Retro Review - Mole Mania (Gameboy)

We're going deeper underground!

You have to feel sorry for poor old moles, not only do they have to contend with appalling vision, but they also risk getting beaten over the head with a shovel by an irate farmer every time they pop their fuzzy little heads above ground. As if this weren't bad enough, poor old Muddy Mole, star of this cutesy puzzle game on Nintendo's Gameboy, has to deal with his entire family being kidnapped by the oddly named farmer, Jinbei. Quite what a grown man wants to do with a load of mole pups is beyond me (probably best not to dwell on the possibilities), but the spiteful old bastard now holds them hostage and it is up to you to rescue them.

Retro Review - Guru Logic Champ (GBA)

Time for some more Japanese insanity now with a ker-azy puzzler on the Gameboy Advance. Guru Logic Champ's rather generic title belies the quirky characters and lunacy contained within the game. Once you have been introduced to the zany duck-like 'Champs' that make up the main protagonists, you are treated to some bizarre cartoon cutscenes that tell a story of how other oddball duck things from another planet have come to wreak havoc - but it would appear their idea of havoc is simply causing mild irritations such as stealing the tap from a public water fountain, or the battery from someone's kitchen extractor fan. So, how can you help these unfortunate souls return their lives to normality? Why, by performing block based puzzles in order to reveal a small picture of course!

Obscure Retro Gems - Kuru Kuru Kururin (Gameboy Advance)

You spin me right round

I must admit, I am having an absolute ball with casual games these days. Whether on my Android phone, or via the excellent emulation on offer on the PSP, I have been blissfully immersing myself in quick fire games that are easy to pick up and and play, yet extremely hard to put down. Old school arcade games and action puzzlers are my current genres of choice, and I have been loving such addictive titles as Amazing Penguin (Game Boy), Klax and Doki Doki Penguin Land (Mega Drive), Cameltry (Arcade), and now Kuru Kuru Kururin on the Gameboy Advance.

Classic Game - Bubble Ghost (Gameboy)

Nintendo's original monochrome Gameboy was a huge success for many reasons; A long battery life, diminutive (for the time) size, and a huge collection of great games to play on it. It managed to see off the competition, even though many of these competitors boasted colour screens and even double the 'bits' (Atari's Lynx was a 16-bit powerhouse). Of course, Tetris helped. The puzzle phenomenon was a true pioneer of the casual games market that appealed to gamers of all sexes, ages and nationalities. Nowadays, handheld consoles have titles that are cut down versions of triple-A titles; the PS Vita has Uncharted, Assassins Creed and Call of Duty on it for God's sake. These new machines have forgotten what most gamers want from a handheld console – simple games that can be picked up and played by anyone and don't take 30+ hours to complete. This is why the mobile devices are such a hugely popular choice for gamers today - but the Gameboy got it right first time (way back in 1989) and, to this day, remains my favourite handheld console (well, the Gameboy colour would win, but only due to being backwards compatible with original GB titles).