Manual Stimulation: Noobow (GameBoy)

Up until the early part of 2013, I had only a passing interest in Nintendo's GameBoy.

Oh, I owned one as a kid--got one as soon as I possibly could after it hit store shelves in the summer of 1989, in fact--and I loved it as much as anyone can love a bulky electronic gadget with a green-and-black screen.



After I sold my GameBoy system and catalog of carts a few years later, though, I rarely looked back. It just wasn't an experience I felt like revisiting, you know?

So, what happened in 2013? I came across a small blog post about the game highlighted here: Irem's Noobow.



That post included a short video of Noobow in action. I was hooked a second after I hit "start."

Over the next few months, I searched the Internet high and low for other Japan-only GameBoy games that had escaped my attention and that might appeal to me as much as Noobow.

All of that digital sleuthing resulted in me discovering import gems like Peetan, Painter Momopie and Osawagase! Penguin Boy. (OK, so that last one actually earned a Western release--as Amazing Penguin.)



Once I became aware of those titles, too, there was no going back. In the years since, I basically made it a goal to obtain complete-in-box copies of those Japanese GameBoy games and a slew of others (like Astro Rabby, Burning Paper and Cave Noire).

Curiously, each of the games I've mentioned so far were sold with stellar instruction manuals packed inside their colorful cardboard boxes.



Noobow's manual isn't as stellar as some of the others linked to at the bottom of this post, but I think it's still pretty nice.

Chiefly responsible for me calling it "nice" is that it sports a number of adorable illustrations of the eponymous Noobow, who apparently began life (and I believe continues to serve) as a mascot for a line of merchandise.



Strangely, this booklet doesn't contain even half as many illustrations as Noobow's outer box does, but at least almost all of the ones stuffed inside the manual are unique.

Also worth celebrating: the Noobow manual features three full pages of item drawings and descriptions.



If this is your first visit to this site, or if you haven't been visiting it for long, you need to know I love old game manuals that feature item drawings and descriptions.

Admittedly, the item drawings showcased here are on the rough side, but that just adds to their charm, if you ask me. (For another Japanese GameBoy manual that features rough item drawings, check out my post about the booklet made for the system's Bubble Bobble port.)



The second-to-last page of the Noobow instruction manual (see below) is supposed to be reserved for jotting down passwords, by the way. Whether or not the text a previous owner scribbled onto mine actually is a password, though, is up for debate.



Now that you've taken it all in, what do you think of the Noobow GameBoy instruction manual?

Also, if any of you have played this 1992 release, what do you think of it?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts about Astro Rabby, Bubble Bobble Junior, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, Snow Bros. Jr. and Tumblepop

Aural Gratification #2: 'Ghetto' from Gekisha Boy (PC Engine)

IREM's Gekisha Boy--or Gekibo, as I believe it used to be called in Japan--is one of those games all PC Engine fans should play.

Unfortunately, complete copies are pretty pricey these days. Also, the game has yet to hit Nintendo's Virtual Console for any system (3DS, Wii and Wii U) or in any region.

Does this mean you should go grab the ROM and play Gekisha Boy--which translates to Photograph Boy--on your emulator of choice? Sure, if that'll float your boat. IREM the game-maker basically closed up shop in 2011, so it's unlikely Gekibo or any of the company's other great titles will be re-released anytime soon, so emulation is likely to be the only avenue for most folks who want to experience this weird "action photography" game.



Just be prepared to face a stiff challenge no matter how you decide to play this 1992 offering. Successfully finishing its many stages is no easy feat, as doing so requires you to control its protagonist--his name is David Goldman, according to Wikipedia--as well as a reticle using the PC Engine's directional pad.

The good news here is that all of the time you're sure to put into beating Gekisha Boy's tough-as-nails levels means you'll become well acquainted with its soundtrack. Speaking of which, my favorite of its tunes is the one showcased in the video above. I love that it's kind of spooky--like something you'd listen to around Halloween.

Have any of you played Gekibo? If so, let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment below.

See also: my first 'Aural Gratification' post about 'Salad' from Panic Restaurant (Famicom)

Nu-Bo, Nuubou, Noobow, New--oh, whatever...

I've wanted to own this curious puzzler-platformer since I first became aware of it three years ago. (You can read my thoughts on that introduction in "His name is Noobow and I want his game.")

A year after I made Noobow's acquaintance, I came across (and quickly snapped up, naturally) the complete-in-box copy of the game showcased in the photos below.

Considering the insane prices some other obscure Japanese GameBoy titles go for these days--search eBay for Phantasm or Peetan, if you'd like proof--I got this copy for an absolute steal.

Of course, I would've been willing to spend a lot more than I did to acquire Noobow, as its packaging is the definition of "top shelf."

I mean, just look at the photo above as well as the three that follow. Every edge of Noobow's box features a little illustration of the titular character, who was an anime and manga star back in the early 1990s. 

The adorable "Noobow waving" drawing seen in the snapshot below also appears on this game's cartridge label, by the way. 

Here's the back of Noobow's box. Actually, it's just two-thirds of the back of its box; I didn't include the rest of it because a partially removed price sticker covers its lower third. 

Don't worry, I'll get rid of it eventually. (I've read that Goo Gone works pretty well in these kinds of situations as long as you don't overdo it.) After I do, maybe I'll take a few new photos and add them to my Flickr photostream.

Thankfully, the game's instruction manual is in no need of that sort of attention.

Unsurprisingly, it's stuffed with a number of so-cute-I-could-puke illustrations.

If you'd like to see more of Noobow's aww-inspiring (FYI: I made that typo on purpose) instruction pamphlet, keep your eyes peeled for another installment of my long-running "Manual Stimulation" series.

In the meantime, have any of you fine folks played this 1992, Japan-only GameBoy title? If so, what are your impressions of it?

If you haven't, I'd highly recommend checking it out via emulation as soon as you're able. It won't blow your mind, but I'm pretty sure it'll bring a smile to your face.

His name is Noobow and I want his game

While perusing the SCROLL magazine blog this past weekend, I came across the following video of a rather obscure Japanese GameBoy title called Noobow (Nu-Bo is another possibility).

As you're made well aware during the video's first few seconds, Noobow was produced by the always able folks at Irem and released in 1992.

Although Noobow's protagonist is big and slow and even a bit creepy, I can't help but want a copy of it anyway due to its intriguing combination of platforming and puzzle elements.



Another reason I've added Noobow to my lengthy "wish list" of import-only GameBoy titles: its bright yellow box art, which features the titular character sticking out his tongue at all who come across it.

Unfortunately, I doubt I'm going to find a copy--complete-in-box or otherwise--anytime soon, so I'll probably have to content myself by watching the video above for some time to come.

There's no place like Gussun Paradise

For far too long, I ignored Gussun Paradise--a Japanese PlayStation game developed and published by Irem--because I thought it was little more than another entry in the company's Gussun Oyoyo series of puzzler-platformers. (They're a bit like a mashup of Lemmings and Tetris, if you've never heard of or played them.)

That's not to suggest there's anything wrong with the Oyoyo games. I've only barely played one of them, but I enjoyed myself well enough while doing so and I plan to return to it at some point in time. Still, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm eager to buy a second Gussun Oyoyo anytime soon.



Which is why, as I said at the beginning of this post, I've long turned up my nose at anything related to Gusson Paradise. That is, until I read Gamengai's painfully brief post about it, which describes this little-known (to me, anyway) curiosity thusly:

"Irem returns to the franchise ... for a Bubble Bobble-type single-screen action game. Using a party cracker, you stun your enemies and throw bombs on them. Unlike other games in the series, there are some power-ups which allow you to shoot lasers, suck in items, double jump, etc. To mix it up a little, the stages sometimes rotate and even turn upside down."



Admittedly, I stopped reading the post after seeing "Bubble Bobble-type single-screen action game" the first time through--partially because I'm a huge fan of "Bubble Bobble clones" and partially because Gamengai's post nearly caused me to choke on my morning coffee. (What can I say? I was stunned to discover that such an awesome-sounding single-screen platformer had previously escaped my attention.)

Like any self-respecting geek, I collected myself as quickly as possible and then made the rounds of the usual online game shops in search of a complete-in-box copy of Gusson Paradise. I found a few on ebay, but I wasn't entirely happy with the price tags that were attached to them.

Any piece of art that features sprites from Irem's Gekisha Boy looks good to me

Even better is when said piece of art--which is made up of sprites taken from all sorts of games, not just Irem's wacky PC Engine title, Gekisha Boy (aka Photograph Boy)--tells the story of "a heartbroken octopus who drives to the beach to forget about his girlfriend."

The sprite taken from Gekisha Boy can be spotted in the digital collage's lower right-hand corner, by the way. Specifically, the blond-coifed head that tops the golden bass' body originally appeared (sans green makeup) on a Marilyn Monroe wannabe in the aforementioned game.

To take a closer look at this piece, officially titled "Memory Beach Part 3," check out artist Ashley Anderson's Flickr photostream. (Part 2 can be seen here, by the way, while Part 1 can be seen here.) Also, check out this post on Anderson's blog to read about how he created this piece and why it's quite literally bursting with color.

Prints of all three "Memory Beach" collages can be purchased, for $15 each (plus shipping), from Anderson's etsy shop, pressstarttobegin.

See also: 'It's like the sexy, wacky Out Run spin-off I've always wanted but never got to play' and 'Memory Beach 02'

Gekisha Boy + Rainbow Islands

Remember how I mentioned "two other recent acquisitions" at the end of my last post? Those of you who checked out my Flickr photostream know those pick-ups weren't Famicom games; rather, they were PC Engine games. (Yeah, I know, what a shocker!)

Specifically, they were Irem's Gekisha Boy (aka Photograph Boy) and NEC Avenue's Rainbow Islands.

Here's a photo of the latter game's cover art:

And here's a photo of the former's cover art:

Two more photos of Gekisha Boy--one of which features the super-cool PC Engine CoreGrafx II system--can be found on my Flickr phtostream (if you're interested in such things).