Perfect Dark: Flawed Color

I'm a big fan of Perfect Dark, a fact found in the couple of hundred hours I put into the game on the N64, because it just does a lot of stuff that I like. It has a near-future science fiction setting, a strong female lead, objective-based level design, a bunch of crazy weapons, and some great multiplayer maps. Sadly, I am not here to illuminate the game I love, or even the embarrassing prequel everyone tries to forget that is Perfect Dark Zero, but the embarrassing prequel that most people have had the good sense to forget, Perfect Dark for the Game Boy Color. Also developed by Rare, though presumably by a different internal team, and released a couple of months after the original game in 2000, it is a game that offers very little justification for its own existence.

Wario Land 3: Yay Torture!

The first Game Boy I ever owned was a Game Boy Color, but I didn't have too many games for it and so I didn't play it very much. I didn't really get into portable games until the Game Boy Advance, so I missed out on quite a few good games. For example, I never played any Wario games with the exception of WarioWare titles, so I missed out on the critically acclaimed Wario Land series. When I saw a beat up copy of 2000's Wario Land 3 for the Game Boy Color in the bargain bin at my local used game store for three dollars, it seemed like as good a place to start as any.

Asteroids: A Color Update For A Classic

There aren't a lot classic arcade games that I can really get into, but I've always kind of liked Asteroids. That must be why I ended up with Asteroids for the Game Boy Color, which no doubt something I got out of a bargain bin at some point. This version of the game was part of a group of remakes for modern systems in the late nineties, all of which were developed by Syrox Developments, whom were also behind the Game Gear version of The Lion King, and not much else.

Duke Nukem In COLOR!

In celebration of the release of Duke Nukem Forever, I thought it would be nice to write about one of the many Duke Nukem games made by not 3D Realms during the 14 years it was in development. This one is the simply titled Duke Nukem made for the Game Boy Color in 1999. Don't let the box art fool you, this game is not a port of Duke Nukem 3D, which clearly would not have worked on the meager hardware, it is actually something of a remake of Duke Nukem II. You know, back from when Duke was one of the PC's better 2D platformers.

Link's Awakening DX and 3DS Virtual Console

I have a weird history with The Legend of Zelda series. I've played a lot of the “main” Zelda games, but I never beat any of them. I know it's weird, but I never fell in love with the series like so many people, and I've probably put more time into Landstalker and Alundra than the Zelda series as a whole, though I never finished those games either. My group of friends and I recently played through The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures on a ridiculous 4 Gamecube, 1 Wii, 4 Game Boy Player, 5 television setup, but that's a story for another day. I'll just say that I'm pretty sure it was the first Zelda game that I'd ever beaten, and that's kind of sad.

Portable 4 Kombat

Whenever I write about a terrible game that I've had since I was a kid, I always hope that the only reason I own it is because it was on clearance or something. Firmly in that category is Mortal Kombat 4 for the Game Boy Color. The real version of Mortal Kombat 4 is bad enough, but a portable version, that's just frightening. If that weren't enough, this one was ported by Digital Eclipse, a company with a shaky track record at best. I mean, they are the guys who ported Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to Xbox Live Arcade without realizing that the button config didn't work. Inside the case for this game, I found a ticket to the first The Matrix movie, so I'd like to think that I haven't touched this thing in over twelve years.