Game & Watch Gallery 3 was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999. While its predecessor was also a GBC game, it was originally developed for the Game Boy… hence the lackluster color. This one, on the other hand, was made completely for the Game Boy Color, and hence is a much prettier game. Again featuring 5 games, Game & Watch Gallery 3 used the Game Boy Color’s graphical capabilities to their fullest, and definitely stood out from the previous two.
In addition to the 5 main games, you can also unlock several classic G&W games. I didn’t bother to do that, though… at any rate, let’s start with Egg.
So immediately, you’ll notice a difference in art style compared to other Game & Watch games. In Egg, you play as a very Disney-looking wolf and catch chicken eggs rolling down four slopes. That’s all there is, really…. it’s one of the simpler games here, but at least it’s easy to get the hang of.
Let an egg fall, and it hatches into a chick. Cute.
In the remake, you actually don’t catch eggs at all. Instead, you play as Yoshi and eat cookies. It’s fun enough, and again, easy to get the hang of.
Just watch out for Bob-Ombs. Eat one of these and you’re screwed.
He’s dead, Jim.
Certainly pretty to look at. And this is only the first game! On to Greenhouse.
Much like Donkey Kong in the previous Gallery, Greenhouse is a multi-screen game, and you can switch between the two with a button press. You run around a greenhouse, using bug spray to keep spiders and worms away from the flowers.
Eat a dick, spider.
Though easy to understand, the game is very challenging from the get-go. These bugs are relentless, and you need to really concentrate if you’re going to last long.
In the remake, you play as Yoshi again, trying to stop Shy Guys and monkeys from getting to your plants. Instead of using bug spray, you spit watermelon seeds… speaking of which, you can also collect watermelons that appear throughout the stage.
The monkeys are a bit of a pain in the ass. They slide down ropes, and have a convenient wall blocking them from your seeds. You need to wait until they’re at the very bottom to hit them, at which point they can also get to your plant, so you’d better get them quick.
However, get ten watermelons and you gain fire breath (for some reason). While it doesn’t make much of a difference against the Shy Guys, you can burn up the monkey’s ropes, hitting them before they’re at the bottom. They also burst into flame, and I’m assuming die horrible, painful deaths. There’s certainly a running theme of monkey abuse over at Nintendo.
Next is Turtle Bridge. In this game, you need to bring a package from the left side of the screen to the right, hopping along the backs of turtles to do so. After you reach the right side and deliver the package, you need to make your way back across to get another one. Rinse and repeat. However, the turtles will periodically dive beneath the water to grab a fish, so you need to be wary.
I mean, let’s be realistic here… there’s GOT to be a better way to do this.
The remake, again, has a very misleading title, as there’s no turtles at all. Instead, you’re hopping along birds in the sky, delivering mushrooms to Peach on the other side. This time, the birds swoop down to pop balloons that float up. There’s a static platform in the middle, but it will disappear if you stand on it for too long… as will the clouds above it.
You can climb the clouds and hop off to get the floating coins. It’s optional, but it gives you more points.
Other than that, the gist of the game is the same. Go back and forth to deliver mushrooms, and don’t fall. It’s a simple game, but it’s rather fun.
Next on the list is Mario Bros… oh boy! Just like the arcade classic!
…this… this isn’t Mario Bros. This isn’t Mario Bros. at all.
So, this is kind of a weird game. In Mario Bros., you control both Mario and Luigi simultaneously… Luigi is controlled with the d-pad, and Mario is controlled with the A and B buttons. You need to make them work together to pass a series of packages along several conveyor belts in the worst-designed factory in history. It’s probably the most challenging game in the Gallery, and definitely not what one would expect from Mario Bros.
Your goal is to fill up a truck on the upper left. Packages come faster and faster, so you need to be extremely careful and coordinated.
If you drop one, your boss yells at you. I don’t know what he’s complaining about… who the hell would design a factory like this? This must’ve been why Mario and Luigi became plumbers. ANY job would be better than this.
The remake is similar. Mario and Luigi work together to make cakes. Overall, the game is much more lenient than the original. The cakes will even teeter at the edge for a moment, giving you some time to save it. However, there is a catch… Bowser will sometimes reverse the conveyor belts, and you need to flip one of the two switches to fix it.
Also, Wario is the truck driver this time. Nice touch.
The cakes come faster and faster, of course. Still, it’s never quite as difficult as the original, and is a pretty fun game to boot.
Next we’ve got Donkey Kong Jr. You play as DK Jr., trying to get your dad back from Mario… it’s almost like the reverse of Donkey Kong. Similarly to its predecessor, you need to climb upwards while avoiding enemies. The distance is much shorter, however.
Much like how in Donkey Kong you need to jump onto a swinging crane at the right moment, here you need to grab a swinging key at the right moment. Get it right, and you unlock a part of DK’s cage. Just make sure you get it right! If you miss the key, you lose a life.
Do this four times and you release DK. The game then starts over. He looks pretty thrilled, I must say. Of course, this is before he became a crotchety old man.
Yes, Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong, and the current Donkey Kong is DK Jr. FACTS
The idea behind the remake is the same, but the stage layout is completely different and it plays a bit differently too. Much like Donkey Kong in the previous Gallery, they pretty much made a whole new game here. Also, as opposed to the generic creatures from the original, Mario apparently has Goombas working for him now. Jesus.
You can kill them by jumping on them, too. So Jr’s not completely helpless… also, you can drop a coconut to kill enemies below you, though there’s not much point.
Occasionally, a Bullet Bill will fly by the top part of the screen. Mario REALLY does not want you to get your father back.
Anyway, the idea is the same. You need to get the key and bring it to DK four times to free him. And much like Donkey Kong in Gallery 2…
There’s multiple stages! The second stage, for example, focusing on vine-climbing rather than platforming. So there’s quite a bit of variety here.
So that’s Game & Watch Gallery 3. Quite well polished, if I do say so, and arguably the best in the series. This is the last one I played as a kid, and I got quite a bit of mileage out of it. However, there’s still one more to discuss…
