Game & Watch: Judge

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Same System)

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Review:

The Game and Watch was a line of single-game handheld game devices that Nintendo started selling in 1980, five years before the Nintendo Entertainment System and 9 years before the Game Boy. They were advanced for the time, though of course by today’s standards they will seem extraordinarily primitive, with each game consisting of only a few images, with the game implying movement by making these images appear and disappear.

Over the years, these games have repeatedly been simulated (they can’t exactly be “ported” as their original display method was different than those of more modern videogames) in various forms. In 2010, a series of 9 such simulated Game & Watch games were released separately on Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service, and those games were grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS.

Judge was first released in 1980, and it is the fifth Game & Watch game ever released, the fifth and final game in the “Silver” line of those handheld devices. Its gameplay is extremely simple – Two characters appear on-screen, holding mallets, and you control the character on the right. After a countdown, players must decide if the number on their side is bigger than their opponent’s, and then quickly either dodge or strike based on that judgment. In other words, this is a variation on “Quick Draw”. “Game A” lets players challenge a computer opponent, and “Game B” lets a second player take the other side of the handheld for competitive play.

This is a cute way to make use of the device, but in the end this is still a dreadfully simple game that will get boring pretty quickly. Outside of its value as a historical relic, there’s not much of interest here.

In addition to the Game A and Game B options, players can opt to read instructions (modern typed instructions, nothing the original had), look at a “time” function (just looking at the device’s screen in its non-gameplay state), and…that’s about it.

The game itself uses simple monochrome visuals like the original game had, with a border made to look vaguely like the original Game & Watch system. Its sounds are just clicks and beeps that were in the original game. Only the synthesized music in the main menu provides any significant new presentation element here.

Before wrapping this up, I should note that a version of this game was included in Game & Watch Gallery 3 for the Game Boy Color, which is also available on the Nintendo 3DS via Virtual Console.

For a mere $2, Game & Watch: Judge is a solid “port” of one of Nintendo’s earliest handheld games. Having said that, even $2 for an underwhelming take on “Quick Draw” is pushing it. Unless you are a die-hard Nintendo fan wanting to collect a remake of a piece of the company’s history, this is a game you’re better off skipping.

tl;dr – Game & Watch: Judge is a recreation of one of Nintendo’s earliest handheld videogames (predating the Game Boy by nine years), and it’s faithful to the original, which means an archaic presentation and simple, shallow gameplay. Unfortunately, even by the standards of the day, I strain to think that many would be enticed by what amounts to an uninspired take on “Quick Draw”. Skip this one.

Grade: D

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