The Game Boy Abyss - Year 2 in Review (2023)

It’s crazy to think that I’ve been doing The Game Boy Abyss for nearly two full years. What started as little more than a joke has turned into a genuine hobby, and a bit of a focus of my life, at least on a weekly-or-so basis. Honestly, I expected this to peter out barely into the ‘teens, so the fact that I’ve nearly hit sixty games reviewed is nothing short of staggering. So, I’d thought I’d just write something up with my overall thoughts on The Game Boy Abyss in 2023.

I’ll be candid, just for a moment. I suffer with my mental health - a lot. My brain is like its own little abyss of depression, inferiority complexes and RSD. I’m second guessing everything I do, especially when it comes to the Game Boy Abyss. Honestly, that’s why there’s been slightly less reviews this year, as I’ve had weeks where I just couldn’t find it in myself to get a review in a mood the game didn’t deserve. I’m always comparing myself to my betters, and I’m only just now beginning to see the real value my reviews bring out. Every day is a struggle to push myself forward, and writing these reviews, and putting my thoughts out into the internet via The Game Boy Abyss is part of my journey. This is so many words just to say, to everyone who has read, commented, followed, or hell, done anything regarding The Game Boy Abyss - I get sad about view counts and whatnot, but that’s just how the internet has poisoned me. Every view is a treasure, in my opinion, and to those who read each and every review, thank you very, very much.

So, onto a better topic - the second year of The Game Boy Abyss!

This year, I reviewed a total of 25 games - which includes Shrek: The Movie, which is a bit less than Year 1’s 31 games, but I think considering how my head acts sometimes, I think that’s fine. 2023 was the year I think I settled on the general format/schedule for my reviews; any number ending with a 5 or a 0 is a more major title, or a game personal to me, with inbetweens being more filler or ‘unknown’ games. Seriously, I’d love to play more games that are, y’know, actually good, but I don’t want to run out of the good stuff and be stuck with stuff like… Bratz for months on end. Eurgh. But I’ll also be taking the releases of certain shows, movies, and whatnot and releasing reviews related to them, like with my Castlevania: Circle of the Moon review coming out alongside Castlevania: Nocturne’s release, so it won’t always be just ‘filler’ in between. I’ve honestly got some funny ‘holidays’ where I’ll be playing certain games at certain times, so look forward to that.

Overall, I think the quality of the games I played this year we're a little lower than the first year, but again, I think that more had to do with me going a bit harder on more prominent releases in the early months of the Game Boy Abyss in 2022, so I’d say they’d balance out in the end.

As an aside, I’ve wondered to myself. I don’t know how long this project will go on; I intend to review pretty much every game, but there’s only so much one man can do, but I wonder when will I become the -single- most prolific GBA reviewer on the internet? Sure, big review sites with teams of reviewers like GameSpot or IGN will have hundreds and hundreds, but how many have been done by a single person? It’s a crazy thought, but the very fact that certain reviews get the majority of their traffic from Google and other search engines kind of makes it dawn on me that my reviews are, or are near, the top result, makes it dawn on me just how well some of these reviews do. I’m not trying to make this a phenomenon or anything, but seeing my reviews break through the endless pages of Google searches does make me grin a little bit.

Anyway, I’ll stop ranting. As an extra bit of fun, I’ve decided to make a mini ‘award recap’ for the second year of The Game Boy Abyss, a quick glance back at the year (or many years) that was. The worst, the weird, the best… These are just some of the games I played, but these are the ones that left the biggest impression on me. So, enjoy!

The Worst: Kong: King of Atlantis

(Runner Up for ‘Worst Kong Game I Was Aware Of In 2023)

Man, Bratz should be happy I played it in 2024. This wasn’t a particularly hard pick; there have been games like Dogz that bored me to tears, Minority Report that were interesting, yet frustrating to grapple with, or objectively weak games like Barbie Horse Adventures that had *something* unique to bring to the table. Of everything I played this year, Kong: King of Atlantis is one that I reject the very premise of. From its graphics, to its terrible movement and just the sheer fact it feels bad to play from the jump, Kong is an atrocious time and amongst the very worst I’ve played yet for the Game Boy Abyss. Kind of fitting, though, considering the *modern* Kong we got mere months ago. Most games I can find something funny, but nothing here. Please avoid.

Most Interesting: Rebelstar Tactical Command

(Also winner of ‘Best Differences Between PAL and NA boxarts)

Rebelstar was one of the games I was most excited to play on the Abyss this year, but it’s also one of the ones that I think suffered the most from my format. I play a lot of games, for fun, and I have a mostly full-time job. I simply just don’t have time to fully play every game I pick up, and with Rebelstar’s rather large scope and very full campaign, I don’t think I’ve quite grasped just how good this game could be. It might not be my favorite tactics game on the system, but its quality and depth rival its peers. Having the vibes of X-COM without (most) of the brutal difficulty, varied map design and objectives, and the ability to outfit your squad to your own personal specifications could lead to some superfans becoming addicted to min-maxing themselves to victory. Rebelstar is awesome, sans some dated , technical frustrations, and I’ll absolutely be picking it up again sometime in the future.

Most Likely To Return To: Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Alone

(Also winner of ‘Hardest Review to Write’)

Perhaps the only tactics game to outstirp the likes of Rebelstar in sheer complexity, Yggdra Union broke my brain as I tried to write my review, getting to the bottom of the abyss that is this game's mechanics. Honestly, I probably would’ve finished the game in the months since my review, but the damn pace of the game is just so slow on the GBA, I just couldn’t do it. With Yggdra Union recently getting a well-priced Switch re-release, I will without a doubt be checking out this amazingly complex game again real soon… thankfully with a speed up option, because good lord, having to just *watch* the foes take multiple minutes to do their moves without any interaction drives me insane.

Weirdest: Barbie Horse Adventures: Blue Ribbon Race

(Also winner of ‘Most Evocative Song)

Look, weird doesn’t mean great, y’know? Full disclosure, the only reason I played this was because of ThorHighHeels ‘Mysterious GBA Games’ video, which featured Barbie Horse Adventures and its most potent element - ‘the song’. Coating the entire game in an ethereal, dreamlike quality, this almost makes horse riding fun! The game isn’t terrible, but it’s the music and odd graphics that are the star of the show, making an experience unlike anything else.

Biggest Surprise: Frogger’s Adventure: Temple of the Frog

(Also winner of ‘Best Frog Game’)

This was one of those games that’s always kinda existed on the outer reaches of my awareness, knowing I’d get to it sometime and just… kind of dreading it as one of those bottom-of-the-barrel experiences. And whilst, like many other games played through the abyss, it isn’t going to win any awards (besides this one!), but the fact is it's a competent puzzle-platformer that both stands on its two legs, and acts as an evolution of the classic arcade original. It’s dumb, and mad and ball-bustingly hard at times, but considering it’s short, two hour length, I got a decent amount out of this game. Hats off - just gotta hope the sequel can stand tall, as it won’t be able to win points just by being a surprise.

Best Played This Year: Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga

(Also the winner of: Best Mario Game on GBA)

When I knew that I’d be playing Superstar Saga as the 50th game on The Game Boy Abyss, this was without a doubt going to be the best game I reviewed in 2023, bar any extreme surprises that never turned up. I credit Superstar Saga with making me really love handheld gaming, absolutely absorbing dozens of hours from prepubescent Mitch’s life. Anything I could say here isn’t anything I couldn’t say in my review, so go check that out, but ultimately, Superstar Saga is a delight from start to finish, perfect for both new and old fans alike.

Well, that was interesting - I hope, at least. I might play some real shite sometimes, but this hobby project has led me to play games I absolutely never would’ve otherwise. Seriously, why the hell would I play Frogger or Barbie Horse Adventures without the Abyss? Anyway, these awards will be a mainstay moving forward, and I’ll probably be thinking of funnier ones across the year.

And… that’s it, I guess. 2023 was a lot for me, and I’m willing to bet 2024 will be even more. I’m not gonna lie, and say that I’m a brand new man, or anything like that… because to an extent, that doesn’t matter, at least for the Abyss. This is part of my healing, a piece of routine that helps me write about the things I love most in the world. The Abyss won’t be going anywhere, not anytime soon, and I’ve already got a great list of games I plan to be playing both near and further along. I won’t shill my social media or anything like that, but I just want to thank y’all once more. All the support, via views or whatever else, means the world to me, and keeps me going, day by day. Knowing people love these reviews… that means a lot, truly. As always, thank you for reading The Game Boy Abyss, and I’ll see you in my next review, very, very soon.