GameBoy classics revived for gamers

By Neil McGreevey
BBC News

The graphics will bring back fond memories - possibly

Nostalgia can be a wonderful thing - but the latest batch of classic Nintendo Entertainment System titles to be dug up from the past onto the GameBoy Advance makes you realise just how cruel a mistress time is.

Castlevania, Dr Mario, Metroid and Zelda II were all undisputed classics in their own time - but while they wowed in the eighties, the primitive looks could do with a dose of virtual botox.

They still play well enough, though - and hardly break the bank at £15 each.

Franchise launchers, Castlevania and Metroid, are by far the best of the pixellated bunch and serve as testimony to the timeless appeal of good level design and play mechanics.

The famously-challenging Castlevania has players taking on Dracula in a sprawling platform-strewn castle, armed with only a whip and a prayer.

GAME SCORES Castlevania: 7/10 Metroid: 7/10 Dr Mario: 5/10 Zelda II: 5/10 (pictured)

Metroid - by the late, great father of the GameBoy, Gunpei Yokoi, is a massive undertaking, with brain-frying mazes bristling with hidden items and power-ups.

On the other hand, the puzzler, Dr Mario, is a cheerful Tetris clone that hardly warrants a purchase given its availability as an unlockable bonus in the brilliant Wario Ware.

Zelda II took the top-down dungeon-crawling of the original and turned it into a side-scrolling action-heavy curiosity.

This black sheep of the series hardly does its venerable name justice, with endless wandering and game play that owes more to Mario than Zelda.

Although Castlevania and Metroid - despite being uglier than sin - can still hold their heads up high, you can't help but fear splinters, given the prodigious scraping of the barrel on show here.

While it may please fan boys, Nintendo's endless milking of its back catalogue proves that not everything retro is cool.

The four titles are out now for GameBoy Advance.