Alleyway - Nintendo Gameboy

Review comments

Eons ago in an arcade far, far away, there was a game called Breakout. This was one of the very first arcade games ever to be seen in this country, and its exciting concept of using a bat and ball to demolish a wall of bricks made it a hit with the jaded Space Invaders crowd.
Unfortunately, this variant does not have much more to offer than the original. Bonus screens are available, as are screens in which the walls advance upon you! Mario himself is your guide through this game, only leaving you once all your lives are game.

Staff comments

Bleugh! I was not exactly bowled over by this! There's no variety at all, and once you've finished a couple of screens, you'll be bored stiff.

What a bore. Screen after screen of boring bricks to knock away, and hardly any variety. If this had a couple of power ups it might okay. As it stands it's about as exciting as watching paint dry. If you're having trouble getting to sleep, play this - it's more powerful than any sleeping tablet!

Retrospective comments

I find myself commenting on a rarity as in the late 80's/early 90's you would be hard pressed to find Nintendo churning out crap. However this Arknoid clone for the Gameboy is one such title. The fact that this was one of the first Gameboy titles issued does make me wonder whether or not Nintendo wanted to "slip this through" hoping that someone will pick this up.

With next to no power-ups (which was the standard set by Arknoid more than 2 years ago!), there was little difference between this and Breakout (or Pong). I would forgive the hardware limitations of the GB in terms of the game's visuals, but instead of offering anything different, there is little or no incentive to continue with this. There is really nothing more that can be said about this sad travesty of a launch game...

And by the way Nintendo, sticking Mario in the "bat" does not transform the game from crap to good.