I am sure there are compliments you could offer Alleyway, like that it's a good time waster, or that it's a solid Breakout clone, or that the fact that you control Mario in a weird little ship is cute flavor, or that the bonus stages actually offer a bit of solid fun. None of that would distract from the fact that most Game & Watch titles require more player interaction and end up more engaging. The additions made to the Breakout formula only seem there to lengthen the game and test the technical capabilities of the Game Boy, with each stage having three variants - a static version, a version that screen wraps while scrolling, and a version that slowly encroaches on the player. You would think that the third of these would add some sort of time limit or pressure, but no, all blocks disappear within close enough proximity to the paddle, meaning that the levels sort of just double up on themselves to be slightly less than twice as long rather than any sort of "ramping up". Alleyway is a thoroughly mindless excursion that screams "Game Boy tech demo", carried by the fact that the bonus stages are cute and Breakout is inherently fun... to an extent. The amount of time Arkanoid-likes play themselves can get excruciating at times, and the different layouts of Alleyway love to present those possibilities. It is functional, I have gained nothing from it.

Having grown up with Mean Bean Machine, it's nice to see a version of the game that takes that basis and ups it just a little! Presentation is very solid, having two 'next' previews instead of one allows for more flexibility, counter chaining creates an actual back-and-forth... I would say this is the first time where I really "got" Puyo as a concept! AI is still rather rudimentary once you lock in and understand what the game's asking of you, and I found it defeating itself before I could do the really cool chain I was ready to unleash which made me sad, but it's a solid, fun romp that makes me want to check out the modern versions of the game! Which is good! I like that!

What sets Twinbee apart from other shooters of its time for me is its constant sense of interaction. The fact that it asks you to juggle three different tasks - shoot enemies, take down land-based turrets, and shoot bells an exact amount of times before collecting them to get power-ups - creates a juggling act that requires the player's focus to be on far more areas of the screen than just their ship. By having this level of multitasking, it also encourages two-player cooperation, which I was only able to experience in a limited burst, but is truly well balanced through this system. It's a well coordinated and considered experience in spite of just looking like "what if we made Xevious cute and quirky~?" And THEN it decides to load you up to ludicrous levels with power-ups, with the speed boost being one of the most generous of the era with how much you can stack it, sometimes to nearly out of control levels! For being an insanely simple game, Twinbee offers a lot of expression and flexibility in playstyle and prioritization!

Why is Stage 5 so long? It's like twice as long as any other stage with the most turrets and enemy patterns that often linger and bounce about the screen in ways that leave VERY small safe zones... that can then be filled by bullets. And it's here where Twinbee's weakness shows: its spawning system. Rather than having you restart the level when you blow up, Twinbee has you immediately spawn right where you are, getting right back into the action. While this sounds good, and in fact IS good in the case of multiplayer where your partner can pick up your slack while you try to power up, Twinbee is so weak in its starting form that you're likely to get hit again... and again. Where other shooters would force you to restart the level, which may seem like a harsher punishment, it also encourages learning the level better, trying to do something different, and putting your weakened ship in a consistent position to upgrade and improve. Twinbee decides to throw a baby in the middle of a battlefield with no briefing and go "welp, good luck!" In this case, dying in an area like Stage 5 once might as well be a Game Over unless you're right at the end, as the odds of losing ALL of your lives one after the other when depowered is an incredibly likely and emotionally debilitating experience.

I look forward to seeing what the rest of the series has to offer. The initial impression is incredibly promising, I like the mechanics in general, and I think it's a lot more well considered than a lot of titles of its era. But man was I humbled quite a few times at the end of runs!