Surprise! The Year of the GameBoy Continues: Bubble Ghost

OK, so every year seems to be the "Year of the GameBoy" around these parts. Sue me!

The fact is, I'm still madly in love with Nintendo's first portable system and its fine catalog of games. Sure, the latter includes a slew of crappy titles, but the same can be said of most handhelds. Plus, for me, the GameBoy's best gems are so enjoyable they make it easy to overlook its unplayable turds.

Speaking of my on-going love affair with this brick-like device (I'm talking about its design here, not its abilities), I've currently got a burr up my butt about whittling down the GameBoy portion of my lengthy gaming bucket list.

That's why I recently acquired the cart that serves as this post's focus, actually. Well, that played a role, at least. Also relevant: Bubble Ghost's adorable cover art.

And it is pretty darn adorable, wouldn't you agree?

To be honest, I'm not sure which piece of Bubble Ghost GameBoy box art I like more: the one created for Japan or the one created for North America and Europe.



Regardless, both are easy on the eyes. And both sport the same oh-so-appealing logo.

In terms of overall packaging, though, I've got to go with Japan's GameBoy port of the game. I like that it offers up random pops of color--such as the hint of teal at the top of its box front, or the vibrant pink that's splashed across its side flaps.

That same pink shows up as an accent color on the game box's back side, while a shockingly bright yellow blankets the remainder of its surface.

Similarly appealing hues can be found on every piece of Bubble Ghost's packaging. A case in point: the subdued, bubblegum-y pink featured on the game's instruction manual. Also, the banana yellow that covers its cartridge label.

OK, so the copy I recently bought and that's on display throughout this post isn't immaculate. I don't mind that as much as you might imagine. Sure, I'd love it if it were in perfect condition, but as long as it doesn't look like a dog chewed on it, I'm OK with a couple of creased manual pages or a few frayed box edges.



After all, what really matters is that the cartridge is works. And that's exactly the case here. Which is great, as Bubble Ghost is yet another of those intriguing titles that is perfectly suited to the GameBoy.

That probably sounds funny to those of you who know a bit about its history. For those of you who don't, Bubble Ghost began life in 1987 as an Atari ST game. In that release, and the numerous other PC ports that followed in the original's footsteps, players controlled the titular ghoul using a mouse.

A press of the space bar or shift key prompts the little guy to blow out a puff of air in those versions--which is important, as this is what allows you to guide the bubble mentioned in the game's title through the many halls of a haunted house.

In this GameBoy iteration (remake, really), developed by Opera House, the system's directional pad moves the pixelated specter and its face buttons produce the needed puff of air.

The latter control scheme works surprisingly well. Also, the GameBoy's archaic hardware doesn't do much to hold back Bubble Ghost's graphics or gameplay. In other words, this cartridge is well worth checking out if you're like me and you're still interested in playing decades-old handheld games.

See also: previous 'Year of the GameBoy' posts about Noobow, Peetan and Tumblepop.

Which game looks better? (Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap edition)

Considering how much I tend to love adorable games, it probably seems weird that I've barely even acknowledged any of the various iterations of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap that have been released over the years.

After all, each and every one of that Westone-made title's many ports are cute as all get-out. Don't believe me? Check out the video footage--of the 1991 PC Engine version--below.

You may notice that the video in question refers to the game Adventure Island. That's because Hudson decided to change things a bit when it moved The Dragon's Trap to NEC's Japan-conquering 16-bit console.



Other publishers similarly opted to recast this platformer's title during the porting process. A couple of examples: Sega called its on-the-go Game Gear effort Monster World II: The Dragon's Trap, while Hudson and NEC transformed Adventure Island to Dragon's Curse while localizing the former for the North American market.

I bring up all of the above because publisher DotEmu and developer Lizardcube just revealed that they're busy working on a remake of the game that will be called Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.

Apparently Lizardcube is a two-person company. Normally that would concern me, but in this case, it doesn't--thanks to the fact that the people in question (Omar Cornut and Ben Fiquet) both had a hand in creating the excellent Soul Bubbles, aka Awatama, for the Nintendo DS.



Sadly, the trailer above doesn't reveal when this prettied-up take on The Dragon's Trap will see the light of day.

In the meantime, let's chat about which one looks better. Personally, I think both sport some pretty stellar visuals. Obviously Lizardcube's reimagining is the more glossy and modern of the two, but Hudson's spritework is nothing to be sneezed at either.

What do all of you think? Also, what do you think of this latest take on Westone's classic?

Manual Stimulation: Awatama (DS)

There's been a whole lot of Awatama chatter around these parts over the last couple of weeks, hasn't there?

First, I published a post about this Japanese DS title's beautiful packaging (seriously, check it out if you haven't done so already), and then, just yesterday, I showcased the game, which is known as Soul Bubbles in other regions, in the latest entry of my still-chugging-along "A Decade of DS" (or #ADecadeofDS) series.

As such, I thought it would be fitting to devote a "Manual Stimulation" post to it as well--despite the fact that Awatama's instruction manual isn't quite as thrilling as its box art or gameplay.



That's not to say this booklet is a complete dud, of course. One look at its front and back covers is all you should need to be convinced of that. (Click on any of these scans if you want to take a closer, and much better, look at them, by the way.)



The art that appears on the right-hand page above is similarly wonderful, if you ask me. Hell, it may be even prettier than the art that's used on the manual's covers.





The next few pages aren't as exciting, I'm sad to say, although the rather tiny illustration on the left-hand page above, which shows Awatama's protagonist snoozing, nearly makes up for it.





One detail that I really like about this instruction manual is how the edges of its pages progress from one color to another in a rather subtly appealing manner.

#ADecadeofDS: Awatama (aka Soul Bubbles)

Amount of time devoted to this game in the last week--Three hours, 11 minutes.

Most recent boss toppled, location reached or milestone achieved--I've finished all of the stages in the first two worlds, Tir Tairngire and Altjeringa (no, those aren't typos), and I've just started tackling those of the third, Tomo-Kahni.

Overall comments on the experience--As I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before (either here on this blog or elsewhere), this isn't the first time I've played this Mekensleep-developed DS game. My initial experience with it happened a good number of years ago, although enough days, weeks and months have passed since then that pretty much all I can remember of it is that I enjoyed its unique, stylus-centric gameplay.

That's still the aspect that most stuck out at me during my second playthrough of Awatama (known as Soul Bubbles outside of Japan), but it's far from the only one.

For instance, Awatama is really easy on the eyes, which is especially surprising when you consider it's a DS game. It would be easy to credit that to its designers' decision to focus more on sprites than polygons, which often tend to look a bit rough given the dual-screened handheld's lack of horsepower, but that's only a fraction of the story. The rest of the story, in my opinion: the painterly art style as well as the subtle, natural colors employed while creating its graphics.

Awatama's also easy on the ears, although most people aren't going to proclaim its soundtrack to be akin to the second coming of Nobuo Uematsu, as the music here is more atmospheric than bombastic. Atmospheric is far more fitting for this serene game than bombastic ever would be, though, so don't take that as any sort of negative.

All that said, the gameplay really is the star of this particular show. At its heart, Awatama is a physics-based action game--although "action" implies an experience that is far more harried than what players actually encounter.

How so? Well, for the majority of your playthrough, all you're tasked with is transporting a bubble filled with wisp-like spirits from one end of a cavernous stage to another. This is accomplished by using your stylus to lightly flick at the lower screen of your trusty DS (or 3DS, if you're like me), an exercise that causes the game's grape-coifed protagonist to blow air of varying strengths in whichever direction you happen to swipe.

The best thing about Awatama's gameplay "hook": getting a hang of it takes seconds. That's not to say all you do while making your way through this cart is push around bubbles. No, you also create, split, join, deflate and burst them--using a handful of animal-themed masks that can be accessed with a simple press of the system's directional pad.

Add to that a number of puzzle-solving elements--an example: make a water-filled bubble so that when it pops, it puts out a fiery barrier and allows you and your flock of spirits to continue along their merry way--and you've got yourself portable title that's sure to thrill--or at least soothe--regardless of how much time you put into it.

Will I continue to play this game in the coming days, weeks and maybe even months?--Most assuredly. My goal is to finish all of its levels at least once--although I'm not sure I'll ever feel like returning to the bulk of them after that. Which is completely OK, as I'll likely have put at least five or six hours into the game by the time that comes to pass.

Do I recommend it to others?--Based on all of the above, what do you think? Of course I recommend it to others. Unfortunately, copies of the European and North American versions of the game bear cover art that's far less beautiful than what graces the front side of the Japanese iteration, but everything else is nearly identical (save the design of the protagonist) so I can't really suggest you ignore the former in favor of the latter--unless, of course, you're like me and more than a smidge loony.

Next up--My World, My Way

See also: previous 'A Decade of DS' posts

I'm going to publish my impressions of Awatama (DS) in just a bit, but in the meantime, let's ogle its beautiful box and cart-label art

Although I spent a good amount of time with the North American version of this game--called Soul Bubbles--shortly after it I got my DS Lite back in 2010 or so, the copy I cozied up to wasn't my own. (An acquaintance lent it to me.)

I enjoyed the game so much, though, that I vowed to buy my own copy at some point down the road.

Oddly, it took me until late last year to follow through with that vow--and even then I didn't buy the North American version. Instead, I bought the Japanese version, Awatama, which was released in that region in 2009 by a company known as Interchannel. (Eidos Interactive published it elsewhere the year before.)



After even a brief glance at this game's beautiful cover art, though, I'm sure you'll understand why I went with this iteration over the ones mentioned above. (For the sake of comparison, here's the Euro version's far less appealing box art.)

Awatama's cart label, showcased in the snapshot above, is similarly stunning, if you ask me. I especially like this game's deceptively simple, yet still surprisingly attractive, logo.



I'd be hard-pressed to call the art that covers the backside of Awatama's case stunning, but it's still pretty darn nice, right? After all, it includes a couple of unique illustrations along with the usual array of screenshots.

Have any of you played the European, North American or even Japanese version of this Mekensleep-made title? If so, what are your thoughts on its art style, its gameplay or any other aspect of it?

Five favorites: Japanese DS box art

Two weeks ago, I published a silly little post about my five favorite examples of Japanese Wii box art. Well, this week I'm going to cover something just as frivolous: My five favorite examples of Japanese DS box art.

Both of these posts were written up because I'm "mourning the passing," so to speak, of both the Wii and DS, by the way--which is kind of funny to me, as I'm absolutely loving my 3DS at the moment. Still, I doubt Nintendo's second dual-screened handheld will ever reach the heights of its first, so maybe that's where these feelings of abandonment (for lack of a better word) are coming from.

Anyway, you're probably wondering which pieces of Japanese DS box art I like the most. Here they are:

1. Awatama--This unique, Mekensleep-made title, which is better known as Soul Bubbles in the west, is one of those rare games that was released in Europe and North America before it was released in Japan. Japanese DS owners shouldn't feel too bad about that, though, as they got by far the best cover art, in my opinion. (Admittedly, it isn't hard to top the European creation, which can be seen here.)

2. Fushigi no Dungeon: Furai no Shiren DS--I've played a number Fushigi no Dungeon (or, Mystery Dungeon) games, but I've never played this one. That has nothing to do with its fantastic box art, of course--which may just be the best of the Fushigi no Dungeon bunch. (Only Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon's cover offers up any real competition, in my opinion.)

3. Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori--OK, so I may be a bit biased about this one. I am a fairly big fan of Nintendo's Dōbutsu no Mori (aka Animal Crossing) series, after all. Still, I think most folks would find this game's box art at least somewhat appealing--what with its adorable characters and abundance of color.