I hope you're excited, because this month the Virtual Boy will be added to the constantly-growing list of Nintendo Classics. But before we break down Teleroboxer and Wario Land, we first need to talk about another monochromatic console. That's right, Nintendo just announced that two Game Boy titles are available right now to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. I'm talking about both Balloon Kid and the handheld version of Yoshi. That's cool news, but are either of these games actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Computer & Video Games and more classic magazines that reviewed these games back when they first came out. Strap yourself in for what is guaranteed to be a moderately entertaining episode of Nintendo Classics Review Crew.

SEE MORE: Nintendo Classics Game Archive


One thing that I love about the Game Boy is how it gave Nintendo an opportunity to resurrect some of their more memorable console games. We saw that with both Metroid II: Return of Samus and Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, but it was Balloon Kid that kicked off the trend in 1990. This is the sequel to the first-generation NES game Ballon Fight, fleshing out the game to feel more like a traditional platformer than a Joust wannabe. These days, the game is probably better known for being one of the few Nintendo-published games released exclusively in North America and Europe. When the game eventually came to Japan, it was reskinned and renamed as Hello Kitty World. A decade later, a Game Boy Color remake of Balloon Kid was released in Japan, and that is the version they are getting with this Nintendo Classics update. Sadly, we're getting the black and white original. Let's see what the critics said back in 1990.

With no American magazines weighing in on Balloon Kid, I figure we should start at the bottom and work our way up. While Mean Machines went all the way down to a 51%, the lowest score actually belongs to GameZone, who gave it a 3 out of 6. “Not unlike Wonderboy, this multiplatform adventure is low on originality, but if you are looking for a game of this type, you could do worse.” Honestly, nothing about that review sounds like they were playing Balloon Kid.

Slowly moving away from that absolutely baffling take, we see Computer & Video Games give Balloon Kid a more respectable 68%. “This bizarre release stars a girl who flies around the horizontally scrolling screens with the aid of a clutch of balloons. Watch out for the evil sprites and spikes, desperate to pop your balloons! Strangely addictive, Balloon Kid is quite enjoyable – but the repetitive action makes it a short-lived game.”

Raze liked it a bit more, going with a 75%. Unfortunately, the mid-70s seems to be the ceiling for Balloon Kid, as Total! gave it a 76%, the highest score of any English-language magazine. “Balloon Kid is a bit simple, but there are some neat hazards and some sweet graphics. The control method has a great feel to it, too. Basically, it's a beautiful little game that you could pick up and play any time, but if you want a long-term challenge, this'll burst your bubble.”

Although the scores are all over the place, the opinions don't differ that much. Balloon Kid is an intriguing little game that is fun for a while, but you probably won't be with it for very long. The overall rating is 64%. While that's down compared to the 76% average we saw from the original Balloon Fight, that was a different time and expectations were a lot different. I say give Balloon Kid a try on Switch. Just don't expect to play it for very long.

Only one year after becoming everybody's favorite dinosaur sidekick in Super Mario World, Yoshi was back in a very different kind of game. Don't be confused by the misleading title, because Yoshi is not a character-driven platformer, but is rather a simple puzzle game with a Nintendo character slapped on it. This wasn't that uncommon at the time, as Dr. Mario was still fresh on people's minds and Kirby's Avalanche and Wario's Woods were just around the corner. It's worth noting that Nintendo Switch Online subscribers have had access to the Nintendo Entertainment System of Yoshi since 2018, but now we're getting the Game Boy version. Let's see which one the critics preferred.

The one thing you're going to notice is that the critics were a lot kinder to this monochromatic version of Yoshi than his full-color counterpart. For example, Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game an average of 6.5 out of 10. That's still low for a Nintendo game, but it's a big improvement over the 5 out of 10 they gave the console version. Steve argued that Yoshi is “better on the smaller Game Boy screen when compared to the 8-bit NES. Although the puzzling action is essentially the same, the portable power of the Game Boy makes it more fitting for this style of title. It's still a puzzle game, however, so anybody looking for laser cannons should be aware.” Martin agreed, calling it “a cute play on Tetris. The gameplay is a bit different and there is more technique to it. The graphics are good and you'll see many recognizable faces from the Mario games. For a green dino, Yoshi's one hot dog!” Ed also reviewed the game, but his write-up was mysteriously left out of issue 33.

Moving up the scale, we see that Nintendo Power liked the game a bit more than EGM, giving it a 3.8 out of 5. GameZone went even higher ... or did they? When they reviewed Yoshi in issue 11, they gave it a score of 79%. “Nintendo should forget this Mario business and go for Super Rantzenland, where you play at saving lots of children and collecting vegetables shaped like different animals' todgers.” No, I'm not going to explain what any of that means, because one issue later, GameZone went from giving Yoshi a solid 79% to dropping it way down to a 2 out of 6. “Nice idea, but it's been done to death so many times before; Dr. Mario is better.” Talk about whiplash. What changed in the one month between reviews?

Back in the land of the sane, GamePro gave Yoshi a solid score of 4 out of 5, while N-Force went even higher, giving the puzzler an impressive 88%. “Visuals are clear, concise and look great on the Game Boy screen. Controls are a cinch, A or B switches the positions of the trays while the joypad moves Mario. Put it all together and you've got my favorite Game Boy release of the year. For kids, adults, beginners and novices, this is one cart you shouldn't be without. It'll drive you barmy, but I guarantee you'll keep coming back for more.”

Overall, the critics much preferred the Game Boy version to its Nintendo Entertainment System counterpart. They gave this version a solid 70%, up from the 65% they gave the full-color version. It's actually even better if we ignore GameZone's re-rating, as the score jumps up to 78%. It seems like this is the version to play, so give it a shot on the Switch.