CiB Game Boy Theater - NBA Jam and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Episode 70)
1The Original Game Boy is one of the biggest 'game changers' in the history of video games, and essentially ushered in the popularity of handheld games. There are many games that will be classic forever. There are, however, a much, much higher number of simply awful, forgettable, or downright weird games. CiB Game Boy Theater shows you some of the games you might not (and shouldn't be...) familiar with.
I just want to take a moment to say that this is one of my favorite Game Boy Theater episodes. What we have here are two games that are overall pretty quality --- and I didn't expect that to be this way.
NBA Jam plays a lot like the console versions of NBA Jam - it's a little basic compared to the original one, and having to press start to use turbo is a little tough, but overall the game runs really well, and it's exactly what you would expect of NBA Jam on the Game Boy. This episode is off to a good start...
I did not expect Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure to be a decent game. I knew of the NES version, and it is truly awful. I expected an awful port of the awful NES version, but instead, we have a pretty solid Popeye clone game. I am pleasantly surprised, to say the least. The game itself isn't anything super crazy (although it controls very well), but considering I was expecting something awful, seeing a developer work within the constraints of the system --- it's a beautiful thing.
Soak it in, everyone: this is a Game Boy Theater episode where both games really are enjoyable. I'm sure we'll be back to the grind next episode...