Game & Watch Gallery review

Price: $2.99
Size: 36 Blocks
First Released: 1997

Well before the Game Boy even existed, Nintendo’s LCD Game & Watch handhelds were considered the top choice for portable gaming – and the built in alarm clocks were handy too. But with only one game included per handheld unit, it was tough to bring your full game collection on the go. When the line was replaced by its higher powered cousin, bundling a handful of the best Game & Watch games onto one Game Boy cartridge was a great way to enjoy the classics long after the original units kicked the bucket. The activities in Game & Watch Gallery are still amazingly fun even after all these years.

Part of the reason the collection holds up so well is Nintendo included an updated version of each game with overhauled Game Boy era graphics featuring popular characters like Mario, Peach, Luigi, and other fan favorites in re-mastered variations. These fun reboots appear alongside the original games, and they definitely beef up the longevity of the package. Though there are two versions of each game, they’re different enough to make it feel like eight separate games, and when you figure there are two difficulty settings for each version, that’s a lot of content for a few bucks.

In Fire, Mario and Luigi team up to save bouncing rescuees that leap out of a burning castle. Moving left and right to make sure you’re underneath each character as they fall turns into a crazy juggling act. Manhole stars Yoshi, who must keep four bridges above and below him from collapsing as other characters parade back and forth. Octopus has Mario pimped out in scuba gear trying to wrench treasure from the mitts of a ticked-off cephalopod. Then there’s the more elaborate Oil Panic, where you have Mario working to capture falling oil and feed it to Yoshi before it spills everywhere. The originals are more simplistic, featuring the stickfigure-like Mr. Game & Watch, but they’re all great examples of how simple games can be seriously addictive. This is an awesome collection that still has some serious time-killing potential.

Jul 26, 2011