Game & Watch Gallery 2

"It's hard to believe that Princess Peach is actually a chef."

I like what Nintendo did back in 1998. They decided to go into their vaults and remake some of their most popular Game and Watch games. For those of you that don't know, Game and Watch games are from the early 1980's, and were sold separately. They were basically handheld video games that actually had a clock built right it. There are five games that are redone for Game and Watch Gallery 2. I will describe each game. Also as a nice bonus, the classic versions are included as well.

Parachute is a faced paced game. Your job as Mario is to try and catch the paratroopers that are dropping into the ocean. An ocean with man-eating sharks. Your job is to save them. Helmet is a very simple game. Mario must avoid the tools that are being thrown from above. Don't let any hit Mario in the head. Chef is probably the most popular game included in this collection. Your job as Peach is to flip the food until it's ready for Yoshi to eat it. Just don't flip it too many times, or it will burn the food. Don't let any food hit the floor as well.

Vermin stars Yoshi. You must move quickly to stop the moles from getting to your eggs. If they do, you lose. The final game included is a remake of the original Donkey Kong game. Donkey Kong has kidnapped Peach, and it's up to Mario to save her.

All of these games are rather easy at the beginning, but get very hard as you earn more points. In addition, the graphics are top notch, and the music is fantastic. Still, the graphics don't hold up quite as well as they did back when they first came out, but they're still nice. I must add that most of the classic versions, while nice to have, are really boring and aren't worth your time. Still you have to play them if you want to unlock everything.

Of course this game has lots of replay value. All of the games are fun, but as you get better at them, and earn more points, you can unlock more games. One classic game that can be unlocked is Ball; Nintendo's first Game and Watch game. In all, this is the type of game that will keep you busy for months. Buy it, if you can find it at a store.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/05, Updated 03/15/05