A licensed title developed by WayForward shortly before their work on Shantae. Though I've read and watched a bit of the older Casper comics and cartoons as a kid, I wasn't too familiar with the character Wendy the Good Witch when I initially played this. But this did not take away from any enjoyment of the game. Wayforward created a fun and polished game that anyone can dive into without any prior knowledge of the license the game is based on. Wendy: Every Witch Way is a very charming title with cute visuals and animations and a unique style of gameplay revolving around gravity. The sprite art and backgrounds are all wonderfully stylized, taking full advantage of the Game Boy Color. It is also one of the handful of Game Boy Color titles to add additional features if played on a Game Boy Advance, in this case it unlocks an additional world with three stages.
Every Witch Way is clearly designed with younger players in mind with its very low difficulty even on hard mode. But despite the lack of challenge, the core gameplay provides a unique and interesting experience. Gameplay revolves around reversing the gravity up and down to help Wendy traverse the halls of the Moon Castle, relocate hazards, and trap or stun enemies. This gravity mechanic is feels very polished and the level design takes advantage of it in creative ways. In many ways, Every Witch Way feels like an early version of some of WayForward's later titles like Mighty Flip Champs. The game also features some simple shoot-em-up sections to break up the platforming sections. These sections are fine, but feel a bit lacking and almost never do anything meaningful with the game's main gravity mechanic. There is also a single boss battle at the end of the game which feels arbitrary and almost out of place in the experience.
By far the game's biggest drawback is how short it is. With only 16 short levels (19 including the GBA extra stages) Wendy is an incredibly brief experience which feels like its over before it really begins. Even a casual playthrough will not take longer than 45 minutes to complete. Given how expensive the game has become on secondhand markets, it probably will not be with the price of admission to experience a game that won't even last you an hour. But if you can somehow find a way to play the game, or if you can borrow a friend's copy like I did, I'd definitely recommend giving this title a try
Every Witch Way is clearly designed with younger players in mind with its very low difficulty even on hard mode. But despite the lack of challenge, the core gameplay provides a unique and interesting experience. Gameplay revolves around reversing the gravity up and down to help Wendy traverse the halls of the Moon Castle, relocate hazards, and trap or stun enemies. This gravity mechanic is feels very polished and the level design takes advantage of it in creative ways. In many ways, Every Witch Way feels like an early version of some of WayForward's later titles like Mighty Flip Champs. The game also features some simple shoot-em-up sections to break up the platforming sections. These sections are fine, but feel a bit lacking and almost never do anything meaningful with the game's main gravity mechanic. There is also a single boss battle at the end of the game which feels arbitrary and almost out of place in the experience.
By far the game's biggest drawback is how short it is. With only 16 short levels (19 including the GBA extra stages) Wendy is an incredibly brief experience which feels like its over before it really begins. Even a casual playthrough will not take longer than 45 minutes to complete. Given how expensive the game has become on secondhand markets, it probably will not be with the price of admission to experience a game that won't even last you an hour. But if you can somehow find a way to play the game, or if you can borrow a friend's copy like I did, I'd definitely recommend giving this title a try