These days it feels like barely a month goes by without a
new LEGO video game being released. Back in the late nineties however games
based around the Scandinavian bricks and minifigs were still a relatively new
concept and whilst early titles such as LEGO Racers and LEGO Rock Raiders had
received mediocre reviews at best, sales were still strong and so a wave of new
games were quickly put into development. LEGO Alpha Team was one such game and would
release for the Game Boy Color in the year 2000, a month after it would land on
the PC.
Thursday, 4 January 2018
Tuesday, 3 October 2017
The Mummy - Game Boy Color - Review
It’s not often that I’d have high expectations for a game
based off of a somewhat forgettable 90’s film, least of all one on a handheld
system, but there was something about the Game Boy Color’s The Mummy that made
it look very, very promising. The Konami logo on the box was enough to catch my
attention initially, but this wasn’t just any Konami game, but an 8-bit, 2D,
horror themed Konami game, and historically when you put those things together very
good things happen. It was enough to get me excited and I couldn’t help but
wonder if The Mummy was actually a thinly veiled tribute to the classic
Castlevania series.
Sunday, 27 August 2017
A Tale of Two Game Boys - A Restoration and Modding Project Log - Part #3
Fresh off of my successful restoration project I was feeling
confident and ready to take on my first ever Game Boy mod. I began by watching
a few video tutorials and found myself wincing a little when it came to certain
stages of the backlighting process. There would be no turning back after this,
the mod would either be successful or the Game Boy would be killed in the
process. Nevertheless I was determined to see it though and so undeterred I
started shopping for parts.
Sunday, 13 August 2017
A Tale of Two Game Boys - A Restoration and Modding Project Log - Part #2
My goal was clear in my mind and I was totally focused on
achieving it. I knew nothing else would distract me over the next few days and
so my mission to restore a broken Game Boy to its former glory and all out mod
another was ready to begin...
Sunday, 30 July 2017
A Tale of Two Game Boys - A Restoration and Modding Project Log - Part #1
The Game Boy modding scene has always been something that’s intrigued
and concerned me in equal parts. Whilst I love the creative and
colourful designs that new custom buttons, shells and backlights can provide, I can’t help but feel that with each mod a small piece of gaming history is
forever lost. Yes, I know there are likely millions upon millions of unaltered
Game Boys out there in garages and attics, and I know that the number of people
who still see value in them is fairly small in the grand scheme of things.
However I also know that over the years many others will have ended up in
landfill, never to be seen again. More to the point; Nintendo aren’t making any
more of them. Whatever we have now is all there will ever be, and that number
can only ever get smaller.
But does it really matter? Should we be preserving and
restoring Game Boys to keep them as original as possible ‘warts and all’, or
should we embrace the new ways of keeping our outdated handhelds relevant in
this age of smart phones and tablets? To find out once and for all where I truly
stand on the matter I decided I would take the plunge and try my hand at both
restoring and modding an original dot-matrix Game Boy.
Friday, 28 July 2017
Quest for Camelot - Game Boy Color - Review
In 1998 Warner Brothers released their feature-length
animation ‘Quest for Camelot’. The film set in Arthurian England, was
reportedly plagued with internal conflicts during its production and was met
with widely negative reviews upon its release. The troubled film failed to make
a splash in the box office too going on to lose a whopping 40 million dollars
for the studio. I guess it turned out to be less of a Quest for Camelot and
more of a Quest to lose-a-lot then? (Sorry.) Despite this, later that year a
video game adaptation was released for the Game Boy Color courtesy of French
developer, Titus (yes, the ‘oh, no, not Titus,’ Titus).
Saturday, 1 July 2017
The Game Boy Players League - Introduction & Rules
Description: The Game Boy Players League is a friendly competition in which participants are challenged with tackling a designated Game Boy game each month. Players are awarded points based on how well they did and the points are tallied into a league table. There is no cost to join and players are free to participate as little or as often as they like. New players can join the league at any time.
Aim: To encourage the playing and collecting of Nintendo’s Game Boy line through friendly competition and an active community.
Rules:
1. On the 1st of each month a new game will be announced.
2. Players have until to the end of the month to participate in that month’s challenge.*
3. Players are awarded 1 point for participating in each month’s challenge.
4. Players are awarded an additional 2 points for completing the game (defeating final boss, or reaching end credits, or equivalent – dependant on the game)
5. Bonus Points may also be available which will be outlined for each game.
6. Players can submit multiple entries throughout each month, though they are only awarded points based on their best entry. (I.e. points for participation and completion are only awarded once.)
7. To enter, each participating player must submit a photo. The photo must clearly show proof of the players achievement as well as a hand written note with their name (or alias) and the date it was taken.
8. Players are required to use a genuine, official cart of each game, and are therefore not permitted to use multi-carts, reproductions, bootlegs or flash carts. (Due to hacks and save states)
9. Players may use any model of Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. (Super Game Boy and Game Boy Players are not permitted due to differences in clockspeed).
10. Please always play within the spirit of the game and refrain from using cheat codes, game genies or level passwords that were obtained from any means other than playing through the game legitimately.
* Late entries may be made in subsequent months. Late entries will score 1 point with an addition +1 point being awarded if the player managed to complete the game. Bonus points may not be claimed for late entries.
Players can submit entries either throught the GBPL Facebook group found here: Click Here
Or by email me at: timelessgaminguk@gmail.com
Follow this link to see the current challenge and catch up on the latest news from the GBPL: Click Here
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