Thursday 17 July 2014

Game Boy Color Grab Bag

I don't really have a lot to yell about today. For your enjoyment, an assortment of things I've been experiencing and enjoying.

-Shantae! A friend of mine got me the Director's Cut of Shantae: Risky's Revenge on Steam. I played a bit of it and it was nice, but now I've decided to hold off on it until I actually clear the original Game Boy Color release. Shantae's quite lovely, really. It's everything I love about games like Castlevania II and Zelda II, but without the naggling flaws and black sheep status that makes those other games punchlines on the Internet. Hell, I gave Wayforward 12 Kickstarter dollars last year for the new Shantae, and I get that when it drops. That's the whole genie trilogy right there. I'm glad the series is an actual series now, and not just a very rare technical wonder for Game Boy Color. Here's a secret: I adore the Game Boy Color. Which leads us to...

-Ghosts 'n Goblins on Game Boy Color. This game has well and truly kidnapped my heart and soul, and god help me if I've not succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome. I even recorded a Let's Play of it. Stages 1 and 2 last night, Stages 3 to 6 this morning. Then I realized I fucked up the footage of the latter batch... and redid them. Also this morning. I'm surprised. So many people called this one of the hardest video games ever. The NES version is trickier than the GBC one, but... I don't see it. I see something different. GnG is just insidious. Parts of its design near the end of the game feel built out of proper malice towards the player. This can't even be attributed to its arcade roots, as some of the insidious elements were added TO the Famicom version by Micronics. Ridiculous and brutal... but by god, it has a charm. I love it more than the NES version.

-Club Nintendo put out their Elite rewards yesterday. There has been some complaining about the lack of quality titles. My rebuttal is as follows: They are giving away Earthbound for free. They are giving away Earthbound. For free. How you can claim this promotion is a flop is beyond me. Even the gold awards are pretty good. Zelda II! Metroid! Kid Icarus! All adventurous spaces we've explored before on the blog! A shame that Kid Icarus is the NES original on Wii U, as opposed to the superior 3D Classics version... but hey, the price is right! I grabbed Super Mario Land 2 for myself, and I'm pleased with that. I did better last year, as I was able to snag Link's Awakening DX. That turned out to be one of the best goddamn Zelda games ever. I just realized all these points have to do with the Game Boy Color. I may be a bit of a fan of that thing. On the bright side, I know what to waffle about next Tuesday!

See you tomorrow for Mighty games.

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