"This game has no resemblence to the book of Joshua."

If you hung out in religious bookstores when you were younger, chances are
that you probably saw a few video games being sold in addition to the books
and coffee mugs. Ah, the beauty of Christianity hypocrisy--creating violent
games and disguising them with a religious-sounding title, and then marketing
those games. My father gave me Joshua out of the blue one day when I was
about ten years old. Back then, the only game I owned was Tetris, so I was
pretty happy to have another game to play.

The game, Joshua, is named after the game’s main character. According to the
Old Testament, Joshua was the person who took over after Moses died and helped
lead the Hebrews to the Promised Land. I guess my father thought I would have
a better knowledge of the Bible if I played this game. He even borrowed the
Gameboy a few times to play it. However, if you're looking to get any spiritual
guidance from this game, you won't find any. You indeed play as Joshua, but
the game itself bears very little resemblance to the book of Joshua.

Gameplay: 1/10
Only one word describes the gameplay: unique. Like Edward of
Final Fantasy 4, Joshua fights by using a trumpet--when you press the B button,
musical notes shoot out of the trumpet to break stones, blast sand, or to destroy
enemies. Unfortunately, like Edward, he is quite the wuss. He dies upon
the slightest contact with the enemy.
The game that comes closet to Joshua in style is probably Chip's
Challenge. It is a top-down game, you solve puzzles involving pushing
things around (mostly rocks and vases). Like Chip's Challenge, the game
is also password based and the number of levels seem to be infinite (I myself
never have reached the end of the game, just up to level 50 or so).
To finish a level, you need to collect the 5 plaques hidden in a
stage. The plaques are hidden under rocks, sand, et cetera. They are incredibly
difficult to get to sometimes.
The system is just plain poorly done. The puzzles aren't at all
mentally challenging--it simply involves a lot of digging sand and pushing rocks
to find those plaques. There are none of the extra stuff that made Chip's
Challenge fun--slippery floors, magnetic fields, you name it. It is just
plain digging sand, blasting enemies, and avoiding rolling objects. And you
can only do so many variations on that theme--doing 99 levels or so is insane.
Due to the lack of creativity Wisdom Tree used in designing this game, I give the
Gameplay category a 2. One being the minimum score, and another point for
the fact that

Difficulty: 9/10
This is probably one of the hardest games for the Gameboy. Now, the game cartridge
was not at all licensed by Nintendo. It is funny-looking, and the connectors
are fully exposed. Obviously, it is very sensitive to dust, and a lot of good
luck is required in order to get the game to load the first time. I should
also note that because of the cart's slightly wider design, it can only fit in the old
Gameboy systems--not Gameboy pocket, Gameboy color, or Gameboy advance. If
it is this hard to put the cart in the Gameboy, how even more difficult
will this game be?
As it turns out, it is a lot more difficult to play the game itself.
It is VERY easy to die. While anybody can dig sand, not anybody
can avoid 5 attacking Jericho sentinels without being touched.
Add the sheer number of levels, and you've got a game that fits well
in the ''impossible'' category. Wisdom Tree obviously did not spend a lot
of time testplaying it. Not that I blame them--the programmers probably
would fall asleep long before testing it out.

Replay Factor: 1/10
The puzzles aren't at all mentally challenging--it simply involves a lot
of digging sand and pushing rocks to find those plaques. There are none
of the extra stuff that made Chip's Challenge fun--slippery floors, magnetic
fields, you name it. It is just plain digging sand, blasting enemies, and
avoiding rolling objects. And you can only do so many variations on that
theme--doing 99 levels or so is insane. Every level is almost exactly the
same. Find 5 plaques, finish, start over. There is no replay factor--no
rewards for getting extra points, no secret levels, no et cetera. The
''first play'' factor is barely there. I'd be surprised if there was actually
a person who managed to play through this entire game.

Control: 8/10
The controls are surprisingly good here. Joshua reacts very well
to the controls and he sure can play his trumpet well. There is virtually no
''lag''.

Graphics: 4/10
Actually, the graphics were not very bad for an independent unlicensed company.
There are some nice cutscenes, and the background is OK. The sprites are relatively
well animated. However, the low scores comes in the fact that the graphics look a wee
bit... strange? Joshua's sprite looks just like a sidescroller, kind of like Mario--you
see his side, back, and front as if you're viewing him when you're standing right beside
him, but the game's perspective is from the top (as in a RPG). As a result, the effects
look rather weird--sometimes it appears as if Joshua is walking in empty air.
I will not comment on the sound or music, since I cannot hear very well at all.
However, there is a ''Music Test'' option on the main screen where you can choose to listen to
certain songs in the game.

Storyline: N/A
There is no real plot in the game. The storyline itself is a reward as you
progress, the game tells you more and more of what Joshua did in the Bible. When you finish
several levels, you are rewarded with a still cutscene and a paraphrase of what Joshua
currently is doing:
''After the death of Moses, the Lord told Joshua to cross the river Jordan
and claim the land they had been promised. Fierce battles followed and the Lord’s promises to
the Israelites were fulfilled.''
The storylines are more of the same thing. They have no connection to the level themselves.
Why play the game when you can find out the full story in the Old Testament for free?

Fun Factor: 3/10: This game deserves a 3 when it comes to fun factor--since it is
fun for the first three levels. Seriously, though, I did have a lot of fun trying to play
this game. To a 10-year-old kid who loved playing video games at friends' houses, this
was welcome entertainment.
Obviously, this game doesn't hold a candle to the other, better Gameboy games
available. It's not really like a person can find a copy of the ten-year-old game anywhere.
I have one, but I doubt that there are many other copies out there. This game was produced
in very small runs in the first place, and it was never very popular. The only reason
you might want to buy this game is if you're trying to get a complete Gameboy game collection.

Overall, I would give this game a 2. This is a pretty bad game, but it is not the worst
game ever. Go get Metroid II, Mega Man Extreme, or Zelda if you're looking for a good
game for the Gameboy.

Note: The low review score is for the game itself, and it is not meant to be a hit
piece on the Bible or on the Book of Joshua.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/01, Updated 08/04/01