miniMIKE - GameBoy version

Welcome to the GameBoy platformer game called “miniMIKE: The caverns of Doom”. It is a port of my C64 game of the same name that I hadn't finished yet.

It was inspired in some part by Lode Runner (the player sprite & animations), H.E.R.O. & Choplifter (rescuing people). Classic Spelunky inspired the procedural cave generation (it uses a similar mechanism). Boulder Dash inspired some of the SFX and the level complete notes count-down.

Copyright © Paul Nicholls (Syntax Error Software, @syntaxerrorsoft on X.com).

There is a 9-cave demo you can try, and it is available as a download.

The full game will become available here when ready (I'm sorting out a publisher, etc), but it is pretty much done now.

The demo (and full game) can be enjoyed in your favorite GameBoy editor, or on actual hardware!

CREDITS:

• Game design:
  • Paul Nicholls
• Coding:
  • Paul Nicholls
• In-game graphics:
  • Paul Nicholls
  • Kenney Vleugels’ game assets: https://kenney.nl/assets/1-bit-pack
  • @helpcomputer0, @tonimangalvez (x.com)
  • kirai_s’ cute pixel monsters (https://x.com/kirai_s/status/812824701533728770
• Titlescreen/in-game music:
  • tiptop tomcat (@tomcattiptop; x.com)
• In-game sound effects
  • Paul Nicholls 

Features

• Works with GameBoy Classic & Color GameBoy; adapts to each one (uses special colours/palettes on CGB systems).
• Procedurally generated levels.
• Crispy pixelated graphics, yeah baby!
• Awesome cave parkour action! 

The Story

You were part of an off-planet expedition on an alien planet. There was an accident and many of your colleagues ended up trapped in underground caverns filled with large alien plants and other stuff.  You must enter the cave system and rescue the trapped men.  You have a special suit that has jets so you can dash while in the air and run up walls/slide down walls.  The low gravity allows you to jump around too.  There appear to be many hazards in the caves; energy barriers, spikes, lava, and deadly creatures that you must avoid. 

You are equipped with a hand-teleporter system that will teleport a person to safety after you touch them. After rescuing all the trapped people in a cave, the exit will open (makes a crack noise) and you can then pass through the exit to the next lower cave (via the Level Complete screen).   How far down the cave system can you get before you perish??  

Choose your next moves carefully, your life depends on it!  

Playing the game

Pressing the appropriate game controls, you can move around the cave, avoiding hazards like lava, spikes, flickering energy barriers, and alien creatures.  Any of these things will cause you to lose a life, having to retry the cave with one less life (if applicable).  

Well, I hope you enjoy playing the game, I really enjoyed crafting it for you!!
Cheers,
Paul Nicholls