[Infernarl]

Ok, I have been wanting to write this for a while.

One of my favorite games of all time is Mole Mania. I feel the need to explain why.


Mole Mania was released in 1996 on the original Game Boy. It is a Super Gameboy game, so you can squeeze a few colors out of it if you would like. Generally, I feel this is a neglected system. People will play the three Zeldas and the Metroid (maybe tetris) and leave it at that. For me this is the best game on the system.



It was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto (that should get your attention). I feel that his influence is very evident when you play it. It is basically Legend of Zelda with all the bullshit boiled out and harder puzzles. Maybe Legend of Zelda + Kickle Cubicle would be an apt description.

There is an overmap with 8 worlds. After you beat the first (tutorial) world, you can do them in any order. Each level is like an early Zelda dungeon. The worlds consist of rooms on a grid. Each room is a separate puzzle you need to solve. There are enemies that move in a real time so there is an element of dexterity and timing to the game play, but mostly you just need to figure out the gimmick of the room.

Your life meter is a heart. Each time you are hit 1/4th of it goes away (another Zelda reference), so you ultimately die if you get hit 4 times.

The “moleness” comes into play in that each room has an above ground part and an underground part. Most rooms are solved by weaving up and down through the ground as you move into position to attack the enemies.


(The same room above and below ground)


Once you solve a room all the enemies die and never come back, so you can freely explore earlier parts of the dungeon.

Ultimately, clearing a room entails pushing or throwing a black ball into the stone pillar blocking the entrance to the next room. You can push and pull the ball, so it is much easier to maneuver than, say, boxxle, although it has a similar feel. You can also suplex the ball, which sends it in a straight line, killing enemies, till it hits a wall. Getting the ball into the pillar is usually a combination of maneuvering it into position, problem solving, dexterity and timing. There are some puzzles that require you to pop out of the ground when the enemy is not directly overhead. Although you can peak out from underground, without endangering yourself, the timing can still be difficult.

Later on there are enemies that will jump down your holes and run around in your tunnels, so the way in which you dig your tunnels becomes very important. Another later edition is tube which you can funnel the ball through. You can also move the tubes, which takes the maneuvering to another level.


(Pipes and snow I guess)

Worlds are scored. You can get 60 points for clearing every room, some of which are optional if you are just trying to get to the boss, 20 points for getting every cabbage, and 20 points for clearing the very dexterity heavy Farmer mini game where you have to get cabbages into holes while avoiding the farmer above ground. When he is not attacking you he is busy filling in your holes (all holes must be filled). I bought two copies of this game just so I could experience the two player content. I might be the only person ever to have done so, but it is unfortunately just a rehash of the farmer mini game. Each level has 4 special items, which are always the same. One is a compass, which, just like in Zelda, shows you the location of the boss on the map. One lets you pause time. One refills your heart.

The bosses are over the top like in a zelda of kirby game.

Another part of the greatness of this game is how well it works on game boy. Since the game saves every time you finish a room, and rooms take around 5 minutes to do, unless you get stuck on the solution, you can do a room in basically whatever spare moments you might have throughout a day. Plus, since there is none of the aimless wandering around of Zelda, whenever you are playing you are ACCOMPLISHING. You are accomplishing in this game 100% of the time. This game has a simplicity of purpose and a focus that is not seen much in modern games.

So, uh, play it.

[Deets]

This and Donkey Kong are my favorite monochrome GB games, for sure.

Thanks for writing about it, Infernarl!

[Infernarl]

[Cycle]

Yeah, this is certainly one of the best games on the GB for sure. I played it a heap back in the day. NICE WRITE UP.
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Man’s maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.

[Koji]

Sounds awesome. I guess I have to play it, since I love the original Game Boy.
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The Ants Parade.

[Felix]

link's awakening is arguably my favorite game; i tried this just once and couldn't get into it.

i ought to try again.

[kerobaros]

I remember, back in freshman year of high school, I bought about a dozen Game Boy games from a kid for about.. $20 or so? Before that, I had a couple Pokemon games and Donkey Kong '94. Afterwards, I had Mole Mania, the two Tetrises, Super Scrabble, Solitaire Fun Pak.. it's like I bought a roadtrip in a box. Best video game purchase I ever made.

[eretsua]

sounds like a nice game, thank you for writing about it.
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[invisibleyogurt]

That was probably my favorite game on the GB B&W! I was never able to beat it, actually, they really did put some extremely well-thought-out, challenging object-moving puzzles in it.

Something i think hasn't been mentioned yet: there's a grandpa mole in every stage who refills your life meter. If you keep talking to him after wards, he'll first say "sorry, no more hearts", then he'll get angry, then he'll fill up the screen with his "..."s, then eventually he'll kill you out of frustration! A nice stab at video game NPC conventions.

[skelethulu]

Man, this game is really great. It also made me get a working Gameboy emulator for my PSP, which I loaded up with the Picrosses, so, hurray.

[Harveyjames]

Jinbe is such an ass.

[fundogmo]

Resurrecting this thread, only to say that according to secondhand WHobby 2008 reports, Muddy Mole is an assist trophy in Brawl.

Shady source: http://www.brawlcentral.com/whobby_updates.php

[karrylogar]

Mole Mania is a video game created for the original Game Boy, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and also one of his less known works. The story involves a mole named Muddy Mole dvd movies, whose wife and children have been stolen by the farmer, Jinbe. Muddy then had to go find his wife and children by finding his way through puzzle based worlds.

In the game, Muddy has to move a black ball to a gate at the end of the screen in order to get to the next screen. He can push, pull, and throw the black ball. Muddy could also dig into soft ground to find underground paths around obstacles car insurance. Choosing where to dig was a crucial element of the game's various puzzles, as creating holes in the wrong areas could hinder the player's efforts to advance. Dropping the ball into a hole would cause it to return to its starting point.

Given the nature of Muddy's ability to move the ball, digging holes in the wrong places could make reaching the gate with the ball completely impossible, requiring Muddy to leave the screen and then return to try again. Along the way, there were many obstacles, such as moving enemies, pipes web design, barrels, weights, and bosses.

[Mr. Toups]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

but I won't complain cuz this thread rules

also

[Mr Mustache]

One of you should give me this game.
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The people are like wool to me.

[HarveyQ]

Yeah I am glad this thread was resurrected because it reminded me I need to get this game.
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