Game & Watch Gallery 3

Game & Watch Gallery 3
Box art
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1
Tose
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Hitoshi Yamagami
Producer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Takehiro Izushi
Designer(s)Isao Shiroyama
Composer(s)Noriko Nishizaka
SeriesGame & Watch Gallery
Platform(s)Game Boy Color
Release
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player

Game & Watch Gallery 3 is a video game developed by Tose and released by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color in 1999. It is the fourth game in the Game & Watch Gallery series, containing five remastered games from the Game & Watch line of Nintendo handheld games.

Gameplay

A screenshot of the 'Modern' mode of Mario Bros.

Game & Watch Gallery 3 features five games based upon the Game & Watch brand of handheld games. Each game contains a 'Classic' mode, resembling the gameplay and presentation of the original Game & Watch title, and a 'Modern' mode, which contains revised graphics and additional features.[3] When players accrue a certain number of points in each game, they earn 'stars' which can be used to unlock additional features, entries in an in-game gallery displaying animations of other Game & Watch titles, and six additional games; up to five stars can be earned in each mode and difficulty of each game, for a total of 150 stars.[4] The initial games include:

  • Donkey Kong Jr.: Players rescue Donkey Kong from Mario by jumping on vines and collecting keys whilst avoiding enemies.
  • Egg: Players collect eggs from chutes inside a chicken house, in the order that they fall. In the 'Modern' version, points are earned picking up different kinds of food, with more points when they are baked at the right time.
  • Green House: Insects are trying to destroy plants on two levels of a greenhouse, and the player uses bug spray to take out the bugs before they eat the flora. In the 'Modern' version, Yoshi defends the garden from other enemies, and has additional powerups.
  • Mario Bros.: Mario and Luigi must move a series of packages along a conveyor belt and load cakes onto a truck without dropping them. In the 'Modern' version, an alarm rings that changes the direction of the conveyor belt.
  • Turtle Bridge: Players deliver packages across a chasm using a bridge of turtles. In the 'Classic' mode, the turtles used as a bridge dive under water when fish approach. In the 'Modern' mode, players also collect as many coins as they can, and can stand on floating clouds to access more coins.

By earning enough stars, players can unlock Donkey Kong II, Flagman, Judge, Lion, Spitball Sparky, and a unique version of Fire that features gameplay mirrored from its traditional format. These games are only playable in Classic mode and do not feature a Modern counterpart.

Reception

Game & Watch Gallery 3 received lukewarm to positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the updated graphics and additional features, whilst noting the gameplay limitations of the source material.

Craig Harris of IGN praised the game as the "best of the bunch" in the Game & Watch series due to its "many extras to uncover", whilst noting that the players would not "expect anything more than what they are - simple games for simple technology".[6] Karen Hollocks of Total Game Boy preferred the "updated versions of the games with modern features and plenty of extra gameplay", observing that the classic versions only "hold a certain novelty value in an old-school kind of way".[10] Writing for Allgame, Brett Alan Weiss praised the games as "perfectly suited to the Game Boy format" and the "number of features and surprises", although noted that the games are "limited in nature" and "inherently repetitious".[5] In a less enthusiastic review for DailyRadar, Michael Wolf remarked that "while fun may be had, it only lasts for about five minutes before the playability of the games is worn out", although praising the game for its "secrets and surprises".[11]

References

  1. ^ I. G. N. Staff (1999-09-22). "Game & Watch Gallery 3". IGN. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  2. ^ "Game & Watch Gallery 3". Chipsworld. Archived from the original on July 16, 2001. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Game & Watch Gallery 3 - Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. 1999.
  4. ^ "Game & Watch Gallery 3". Nintendo Power. No. 127. November 1999. p. 149.
  5. ^ a b Weiss, Brett Alan. "Game & Watch Gallery 3". Archived from the original on 2014-11-14.
  6. ^ a b Harris, Craig (10 December 1999). "Game & Watch Gallery 3". IGN.
  7. ^ "On The Shelves". Game Boy Xtreme (3). September 2000.
  8. ^ Kitts, Martin (September 2000). Ball, Andrea (ed.). The Game Boy Companion. Future Publishing. p. 42.
  9. ^ Toasty (May 2000). "Game 'N Watch Gallery 3". Nintendoland. Archived from the original on 2010-01-01.
  10. ^ a b Hollocks, Karen (2000). "GameBoy Gallery 3". Total Game Boy (9): 38.
  11. ^ Wolf, Michael (2000). "Game & Watch Gallery 3". Daily Radar. Archived from the original on 2000-10-15.