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.

Why watch Microsoft's E3 2014 press conference when you can watch this Gunman Clive 2 (3DS) trailer instead?

I'm sure at least a couple of you have come up with a quippy response to the question posed in the header above, but let's ignore them for a few seconds and take in the eye-opening trailer for Hörberg Productions' Gunman Clive 2:



Said trailer promises "more crazy platforming action," "more thrilling boss fights," "more color" and, best of all, "more ducks" than the first Gunman Clive, which made a splash after its release early last year. Oh, and it also promises that Gunman Clive 2 will hit the 3DS eShop sometime this fall.

Shall We Do It? (Attack of the Friday Monsters, Bravely Default demo, Hometown Story and more)

So, here we are, the very first installment of "Shall We Do It?" Like I said just under a week ago, this and subsequent installments will focus on short, but hopefully also sweet, impressions of some of the games named in the "Now Playing" list located on the right side of this blog. This time around, that means blurbs devoted to the following five 3DS titles: Attack of the Friday Monsters!, the Bravely Default demo, Gunman Story (aka Gunman Clive), Hometown Story and A Link Between Worlds.

Attack of the Friday Monsters!--Although I bought this eShop game right before Christmas, I didn't actually get around to booting it up until a week or so ago. Sadly, I'm already done with it--after just three hours of play time. They were a surprisingly enjoyable three hours, though; full of pseudo-nostalgia and nerve-racking card battles. If you're looking for a short game with a heart-warming (if a bit heavy-handed at times) story, I'd highly recommend picking up this one should you have the dough.

Bravely Default demo--I'm done with this one, too, although I played it about five hours longer than I played the title above. Anyway, considering I spent just over eight hours on this demo (and loved every second of it, I have to say) I'm fully expecting to love the full game, which hits our shores on Feb. 7, even more--especially if the word on the street is accurate and the retail release is far less focused on fetch quests.

Gunman Story (aka Gunman Clive)--I picked up this digital title early in the week while randomly perusing the Japanese 3DS eShop. I've only played a few stages (five, if memory serves) so far, but I liked them well enough that I'll definitely be coming back for more as soon as I'm able. I especially like the art style, by the way, which reminds me of the overlooked Wii gem, Ivy the Kiwi, of all things.

Hometown Story--This is another game that I bought long ago but ignored until now for all sorts of silly and stupid reasons. Anyway, I've now played this shop-owning sim for a little over an hour ... and I'm not entirely sure what I think of it. I really like its aesthetics--which surprised me, as I deemed it "cheap-looking" before I got my hands on it--but the gameplay seems kind of thin (as in, mobile-game thin) at the moment. Hopefully a bit of depth will be revealed when I put some more time into it later this week or this weekend.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds--Those of you who follow me on Twitter likely have heard me express my reservations not only about this title but about the series in general in recent months. (I haven't been excited about a Zelda game since Wind Waker's original release.) All that said, I'm really enjoying A Link Between Worlds so far. Not only does it look surprisingly lush in motion, but it feels like a classic Nintendo game--which is always a huge plus in my book. Here's hoping I stick with it longer than I stuck with Wind Waker.