I finally got around to beating DK94 earlier in the year (and touched upon that experience in this thread) and so have continued my quest of playing through classic Game Boy games I've not yet played by jumping into Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, or to use it's translated name "The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls" which was a game a lot of posters highlighted in the aforementioned thread.
This game often gets mentioned as a footnote when discussing Link's Awakening, as that game features a cameo from one of the characters from The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls. I think both gamesalso use the same engine (or shared development tools anyway). (Edit: they don't) Both games feature a top down overworld along with several 2D platformer sections, with gameplay consisting of combat and puzzles for the player to solve.
The main thing that had put me off from playing this until now was how the game deals with combat. When you bump into an enemy you both disappear inside a cloud of dust while the game takes health off both the player and the opponent at regular intervals. There is no input from the player, so it's often easy to tell if you'll win or if you'll lose. On paper, this doesn't seem engaging, however in practice this is more of a progress check to ensure you have done and found everything you need to do before beating a boss and moving onto the next section of the game.
The reason this game is held is such high esteem is the story, the world design and just how charming the game is. It's also very funny and often breaks conventions in fun ways. It's world is small but dense, and while it's not a difficult game (nor a long one, it took me just under 7 hours to beat) you're always sent off to do something new with each new objective.
You're also able to transform into a frog and a snake, with each having their own pros and cons (the snake can fit in small gaps, but can't jump. The frog can jump higher and swim, but can't fight anything but bugs)
Overall this stands right up there in my view with the very best games on the Game Boy, highly recommended.
What do you think about the game, Era?
This game often gets mentioned as a footnote when discussing Link's Awakening, as that game features a cameo from one of the characters from The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls. I think both games
The main thing that had put me off from playing this until now was how the game deals with combat. When you bump into an enemy you both disappear inside a cloud of dust while the game takes health off both the player and the opponent at regular intervals. There is no input from the player, so it's often easy to tell if you'll win or if you'll lose. On paper, this doesn't seem engaging, however in practice this is more of a progress check to ensure you have done and found everything you need to do before beating a boss and moving onto the next section of the game.
The reason this game is held is such high esteem is the story, the world design and just how charming the game is. It's also very funny and often breaks conventions in fun ways. It's world is small but dense, and while it's not a difficult game (nor a long one, it took me just under 7 hours to beat) you're always sent off to do something new with each new objective.
You're also able to transform into a frog and a snake, with each having their own pros and cons (the snake can fit in small gaps, but can't jump. The frog can jump higher and swim, but can't fight anything but bugs)
Overall this stands right up there in my view with the very best games on the Game Boy, highly recommended.
What do you think about the game, Era?
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