The Switch Online emulators have given me a lot of opportunities to explore an era of games I wasn't around for, and this specific game is an excellent example of one major opportunity. BACKGROUND: Though I have made great efforts to explore games from before my time, I obviously can't cover all my bases. One of my blind spots is the Game & Watch series, which is a brand of handheld LCD devices with a single, very simple game you can play. These were most prominent during the '80s, and while I've handled similar devices in my childhood, I've never encountered these toys in my life. The games are represented in Smash Bros., however, so there's no way I don't know what Game & Watch is. What I didn't know, however, is that Nintendo ended up publishing collections of these old games. I was rather excited to learn that Game & Watch Gallery was a thing, because that meant I can finally see what these old-ass games were like. I'd have loved to play them on the original hardware, but I'm happy to settle for this until an opportunity presents itself. SUMMARY: As established, Game & Watch Gallery 3 collects a bunch of Game & Watch games originally conceived for the old handheld devices. I'll talk about each and every single game later on, but for now, I'll discuss what makes the collection itself notable. Every game on this allows you to play an Easy or Hard version (the latter is simply faster than the former), but some of the games also have a Modern version that not only redoes the original with new graphics, but also adds extra gameplay mechanics. Across the board, I found the Modern versions much smoother to play, which I suppose is to be expected. Your high score in every game is tracked per difficulty, and it's not just for bragging rights. Hitting point milestones in each game gives you a star for that game at your chosen difficulty, and you can get a maximum of five stars. Barring exceptions, you're awarded a star every 200 points, so if you want full marks, you'll have to get 1000. This is easier to do in some games than in others, and in my experience, getting 1000 for the Modern versions is easier than with the Classic versions. Getting maximum five stars on Hard unlocks Star Mode for the respective game, which is much more difficult than Hard. There are no extra rewards for scoring high on this mode and only serves as a major challenge for players, which is fine. All the stars you collect across the games is totaled in Gallery Mode. Getting a specific number of stars unlocks all sorts of bonus content, like a music player feature and a museum where you can get summaries of some of the original Game & Watch games. The most significant reward comes in the form of more Game & Watch games you can play. The original selection of five games at the start practically doubles, as six more games can be unlocked by getting high scores in the available games and acquiring as many stars as you can. While the grind for high scores can become a slog, unlocking more stuff to play is worth the effort (at least for me). Now, let's talk about each of the eleven games in this collection. Egg The classic version of this has you control a wolf collecting eggs from chickens by moving the basket in four directions. If you drop an egg three times, you're out. The modern version switches things up by having you play as Yoshi, and instead of eggs, he's eating cookies. In addition, the modern version awards more points for eating cookies at the last possible second. There's also the added reward of charging a meter that lets Yoshi lay eggs that can hatch into mini-Yoshis that secure one of the lanes and eat all the cookies dropping down for a limited time. I enjoyed this one just fine. Having only a split second to figure out which incoming object to catch first in an avalanche of stuff coming at you is the fun kind of hectic. The controls have a bit of a learning curve, however, as the diagonal movement inputs are disorienting at first. Greenhouse Your character moves up and down the greenhouse to defend the plants from incoming spiders and grubs with some bug spray. If the critters get to the plants three times, it's game over. Like Egg, the modern version of Greenhouse has you play as Yoshi. The goal is the same, but you're defending the plants from Shy Guys and monkeys instead. They introduce a melon power-up that gives Yoshi fire breath if you collect ten of them, though it only really sees use when you burn up the ropes the monkeys climb down. This offers the same kind of twitch-based gameplay that Egg does, but I enjoyed this more given its more straightforward controls. Fun fact: this is where Mr. Game & Watch's jab in Smash comes from. Mario Bros. Not to be confused with the arcade game of the same name, Mario and Luigi instead work together to pass packages through conveyor belts onto a delivery truck. You control one brother with the left buttons and the other with the right buttons, and it's a bit of multitasking to keep both on the right lane so packages don't fall off. The modern version plays identically, though it obviously looks better. Having to divide your attention between Mario and Luigi is quite tricky, which made this game difficult, but satisfying. I wouldn't recommend going for 1000 points on this one, though. Turtle Bridge Your goal here is to hop from one cliff to another to deliver some sort of package to a person waiting on the other side, using only turtles to cross the body of water. The turtles will occasionally dive underwater to eat fish, so you'll want to time your jumps so you don't fall in. The recipient on the right also disappears at regular intervals, so you'll have to take that into account as well. In the modern version, you play as Toad, and you deliver items passed onto you by Mario to Peach, and instead of turtles, you're jumping on birds to cross a chasm. It's not much different apart from the notable addition of platforms in the middle. Said platform starts out as a secure place you can stand on, but the longer you survive, the platform changes to a timed platform that disappears and reappears after a few seconds. There are also clouds above the middle platform that you can use to grab coins for bonus points. Lastly, the indicators for when the birds will dive down are balloons they want to pop, and the color of the balloon tells you how quickly the birds dive. I found the classic version a tad slow and clunky and highly prefer the smoother experience of the modern version. Fun fact: Mr. Game & Watch's back-air is from this game. The animation where he jumps up and extends the box to pass it to the dude standing on the cliff is almost exactly the same as the move in Smash. Donkey Kong Jr. Unlike the Game & Watch Mario Bros., this game actually shares similarities with its arcade namesake. The goal is the same: rescue DK by climbing towards the cage and unlocking it. Differences include the need to grab a key before rescuing DK, the fixed layout of the stage, and the ability to drop a fruit to take out enemies. There's also no fall damage, which was what drove me up the wall about the NES version of both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. As for the modern versions, little else changes besides the graphics and changes to the original enemies (you encounter Goombas here, for instance). Once again, I prefer the modern version because it plays smoother than the original. Fire You control two firefighters holding a trampoline/safety net, and your job is to bounce people jumping out the burning building into the ambulance on the other side. This one is really fun, especially when it becomes a juggling game and you have to bounce multiple people across. Two fun facts for this one: the version of Fire in this collection is actually mirrored horizontally (the original handheld has the building on the left), and the trampoline is what Mr. Game & Watch uses as his up-b in Smash. Flagman There are two versions of Flagman you can play. The first is more or less Simon Says, and you have to repeat the number sequence the game shows you before time runs out. The other is more of a reflex game: press the indicated button as quickly as possible. It's nothing too complex, but the difficulty really ramps up for both games, as the patterns get longer and the time limit to press the button decreases respectively. Judge Here, you can either compete against the computer or a second player. The two characters hold hammers, and once the timer hits zero, a number is displayed above the characters. If you have a higher number and whack the opponent, you get points. If your number is lower and you whack the opponent, the opponent can retaliate, and they get points. Alternatively, you can duck out to avoid a potentially high attack. Successfully dodging when the opponent has a higher number awards points, while doing so for a lower number gives the opponent points. First player to reach 99 points is the overall winner. This game is pretty much just a gamble, and I wager it's more fun if you're going against a friend. Otherwise, it's a game that gets boring as you press one button every few seconds hoping you win. Mr. Game & Watch's most iconic moves in Smash is taken straight from this game, as his side-b has him use the Judge hammer. The number matters there, too, as hitting the maximum 9 is a kill move in most situations. Lion In this game, there's a cage in the middle housing two lions, and they're trying to get out. You control two tamers simultaneously (not unlike the Mario Bros. game in this collection), and you have to position them in front of the lions to prevent them from lunging forward and escaping. As you may expect, the lions move faster over time, but what makes them extra tough is how the lions can fake you out, and the fact that you can't move the two tamers simultaneously. I enjoyed this game as much as Mario Bros. for largely the same reason, though I found it easier to keep track of the action here. Grinding for 1000 points here is a terrible idea, however, as the action is much too slow. Here's another game represented in Mr. Game & Watch's moveset, as the chair the tamers hold in front of the lions to keep them at bay appears as the fighter's forward-tilt. Spitball Sparky This one is kind of a Breakout/Arkanoid clone, as your character blows air to launch the ball towards breakable blocks. I typically like Breakout-style games, but this one was hard to control for me. The combination of the finicky behavior of the ball and the trademark limited animations of Game & Watch titles made it difficult for me to aim the ball at the blocks. I wish this game was one of the ones given a modern version here. Yes, there's a Smash reference here, too. The action of the character blowing air upwards appears as Mr. Game & Watch's up-air. Donkey Kong II Serving as a sort of sequel to the Donkey Kong Jr. game I described previously, the goal is the same here: have Donkey Kong Jr. rescue DK by delivering a key to the cage at the top of the stage. The main difference apart from the unique stage layout is the fact that you have to deliver multiple keys to free DK. I have no strong preference between the first game and this one, but I like how more involved this one is since it's a multi-phase effort to accomplish the objective. You'll notice in these descriptions that nearly all of these Game & Watch games follow a specific design: do one task over and over that increasingly gets more hectic as the game throws more shit at you to think about. It's a far cry from the complex offerings we have today, but during those olden days, (mostly) single-screen games with limited controls and simple goals were all the rage. While I have my preferences in this collection, it's no secret that these games are designed for killing time in short bursts than they are for dedicated game sessions. Still, I do appreciate the simplicity of yesteryear.
VERDICT: As far as collections go, I liked Game & Watch Gallery 3's approach of rewarding you with more content when you do well in the unlocked games. It made pushing for high scores truly worthwhile, and the bonuses like the retrospective of Game & Watch titles was neat from a historical standpoint. The games themselves are really simple and aren't meant to be played for too long, but a lot of them are fun for what they are, and I found the same level of fulfillment I often do when I check out older games. Hopefully they add the other Game & Watch Gallery games so I can see more Game & Watch games. I'm willing to argue that the games in this collection are, in some way, "essential" titles worth checking out at least once. The original Game & Watch handhelds were Nintendo's very first foray into the video game industry, predating even their arcade releases. That historical significance alone merits trying these games, in my opinion. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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