Overview
Game & Watch Gallery 4 is a compilation of several Game & Watch games, released for the Game Boy Advance on October 28, 2002. The game is titled Game & Watch Gallery Advance in Europe, and was never released in Japan. This marks the second appearance of two-player play, that is, if the players have a Game Link cable.
Games
Fire
A simple game about people leaping out of a burning building. The player's role is to catch these people, and transport them to the ambulance nearby. There are only a couple differences between Classic and Modern. In Modern, Toads, Yoshis, and Donkey Kong Juniors are leaping out of the building, and Mario and Luigi are catching them. The only other difference is that a Bob-omb may leap out of the building as well, and players must avoid catching them.
Boxing
Luigi gets pummeled.
Two opponents face off in the boxing ring, and only one of them will leave. Players can punch low and high, while the opponent can block low or high. In Modern, Luigi is facing against Wiggler, Boo, or Waluigi.
The original 1984 version of Boxing was called Punch-Out in North America.
Rainshower
In Classic, the player must move laundry around to keep it from getting rained on, and watch out for crows that move around the laundry at random. Modern differs in that Bowser is throwing paint balls at Mario's friends, and Waluigi is the one to randomly mess with the lines.
Mario's Cement Factory
Mario's Cake Factory, more like it
Working a cement factory, Mario has to drain cement from the top level to the bottom level by riding elevators and avoiding overflowing containers. Modern is drastically different in that Mario is working in a cookie factory and he has to drain cookie dough from the containers to ovens at the bottom. In Modern, however, Boos will sometimes hide in the ovens.
Donkey Kong Jr.
One of the few games to feature Mario as a villain, he has kidnapped Donkey Kong, and it's up to Donkey Kong Jr. to grab a key and save Donkey Kong. In Classic, Donkey Kong Jr. is avoiding snapjaws and birds, while in Modern Donkey Kong Jr. is avoiding Goombas, nipper plants, and Bullet Bills.
Donkey Kong 3
In Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong is the villain again. This time he is facing Stanley the Bugman, who the player controls. Stanley must catch drips of insecticide and then shoot bees with the insecticide (which leads them upwards towards Donkey Kong). In Modern, Mario is facing Donkey Kong in a ghost house, where Mario catches drips of bubbles and then catches Boos or fireballs in bubbles to shoot them towards Donkey Kong.
Chef
Foods fly through the air, and the chef (the player) must catch them in the pan. In Modern, rather than catching food in a pan, Yoshi is eating food. The goal of both games is to keep food from hitting the ground.
Mario Bros.
Not to be confused with the classic arcade game of the same name, Mario Bros. has Mario and Luigi packing up parts to be sent away for delivery. In Modern, Mario and Luigi are workers in a cake factory, taking cakes to Wario's truck, but watching out for when Bowser reverses the conveyor belts.
Donkey Kong
The classic game has Donkey Kong kidnapped Pauline, and it's up to Mario to save her by traversing a complicated scaffolding. In Modern, Donkey King has kidnapped Peach instead of Pauline.
Octopus
Playing as a diver, the player must avoid a giant octopus and collect the sunken treasure. Game B features tentacles that don't always retract all the way, which could throw off the timing. In Modern, Mario is the diver, and the octopus will sometimes blast out ink. Mario will also go slower the more treasure he's carrying.
Fire Attack
Fire Attack is a defense game, in which the player must whack flying torches and other items flying towards the fort. In Modern, Wario is defending a giant golden statue of himself, while whacking Bob-ombs, Bullet Bills, tomatoes, and chickens.
Features & Extra Unlockable Games
Other features include a message board that occasionally has information about the game, a music room in which the player can listen to every song in the game, a message from Mario and Mr. Game & Watch encouraging the player to gather more stars, a series retrospective, and a museum where the player can unlock an additional 9 games (and see a short demo of those not yet unlocked):
Manhole
In this game there are two walkways (one above the other), each with 2 open sewers. As people walk across the screen, the player has to fill in the holes so that they don't fall into the water below.
Tropical Fish
This game is somewhat similar to Fire or Chef. Fish jump out of an aquarium on the left side of the screen, and the player must transport them to a tank on the right side of the screen by keeping in time with their jumps.
Mario's Bombs Away
Mario's Bombs Away is one of the few games that feature color for the characters. Mario (dressed as a soldier) must carry a bomb across enemy lines and hand it off to a waiting ally. Mario can hold the bomb above or below; enemy soldiers in the trees above him will try to light the bomb sporadically, while a fire below could cause the bomb to go off. Careful timing, as well as holding the bomb in the right position, is the key to victory.
Parachute
A helicopter drops paratroopers into an awaiting boat. The soldiers fall into three "lanes", and in more difficult version will sometimes get stuck on a nearby palm tree for a random period of time before dropping. If the soldiers fall into the water they get eaten by a shark.
Bomb Sweeper
This late-era Game & Watch title is a dual screen game, though the top screen doesn't serve much purpose. The goal is to a bomb in time to defuse it, which usually requires navigating through a maze. Some walls can be pushed, which may open or close access to the bomb.
Climber
Essentially a simpler version of Ice Climber, where the player must jump to smash open platforms made out of ice and work the way to the top of the screen. Certain enemies appear to refill the ice, and birds get in the way as well. Once at the top, the goal is to jump onto a bird to end the level.
Safebuster
A dual screen game where a thief on the top screen moves left and right dropping bombs onto a safe directly below. Players control a security guard who must catch the bombs (up to three at once) and dispose of them by moving to the far right or left.
Lifeboat
A dual screen game that opens like a book. Vacationers aboard a flaming cruise liner are abandoning ship. The player controls two life rafts that move simultaneously left and right, in order to catch the passengers. Each life raft can hold up to 4 passengers, which must be unloaded on the far right or left before any more can be taken. If a passenger drops into the shark infested waters, or one falls onto a full life raft, it counts as a miss.
Zelda
A fairly involved multi-screen game with a map, compass, triforce chart, and items located on the top screen. Most of the action takes place on the bottom screen. One or more Stalfos attack Link from below, while one or more Moblins attack to the left and right. Link must dodge the Stalfos underneath him while moving in to attack and kill the Moblin. Once the Moblin has been defeated, stairs are revealed which take Link to the next room. The rooms Link has visited and any items he has found are shown on the map on the top screen. If players manage to find the boss room, Link moves into the top screen where he must fight a fire-breathing dragon. Once killed, the dragon leaves behind one piece of the broken Triforce. There are 9 dungeons each with a unique room layout.
Although players will have to work hard to unlock all the games, the sheer number of them make Game & Watch Gallery 4 the best collection of Game & Watch titles released.
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