ModRetro’s GameBoy games are true to the time period, for better and for worse

I’ve been playing three titles from the Mod Retro collection, and while each one is filled with retro charm, I’ve been having a hard time rewiring my brain to play games with old-fashioned proclivities. You’ll want a notepad handy and a good helping of patience to play these, but if you do, you’ll be rewarded.

I’ve played Chantey, Monsterland DX, and Dragonyhm. I was the most excited about Chantey, a rhythm game set in a pirate universe. However, Dragonyhm was the standout of the trio. That said, Tales of Monsterland is a slick side-scrolling adventure game in the vein of a Warioland title that was a ton of fun as well.

All of these games are bursting with passion, and I love that most of them, even the Mod Retro games I haven’t played, are made by single developers or tiny indie teams. It’s cool that retro consoles’ resurgence has given games like these a new lease on life.

Not to mention that all games come on cool cartridges, have full instruction booklets, and a little keychain in the box. The simple fact that these come with a real instruction book makes me unbelievably happy. As a kid who grew up long ago, I loved buying a game, ripping it open on my way home to read the manual and check out the disc art. That’s been lost over the last few years, but the wave of nostalgia Mod Retro has brought back shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Overall, they’re great little packages, and if you like retro games and have a device that can play them, you won’t be disappointed.

Chantey

Of the three titles I’ve been testing, this is the one I’ve played the most, but not through my own choice. There were about two weeks between my first time playing this game and my second, which left me lost and confused, so I needed to restart to learn where to go again. On my second playthrough, I had to open a notepad on my phone to keep track of my objectives and what I’d seen so far.

I hoped this would help me move through the game, but its open-world design makes figuring out where to go challenging. Your goal at the start of the game is to build a crew of legendary pirates, but it doesn’t tell you all of the towns you need to visit to find them, so after you find the first couple, you’re just left to sail around rather aimlessly, going from town to town and talking to all the NPCs. I’m unsure if I missed something, but this part of the game was an incredible drag.

What also slowed it down was the lack of combat. I was intrigued by this game because of its unique rhythm game combat system. However, as far as I’ve gotten in the game, I’ve only used it to fight pirates that need to be persuaded to join my crew. In about five hours of gameplay, I’ve only done three battles so far. It would have made a lot more sense to fight other ships this way when you’re sailing around the open seas. I mean, I’m supposed to be a pirate, but I mostly do delivery missions…

All in all, it’s a fine game with a really good pixel art style and a decent story. However, I just wish the game had made it easier to find all the pirates who are supposed to join your crew and that there were more combat opportunities. Having some kind of waypoint for the main story would have been nice as well. One of the missions doesn’t really trigger until you have enough money in your wallet, making it even harder to find, and another takes place on a hidden island you need to find on a real-life map since the game is based on the real Caribbean. They’re all cool in theory, but if players get frustrated because it’s not explicitly clear what to do, I think most people will bounce off this one.

Even something vague like “the next pirate you’re looking for might be at one of these two towns” would have led to much less wandering on my behalf. Since this game is so new and not overly popular, there aren’t any walkthroughs for it online either, so if you get lost at sea, you’ll need to wander around until you can find the next thing to do.

Beyond all of that, the bones of this game are super cool. The setting, art style and music are just fantastic, and I really hope the dev can refine this vision to make the game even better in the future.

You can download a demo of this game on your computer to test it out before you buy it ($57).

Tales of Monsterland DX

Tales of Monsterland DX started life as a Game Boy game in 2021, but it was enhanced with the DX title to be re-released in full colour alongside the ModRetro Chromatic handheld. The game is a side-scrolling platformer with some light RPG elements, but the main focus is making tight jumps and navigating around the world.

This one was a lot more approachable than Chantey and only took me about three hours to finish. That said, it’s not necessarily easy, and you will have to restart a few times due to running out of lives. It’s a little frustrating at first, but as you play a little more, you start to understand the floaty nature of the character and the tightness of the controls, and it becomes easier.

The game itself gives you a sword to take down enemies, and you can find power-ups to give you the ability to transform into classic monsters like a werewolf or a mermaid. There are two other powers to collect, but I won’t spoil those. There’s also some decent writing that makes this game a pretty fun way to spend your time. There are hidden secrets, and a bit of backtracking once you get your new powers helps unlock new rooms in old areas, but due to the short nature of the game, nothing overstays its welcome.

Since this game came out in 2021, there has been a bit of an online presence. Someone has even written a walkthrough, so if you get stuck, you can get a hint online to get you back on track. If you want to play a fun platformer on your retro handheld, this is a really great option. The game also has a demo you can download to play on an emulator. This game costs $57 if you want to buy it from Mod Retro’s website.

Dragonhym

I’ve saved the best for last because this game is great. It’s an old-school RPG with turn-based combat and a reasonably compelling story. There are also more puzzle elements than I expected, which is why I’d say it plays a little bit like a cross between A Link to the Past and turn-based JRPGs.

You start in a very Zelda-inspired section, but things change a little as soon as you’re introduced to combat. You can only bring one character into combat, but as you level up, you learn more and more, allowing you to tweak your playstyle between attacks and magic.

Really, there isn’t much else to say about the game beyond how good it is. It feels like a hidden gem from a bygone era in the best way. From the chiptune soundtrack to the large map to explore, there is a lot to love about this game if you’re into RPGs. Unlike Chantey, this one has lots of players, so you can find full walkthroughs and other tips online to help you when you get stuck. That said, to play this one like it’s meant to be played, I think you want to be taking notes as you play.

You can test this game like all the other Mod Retro titles. You can play a demo of this online, but it would be awesome if this one got a full release so even more people could try it out without having to use a device that will play Gameboy Color cartridges. The game costs $64 to buy a physical copy on Mod Retro’s website.