Game & Watch Gallery

"Just four games? Oh well, it's still a darn good masterpiece of a game!"

Let's take a trip back in time to learn the history of handheld gaming...

Back in the 1980s, nine years before the release of the Game Boy, and one year before Mario arrived on the scene, Nintendo went handheld--something no other company would have thought of. These simple handheld LCD games were unique: not only were they games, but they also had the ability to tell time. And from that day forward, these little classics would be known as ''Game and Watch'', and since the release of ''Ball'', the first Game and Watch game, on April 28, 1980, the games have been an extremely huge hit.

And now, more than fifteen years later, Nintendo has revived four of the greatest Game and Watch games ever and put them into one great game--''Game and Watch Gallery''! Now, gamers can relive what many believe to be the greatest triumph in video game history.

''Game and Watch Gallery'' consists of four games:

Fire--The building is ablaze! Help the firemen bounce the innocent people from the raging inferno and into a nearby ambulance.

Manhole--Help the unsuspecting pedestrians cross the street by covering the holes in their path. Don't let them fall into the sewers below!

Octopus--When divers begin collecting treasure from a sunken ship, an octopus has other plans: Making sure they don't make it back to the surface to see the light of day again! Collect the treasure while avoiding the sneaky octopus's tentacles.

Fire Panic--There's a fire at the gas station! And to make things worse, there's an oil leak on the top floor! Catch the oil and pass it to your pall below you, but don't miss any drips or spill it onto customers below, or else you'll be in a whole lotta trouble!

To make things even better, Mario and the gang have arrived to spice things up and give the games a modern twist! There's a modern version for every game, so check them out.

This game also has a special ''Stars'' system. For every 200 points you get in a game, you get a ''Star''. Collect as many ''Stars'' as you can to unlock a viewable gallery featuring over 15 other titles from the Game and Watch series.

All in all, ''Game and Watch Gallery'' is a great game, for both modern gamers and old-schoolers alike. If there are any games to have in your Game Boy collection, make ''Game and Watch Gallery'' one of them. I guarantee you, you'll never be bored again.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/04