The original Game Boy DMG holds a special place in my heart. I remember tearing the wrapping off a present one Christmas and seeing a Yellow Game Boy bundled with Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and Tetris staring back at me, and in that moment I thought that the world couldn't get any better. I had so many amazing memories with that handheld, playing games from Donkey Kong Land to Pocahontas and Navy Seals on it (I had a mix of games growing up!) and reveling in all of the epic moments they provided.
When it came to picking my ModRetro Chromatic color, there was only one color scheme in my mind. Volt Yellow wouldn't only just take me back to the good old days; for me, it was the perfect colour scheme to test out new games that 90's me might have loved too, and a nostalgic nod to the console this handheld provides the ultimate tribute to.
ModRetro have made it their mission to bring back classic games for new audiences as well as releasing new titles like Dragonyhm, making 'hard to find games' easily accessible to audiences around the world, and as these titles work on original Game Boy hardware as well as the ModRetro Chromatic, they're doing something spectacular in terms of game preservation that we absolutely love.
Their latest release takes us all the way back to 1993, to a time when Dr Malcom first stepped foot on Isla Nublar and the Red Ranger called the Tyrannosaurus Zord defeat Rita Repulsa. Baby T-Rex is their second classic release after Toki-Tori and is jam-packed full of nostalgic gameplay that you can't help but fall in love with. I've been playing this game non-stop for the past couple of days and have put my thoughts down here in this in-depth review!
Thanks to ModRetro for sending me a copy of Baby T-Rex to review. As always, all of my thoughts are my own and taken from extensive gameplay sessions.
Everything about Baby T-rex is a testament to the glory days of the Game Boy, from the art to the gameplay and the catchy chiptune soundtrack. It's a '90s marvel brought back to life and is hard to put down once you get going. Younger gamers might find the lack of save options annoying, but older gamers will be more than used to that challenge!
- Price: $34.99, £28.00
- Compatible With: ModRetro Chromatic, Game Boy DMG, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Analogue Pocket.
- Available From: ModRetro
A Prehistoric Party
As a kid who grew up in the 90s, just holding physical boxes with game cartridges inside them makes me incredibly excited. If you never lived through that period then you're probably thinking that I sound incredibly old right now, but that feeling of tearing off the cellophane wrapping, the smell of the manual as you rifle through the pages, the pop that the cartridge makes when it comes out of the plastic - ModRetro certainly know how to tap into my nostalgia, and it's one of the reasons why physical media has and always will be the best.
Just look at the artwork on this game box; while it's the same as the original Baby T-Rex game by Laser Beam back in '93 (you'll notice that this one is made by 'bleem' instead), the design has been reworked with bolder colours and more depth to the characters. It's vibrant and gnarly and has those traces of 80s pop culture mixed in with 90s childhood tropes about it. And yes, I can't stop thinking about how much of a great tattoo it would make.
A Brief History Lesson
And I mean brief - we've got a game to take a look at!
Baby T-Rex released in Europe for the Game Boy back in 1993. Weirdly, it also released with different characters than Rex and different plotlines but the exact same levels and bosses, even the rocks to pick up as weapons. It released as 'Agro Soar' replacing Rex with a puppet called Agro and 'Bamse' replacing Rex with a Bear. It also released as 'We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story' in America to match up with the film. All the bosses are the same and you still play as a Dinosaur named Rex, but he looks different yet again!
In short, ModRetro have re-released the first and original version of the game the way that Laser Beam intended rather than any of the later iterations. Right, now that you know that very important fact, let's look at what comes inside the box!
What's In The Box?
Having a manual is something I really miss about games; I spend £50 on a Nintendo Switch game and get the smallest cartridge known to man inside a box that is essentially empty. For $35, gamers get a unique ModRetro box, a full-colour manual, a physical cartridge, and a charm to hang off their Chromatic. You'll find a collectible charm inside every ModRetro game, yet another example of 90s kids running a company who know exactly how to make us feel 7 years old again.
The manuals are exactly like you would expect as well, giving you key information about the story you're about to embark on as well as telling you about controls and movesets. It really helps to read these to get a good feel of the game and means each title doesn't need to have a tedious training session where you learn the moves with a wise-old teacher character.
In this manual, you'll learn all about how Rex's girlfriend has been taken by the evil Sethron and whisked away to his castle. It's your job to go and rescue her across 16 levels of simple yet at the same time nail-bitingly tense and addictive gameplay using your wits, bowling balls, rocks, and a skateboard.
The Graphics
I've been playing a lot of Dragonhym recently on the Chromatic, and that's a game that I can instantly tell is a modern title made in the style of an older title. The colours are vibrant, the challenges are mind-boggling, and the difficulty curve is steep. The beauty of Baby T-rex is that it still feels and looks like a game from over three decades ago; the background is green like it would be on the original DMG, and the sprites are basic yet have so much character to them.
Don't get me wrong; simplicity is a compliment here, and any game that can keep you so occupied without lots of bells and whistles is one that has a solid gameplay formula nailed down. Rex is a protagonist that would appeal to all ages too; he's about as scary as Croc or Spyro and looks insanely cool when he's skating through the Crystal Caves or juggling while waiting for you to get on with your game.
The Gameplay
Can you remember what it was like to not have save states or even passwords and have to complete a game all the through in one go otherwise you lost all of your progress? If so, then Baby T-Rex will either bring back some great or painful memories for you. If you've grown up with the Nintendo Switch or PS4, then you're in for a real challenge here!
One thing I will say is that Baby T-Rex stays true to itself and is a game from the early 90s in the sense that it hasn't added any extra 'quality of life' features to make it easier to play. And you might think that with only 16 levels it would all be over very quickly, but you would be wrong - there are plenty of enemies and annoying drops that you have to effectively learn about as you play through the game. You will lose all your lives, and you will have to remember where the spiked walls and enemies are lurking... and you will play each level multiple times. As long as you keep that in your head, you'll be fine.
The levels feature different dino-themed enemies and pesky insects for Rex to take down. Rex has to collect rocks as he moves through the game to use as weapons, but in the same way that Sonic loses all of his rings when he gets hit, you'll lose all of the rocks you're carrying if an enemy attacks you or you accidentally touch a bad guy one when jumping over them. If you can get to the end of the level with rocks still in your inventory, however, then you'll take them forward to the next level and will restart the level every time you die with that same number of rocks. You can't take them forward into the next world though.
There's a bonus level at the end of each world if you can manage to get to the end of a level with 50 rocks in your inventory, but as of yet, I've not managed it. I get close to the exit and BAM, a rock hits me or a pterodactyl I've forgotten about swoops down and crushes my dreams. I did take a picture of the pterodactyl above, however, as it's the only one that doesn't attack you, carrying you up to the next part of the level instead.
The levels work in a side-scrolling fashion from left to right, and then you'll either jump up to a new area or drop down to a lower one and carry on from right to left, repeating the pattern until you get to the end. It keeps you on your toes and you've really got to remember what's coming up as you run or skate along - I've been defeated by mosquitos in the Crystal Caves so many times.
If you haven't played the game before, then you might be forgiven for thinking that Rex uses his skateboard all the way through the game. Like Donkey Kong coming across Rambi the Rhino in Donkey Kong Country or Mario finding Yoshi in certain areas, the Skateboard stands waiting for you at certain sections of levels. It only comes into play from Crystal Caves, the second world, and it's used to help you cover large distances and also to attack enemies when the time is right.
The bowling ball has to be one of my favourite weapons; it's great just trotting on along behind it as it knocks critters out of the way, allowing me to take a breather before having to navigate moving platforms falling towards lava - it's a hard life being a T-Rex.
It Takes Two To Jungle Tango
There's also a two-player mode in Baby T-rex that allows you and a friend to pass the Chromatic between you to see who can achieve the highest score. No online play, no link cables; if you want to play two player on this game, you'll need to be sat next to your friend and pass the handheld back and forth just like we did in the good old days!
Final Thoughts
- Nostalgic gameplay style that makes you feel like you've picked up a new game for the DMG
- Simple yet addictive gameplay with cutesy characters
- Fun powerups and the chance to see a T-rex skateboarding
- Great soundtrack that doesn't get repetitive
- No password or save function which might annoy younger gamers
- You'll have to play the same levels many times if you want to get to the end, but practice makes perfect!
From the cover art to the gameplay, this 'roarsome' title (couldn't resist) is crammed full of nostalgia and plays just like a 90s DMG could do. It's an old game brought back for modern audiences and not a new title, and I've reviewed it as such, a window into the past to show gamers how difficult it was to complete games back in the day.
The story and the cutscenes all flow nicely and the character sprites look incredible on the DMG. Ok, the levels are pretty basic in their design and it would be awesome to have a password function, but the whole idea of Baby T-rex is, and always was, to get as far as you can in one play and to get the highest score you can in the process. We would think nothing about sinking 3 or 4 hours into God of War on an evening, so why not put the same amount into beating Baby T-Rex and one-upping your previous high score?
As unboxed copies of the original game sell for around $50 and are pretty few and far between, it's so nice to see ModRetro reviving the game for a new generation. Long may Rex keep his skateboard on solid ground, and who knows, maybe we'll see a brand new sequel if the game does well!
