Action Video Game/System Mega Review: Game & Watch Mickey Mouse AKA Egg

Mickey Mouse was the thirteenth game by Nintendo Research & Development 1 in Nintendo's line of Game & Watch consoles. It was redesigned without the Disney license as Egg, which was the fourteenth Game & Watch console. Both versions were released in 1981.

In the original Mickey Mouse-branded game, Mickey tends to chickens in a chicken coop and has to catch the eggs. The game is played on a simple liquid crystal display and depicts Mickey Mouse, a chicken sitting on top of one of the coops, and the eggs in a frame-by-frame style. The background panel is in color and depicts the coops from which the eggs come as well as other stationary chickens and grass. 

The Egg version is identical, except Mickey Mouse is now replaced by a wolf that is stealing eggs from chicken coops in a hen house. This version works much better thematically and is the version that Nintendo has remade and ported onto more powerful systems over the years.

Egg was converted to and remade in Game & Watch Gallery 3 for the Game Boy Color in 1999. It has the classic mode, which is identical to the original, as well as a modern mode. The modern mode takes a cue from the puzzle game Yoshi's Cookie since a blue Yoshi collects cookies as they come out of an oven. The modern version adds a bit of spice into the mix since bob-ombs will sometimes have to be avoided while the cookies are being caught.

Game & Watch Gallery 3 was available through emulation on the Virtual Console on Nintendo 3DS in 2014 as well as through the Game Boy emulator available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers on Nintendo Switch in 2023.

On a side note, in the Soviet Union, both versions of the game were bootlegged as part of the Elektronika Microprocessor Games line. Mickey Mouse was copied directly under the Russian translation of Mickey Mouse, Микки Маус. Egg became Ну, погоди!, which is romanized as Nu, pogodi!, and is translated as Well, Just You Wait! in English. Well, Just You Wait! was a popular series of animated shorts in the Soviet Union, and later in Russia, that were produced by Soyuzmultfilm. The wolf from Nu, pogodi! replaced Nintendo's wolf and the hare from Nu, pogodi! replaced the chicken sitting on top of a chicken coop.

There are also a whole bunch of Soviet Elektronika consoles that used the Soviet bootleg of the Mickey Mouse microprocessor with different art, graphics, and themes. You can find out about them in a separate review located here. 

Like all Game & Watch games, there is fun to be had with Mickey Mouse and Egg in short bursts. If you want to try it, I recommend the version in Game & Watch: Gallery 3. This way, you not only get a conversion of the original game from 1981 but a modern mode as well. The modern mode adds more advanced color graphics as well as a modification to the game formula by adding bob-ombs, which leads to a slightly less monotonous experience.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Whack-a-Mole Video Game/System Review: Game & Watch Vermin

Vermin was the third game in the popular Game & Watch series, Nintendo Research & Development 1's first series of handheld consoles. Like the other Game & Watch games, it is an LCD frame-by-frame style of game.

Vermin is a whack-a-mole game. The vermin come through the dirt toward the character that is now known as Mr. Game & Watch. He has to keep the vermin from coming to the surface by hitting them with the hammers held in his left and right hands. As mentioned above, the game is a frame-by-frame style of game. The vermin will move bit-by-bit in the dirt piles on the screen, and the goal is to simply hit the left or right button at the right time to whack them back down into their holes. As the game moves on, more vermin will have to be hit, with the speed getting progressively faster.

Vermin is an antiquated style of game, but it has been remade in both antiquated versions and in more advanced forms several times. The first was in the European-exclusive Game Boy Gallery for the original Game Boy. This version had better graphics, although still in black and white. It now has background art and the player character was given a face. 

It is in Game & Watch Gallery 2 for the Game Boy, only in Japan, and for the Game Boy Color worldwide. Vermin is available in two versions. The first is the original Game & Watch game with Mr. Game & Watch. In the modern game, the graphics are improved and Yoshi is the character with the hammer. In this version, Yoshi protects Yoshi eggs from the vermin that try to steal them.

Nintendo released several accurate conversions of Game & Watch games for the DSi, including Vermin.

The most recent remake is one of the three games in Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda. This version is the original Game & Watch version that contains the stick figure of Mr. Game & Watch with the head of Link. He hits vermin common in Hyrule with his hammers which are known as octoroks.

Like all Game & Watch games as well as all whack-a-mole games, Vermin is entertaining in short bursts. The original Game & Watch version has antiquated graphics and gameplay. The 2009 re-release adds the option to turn the bleep-bloop sound effects off, which is a much-needed addition. The version in Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda is the easiest to obtain as of the time this review was posted. However, despite the addition of Link's head and octoroks, it still has the same antiquated graphics and gameplay. The best version, by far, is in Game & Watch Gallery 2. The modern mode adds the gameplay change of keeping six eggs from being stolen as well as varied vermin such as fly guys, para troopas, and boo buddies. 

Because of the enhanced graphics and different vermin types, as well as the ability to play the original version, Game & Watch Gallery 2 is the version I recommend trying if you want to play it. It is available for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and the 3DS Virtual Console. It will also soon will be available for the Game Boy emulator on Nintendo Switch's online service. Whack-a-Mole has always been a fun timewaster in arcades, and Vermin is an entertaining twist on the classic game.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance Games Now on Nintendo Switch Online

I'm late to the party, but Nintendo has finally released the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance emulators that data miners had discovered were coming long ago.

There are two emulators, one for Game Boy and one for Game Boy Advance. Nintendo has always counted the Game Boy and Game Boy Color as part of one product line when they calculate sales, and they have done so for the Switch emulators as well.

The Game Boy emulator includes nine games so far. The games include the Game Boy Color games Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Game & Watch Gallery 3, and Wario Land 3, as well as the Game Boy, games Gargoyle's Quest, Kirby's Dream Land, Metroid 2, and Tetris. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare isn't available in Japan and Hong Kong, however, the batch of games in Japan and Hong Kong includes the Japanese Game Boy game Yakuman. 

The Game Boy Advance emulator includes six games so far. These games include Kuru Kuru Kurin, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, and WarioWare Inc.: Micro Minigame$!

The emulator that includes Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is available for all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers while the Game Boy Advance emulator is only available for subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.

Juggling Video Game/System Review: Game & Watch - Ball

Ball is an important entry in the history of video games as it was the first game in the popular Game & Watch series, Nintendo's first handheld console, and the game that popularized the trend of the LCD frame-by-frame style of game.

The Game & Watch series was conceptualized by Gunpei Yokoi, who is now remembered as the creator of the Game Boy. He got the idea for simple handheld games using a liquid crystal display after watching a man on a bullet train push buttons on an LCD calculator. 

Ball is a juggling game. The balls come toward the character that is now known as Mr. Game & Watch. He has to keep the balls from hitting the ground by hitting them up in the air when they come near his hand. As mentioned above, the game is a frame-by-frame style of game. Balls will move bit by bit on the screen, and the goal is to simply hit the left or right button at the right time to keep it moving. As the game moves on, more balls will have to be juggled, with the speed getting progressively faster.

Today, the original is an antiquated style of game, but it has been remade several times. The first was in the European-exclusive Game Boy Gallery for the original Game Boy. This version simply contained the original Game & Watch game, albeit with slightly improved graphics, such as giving the player character a face. 

In Game & Watch Gallery 2 for the Game Boy Color, Ball is an unlockable game that is available in two versions. The first is the original Game & Watch game with Mr. Game & Watch. In the modern game, the graphics are improved and four playable characters can be unlocked, each with gameplay harder than the last. Yoshi juggles Yoshi eggs, Mario juggles various items from the Super Mario series, Wario juggles balls, and Bowser juggles his various minions. Sometimes bombs will come on screen, and these need to be avoided instead of juggled.

Nintendo released several accurate conversions of Game & Watch games for the DSi, including Ball.

The most recent remake is one of the three games in Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. This version is the original Game & Watch version with either Mario or Luigi with a cheat code. It has the stick figures of Mr. Game & Watch with the head of one of the Mario brothers.

Ball is entertaining in short bursts. The original Game & Watch version is an important game in the history of video games, but it has antiquated graphics and gameplay. The 2010 re-release adds the option to turn the bleep-bloop sound effects off, which is a much-needed addition. The version in Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. is the easiest to obtain as of the time this review was posted. However, despite the addition of Mario or Luigi heads, it still has the same antiquated graphics and gameplay. The best version, by far, is in Game & Watch Gallery 2. The modern mode adds gameplay changes like bombs that make the game a lot less tedious. It's also fun in this version to play through and unlock the characters, with the difficulty increasing as you go. 

The version in Game & Watch Gallery 2 is worthy of recommendation. It's available to pick up on the Virtual Console for 3DS owners, at least until the eShop closes on March 27, 2023.

Addendum, February 27, 2022: Game & Watch Gallery 2 was also released for the original Game Boy console, but only in Japan.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

System Review: Game & Watch The Legend of Zelda

2020's Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch was a neat throwback to the height of the Nintendo craze in the 1980s. However, it was topped last year with one based on The Legend of Zelda (not connected to the 1989 Zelda Game & Watch).

Like the Mario-themed Game & Watch, the Zelda-themed version is housed in a shell that closely resembles the standard screen format Game & Watch systems. This time, though, it includes three games, or four if you count the remake of Vermin with Link in place of Mr. Game & Watch. 

Like the Mario model, the Zelda Game & Watch is a very small system with an LCD screen that displays the included games in full color, instead of black and white, frame-by-frame. graphics of the original Game & Watch systems. It consists of the Nintendo Entertainment System versions of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link faithfully reproduced through a custom emulator.

What elevates this system to the top of the Game & Watch pile, however, is the inclusion of the original black and white Game Boy version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awaking. It's a classic Game Boy game that plays on a system that replicates the Game Boy's forefather. Like onions and garlic, they just go great together.

As stated above, the system also includes a remake of the third Game & Watch game, Vermin. This version mimics the original, complete with the frame-by-frame graphics of early LCD games. This time though, it's Link that uses his hammer to smash the octoroks, giving the poor moles a well-deserved break.

As with the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch, The Legend of Zelda Game & Watch includes a neat little clock. It tells the time with The Legend of Zelda graphics, straight from the originator of the series, the first game on the Family Computer Disk System, which was released later on cartridge for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Family Computer.

As with all systems on this site, I will be individually reviewing all of the games included in this system. But until then, I'll just say that I wholeheartedly recommend this system. The Mario-based Game & Watch was a cute little throwback, but with the games included in this system, especially Link's Awakening, it is truly more than a conversation piece.

Final verdict:

5 out of 5

System Review: Game & Watch Super Mario Bros.

The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch (not to be confused with the 1986 Game & Watch game of the same name) is a fun throwback by Nintendo that celebrates two of its best-selling products, the Game & Watch LCD handhelds and the Super Mario series.

Thankfully, LCD screen technology has come a long way since 1991 when the last Game & Watch system, Mario the Juggler, was released. Instead of the slow frame-by-frame gameplay in the classic Game & Watch systems, the new Game & Watch is full color and plays the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Super Mario Bros. faithfully through a custom emulator.

Adding to the fun, the Japanese Family Computer Disk System version of Super Mario Bros. 2, also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and Super Mario Bros. For Super Players, has been included. This game isn't as well known and is hard as nails, but it's great they included it in its original form.

It also includes a Game & Watch remake that blends the first Game & Watch game, Ball, with the last Game & Watch game, Mario the Juggler. This version of Ball mimics the former, with frame-by-frame graphics, but Mario is juggling the ball.

The game also comes with a fun clock that has Super Mario. Bros.-style graphics with various actions taking place around the displayed time. The neat thing about this is that the clock is tied to some easter eggs. If you view the clock at specific times in the day, different actions will appear on the clock. The most fun easter egg, however, is the one that takes place during the ninth hour, both in the AM and in the PM. When you play Ball at this time, Mario will be replaced by Luigi.

I'll be taking a look in-depth at the included games at some point in the future, but suffice it to say, this is worth the purchase, especially if you are a fan of the included games or just a fan of Mario in general. The games included, especially the first Super Mario Bros., are classics that are infinitely replayable. I won't fault you, though, if you just use it just as a clock. It is cute.

Final verdict:

5 out of 5