Welcome to The Platformer where we talk about games in an extremely amateur but fun way! This post is in regards to my Ultimate Video Game List where I’m on a journey to discover what my personal favourite game ever is. I’m sure (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure: A Bogus Journey!) will rank highly.

Bill & Ted is a film from the ’80s about a movie studio ripping off Doctor Who by utilising a phone box to go back in time. The game does not have the phone box, thus it is the vastly superior version. That is if you like awkward, unfair, boring platformers who portrays time travel by putting a giant cowboy hat and some bricks in the background. Why am I surprised? It’s common knowledge that Video games based on movies are terrible (Click here for more info). This may also be construed as unfair because Gameboy games are underpowered and a product of their time. Is that unfair? I don’t think so, I played this game for the first time in 2019 and I’ll review it in 2019 even if I have 50 bursts of rage.

Difficulty in games, for this generation, was not designed to challenge the player or stimulate them. It was designed so players would fail. Why would you want your players to fail? To replay the game, because that means the game will last longer and your limited resources will be able to stretch longer as the player continuously tries to beat the early levels. They do this by making the game unfair. You’ll be happily jumping from platform to platform collecting whatever and all of a sudden the ground will give way and oh look at that you’re dead. You do not teach someone to walk, by making them cross a road! Look at the example below, I have a projectile coming at my face and an enemy also attacking, 0% chance of dodging, 100% of dying.

It’s a shame because when the platforming works, it’s fun! Nice weight, dodging (when possible) is possible but requires precision. However, as the game progresses you will have your timings perfect so the only things that kill you are unfair design decisions.

Aesthetically it’s pretty decent, each level is distinct because the game can introduce elements from literally any point in time, even some mechanics are related to the theme suck as the Egyptian tombs have booby traps. Infuriating? Sure! Cool? I suppose. The most disappointing thing is they didn’t bother to model separate model for Bill and Ted, thus it doesn’t even accurately portray the movie. Less Bill and Ted and more Bed or Till.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure is a functional platformer that is quite fun to play partly in addition to being a quirky conversation starter. However, it has not aged well at all, not because of the visuals, but because of the design philosophies that were implemented at the time. I would recommend trying it if it sounds like a fun afternoon as it’s not a particularly long game if save states are used, however, I would struggle to say that it’s a good game. It goes in at #6. Bottom.

It’s been a while since I’ve played an indie game for myself, particularly one I’ve yet to experience. Also constantly writing for my Metroid & Vania series (click here) has given me a craving for a, hopefully, good Metroidvania. So next week I will be writing about…

Xeodrifter

Thanks for reading! Feel free to subscribe, like this post because it helps (believe it or not) and feel free to tell me your most frustrating gaming moments.