Nintendo has released four additional games for the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy app. Let’s have a look!
Here’s what I thought of these games:
Game Boy App
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gradius: The Interstellar Assault | Shmup | 1 | C+ |
tl;drThis is a surprisingly good take on the Gradius formula for a Game Boy game, even preserving the series’ upgrade structure and “option” upgrades. It’s crushingly difficult so you’ll need to use the rewind function a lot, the small screen makes things cramped, and there are far fewer options (and “options” than in arcade and console entries in the series, but this is still worth playing if you don’t mind a game that was designed around the Game Boy’s limitations. | |||
| Kirby’s Star Stacker | Match-2 Puzzle | 1-2 Competitive (Local Wireless, Online) | C+ |
tl;drThis Puzzle game combines a Match-2 gameplay with a “surround the stars” mechanic somewhat similar to Othello/Reversi. It works well enough, but isn’t quite compelling in the way you want a really good Puzzle game to be. | |||
| Survival Kids | Survival Adventure | 1 | C |
tl;drThis is a pretty primitive take on the Survival Adventure, and you’ll probably want to play it with a walkthrough guide if you play it. It’s not terrible, but fans of this genre have much better modern games to play. | |||
| The Sword of Hope | Graphic Adventure / Turn-Based RPG | 1 | C |
tl;drThis is an interesting blend of Graphic Adventure and Turn-Based RPG that’s ambitious for its time, but the poor graphical capabilities and limited screen space of the Game Boy limit its ability to tell an engaging story. For fans of the Graphic Adventure and RPG genres curious to try something retro, this may be worth a look. | |||
This month’s four offerings on Game Boy all have something to offer, but for the most part what they have to offer has aged pretty poorly due to the limitations of the Game Boy hardware and tiny screen. I think Kirby’s Star Stacker is the only game of this bunch that’s not terribly compromised due to its source platform, but I also don’t think it’s an especially great Puzzle game.
On the other hand, Gradius, Survival Kids, and The Sword of Hope are all really impressive given what they had to work with, but just don’t stack up to a modern release.
Of the four releases in this bunch, I think I enjoy Gradius: The Interstellar Assault the most, though Kirby’s Star Stacker isn’t without its charms. I also find it amusing that the very first game in the Survival Kids franchise (later followed by the Lost in Blue series) is releasing on the Game Boy app exactly two weeks before its latest successor releases as a Nintendo Switch 2 launch title. Purely a coincidence, I’m sure…
Overall, even though I didn’t outright love any of these games, I don’t think this is a bad month of releases for the Game Boy.
tl;dr – The Game Boy app gets four additional games – Gradius: The Interstellar Assault, Kirby’s Star Stacker, Survival Kids, and The Sword of Hope. All four of these games have something unique and interesting to offer, though most of them have aged poorly, largely thanks to the limitations of the Game Boy hardware. Still, for players who enjoy retro titles, these should be worth a look.
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