Manual Stimulation: Moguranya (aka Mole Mania, GameBoy)

As you may have guessed from my many "Year of the GameBoy" posts, as well as a good number of my "Nice Package!" write-ups, I now own a lot of Japanese GameBoy games.

For me, a big part of the joy of owning Japanese GameBoy games--complete ones, especially--is being able to flip through their instruction manuals.







Something I've learned while paging through my many Japanese GameBoy game manuals is that the ones Nintendo packed inside its own "silver box" releases are a bit disappointing.

Moguranya's manual, highlighted here, is one example. A few others (which have yet to be featured in "Manual Stimulation" posts but will be soon enough) are GameBoy Donkey Kong and Hoshi no Kirby.

None of these GameBoy manuals are terrible, or even close to it. They're all colorful and feature some nice screenshots and illustrations. Still, they feel ... lacking.







Like, it's hard for me to go from the Bubble Bobble, Burning Paper, Ghostbusters 2, and Snow Bros. Jr. manuals to the ones I just mentioned and think, "yeah, these are an improvement."

The only "silver box" Japanese GameBoy manual I can think of that impresses me the way the above-mentioned booklets do is the one Nintendo produced for Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (aka For the Frog the Bell Tolls).

Even it could be better, though--in my opinion, of course.







As for the Moguranya (aka Mole Mania) instruction booklet showcased here, like I said, it's very nice overall. I like the pops of color and cute little design elements (especially the paw-print stamps that accompany each page's header).

The illustrations that are found here and there are lovely, too, of course. Unfortunately, there are only a handful, and a couple of them are re-used.

Taken as a whole, though, it's hard to label Moguranya's manual a dud. I'd find it a lot more impressive, though, if Nintendo's artists and designers had seen fit to fill it with even a few more adorable illustrations.







Thankfully, Moguranya's gameplay more than makes up for its somewhat meh-tastic instruction manual, so I'm not going to beat myself up for buying a complete copy of it anytime soon.

If you'd like to see what this game's outer box and cartridge look like, by the way, you can do so in this post of mine. It also includes a couple of photos of GameBoy Donkey Kong's box and manual.

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

Let's chat about (and check out a few photos of) two great Miyamoto-made GameBoy titles: Mogurānya and Donkey Kong

I know I've filled a lot of posts with words about (and photos of) some of the more obscure additions to the Japanese GameBoy catalog as of late, but I'm also interested in this iconic handheld's more common titles, too.

Two cases in point can be found in this very post.

The first is the once-little-known game known as Mogurānya in Japan and Mole Mania elsewhere.

In case you're among those who've still yet to hear about it, it's a cute little action game that was made by Nintendo EAD--led by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto--and Pax Softnica, a for-hire development house that also helped produce Balloon Kid, Mother and Mother 2 (aka EarthBound), among other classic titles.

Anyway, I've been meaning to pick up a copy of the Japanese version of this game, which was first released in that region in 1996 and elsewhere the following year, for some time now, but I only got around to it a month ago.

I actually prefer this game's North American box art to the Japanese box art seen in the photo above, but I went with the latter option anyway because, as I'm sure you've guessed, I'm on a bit of a Japanese GameBoy kick at the moment.

The back of Mogurānya's box is even less interesting than its front, if you ask me, although I do like this odd little illustration that's found in its upper-right corner.

The game's cart label, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Just look at that adorable piece of art--how can you not love it?

As for the second "case in point" that I alluded to earlier, Donkey Kong, well, what else can be said about it? After all, most folks consider it a classic, must-have GameBoy title--and, personally, I consider it one of my all-time favorite portable games.

I also consider its box art, above, to be among the cream of the crop when it comes to Nintendo's first handheld system. 

Speaking of which, I've always wondered if this release's official name is GameBoy Donkey Kong. I mean, isn't that kind of what the cover art implies? Or did the designers at Nintendo of Japan just decide to slap a big GameBoy logo above the Donkey Kong logo for some added oomph--even though a smaller version of the same logo appears in the box's upper-right corner?

I didn't snap and share any photos of this game's cartridge, by the way, because the label art's just a cropped version of the cover art.

So, I nabbed a shot of one of the manual's pages instead, as some of them feature a nice mixture of illustrations and sprites, like the example above.

I've always had a soft spot for that ladybug "enemy," by the way. How about you? Do you have any favorite enemies--or other aspects--when it comes to the GameBoy version of Donkey Kong, or even when it comes to the aforementioned Mole Mania?

See also: 'Lucky Monkey? More like lucky me ...'

If only Nintendo's Takashi Tezuka had such fond memories of Super Mario Bros. 2

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but in case I haven't: Super Mario Bros. 2 is my favorite of the two-dimensional Super Mario Bros. games. (Note: I don't consider Yoshi's Island to be a "mainline" Mario game.)

I'm not alone, apparently. Although he doesn't say so in the description he penned for the work-in-progress painting (below and here) that he posted on deviantart.com earlier this year, I have to imagine WayForward's Austin Ivansmith has similarly fond memories of the game that's known in Japan as Super Mario USA.

(By the way, I have to admit that I very much like Ivansmith's painting as is. I love that I knew, the second I saw it, which characters, and which game, it was supposed to bring to mind--despite the fact that it's made up of just outlines, noses and eyes. OK, and a pair of pixelated mustaches.)



Another person who seemingly prefers Super Mario Bros. 2 to the rest of the classic series' releases: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. At least, that's what "the man who made Mario" says in this recent ign.com article.

Sadly, it seems unlikely Miyamoto's colleague, Takashi Tezuka, feels the same way. In the aforemented article, for instance, Miyamoto says, "The Mario games of that type are really in the hands of Mr. Tezuka at this point. Because he didn't work on [Super Mario USA] ... he doesn't have memories of developing it that he would draw on to re-create concepts in the New Super Mario Bros. series now."

Are any of you as crushed as I am to hear that it's unlikely Nintendo will be making another Mario game that's akin to Super Mario USA/Super Mario Bros. 2 anytime soon?

Custom Miyamoto 3DS case

Although I need to spend more money on gaming-related goods about as much as I need another hole in my head, I can't help but crave the custom, Miyamoto-branded 3DS case below.

It was created by the proprietor of the KickassCases etsy shop, by the way, and it can be purchased (here) for just $20.



Looking for a custom 3DS case, but not interested in one that features the grinning visage of Shigeru Miyamoto? You still may want to check out the KickassCases shop--especially if you're a Mario, Yoshi or Zelda fan.

I'm pretty fond of this Kirby one and this Tetris one myself.

The Great Gaymathon Review #49: Super Mario Bros. (Famicom)

Game: Super Mario Bros.

Genre: Platformer

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

System: Famicom

Release date: 1985

My question to anyone who owns a Famicom (or an NES) but doesn't own a copy of this game: What on earth is wrong with you? I know a large number of "must own" titles were released for Nintendo's first world-conquering console, but this one is the granddaddy of them all, and no Famicom/NES collection is complete without it. There are countless good reasons for that, of course, with the main one being that the game is supremely playable (and enjoyable) thanks to Shigeru Miyamoto and company's masterful programming--which makes all of the running and jumping and everything else in Super Mario Bros. feel so sublime--and level design. (Anna Anthropy, aka auntie pixelante, expertly expounds on the latter abilities in this blog post, by the way.) There's more behind the game's must-own status than that, though, or at least there is for me. I believe that another reason so many people have been enamored by Mario's first console outing over the years is how surreal it is. I mean, it's a bit like playing a dream, isn't it? A bizarre dream, admittedly, but a dream nonetheless. How else would you describe a game in which a mustachioed plumber battles walking mushrooms and flying turtles and once in a while plucks a flower from the ground that allows him to shoot bouncing balls of fire on his way to rescuing a princess named Peach?

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Miyamoto's cave story

If you've been a gamer, especially a Nintendo gamer, for any length of time, you've likely heard what some like to call Shigeru Miyamoto's "cave story"--the one in which the legendary designer details how he, as a youngster, spent time scouring a small cave near his childhood home in Sonobe, Japan.

You've also likely played the Nintendo-published video games that resulted from Miyamoto's summertime spelunking--namely Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

Miyamoto's cave story--along with the above-mentioned games--serves as the heart and soul of Nick Paumgarten's recent profile (in The New Yorker) of Nintendo's "playful public face."

If you have any interest in the man--or, honestly, in the history of video games in general--I highly recommend reading it (here) when you have a few minutes to spare.

Also, check out this short follow-up piece, in which Paumgarten searches for the caves that inspired the man who has become, in my mind, the world's greatest game designer.

'The Creation of Mario'

What do you get when you combine Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" with the man who created Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto? Well, if you're artist Eric Proctor, you get the following:



I'm not sure which of the following elements is my favorite, to tell you the truth: The inclusion of the gender-bending Birdo or the perfectly-placed leaf sprite stolen from Super Mario Bros. 3.

To see more of Proctor's work, check out his deviantart page.

(Via gonintendo.com)