A special Pikachu version of the Pokemon RPG series that was loosely based off of the TV show at the time.  Gone are the three starters for you to choose from and instead you’re saddled with Pikachu who follows you around.  He also says his name a lot.  The gameplay is you’re tasked with collecting/cataloging all the Pokemon in the world [151 at this time] and becoming the very best Pokemon trainer by beating everyone.  Collecting consists of weakening your opponent and then catching them to add to your roster.  Rinse and repeat. 

Visuals:

It’s a very simple looking game from the original Game Boy era.  Yellow adds some extended capability if you play on a Game Boy Color and above by giving the Pokemon hints of their natural colors.  The sprites of the game has also changed a bit with Pikachu resembling the anime more and some of the characters changing designs to fit the cartoon as well.  You also get little vignettes of Pikachu doing fun things but that’s up for you to find them.  Again, the visuals are a simple top down view of the game with minimal sprites in the overworld.  All of the pizzazz is in the battle scenes where the characters and Pokemon are more detailed.  But that’s about it.  Moves are just relegated to wiggling or little notes here and there.  Nothing really special.

Audio:

The game, for the most part, is identical to Blue or Red/Green with all of the sounds/screeches being the same.  The only things that change are Pikachu centric.  The opening intro changes to a little more jaunty tune of Pikachu running around.  As I said in the opening, Pikachu talks a lot.  Every time he is called into battle he enters with a VERY screechy “Pika!”  He will also have little scenes where he’s happy/confused/sad and he will let you know with more screechy words.  I can’t really complain because of the limitations of the hardware, but I’m just letting you know!  All the other Pokemon retain their traditional screeches/calls so use that how you will.

Completion:

I know I finished this game back when it released.  It was actually the first game I got with my Game Boy Color so it was nice to see it enhanced.  As for now, I got my characters to level 30, beat Misty, saved the Pokemon collector and was just like, “I don’t wanna play anymore.”  I know how the game is and while it was amazing at the time, I just don’t like the tropes it does.  I don’t like having to go back to Pokemon centers to heal or managing move counts.  I still love you, Pokemon, but it’s not you, it’s me…

The post Pokemon Yellow appeared first on Shattered Pen.

A side scrolling action/platform game about the 1989 movie. There are some cutscenes explaining the story and then throws you into the world. You go through levels while defeating thugs and collecting power ups. Also, there are robots as well.

Visuals:

We have to discuss Batman in this game. He is just so dopey looking. He looks like a baby pretending to be Batman. He’s extremely little compared to the screen and everything is just immensely bigger than him. The screenshot above even shows the barrel bigger than him. I don’t know why I find it so endearing. Other than that, everything is competent looking.

Audio:

Honestly, the audio for this game is kind of eluding me. There isn’t the Danny Elfman score or any other specialized sounds from the movie. This just seems like a generic game.

Completion:

I got through a couple of levels pretty easily. The enemies were pretty easy but there were just so many of them. One of my lives was spent falling down a pit. The rest were just lost on enemies over time except for my last life. That was lost to the BIGGEST FUCKING JACK NAPIER EVER! This dude towered over my Batman and it was fuckin funny. In the end, though, he took me out by making me fall into the vat of chemicals.

The post Batman appeared first on Shattered Pen.

Legends is a portable Castlevania game starting Sonia Belmont in which you go through stages to get to and defeat Dracula and his brood. It’s a different type of Castlevania game in that you’re not really getting additional items to help in your fight insomuch as upgrading your whip to shoot fireballs and shit. The level bosses aren’t really anything to write home about either as they seem more like mini bosses instead of the hulking Frankenstein’s monster you see in the other games. You do get Alucard [that’s Dracula backwards!]!

Visuals:

It’s a very serviceable game in that it conveys the Castlevania spirt. You get your Belmont character attacking the creatures of the night with her trusty whip and they all look very different. The levels, while not really teaming with flora or fauna, are good enough to convey where you are in the world.

Audio:

I really like the chiptunes from this game. It’s moody and very gothic sounding with some very faithful Game Boy adaptations of the classic songs. My favorite song is probably what plays in the second level. There are ghosts dancing around and it has a nice beat. The zombie trap rooms also have a fun jaunty beat as you fend of waves of zombies.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME! I initially started it on the Nintendo Switch Online service just because it was there. Then, after playing it a while, I decided to finish it on the Game Boy because why not. It really wasn’t that hard and the levels are lenient enough to finish in one or two sittings.

The post Castlevania Legends appeared first on Shattered Pen.