbing a ton of collectable stuff (including clips, hence the boxart) and see what you missed at the end of the level (1 out of 5 pictures, etc). Music is also kind of funky/tropical to fit the movie and the areas you'll be exploring, but what really shines here is basically the amount of polish that went into the visuals (specially the animations) and in making the controls feel great. Something you really wouldnt expect out of a licensed game and that reminded me of stuff like Aladdin for the Genesis.

BUT, there's a twist

in some levels, you'll play as Lilo. And these levels are completely different. The game becomes a god damn Stealth/Puzzle game, where you have to activate different switches, pull levers, help characters move along, hide from enemies, and even make them fight each other. These levels mostly happen in alien ships so they go crazy with this stuff. You even get to control gravity and change up a lot of stuff that just kinda blows my mind in terms of ambition for a product like this.

these levels are also fun to play, and are a nice break from the main action as opposed to something tedius you have to "get through" which could be one's first assumption.

BUT WAIT

there's more..

WHAT

Yes. There are also SPACESHIP SHOOTER LEVELS. And you guessed it, they are also fun. Not half-assed either. You get powerups and the whole deal. You play it like you would a bonus sonic game in the sense that you're basically moving through a sphere and you can go up to the sides or even completely upside down. It's great.

You basically transition between these types of levels at a pace and flow that feels just right and keeps you from being bored.

Sadly, this is the one game I lost with my original GBA as the cart was still inside

, so I never got to finish it nor play it again. Hopefully it'll be widely available some day, but there you go.

here's a gameplay vid showcasing these 3 types of levels, to give you an idea

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 19, 2014

I know puzzles are about as far from sidescroller action games as can be, but I love quirky puzzle games and this is a really good one, so cut me some slack.

Guru Logic Champ for the GBA is a puzzle game by Compile, developers of the super classic Puyo Puyo (probably the most well known falling block puzzle aside from Tetris). Similar to Picross, in Guru Logic Champ you work your way through a puzzle to complete a pixelated picture on a grid but instead of picking directly where to place a pixel or block, you must shoot the pixels from a cannon thing at the bottom of the screen. This cannon can move from horizontally only, but the shoulder buttons rotate the entire puzzle by 90 degrees, allowing you to "attack" the puzzle from four directions. Also different to Picross is how you have an idea of how the finished image will look since you are given an incomplete picture and are told exactly what pixels are missing. In fact, your limited ammo consists exactly of how many pixels are missing from the image and that's all you have to work with. The blocks you shoot at the puzzle must hit a wall or a previously placed puzzle to stick to. Fired ammo can be sucked back into the cannon, allowing you to purposefully misfire in order to place blocks where you previously couldn't.

The premise is simple enough to immediately get the hang off and become addicted but, as is the case in most well designed puzzles, it is deep enough to allow for very complicated puzzles that will wrinkle your brain. There are more than 300 puzzles to complete and a multiplayer battle mode. I'm terrible at explaining things and I'm probably making it sounds much more complicated than it really is, so look up a video on youtube if you are interested.

The graphics have a unique cartoon style and are animated accordingly. There are even some funny cut-scenes and what appears to be a story, but I don't speak Japanese so that's that for me. The music goes very well with the unique graphical style.

I don't think Guru Logic Champ is available on Virtual Console even in Japan, but the DSiWare game Guruguru Logic plays very similarly, or so I hear. It's by D4 Enterprise and published by Nintendo. The title and the obvious similarities in game design (apparently, they even share some of the puzzles) might mean that both games are made at least in part by the same staff, but I would have thought they'd work for Compile's successor company, Compile-Heart. This DSiWare game did come out of Japan, renamed Snapdots, so go grab that if you can't get your hands on Guru Logic Champ. Or get both, I don't know. I read somewhere that there are some fan PC games too but haven't checked them out yet.

After "discovering" Picross, these kind of visual puzzles have become some of my favorite kinds of games. In most other games, when you complete a puzzle you're left with a high score or a game over screen but in a Picross puzzle you are working toward something visual and at the end you have a nice picture to look at. The whole process is more about logic, planification and elimination. Not that I don't have a blast playing Tetris regularly and think Panel de pon is easily among the best games ever.

Every single Picross game is very much worth playing and I definitely recommend all of them. Mario's Picross for the Game Boy is on the 3DS Virtual Console and there are four Picross e games on the eShop, with one more coming. While I haven't been able to buy these, Picross is Picross and more Picross is always better than less Picross.

On DS, aside from Picross DS and Picross 3D, there's the lesser known Illust Logic and Illust Logic DS + Colorful Logic. These are two very good Picross-like, both by Hudson, that play mostly the same as Picross DS, with small differences in controls and presentation. I found the puzzles in these game to be less well designed and much easier than in Picross DS, particularly in the second game, but this doesn't mean they are bad in the least. The Colorful Logic part of the title in the second game refers to a new variation that adds colors to the puzzles and is a complete blast to play. Sadly, these two games never made it out of Japan. There's also a version of Illust Logic DS + Colorful Logic on the Wii, but I've never seen it and this thread is about handheld games anyway.

Starwolf_UK · Sep 19, 2014

Killer Yakuza B said:
I don't think Guru Logic Champ is available on Virtual Console even in Japan, but the DSiWare game Guruguru Logic plays very similarly, or so I hear. It's by D4 Enterprise and published by Nintendo. The title and the obvious similarities in game design (apparently, they even share some of the puzzles) might mean that both games are made at least in part by the same staff, but I would have thought they'd work for Compile's successor company, Compile-Heart. This DSiWare game did come out of Japan, renamed Snapdots, so go grab that if you can't get your hands on Guru Logic Champ. Or get both, I don't know. I read somewhere that there are some fan PC games too but haven't checked them out yet.

I'd like to add that PAL systems have Snapdots out on the following two eShops; Australia, New Zelaand. It is the only software exclusive to these two countries.

On a 3DS without NNID linked purchase is as simple as changing the region setting to one of those two (Australia should be cheaper). If you linked an NNID to your system that prevents the changing of region setting working...since NNID isn't mandatory for 3DS you might find yourself with a spare system sometime that has no NNID linked.

Compile broke up into multiple pieces and is worthy of research and discussion. D4 did end with rights to a lot of their legacy and maybe that included parts of Guru Logic...

CloakBass · Sep 19, 2014

Pretty surprised at that Lilo & Stitch game actually being decent. I get "Taz in Escape From Mars" vibes from the Lilo sections. Will also have to check out Roger Rabbit. I miss Capcom's awesome Disney games.

maxcriden said:
I'm surprised a game like Balloon Kid is actually a good game after all. I had written it off after Nintendo Life's middling to poor 4/10 review. Just goes to show I should rely more on GAFers who love and appreciate a game for a better understanding of what the game is going for. Which I guess I already knew, but it's good to be reminded of this.

The 4 out of 10 baffled me too. I agree with some of the points they bring up (platforming without the balloon is janky in that early Game Boy way, difficulty shift is somewhat sudden) but their effect on the game as a whole seems overblown in the review.

bizzarewars said:

Somehow I never made the Pinocchio connection in my brief time with the game back when the GBA was still new. My strongest memory of this game is of Pinobee's head constantly becoming huge with the slightest provocation.

Killer Yakuza B said:

Glad you brought up Trax! Saved me the trouble of writing about it too

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who has ever played it. In my mind it will always be referred to as "Totsugeki Tank" because that's what it was listed as on the Game Boy multicart my family got for us kids from Pakistan. I can't find the isolated track on YouTube to link to, but the first stage music has been perpetually been stuck in my mind since I discovered this game.

Killer Yakuza B · Sep 19, 2014

Starwolf_UK said:
I'd like to add that PAL systems have Snapdots out on the following two eShops; Australia, New Zelaand. It is the only software exclusive to these two countries.

Compile broke up into multiple pieces and is worthy of research and discussion. D3 did end with rights to a lot of their legacy and maybe that included parts of Guru Logic...

I didn't know that Snapdots had such a limited release in Europe. That's a shame.

That's interesting about Compile. But D3 Publisher and D4 Enterprise are different companies, right? D4 is listed as the developer of Snapdots everywhere I've seen online, but I'm not sure they are actual developers. I think they're more publishers. They brought the Neo Geo games on Virtual Console, for example. Do you know if Snapdots was published by Nintendo in Japan as well? D3 is a different publisher that belongs to Namco Bandai. I don't know enough about any of these companies...

CloakBass said:
Pretty surprised at that Lilo & Stitch game actually being decent. I get "Taz in Escape From Mars" vibes from the Lilo sections. Will also have to check out Roger Rabbit. I miss Capcom's awesome Disney games.

Yeah, Lilo & Stitch looks interesting, I'll try to get my hands on it. Do check out Roger Rabbit when you get the chance, there wasn't much that Capcom could do wrong back then.

CloakBass said:
The 4 out of 10 baffled me too. I agree with some of the points they bring up (platforming without the balloon is janky in that early Game Boy way, difficulty shift is somewhat sudden) but their effect on the game as a whole seems overblown in the review.

I've seen this happen a few times with Nintendo Life's reviews. It's great that they review digital releases and it's a shame no one else bothers to, but their reviews sometimes leave the impression that the reviewer just didn't really feel like playing that game or was simply ignorant of the genre and what was actually expected of a partcular game and it affected the score. Sometimes their complains are completely off mark too. This is common with reviews from anywhere, but when your review is very probably the only one there will be, I think you should be a bit more thourough with your work. Also, sometimes people fail to recognize a game as good even if they don't particularly like it.

CloakBass said:
Glad you brought up Trax! Saved me the trouble of writing about it too Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who has ever played it. In my mind it will always be referred to as "Totsugeki Tank" because that's what it was listed as on the Game Boy multicart my family got for us kids from Pakistan. I can't find the isolated track on YouTube to link to, but the first stage music has been perpetually been stuck in my mind since I discovered this game.

Yeah! Trax is a fantastic game with a lot of personality. I particularly like the giant tripping robot boss and hate hte clown one because clowns... I looked for the stage 1 music specifically but couldn't find it either or I would have linked to it! It's the stand-out track in the game.

I also wanted to write about Mole Mania but I haven't played it enough to say anything more constructive than "It's awesome! Play it!" (Not that that wasn't what I said about the other games...).

maxcriden · Sep 19, 2014

Okay, so, let's say tonight at midnight is the deadline for the contest. I'll pick winners tomorrow!

Killer Yakuza B said:
Sometimes just finding the discarded husk of a Metroid cadaver is enough to raise the tension in preparation for the incoming boss fight.

This is SO true. It can be just terrifying to come across one and wonder what form of Metroid you'll face next.

CloakBass said:
Pretty surprised at that Lilo & Stitch game actually being decent. I get "Taz in Escape From Mars" vibes from the Lilo sections. Will also have to check out Roger Rabbit. I miss Capcom's awesome Disney games.

I actually have Lilo & Stitch myself, and while I haven't played much of it, I did watch my wife play a level or two and it looked pretty awesome. Tough as nails, too!

Vanillalite · Sep 19, 2014

If I make a 2nd post does that increase my odds of winning?

maxcriden · Sep 19, 2014

Vanillalite said:
If I make a 2nd post does that increase my odds of winning?

Depends how you look at it. I've read all of the entries and will pick the three I find the most compelling. With that said, someone could write 100 entries and none could be compelling. It's also possible the fifth entry out of 100 was one that would've gotten them the win anyways. So it's up to you!

KingDirk · Sep 19, 2014

maxcriden said:
Depends how you look at it. I've read all of the entries and will pick the three I find the most compelling. With that said, someone could write 100 entries and none could be compelling. It's also possible the fifth entry out of 100 was one that would've gotten them the win anyways. So it's up to you!

Or you could be like me, write only one that's also not compelling.

EdgeXL · Sep 19, 2014

I think a handheld game that most people overlooked was Ninja Five-O for the Gameboy Advance.

You could run around in a 2D world and attack with a sword or throw ninja stars at enemies. You could also use a hook to target surfaces and swing around like in Bionic Commando. It was just a fun little game that wasn't trying to show off rich graphics or ridiculously convoluted plots. It was just a game that controlled very well and was a lot of fun.

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