50 Shades of Grayscale: Let's Play 50 Game Boy Games!

The Link Cable

The link cable! You know, that thing we used to trade Pokemon with? Well it turns out that other games used it too. We’re wrapping up the halftime showcase with a trip down some of the titles we’ve experienced already, but this time with multiplayer! Some play better on video than others, sure, but hey. It’s all an immersive part of the experience. Or something! What are your favorite link cable memories? Tell us, please!

We got more UNCUT episodes for ya! This time with the full extent of my failures in the penultimate stage, and the full lore of GUMPY.

Ghostbusters II

Great news everyone! WE’RE BACK!! And we’re ready to keep on truckin with more numbered entries. We’re kicking off our Hollywood Blockbuster block with a strange sequel adaptation with surprisingly famous origins. Please enjoy 10% of us talking about Ghostbusters II, and 90% of us pulling out a series of “who would win” hypotheticals! It’s okay, though, because hoenstly the only truly weird and notable thing about this game is who made it. Also, I guess, how well it adapts actual plot elements into its gameplay? I think it’s pretty rad!

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Bill and Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure: A Bogus Journey!

Greetings and salutations dudes and dudettes! It’s time for another excellent edition of 50 Shades of Grayscale! On a slightly bogus note: I’m taking a vacation for a couple weeks, so no new episodes for a little bit! Take your time watching this vid while you wait! Maybe catch up on some info about your favorite Great Khan? Whatever!

Be excellent to eachother!

Hey everyone! The hiatus is over! It went a little longer than anticipated but I should be back in full form for quite some time. Got a couple of uncuts here for you for now, but look forward to the next full episode!

The Hunt For Red October

We have returned from the cold Siberian waters to emigrate BACK to the freedom of Let’s Play!! I hope that was a suitably themed little sentence, because I don’t have much else. Please enjoy this dive (heh) into one of the first iterations of the Tom Clancey Video Game. Things were much different back then. We could get away with Russian Techno Fortresses but also still have to tout realism and depth (heh) because you had a radar. WHAT A CONSOLE ERA.

edit: deleted scene

Another Wednesday, another UNCUT! Marvel at even more dungeon wanderings and relive me getting very excited to see Prince Richard.

Also, if I remember right, this pokemon card.

Jurassic Park

Hello everyone and welcome…to 50 Shades of Grayscale. We’re just about done with our movie block proper, and I figured there was no better way to conclude than to showcase an adaptation of my favorite movie ever! The world of Jurassic Park licensed games is a fascinating, but generally pretty mediocre one. Maybe when I’m done with all these Game Boy titles I can obsessively look into those next. Ew, but then I’d have to replay the Telltale one…I’ll put a pin in that one.

A good portion of info for this video came from an interview with the developers in yet another 90s British magazine: One Amiga. It’s a pretty fun read, though I think my favorite part is the candidness of this quote they pulled and then improperly aligned with the graphic.

You can read the whole article here!

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Another UNCUT comin at ya! Thrill at things like: wandering around, helping a ghost, and the extended conversation about which deadly sin the Nickelodeon toons represent.

Donkey Kong

Here we are, folks: game number 30! An all time heavyweight of the Game Boy library, there’s so much junk in this trunk that we gotta block it out into multiple parts! That being said, for how big a game this is, and it being a first party release from Shigeru Miyamoto’s team, there’s shockingly little info about its production. The team started a project with the working title of Donkey Kong '94, and proceeded to follow through with one of the all time greatest Game Boy games of all time and a powerful demonstration of what the Super Game Boy could do.

There is, as I discovered too late, art for all the enemies posted out there. Our questions on what a BauBau is have truly already been answered! I am currently wrestling myself on the prospect of going back and reuploading this video with everything edited in. Who knows!

Anyways, there’s also this fuckin CHOICE art for the Japanese strategy guide of the game, so please enjoy it in all of its glory. It’s…a lot.

Nother fresh uncut entry for ya! Featuring: horse heads, peanut heads, frog heads.

He’s back! And this time, he’s huge! The second half of Donkey Kong is now live, and boy howdy does this game never slow down! Well, except the one part where I died a bunch, but even so. This game really is a powerhouse front to back, and it makes sense that it’d be put up as the showcase for the Super Game Boy.

Originally, there was going to be a remake for the GBA, with enhanced graphics and a level editor! Unfortunately, that plan fell through, but gave way to the Mario vs Donkey Kong series instead. Not too shabby!

As one more bonus, here’s a full res of the portly man Wordse drew. Love this guy.

no snakes in a while…

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Another uncut session for the pile, and this time EVERYONE IS HERE. Including Ligma.

Showcase #3

Greetings true believers! We’re 30 games in and that means it’s time for another showcase, and what better way to wrap up the movie block with a lineup of some of the most action packed blockbusters out there? I assure you that every single one of these entries is as EXCITING as the movies and comics they are based on, amazingly composed and chill title music aside.

While I sadly didn’t feature it in our showcase, I still must point out the cartridge art (otherwise known as cart) for Robocop vs Terminator. A true thing of beauty and a win for the movie industry, I think?

Last of the Link’s Awakening uncuts! featuring the much messier version of the zelda rap

Avenging Spirit


ooOOOOoooo! Welcome mortals! It’s time to begin our journey through 5 spoooOOOOoooky game boy titles! Just in time to be vaguely close to Halloween by the end! Sorta! We’re kicking it off with Jaleco’s kirby-like, Avenging Spirit! This game is, in a word: precious. A delightfully designed portable piece that provides a light challenge and satisfying mechanics.

This is another one where we’re lucky enough to have manual scans, so do give it a look!


Snake count: 21

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A new uncut for ya! Featuring the uncut, unedited, exhaustive “who would win” conversation we had throughout the whole fuckin game. Sometimes an idea just sticks.

Castlevania: The Adventure

Bleh! Velcome to another blood-chilling entry in 50 Shades of Grayscale! This week, we tackle an entry in a much better known property: Castlevania! Now I don’t have a lot of experience with the series outside of bits and pieces I’ve watched, but I’d guess it’s not a wild take to say that this one might be the worst! Or at least a heavy contender. Either way, with perseverance and a bit of our own hand-crafted lore, we made it through with out necks in-tact.

Not much else to say, but here’s a deleted scene from Dracula’s castle! We…we spent a lot of time there.

Another uncut coming at ya, this time featuring the full deep dive into the history of the Great Khans, and their mysterious baby entry. Also Bill and Ted I guess.

Kid Dracula

Bleh! Again! It’s time for another episode, this time featuring the only properly localized entry int he Kid Dracula series! While the Famicom title never made it to the states, it’s pseudo sequel came in virtually unchanged, which meant the localizers just kinda had to wing it. Especially the writers for the manual! In true Halloween spirit, they made every effort to reference their share of b-movie horror titles, and then probably threw away all game materials they needed as reference and called it a day. It was the 90s, baby!