Goodboy Galaxy

Goodboy Galaxy is a 2023 action-adventure game developed for the Game Boy Advance in celebration of its 20th anniversary by Rik Nicol and Jeremy Clarke. It is the first full commercial Game Boy Advance release in over 13 years. The game was also released on the Nintendo Switch, Evercade and PC.

Gameplay
The game has been described by its developers as an "exploration platformer", which has been inspired by Metroid and Cave Story. It involves navigating through the twisting multi-route levels in order to befriend various NPCs and to attain unique abilities (with the player's jet pack and blaster), which will allow players to solve various puzzles. There are over fifty unique characters to befriend and several secret areas to find.

Plot
Maxwell, a space travelling dog, flees his home world after it faces near collapse. However, he is then stranded on an unknown planet after his spaceship is attacked. He now needs to secure the help of every weapon and friend he can find in order to have a hope of rescue.

Development
The lead developers Rik Nickel and Jeremy Clarke first met when they both worked for a mobile game studio in the Netherlands. They first developed a basic prototype of Goodboy Galaxy known as "Goodboy Advance" at the Ludum Dare game jam. The game had several comedic character based platformer inspirations such as Crowtel Renovations, Pikuniku, and Spelunky. Mini quests were put in the game as the developers had greatly enjoyed them in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Being a big fan of Yoshi's Island, Jeremy insisted that the game have a similar cave level with waterfalls. Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Advance 3 also inspired the developers to pull off similar background tricks. The game was subsequently developed after £203,929 was received through crowdfunding.

Release
A pre release demo known as Goodboy Galaxy: Chapter Zero was made available in 2021, which had content not present in the final release to avoid spoilers. The final full game was released in Europe and North America on 23 November 2023.

Reception
The game was described by Damian McFerran of Time Extension as having "utterly gorgeous visuals and brilliantly animated cutscenes". He stated that the game was "bursting with character" and opined that if it had been released during the lifespan of the GBA, it would have been hailed in the same manner as Metroid Fusion and Drill Dozer. He further described it as being akin to a Nintendo developed game with "excellent level design, likeable characters and gameplay mechanics which both befuddle and entertain". Oliver Shielding of Way Too Many Games awarded the game a 9/10 and felt that the game was as "fresh and innovative as Golden Sun, Minish Cap, or Metroid Fusion".