Mega Man IV
The least innovative and least creative of the Mega Man games I’ve played on NES and/or Game Boy thus far. The collectible items were new, but also a tacked on, and mostly useless feature. You purchase those add-on items from Dr. Light’s lab, by using “P Chips” as the currency… those are found by defeating enemies throughout the different levels, but the lab itself is an annoying side attraction, with far too many dialog windows to you can easily be trapped into by hitting B instead of A or vice versa.
The enemies are lifted straight out of MM4/5 (NES) again, but I suppose the rematches are “new” to the GB versions. Capcom usually has a way of making each of these games worthwhile, but this one nearly had me quit the series. Chief among them a new feature requiring capturing the letters “W-I-L-Y” to open the final stage!
It was far too repetitive and boring… good thing I didn’t stop though! (More on that in the near future.)
Mega Man V
I really panned MM4 for Game Boy as being unoriginal and a bastard child mashup of two of the NES versions. It was so plain and just run of the mill that I nearly didn’t play MM5… but I’m glad I did.
Talk about a complete turnaround! MM5 for Game Boy is the same MM formula but with some fresh ideas. The robot bosses are (mostly) original and there’s an addition of a robot cat assistant just like MM’s dog Rush.
This still carried over some of the annoying “P Chip” system from the previous Game Boy game, but I could live with it as it wasn’t mandatory to get any of the items to complete the game, nor was it a prerequisite to collect the “WILY” letters either.
To top it off, this was the only version to support the Super Game Boy SNES add-on, and as such, had color support. That tremendously helped in laboring through the last of this console’s editions.
Mega Man III
Once again adds to the Game Boy iterations by borrowing heavily from the NES installments. The game is more like Mega Man 4.5 on the NES than anything else. In fact, if you go and take a look at my post for Mega Man 4 for NES, these pictures should seem familiar!
The game is a literal copy, down to small screen frustration, of those NES titles with very little innovation. It’s still something to play, but it started to make me rethink playing the Game Boy iterations of the Mega Man series…
Mega Man II
As mentioned in in a previous update, I’m plowing through the handheld versions of this series… and most of the iterations are underwhelming additions that transpose ideas from their NES siblings. This one, in particular, is a mashup of MM2 and MM3 from the NES, featuring bosses from both. (Plus the addition of Mega Man’s dog, Rush.)
Apparently, this edition was developed by a different company than the others, and there are differences as such. Those are both good and bad since Dr. Wily’s Revenge (the first Game Boy title) was incredibly difficult and unforgiving. This one at least got the on-screen size of Mega Man proportional to the levels and enemies.
IMO this one is more worth checking out than MM1 on Game Boy, and especially more if you’re a fan of MM2 and MM3 on NES (which are, IMO, the two best on that system).
Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge
I really want to call all of the Game Boy Mega Man games steaming piles of monkey poo, but it’s simply not true. Each has its strengths as well as its faults.
Each iteration is essentially the same game. Yes, the NES Mega Man games were the same basic premise as the foundation (fight 6-8 robots, gain their powers and others) with small subtle changes and new challenges in each new edition.
The Game Boy versions are just like that too, yet, where they fall short is that you typically face only four robots (half of the NES version) before entering the Dr. Wily boards. That has more to do with the Game Boy’s limitations than the developers.
The part that really doesn’t sit well is that the games are more or less watered down versions of the NES games, mimicking Mega Man 2 and on. Many of the concepts, the bosses and level themes, are lifted directly from their big brother. However, the games at least have altered level designs that present new challenges from similar ideas.
The strengths are that the Dr. Wily stages are (almost) entirely unique and offer different storylines and challenges. For that reason alone, these are worth playing through and checking off of the list.
Now, the first Game Boy version is a frustrating trek down memory lane, because MM is so big on the screen, he gets hit by EVERYTHING and its way too easy to die in this game! It adds the difficulty of a MM2 on NES and amps it up a notch trying to avoid a constant barrage of enemies!
Operation C
It’s not often that a Game Boy can live up to it’s bigger console brother, but Operation C is a fairly solid, albeit short, title.
If you’ve played Contra before, you know the drill. You’re given a small number of lives, in his case two (with a one-up after completing each stage) and have to plow through difficult button-mashing shoot-em-up levels against guerrilla forces and eventually, aliens.
If you’ve never played them, Contra is totally a mash-up of Rambo and Aliens. This small screen version is tried-and-true to the same formula, but as mentioned, there are only a handful of stages. That doesn’t downplay the difficulty or the cool additions which build on the usual concept.
In fact, even with the monochrome palette (colorized by the Game Boy Color in these screenshots) I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It’s a quick must-play for any fans of the series.
PS – the overhead view levels still suck!
Super Mario Land
Warning: this will not be a popular take.
I am not a fan of this game whatsoever. I’ll play it, but it’s far from even landing in my top five Super Mario Bros. games if it even makes the top ten.
Yes, it was immensely successful. It was the only Mario game for the Game Boy at the time, so how could it not be?
Now, SML wasn’t terrible by any means. But it’s so largely inconsistent from the other Mario titles of its era that it stands out in a not-so-good way. One reason is that Shigeru Miyamoto did not work on this game. That led to some dubious elements, to say the least.
In short, think of Super Mario Land to be a departure from the main series very much like Super Mario 2’s US version was (but nowhere near as startling of a change).
First, Mario is in a new environment known as Sarasaland. I suppose its intended to be a desert-like world, as there are Egyptian-style overtones with the overall style of the game and its enemies. However, the main boss is supposed to be a “spaceman” and therefore you’ll also see UFOs in some stages.
Goombas, Piranha Plants, and Koopas are still around, though the later act as bombs that explode after a few seconds when stomped on, rather than being able to kick their shells around. The bees from the original Mario Bros. arcade game make an appearance, Princess Peach is replaced by Princess Daisy, and the rest of the game fills in the blanks with fire-spitting dragons and other original enemies.
Also missing: the old flagpole, which is replaced with two exit doors. (One of which will send you to a bonus game to earn additional lives.)
Two of the stages have Mario piloting either a submarine or airplane in shooter game style: which is incredibly awkward. The fire flower power-up has been replaced with a “power ball” that Mario tosses: he can only use one at a time, which is another departure from a Mario series staple.
Mario himself is small on the screen, with everything incredibly condensed. This makes for some difficult jumps, but overall, the game is easier and much smaller in scale (fewer levels) than Super Mario Bros.
I didn’t overly hate this game, but I was never in love with it either. It gets a thumb in the middle verdict from me.
Mortal Kombat (Game Boy version)
If you’ve ever played Mortal Kombat and/or Nintendo’s Game Boy, then you instantly know any attempt to port this arcade classic to the small screen would be a bad idea.
My first “blacklisted” game to appear on the website, Mortal Kombat sold over a million copies on the Game Boy. I’m not sure how, but its obvious this was a cash grab that worked by slapping the dragon logo and name on the box.
The first problem, obviously, is the Game Boy’s controls. The console only had two buttons, A and B, aside from the select and start buttons. This altered the game to simply a kick and punch button, rather than high and low versions of each, which were better suited to the 16-bit consoles which had more buttons.
The arcade used a 5th “block” button which was accomplished on the handheld by holding both A and B at the same time.
This created the crap fest that would be MK for Game Boy. From the poor monochrome graphics and tinny sound, ripping half of the moves out of the game as well as censoring the violence like it’s SNES bigger brother, this game is terrible. Add lag in the controls which make it nearly impossible to even complete one fight and you have the makings for one of the worst arcade translations ever.
Avoid this game at all costs. Even if you have a morbid curiosity for awful games like I do, you still can’t fathom how bad this title is without playing it.