The Game & Watch Collection returns in this exclusive Club Nintendo game for the Nintendo DS. It includes Parachute and Octopus.
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A better user experience than part 1 but a somehow even smaller game selection.
Game & Watch Collection 2, just like it's predecessor has "three" games being Parachute, Octopus, and Parachute x Octopus (which is a "new" game that never released on an actual Game & Watch.) As a collection of games, it is rather disappointing in terms of games as both Parachute and Octopus have a combined version so it feels very repetitive in terms of selection. However, unlike Game & Watch Collection 1 this collection has a lot of presentation. The title screen music itself is an underrated bop that is amazing, the graphics and UI have colour and relate to the games and is not so straight forward like the original was. There's even fireworks for getting a new high score, which the original didn't have There's also a lot of references to the Game&Watch Widescreen systems (which Parachute and Octopus were originally released for.) The only problem I personally have with the visuals is in Parachute and Octopus the top screen looks very different compared to the game on the 2nd screen, as these were originally 1 screen games so it can be a bit jarring, but not too much so. The mostly nice visuals and audio help with this collection, but it unfortunately doesn't save it.
The first game, which is personally my favourite of the three is Parachute. In Parachute you try to rescue falling Mr. Game & Watches jumping from a plane by rowing your boat (also controlled by a Mr. Game & Watch) and having the falling Mr. Game & Watches fall inside the boat to gain points. The game is simple enough to be fun, but also not repetitive. Despite, my positives about this game it is just an okay game overall as it's not bad or good just somewhere in the middle.
Octopus despite it's iconic appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series of videos to be frank is bad. What I do love about the game before I move onto the negatives is the simple complexity it has. In octopus you try to avoid octopus tentacles (only ones that are fully out) or one of three scuba divers you have dies. The main objective in the game is to collect treasure which you can either stand still and risk getting hit while collecting more treasure (1 point each) or be safe and collect less. What's also amazing is the fact if you return to the surface after collecting amount of treasure you collect three points which incentives going to the surface. It makes your brain think about risk and reward for what you're going to do next. With all of that said, this game blows. The game forces you to wait to progress (to wait for tentacles to move) which doesn't work in a short game you play on break or a train. The waiting to progress also makes the game more prone to getting very repetitive as well. Overall, this should've been a good game, but is ruined by the fact the game forces you to wait to progress a lot.
Lastly in this collection of "three games" is the Parachute x Octopus game. This is honestly a huge disappointment especially compared to the previous Game&Watch collection. It is literally just Octopus mashed together quite poorly with Parachute. You can't simply always combine two games and expect them to work, I have no idea why either Nintendo did this as there were plenty of other Game&Watch games they could've chosen to replace this slot. I have two main theories on why they did this 1) to fit in with the theming of ocean as the title screen suggests or 2) they wanted to use the dual screen of the DS better than just a place to display fireworks from time to time either way it still doesn't justify this game's existence. So the game is literally the same as Parachute and Octopus, but it fails at being both as you only play one game at a time which doesn't change anything and the different pacing for each game doesn't work well together making it quite jarring when the games swap.
Also why play just parachute or just octopus when this exists? It's very confusing having a game in a collection OF THREE games being a mishmash of the first one. Overall, this is just a game that tries to be two things, but fails at being both.
For all "three" games, it is the regular Game Bs for Game&Watch games where they're just harder versions which is why I didn't mention them. Though, they help challenge your brain if you're in the mood for that. Overall, this collection is much much much worse than the previous one and couldn't even contain three unique games which is disappointing let alone having any okay/good games besides Parachute, in my opinion.
The first game, which is personally my favourite of the three is Parachute. In Parachute you try to rescue falling Mr. Game & Watches jumping from a plane by rowing your boat (also controlled by a Mr. Game & Watch) and having the falling Mr. Game & Watches fall inside the boat to gain points. The game is simple enough to be fun, but also not repetitive. Despite, my positives about this game it is just an okay game overall as it's not bad or good just somewhere in the middle.
Octopus despite it's iconic appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series of videos to be frank is bad. What I do love about the game before I move onto the negatives is the simple complexity it has. In octopus you try to avoid octopus tentacles (only ones that are fully out) or one of three scuba divers you have dies. The main objective in the game is to collect treasure which you can either stand still and risk getting hit while collecting more treasure (1 point each) or be safe and collect less. What's also amazing is the fact if you return to the surface after collecting amount of treasure you collect three points which incentives going to the surface. It makes your brain think about risk and reward for what you're going to do next. With all of that said, this game blows. The game forces you to wait to progress (to wait for tentacles to move) which doesn't work in a short game you play on break or a train. The waiting to progress also makes the game more prone to getting very repetitive as well. Overall, this should've been a good game, but is ruined by the fact the game forces you to wait to progress a lot.
Lastly in this collection of "three games" is the Parachute x Octopus game. This is honestly a huge disappointment especially compared to the previous Game&Watch collection. It is literally just Octopus mashed together quite poorly with Parachute. You can't simply always combine two games and expect them to work, I have no idea why either Nintendo did this as there were plenty of other Game&Watch games they could've chosen to replace this slot. I have two main theories on why they did this 1) to fit in with the theming of ocean as the title screen suggests or 2) they wanted to use the dual screen of the DS better than just a place to display fireworks from time to time either way it still doesn't justify this game's existence. So the game is literally the same as Parachute and Octopus, but it fails at being both as you only play one game at a time which doesn't change anything and the different pacing for each game doesn't work well together making it quite jarring when the games swap.
Also why play just parachute or just octopus when this exists? It's very confusing having a game in a collection OF THREE games being a mishmash of the first one. Overall, this is just a game that tries to be two things, but fails at being both.
For all "three" games, it is the regular Game Bs for Game&Watch games where they're just harder versions which is why I didn't mention them. Though, they help challenge your brain if you're in the mood for that. Overall, this collection is much much much worse than the previous one and couldn't even contain three unique games which is disappointing let alone having any okay/good games besides Parachute, in my opinion.