The best GBC game? Nah. A fun title? Hell yeah!
When I first got my Game Boy Color, of course I decided to look up some games to play on it. At first I went with the classics, the ones I bought the console for - Metroid II, Pokemon, etc, the golden Game Boy classics that everybody should have in their collection. But then I decided to buy some a GBC game instead of a Game Boy original. After all, that's the system I own, right? So I looked up a little on the Internet and found a few articles on GameSpot. The absolute No.1 GBC game, with 9.9 reviewer score, was Super Mario Bros. Deluxe! I said to myself "Wow". Then I found a pretty neat deal and bought the game. And, of course, it wasn't worth the 9.9. Not by a long shot.
What Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is, is a complete remake of the original, plus the Japanese SMB2 added to the mix. And that's it. Aside from a few (quite pointless) unlockables, this is the entire game. Just a remake. And I know that the original SMB is a timeless classic, and if it wasn't for it videogames probably would have become extinct by today, but still... come on! It's like making a direct port of of the original Pong on Xbox 360 and give it a 10/10. If I had to grade the game, I'd have probably given it a 9.0 or a 9.2 at best.
However, let's stop looking at what it's not and look at what it IS, and it is good! The port is almost 1 to 1 with the original, and ALL of the changes that were made were in favor of the Game Boy Color's capabilities. Yes - every glitch is there, every trick is there, every texture is there... you get my point.
Aside of the game itself there are several bonus modes that prolong gameplay, such as an exploration mode (in which you have to find certain objects hidden in the levels), race mode (in which you race against a friend or Boo the ghost), or a 2-player co-op (in which you and your bud play together using the Link Cable, if you both own a copy of the game). The game is FULL of unlockables, and I mean FULL!!! There's a calendar, a fortune teller, a front page customizer, medals, album, stickers, and a whole lot of others. Unfortunately all of those are completely pointless. It would have been nice if we got something more modern in it, like alternative costumes, cheats, skins, something that actually alters the main game. But oh well, I'll take what I can get, I guess...
Final verdict - is it the best Game Boy Color game of all time? Not at all, that title still belongs to Ghost Babel in my opinion. Is it worth buying? HELL YEAH!!!!! This is a fun and entertaining title that, although not the best ever, is still pretty damn good. Check it out, I highly recommend it!Read full review
