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Goodboy Galaxy

The Summer of Demos - Day Twenty-Seven

Goodboy Galaxy

The console life cycle is an oft-perpetuated myth in the games industry; as soon as the new thing is out, the old thing should be as good as dead, surely. In this current generation we’ve seen consoles from a decade ago still receive ports of many new games, both big and small, not to mention the glut of new Switch releases seven years in. Once the major sellers have moved on, an older platform becomes the domain of the homebrew scene. We’ve already seen it happen with the 3DS and the Game Boy Advance was no exception to this development half-life.

Goodboy Galaxy is one of these homebrew games, designed to work on original GBA hardware and currently only available to play on PC through emulators. There is also a demo covering “Chapter Zero” which sets up the drive of the game and even has a prepackaged 3DS.cia file if you want to play it on there. 

After touching down on an unknown planet, Marshall the space dog navigates its uncanny underground to help his new friend Cropett (for the record, I don’t trust this guy).As you navigate the caverns you’ll pass through gates that strip Marshall of either his shield, blaster or jetpack until you loop around to grab them again. The sections you can only access through these gates will challenge your control of Marshall; he will die in one hit and jump a centimetre in the air without his kit.

Also in Chapter Zero’s caverns are a range of aliens, often just out of reach. Talking to them and fulfilling their quests will earn you a new friend. Marshall’s such a friendly guy that he can make six friends in the demo alone, with 50+ promised in the full game. Being made with the GBA screen in mind since the Game Jam “Goodboy Advance” prototype, the colours of GBG’s caverns and cast are pretty vivid. It fits the chipper tone of this expedition well, but sometimes feels a little too loud on modern displays. The animation also aims to look good on a dim screen but I feel it is also overdone at times. That dog is unable to stay still for a second.

Besides these superficial gripes, I had a great time exploring and aiding the inhabitants of the planet. And sure, Cropett too I guess. The final fight in the demo was a little tricky to do right on a keyboard but was a good summation of all the mechanics introduced and taught in the rest of the adventure. I’m told there was also a secret level hidden in this chapter, but I didn't find it in my time in the tunnels. I am confident that the full game iterates on everything on show here and is well worth your time.

In a word : galactic.

Goodboy Galaxy is a retro search action platformer developed and published by Goodboy Galaxy Ltd. with physical copies fulfilled by First Press Games (currently in turmoil) for the Game Boy Advance, with upcoming ports for PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch planned. A ROM of the GBA release is available on Itch with prepackaged emulator options. All images used copyright of Goodboy Galaxy Ltd unless otherwise stated.

This article is part of the Summer of Demos series, where I’ll be releasing a Demo Diving preview article each day in July. If you liked this article, be sure to share it with a friend or enemy. If you back me on Patreon, you get access to articles one day before they release anywhere else. If we reach £25/month before the end of July, I’ll extend the Summer of Demos into August.

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