Yet another in the line of Hasbro created and Majesco published board game conversion for the Gameboy Color. Battleship as many already know is a turn based strategy guessing game based on a navy operations theatre. The game has been converted down to the Gameboy small screen with suprisingly little lost, and even a little bit added to it as well. But even with all that has been done to the game is this one or two player battle worth it?
Graphics
The graphics of battleship are passable but far from extrordinary for the Gameboy Color. Sadly when you look a little deeper into the visuals of the game the only thing that really stands out with any real level or detail or colorful appeal would be the stage screen and the hit/miss animation which you can view both of below. Aside from these screens the only visuals you get are pretty subpar. The layout screen with your ships which is also seen below is composed of quite low detail and color usage which hints at the title having a quick color splash being placed over a black and white screen.
Rating: 2.5
Sound
The sound of the game isn't that great and can get annoying quite fast in most places. The musical pieces you are given are loud, scratchy and can induce a decent headache in no time at all if you really aren't in the mood for music of any kind. The tracks are just plain annoying, loop fairly quickly, and if there were a way to kill the audio I suggest it (but you can't). The sound effects of the title are not annoying like the music, but instead are just plain boring and almost non existant. You get simple chirps and stratches to signify picking a place for your boats, firing, and hitting or missing a boat.
Rating: 1.5
Theme & Fun
The old game of Battleship was designed around a two player strategy in which two friends would try to sink the other friends fleet of five ships first. To do this in the original you would place the boats on a 10x10 grid and start taking shots at each other. On the Gameboy Color though the game loses quite a bit in that you only get 4 boats and the grid is now 8x8 which makes the game a bit easier. To try and make up for it each ship gets a special ability if it is fully intact such as sonar for the sub, and a harpoon that will take out five spots(like on dice) which the battleship has. The game if you are playing the computer is not fun and that is because the AI knows where you are and will toy with you as long as it wants to, or will chip away at you right away. Do play this as a two player game or not at all.
Rating: 2.5
Play Control
Play control is something I'm going to have trouble talking about. The reason being is that there is nothing to really control. All the controls amount to in this is one button to place a boat and fire the weapon, and the other will when placing boats put it vertically or horizontally. The directional pad is just relegated to moving the cursor around to pick the place to put a boat on to or picking a place to take a shot at the enemy.
Rating: 3.0
Challenge
The challenge of the game is downright insufferable and evil. I know, and if you have played the game also know the one player game just screws with the gamers head. The computer AI already knows where you boats is and will either slap you around a bit at first, or in the case of the game I snapped shots with for this review, start picking you off right away on the first level. The real challenge is the two player game as it can be harder or easier as it all depends in the intelligence of you and your friend. The question is are you or your friend predictable or sneaky? Sneaky will pay off and predictable will make you dead in no time at all.
Rating: 3.5
Replay Value and Closing Notes:
The game has absolutely no replay value if you only have one copy of the game no matter how much you love Battleship because the AI is evil. If you have another friend and a link cable though you could end up going at it for maybe even hours in one sitting as it can be that fun.
This can be a fun game but only with a friend. I suggest that you find a friend who likes this game and rent to copies and see if it's worth a buy, but certainly don't get it if you will play it alone.
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