The Game Boy Color wasn’t exactly the best platform for horror unless you count, like,Resident Evil GaidenandAlone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. Anyway, now’s a good time to get into some indie Game Boy Color horror, like what’s packed into theMetamorphosis Collection. You can even get a physical cartridge if you’re into that sort of thing (I am).
The three games included areOpossum Country,Decline, andSpecimen 134, all by Ben Jelter. Two of these games,Opossum CountryandDeclineare available already on itch.io, so you’re able to play them right now for free. They were created for game jams.Specimen 134, on the other hand, is a completely new game. It’s also supposedly a lot longer than the other two. However, there is a demo of it that you can try.
I’ve playedDeclineandOpossum Country. They’re creepy short-form adventure titles.Declineis about a police detective on the verge of retirement solving a supernatural mystery.Opossum Country, on the other hand, is about a gig food delivery person riding up to a creepy trailer park full of evasive people.
A lot of development for Nintendo’s old handheld platform has been spurred by GB Studio, a development suite that makes creating games on the platform a lot more accessible. It’s pretty neat. I’ve only done a bit of dabbling in it, but it seems pretty intuitive and simple to use. It’s resulted in some interestingly designed games thatwouldn’t have been marketableduring the handheld’s life, giving the platform new life.
ForMetamorphosis Collection. You can get the digital version for $13.99. But the real fun is with the physical cartridge, which comes with a box, instructions, and a sticker sheet for $59.99. If you order before Hallowe’en, you’ll get a translucent blood-red cartridge instead of the usual smokey black. Either way, it’s pretty neat. I’m on the verge of pulling the trigger on a purchase.
Preorders forMetamorphosis Collectionare open now, and physical editions will ship later in November.
