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Lemmings is classic puzzle game, seeing you take control of a number of lemmings trying to make their way across various landscapes to their home. On each level you have to save a certain percentage of the Lemmings, by giving them instructions. The number of instructions available depend on the level itself but in total there are 8 different activities: Climb, Float, Bomb, Block, Build, Bash, Mine, Dig. This is an excellent port of the game, which originally appeared on the Commodore Amiga. Despite the Game Boy's limitations compared to computers and consoles of the day, the developers did an excellent job. There are some noticeable differences in gameplay between the Game Boy port and original, specifically each level tends to have less lemmings to control and there are a few minor things missing such as fast forward and reduce the lemming drop rate, but these are easily forgiven. Graphically the game is very detailed, even down to extra detail on each individual Lemming. The environments are well designed and nicely varied, although the game does sometimes flicker when there are too many lemming in one place. If you play this on the Game Boy itself be sure to plug in some stereo headphones as the soundtrack is a treat and makes full use of the Game Boy's limited capabilities. In terms of longevity, there are hundreds of levels to keep you going, spread across four difficulties, Fun, Tricky, Taxing & Mayhem. If you're new to lemmings i would suggest picking a console or PC version first to fully appreciate the game, but be sure to grab a copy for your Game Boy.

The MegaMan video game franchise, starring the robotic titular character MegaMan, has seen more than 50 games released into multiple game systems (the GBC, of course, being one of those systems). In this version, the gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect from these titles. You must control MegaMan through various stages until you reach the final boss to defeat him. As you advance through each level, there are power-ups to pick up, armor parts, and weapons to enhance MegaMan’s abilities. Once the boss at any given level is defeated, MegaMan can assimilate their special weapon and add them to his arsenal. As an action-platformer, MegaMan Xtreme is a pretty cool game. It does borrow from the console versions of the MegaMan X games, though, which can be a turn off for some players. One cool aspect of the game is that the player can advance through the stages by selecting the order in which they are played. This means that, though the stages may be the same, changing the order in which they are played can add replayability to the game as the weapons and enhancements for MegaMan can be different when playing any given level. The graphics are pretty good, particularly considering the system, and the soundtrack is well done. Three difficulty levels are available to select from: normal, hard, and Xtreme. Normal offers four initial stages, hard offers four different stages, and Xtreme has all eight stages. To me, this is a very good version of the game but it may not be as challenging to fans of the MegaMan series, particularly if they are used to the console versions of the game. If you want some MegaMan action on your GBC, though, this version offers plenty of it!

The epic arcade fighting game Mortal Kombat was released on the Nintendo Game Boy back in 1992. Unfortunately something must have gone terribly wrong during the games development as the end result sucks. The game features 6 out of the 7 main characters Rayden, Kano, Kang, Scorpion, Sub Zero and Sonya, for no apparent reason Johnny Cage is missing. The level of detail on the actual character sprites and various stage backgrounds isn't bad, unfortunately the animation is painfully slow and this is reflect in the controls, you can actually count the seconds between pressing an action button and the character doing it. In case the controls weren't bad enough the creators also decided to re-write most of the special moves. Naturally with the Game Boy only having 2 attack buttons some modification was required, however, rather than just change attack button combinations they completely rewrote every move. In addition to the actual button combinations the game was very sensitive to the timing in which buttons were pressed, requiring random but specific pauses between presses. In terms of difficulty, the game isn't too bad, if you can stay with it until the end that is. The end boss Goro is stupidly difficult to defeat and normally results with the player just giving up. Keeping in line with the spirit of the game the music is terrible. It tries to sound epic and slightly heavy metal but the game boy just isn't design for it. In the end unfortunately it just sounds cheap. Whilst playing this game you wouldn't be to blame if you thought your Game Boy had turned into one of the cheap knock offs available from a pound/dollar store. If you love Mortal Kombat then feel free to buy this game and put it on display, but do yourself a favour and don't play it!

In 1982, Universal created a game that, though similar to Dig Dug, introduced enough differentiating elements to make it its own hit. That game was Mr. Do!, a game in which a clown has to dig through soil to collect cherries while avoiding red dinosaur-like monsters. The cherries are distributed throughout the level in groups of eight. Mr. Do is awarded 500 bonus points if he collects eight cherries in a row without stopping. Each level can be completed in one of three ways: by collecting all the cherries, destroying all the monsters, spelling "EXTRA" (which is done by killing special monsters that contain the letters), or by finding a diamond. The monsters can be destroyed by using a power ball that Mr. Do carries (and which must be used smartly) or by dropping apples on them. The apples can also crush Mr. Do, so one has to be careful when using them. Never mind that the monsters can also push them to crush Mr. Do! The GameBoy port of the game quite effectively captures all of the arcade elements of the game. My necessity, the playing field is larger than the screen making it necessary for it to scroll as Mr. Do makes his way around. This takes some getting used to as the player is unable to see the entire playing field like on the arcade but it is the best way to recreate the game on the system. The characters are well detailed and the arcade sound effects are mostly present. The only real change is the music from the arcade which has been replaced by a different tune for some unknown reason. Mr. Do! is great fun on the GameBoy and any fan of the arcade game should enjoy this excellent port.

Nintendo World Cup is a curious title, loosely based around the game of Football (Soccer) but with a significant number of strange but entertaining differences. The basic premise is to score more goals than your opponent, progress through the various stages and win the final. Unlike football though, there is no offside rule, red cards, or even 11 players. Instead there are super shots that allow you to back flip the ball across the whole pitch, diving headers and an amusing array of rough tackles. Interestingly though this does mean that you spend your time marking out the other teams players, and strategically managing your own men as you would in football itself. Unlike most football games you only control 1 player, one of your mid-fielders, the rest of your team is controlled by AI which follows rules which you can set at the start of a match and at half time. The AI is solid enough, with players making genuine attempts to pass or score depending on the rules you set. The player sprites are quite funny looking with stumpy legs and overly large heads, but this just adds to the quirkiness of the game. Strangely, even though not a sports fan, this is one i would recommend. Its challenging, fast paced, has an excellent musical score and can take upto 10 hours to complete. It features a sensible password system for those who prefer to play games in short bursts and its generally a solid game. Die hard sports fan may be disappointed but anyone else should be happy with their purchase.