35 Years Ago, The Game Boy Made Mainstream Gaming Just A Little Stranger

As a seasoned gamer with decades under my belt, I can confidently say that the Game Boy was a revolutionary handheld device that forever changed the gaming landscape. While it might have seemed underpowered compared to its contemporaries at first glance, it was this very simplicity that allowed for the flourishing of strangeness – a testament to the fact that sometimes, less really is more.

The Game Boy, with its various versions like the Game Boy Color, is one of the most successful gaming systems ever, selling a staggering 118.69 million units. In Japan and America, it debuted one of the world’s most popular games – Tetris. It kickstarted the Pokemon franchise, which has since grown enormously. All these factors played a crucial role in establishing Nintendo’s handheld division. However, initially, the Game Boy seemed to have its share of limitations. It was compact yet bulky. Compared to other handheld devices at the time, it was intentionally less advanced. Its color palette and sound capabilities were limited, so it relied heavily on careful design choices for clarity, excitement, and appeal. In essence, to be readable, engaging, and attractive, the Game Boy had to embrace the unusual. As an outsider, it thrived in the realm of the peculiar.

An intriguing illustration of this peculiarity is The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Initially, it was an unplanned side project to adapt A Link to the Past for the Game Boy, since there were no plans to develop a unique Zelda game for that system. However, the project expanded into a standalone, original game. In fact, Director Takeshi Tezuka referred to it as a “parody” of traditional Zelda games.

The game exhibits an unyielding, peculiar charm that draws heavily from Twin Peaks, a TV show popular in Japan in 1991. Intriguingly, we learned this year that the co-creator of Twin Peaks had discussions with Nintendo about incorporating the show’s unique style into video games. Link’s Awakening shares the concept of a peculiar town and its inhabitants, but takes the strangeness to another level. You, as Link, are stranded on the enigmatic island of Koholint, far from Hyrule. Initially, the game presents itself as a comical adventure where you assist the townsfolk in their daily lives – walking their pets, shopping for them, and performing regular Zelda tasks such as solving puzzles, exploring dungeons, and battling bosses.

As the game progresses, the shadows along its periphery become more pronounced. The entire island is a figment of one’s imagination. Upon awakening the Whale Fish whose massive egg lies within the island’s central volcano, Link will also awake. In turn, the island and all the people he has come to know will disappear. This narrative is deeply moving and eerie, considered one of the most profound in the gaming medium. Video games are miniature universes that cease to exist when we turn our attention elsewhere; they only become real through our engagement with them. Link’s Awakening beautifully illustrates this dynamic, making it a heart-wrenching tale about the inevitability of loss.

In a fun twist, this game pays tribute to several other Nintendo classics. You’ll find characters like Goombas, Piranha Plants, Chain Chomps, and an adversary resembling Kirby, among others. At the time, such cross-referencing was somewhat unconventional, not just as Easter eggs, but as a playful parody of the iconic Zelda series. Even today, Nintendo is careful with its intellectual property rights; Mario hasn’t been seen in Fortnite, for instance. The reasoning behind this strategy in Link’s Awakening, as explained by Tezuka, was, “Since it was for Game Boy, we thought, ‘It’ll be okay.'”

As a child of the ’90s, I vividly remember the excitement that surrounded the release of gaming consoles. Among them, the Game Boy stood out as a unique and special device. Unlike its more popular siblings, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Nintendo 64, the Game Boy offered a different kind of gaming experience.

In a similar vein to how Zelda was given a subtle twist on Game Boy, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins introduced the character Wario, who initially portrayed as Mario’s villainous counterpart. However, in his subsequent appearance in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, he evolved into an anti-hero. Over time, Wario became a regular character within the franchise, but his unconventional behavior, like that seen in WarioWare, keeps him somewhat detached. Transforming Mario into a mischievous, greedy anti-hero might not be sacrilegious, but it certainly adds an amusing twist to the series.

In simpler terms, the games on the Game Boy from Nintendo, like many others, took on deep philosophical themes, such as the Saga, or Final Fantasy Legend in the U.S., which follows four warriors ascending a mystical tower. Each level of the tower, similar to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, represents a distinct world. The game has an expansive scope and challenges you to navigate various worlds, defeat deities, and battle oppressive systems. However, it lacks the rich character development found in most RPGs, as your journey through each world is swift, and there are few hints about what lies beyond.

This barebones approach does resemble the original Final Fantasy, but even more than that, Final Fantasy is a game about preventing the end of history: a hard point where time ceases. Its world has a long past, full of ancient civilizations and long-lost technologies. In Saga, there is a feeling of each world being in total stasis until you arrive. They each have their own plot that only you can interrupt. The final reveal–that a powerful god created the tower and its worlds for his own amusement–is hardly out of step with the RPG mold, but Saga’s simplicity makes that feel wholly frightening and existential. Like Link’s Awakening, the world seems to be someone else’s dream that will vanish upon waking. Saga’s tower may not have a history, but it does have a future. With god dead, the peoples of the tower can make their own choices, but their freedom only begins after the credits roll.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that the Game Boy, in its very name, hinted at some constraints. Back then, Nintendo, like many console creators, seemed to believe their primary audience were boys and young teenagers. However, looking back, it’s clear that this assumption was challenged and eventually shattered, often with Nintendo leading the charge.

Ever since I got my hands on the Game Boy, it’s been fascinating to see how its influence has ebbed and flowed. Today, there’s a wealth of quirky, offbeat games available on platforms like Itch.io, some designed specifically for emulation as if they were original Game Boy titles.

2024-07-31 14:09

35 Years Ago, The Game Boy Made Mainstream Gaming Just A Little Stranger

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