February’s tricky ass is over (twenty eight days?! HOOEY) and March has arrived. “In like a Lion! Out like a Lamb!” the folks say. I’ve barely begun playing Metroid II, but hey, I’m really diggin’ it. This month’s game is picked by Shayne and it’s one I’ve always kept an eye out for! Battle Bull by SeTa!
One evening (a couple of years ago), I stumbled across the first season of Starcade online – the 80s game show where contestants competed in playing arcade games (never thought I’d see that again) – and saw the game Pengo, an old ‘push blocks into enemies’ Sega cab from ’82 that looked like my kind of game.
Now, I didn’t have a Game Boy growing up, but I’ve always been enamored with the hand held and the library (what little I knew of it anyway) so the last few years has seen me pursue righting that wrong. When going through the library online and in Jeremy Parish’s ‘Game Boy Works’ books to try to get a sense of what I’d want to track down, I came across Battle Bull and didn’t give it much thought until I watched a video and was like, “Hey that kind of reminds me of Pengo but with a mining rig!” So I went to work finding myself a nice complete copy and when it arrived, found the game to be charming. It’s also challenging! I like the idea of adding an upgrade mechanic to your mining rig (speed, strength, etc.)…particularly speed in the early stages, because your little vehicle starts off sloooow and putting together the in game cash for upgrades becomes crucial to success while upgrading your plow later changes the block-pushing mechanic.
What it all boils down to is that Battle Bull is a fun and challenging little game that stays in my regular rotation for trips or while waiting for an appointment, and I hope you all enjoy it too!
Well, thank you for that info, Shayne! I knew this was a block-pushing game, but I guess I wasn’t aware it’s basically Pengo. I love Pengo! The upgrades sound neat, too. Hope everyone enjoys! –IF
Yokoi Kids 