Let's hear it for the 'Boy (or, celebrating the 27th anniversary of the GameBoy's Japanese launch)

It shouldn't be surprising to hear that I'm a big fan of Nintendo's first handheld system, the GameBoy. After all, I've written about it and its catalog of quirky games many, many times over the years. (More on that in a second.)

What should be surprising to hear is that I somehow failed to mention that yesterday was the 27th anniversary of the GameBoy's Japanese launch.

Yes, that means the GameBoy first hit store shelves in Japan all the way back on April 21, 1989.

In case you don't have a memory like an elephant (don't worry, neither do I), the brick-sized portable didn't make its way to North American until three months later (on July 31). And Europeans had to sit tight until late September of the following year.

I've been around the block a lot of times, so of course I remember reading about the GameBoy's Japanese release.

Actually, I remember more than that--I remember salivating over the impending North American release and how it would mean I'd soon be able to have a tiny NES on me at all times.

That wasn't entirely the case, of course, but that's how it seemed back then.

The GameBoy hardware and software seem quite a bit less impressive today, but that doesn't mean either of them are unimpressive--or at least they aren't in my mind.

In fact, the system's design is one of my all-time favorites. Plus, its games catalog is chock-full of underappreciated (and even unknown) classics--in my humble opinion, naturally.

If you'd like to learn more about the latter, you could do worse that check out the following:

* "Great Gaymathon" reviews of Astro Rabby, Kitchen Panic and Painter Momopie

* "Manual Stimulation" posts about Bubble Bobble, BurgerTime Deluxe and Ghostbusters 2

* My Flickr album of GameBoy software and hardware photos

Oh, and you should read through my many "Year of the GameBoy" write-ups. I'll publish more of these this year, by the way--despite the fact that doing so effectively will make it my third "Year of the GameBoy."

Are any of you GameBoy fans? Even if you're not, maybe you're a fan of a particular GameBoy title? Regardless, please share your thoughts on this momentous occasion in the comments section below.

Happy 15th anniversary, GameBoy Advance!

On Mar. 21, 2001, Nintendo released its second handheld game system--or third, if you count the GameBoy Color--in Japan.

The system in question, of course, was the GameBoy Advance.

North America, Europe and Australia didn't get the 32-bit console until three months later, in early and late June, respectively.

The GameBoy Advance garnered a lot of attention early on thanks to its 32-bit processor, its backward compatibility with the GameBoy and GameBoy Color and its impressively long list of launch-day titles--including Super Mario Advance, Kuru Kuru Kururin and ChuChu Rocket!

Speaking of Super Mario Advance, another feather in the GameBoy Advance's oddly shaped cap was the fact that it eventually housed a slew of Famicom and Super Famicom (or NES and SNES, depending on your perspective) ports.

Despite all of the above, I didn't join the GBA club until fairly late in the game. In fact, I waited until after the laptop-esque GameBoy Advance SP was released in 2003 to make that move.



Actually, I waited until sometime in 2005, as I remember buying both a black GBA SP and a copy of Pokémon Emerald at a local Toys R Us to keep me entertained during an upcoming work trip.

Although I was slow to warm up to this particular portable, I now consider myself to be a pretty big fan of it thanks to the number of must-play games that were made for it during its too-brief existence.

Some of my favorite GBA carts: Final Fantasy V Advance, Guru Logi Champ, Mother 3, Rhythm Tengoku, Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest and Zooo (aka Zoo Keeper).

Of course, I've yet to experience a bunch of the system's most intriguing titles, like Magical Vacation, Screw Breaker (aka Drill Dozer), Sennen Kazoku and Tomato Adventure.

How about all of you? Do you have fond memories of the GBA and its impressive catalog of games? If so, please share them in the comments section that follows.

See also: 'Happy 4th anniversary, Vita!' 'Seven ways you can celebrate the 27th anniversary of the PC Engine's release' and '15 memories in honor of the Sega Dreamcast's 15th anniversary'

Gunman Clive gallops onto the ... GameBoy?

To be perfectly honest, I think I would've preferred a Neo Geo Pocket Color or WonderSwan Color "demake" of Bertil Hörberg's Gunman Clive to the GameBoy-ified version that can be downloaded from gunmanclive.com, but don't take that as a complaint.

After all, even this pea-green-and-black recreation of the first Gunman Clive's first level is pretty darn awesome.

It was produced by Hörberg himself, by the way. Here's what he had to say about the effort on the site linked to above.



"I've always felt that it's basically a GameBoy game at its core. I emersed myself completely in the world of 8-bit assembler code, four-color tiles and monochromatic screens, and I enjoyed myself tremendously.

"But it ended up taking a lot more time and going a lot slower and than I anticipated. After over a month of intense development I finally have a presentable demo. There's a few more things I'd like to do with it, but I don't know if I can justify spending any more time on it."

I haven't yet tried it for myself, but apparently this ROM can be played using any "decent" GameBoy emulator or even on an actual piece of GameBoy, GameBoy Color or GameBoy Advance hardware--assuming you have access to a working flash cart.

Here's to the best $65 I've ever spent (or, the Japanese GameBoy's packaging is pretty sweet, ain't it?)

I know, I know. The "Year of the GameBoy" posts are coming fast and furious now. Sorry about that. 2014's almost over, though, and I really want to fit as many "Year of the GameBoy" write-ups into it as possible. Hence my last handful of posts.

At least this particular post isn't about a GameBoy game--although I'm not sure those of you who aren't fans of Nintendo's iconic-yet-bricklike handheld will enjoy a post about the system (as well as its Japanese packaging and instruction manual) any more than you'd enjoy a post about one of its games.

It's kind of hard to hate a post that includes photos like the one above, though, right? I mean, just look at that awesome packaging. 

Also, it includes text that alerts passersby to the fact that this system is a "Handy Game Machine." No wonder Nintendo sold a billion of these suckers in the 14-plus years they were on the market.

Here (above) is another shot of the Japanese GameBoy's packaging (and of the system itself). Sorry for the varying quality of the photos included in this post, by the way. They were taken on three different days, and each day offered up different lighting scenarios.

Anyway, the shot above showcases the Japanese GameBoy's oh-so-1990s instruction manual. And because it's a Japanese manual that was produced before, say, the year 2000, it features a number of completely adorable illustrations, such as the ones below.

The back of the GameBoy's Japanese instruction manual can be seen below. I like the design that runs along its edge. I also like that this GameBoy's original owner seemingly acquired it early in 1991.

The backside of the GameBoy's Japanese packaging isn't as thrilling as its front, but that's OK with me. At least it reminds viewers of the rechargeable battery pack Nintendo used to sell for its first handheld. I've always found its design to be appealing, for whatever reason.



I bought the GameBoy shown throughout this post early in the year, by the way, and only paid about $65 for it, if memory serves.

Even better: its screen is in immaculate condition, with absolutely no dead pixels (he says as he furiously knocks on wood)--something that can't be said about the last GameBoy I bought.

See also: previous 'Year of the GameBoy' posts

Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe: Ohanabatake wa Dai-Panic (GameBoy) is both a mouthful and an eyeful

Between May 27, 1994, and earlier this year, I was blissfully unaware of Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe: Ohanabatake wa Dai-Panic's existence.

Then, someone on Twitter pointed out this post about the game on Hardcore Gaming 101.

A glimpse of its candy-coated cover art (see photo below) was all I needed to become completely infatuated with it--which of course resulted in me doing whatever it took to track down a complete-in-box copy this Technos Japan-published title.

For those of you who've never heard of Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe before now, here's the gist: the angel and sun--Marlowe and Philip, respectively--shown on the game's box and cart-label art (see below for a photo of the latter) team up to rescue Marlowe's main squeeze, Nancy, from an evil witch named Amanda.

Oh, and along the way they do what they can to restore the wilted flowers of their world, called Bloomland.

Curiously, Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe's tower-defense-esque gameplay revolves around the above-mentioned flower-blooming campaign.  

Specifically, during each of the game's single-screen stages (there are 40 of them, according to my calculations), Philip slowly meanders around the edge while players use the GameBoy's d-pad to move Marlowe about in a far less restricted manner. (They can place him wherever they want, basically, although there are a few exceptions to that rule.) 

That freedom of movement (on the part of Marlowe) is important, as the goal in each stage is to make all of its flower buds blossom, which is accomplished by positioning a particular bud between Marlowe and Philip and then pressing the GameBoy's A button. (This action also is used to incapacitate an enemy, while pressing the B button injects Marlowe with a bit of additional speed.)

Sound like a cakewalk? It's not, to be honest, but don't take that as a complaint. Even if Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe's difficulty were a negative, it would be easy enough to overlook thanks to the game's wonderfully crafted (and animated) graphics and its ear-pleasing soundtrack.

Have any of you played this import-only title? If so, what do you think of it?

The GameBoy of my dreams? Quite possibly...

The only way this custom-painted GameBoy could be any dreamier, in my opinion, is if its design were inspired by Nintendo's Balloon Kid rather than its long-running (and long-loved) Kirby series.

That said, it's still pretty dreamy in its current state, don't you think?



Additional photos of this beauty can be encountered on artist Oskunk's blog, custom-art.blogspot.com, by the way--including one or two that show its (possibly even dreamier) backside.

See also: previous Oskunk-centric posts

12 import games I bought in 2012 but didn't tell you about until now: Tetris (GameBoy)

Of all the games that will be featured in this series of posts, this is likely to be the most boring--or maybe I should say least interesting?



So, why did I decide to include it? Because I rather like its bold, red-and-blue box art, that's why.



Speaking of which, the box art you see in the photos above is chiefly responsible for me picking up the Japanese, rather than the North American, version of "GameBoy Tetris" earlier this year.



Another reason, of course, is that I couldn't find the copy that came with the original GameBoy I dug out of my childhood closet shortly after I rang in 2012--and, really, you can't have an OG GameBoy without also having a copy of Tetris, can you?

See also: Previous '12 import games I bought in 2012 but didn't tell you about until now' posts