Game & Watch

[fishboneKiller]

i did a lot of random stuff as a kid, and two things in particular influenced my love for Nintendo's Game & Watch series. one, i bought the DSi port of Mario's Cement Factory on 3DS because it was cheap and had mario in the title. i was VERY confused when i started it up and it wasn't a platformer like i expected, but i eventually got the hang of it and it really grew on me. two, i watched an entire 12+ hour 100% longplay of Game & Watch Gallery 4 for some ungodly reason, and as such i am now weirdly attached to that game. ever since ive played a lot of game and watch stuff, and it's one of my favorite corners of Nintendo's history. of course i have a soft spot for Mario's Cement Factory, but i also quite enjoy Vermin, Helmet, and Fire Attack.

all of this is to lead into me asking: what do you folks think of the Game & Watch line? do you think its outdated and unplayable, or do you think it still has some merit as a fun high-score focused series of games? and by extension, what do you think of the Game & Watch Gallery series of remakes?

 

[DunkeyKong]

I think it was great for it's time, still a pretty interesting handheld though. It also has the dual screen one which is probably the earliest one to have this feature

 

[fishboneKiller]

I think it was great for it's time, still a pretty interesting handheld though. It also has the dual screen one which is probably the earliest one to have this feature
View attachment 22780

it was also the first thing to use the dpad, if i recall!

 

[DunkeyKong]

it was also the first thing to use the dpad, if i recall!

Yeah I just noticed that too

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

I never had any original Game and Watch's, but the first Game and Watch Gallery on the Gameboy was my first game when I got my Gameboy Pocket on my 7th birthday, so I have some fondness for that.

 

[fishboneKiller]

I never had any original Game and Watch's, but the first Game and Watch Gallery on the Gameboy was my first Gameboy game when I got my Gameboy Pocket on my 7th birthday, so I have some fondness for that.

View attachment 22781

hell yeah! i love gallery, the first one is especially cute.

 

[thanonyx]

I honestly think it's a very important part of not only Nintendo's history, but video game history as a whole. I just hope that at some point in the future all of them can be emulated properly.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

I love that every Nintendo handheld to date (including the Switch) draws it's design origins from the Game & Watch line. That says a lot about how innovative these little handhelds were, and is a testament to the creative genius of Gunpei Yokai.

 

[Ikagura]

I long for a true Game & Watch collection on the NSO (or as a game) with every non-third party/non-IP G&W games.

The only real G&W I've ever owned in my life was the Super Mario Bros one

 

[Gromoff]

I don't own any actual G&Ws from the '80s, but I own every Game & Watch Gallery game (excluding the Europe-only Game Boy Gallery, but I've messed with that one in an emulator). They're pretty great time killers.

Also, someone made a site where you can play most G&W games in your browser alongside other LCD games of the era, such as Tiger Electronics: Retrofab.

 

[fishboneKiller]

I long for a true Game & Watch collection on the NSO (or as a game) with every non-third party/non-IP G&W games.

The only real G&W I've ever owned in my life was the Super Mario Bros one View attachment 22893

hoooly shit!! i had one of these but for donkey kong jr!! i havent thought about these things in EONS, takes me back

 

[Ikagura]

hoooly shit!! i had one of these but for donkey kong jr!! i havent thought about these things in EONS, takes me back

Aren't these more modern re-releases? I forgot when.

 

[fishboneKiller]

Aren't these more modern re-releases? I forgot when.

yeah they are, but they still count. i mean, its how i first played dkj.

 

[Jeff]

Game & Watch are the best time wasters. I didn't get them until Game & Gallery series were released. Then I got the Gameboy Keychain re-release of the Game & Watch of Super Mario Bros. Mario's Cement Factory and Donkey Kong Jr. And later got an actual Game & Watch of Ball from Club Nintendo site before it changed to MyNintendo, and then got the Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda.

 

[Ikagura]

yeah they are, but they still count. i mean, its how i first played dkj.

I really wish Nintendo made a Game & Watch like the Mario and Zelda but instead for every non licenced G&W game...

 

[PhrawzT]

I still have Donkey Kong 2, and used to have Mario's Cement Factory, but that one was stolen from me when I was a kid.

 

[Lazerith]

Not quite what the topic is about, but in the early 90s I had one of the game wristwatches.

It was, to say the least, a horrible game. but was something to do and neat to have.
Sadly, it has long since been tossed out. Really wish I had kept the little thing.

Although the screen may have gotten crushed, now that I think about it.

That's been over 20 years ago, though.

This is the one i had.

 

[tigg]

I have to 2 new ones that came out (Super Mario and Zelda) and one of the original Donkey Kong Jr. I bought back in the 80s

 

[Comster]

I have Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. and Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

I long for a true Game & Watch collection on the NSO (or as a game) with every non-third party/non-IP G&W games.

The only real G&W I've ever owned in my life was the Super Mario Bros one View attachment 22893

I had one of those as a kid! I wish I knew what happened to it