I recently discovered that there's a new feature on Itch.io that instantly gets rid of all games made using AI, which as you might know, is something that I'm very passionate about when it comes to games in the retro scene. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I pressed the button and was instantly greeted with a game that had been uploaded 3 minutes earlier that brings anti-gravity racing to the Game Boy.
Neon Drift 200 comes to us from Eris Games and uses a pseudo-3D engine on real Game Boy hardware, pushing the Game Boy's processor to its limits. It brings the illusion of 3D at 60fps - that's impressive!
The official description tells you that you'll be racing against rival hovering vehicles that scale dynamically, which is true, and they come at you pretty quickly! There are 4 tracks to play through so far, with the main bulk of the game seeing you drifting to make sure you stay on track as the game bends to create that illusion of 3D. I wouldn't say it's necessarily 'high-speed adrenaline', but it is demanding; I'll give it that. It definitely messes with your mind a little when the track starts to bend - I haven't tried it on original hardware yet, but I bet it looks wild!
You can download this game from Itch.io to play on Game Boy via a flash cart. It's also been tested by the developer on the Game Boy Pocket and the Game Boy Advance. For context, I've been playing it on Delta on my iPhone 15, but I'm sure it will also work on the Analogue Pocket.
I'm loving the fact that we're getting new Game Boy games from indie devs and also from the likes of bigger companies like ModRetro and Incube8, with re-releases of Earthworm Jim, and games like Hermano and Pachi Pals arriving in boxes with full-colour artwork. Let's hope we see Eris Games following suit too - keep up the good work!
