
- 80/100
- Critics1 review
- Player reviews
- 95% positive111 reviews
- Steam Deck
- Verified
- Runs on
- Windows, Linux
- Price
- US$24.99
Where to get it

2023 · Action-adventure · Adventure
Goodboy Galaxy
Nintendo console exclusive
A vibrant sci-fi platform adventure game for the Game Boy Advance, where you help Maxwell the dog explore unfamiliar worlds, make strange new friends and contend with mysterious forces - by jumping, shooting, slicing, shrinking, warping and drilling.
- Released
- 23 November 2023
- Platforms
- EvercadeGame Boy AdvanceLinuxNintendo SwitchWindows
- Genres
- Action-adventureAdventureIndiePlatformer
- Developers
- —
- Publishers
- —
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Side view
- Themes
- ActionScience fiction
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Age ratings
- PEGI 7ESRB E10+
- Languages
- Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain)
- Time to beat
- 13hmain story21hcompletionist
About
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 for the PC and Evercade. Development is ongoing for the Nintendo Switch.
›Story
Maxwell's homeworld is nearing collapse. In a last-ditch effort to find help, he hyperjumps where no dog has gone before. Stranded, he finds himself at the edge of a hostile system - if there's any hope of return and rescue he'll need every friend (and every weapon) he can find. Like all underdogs, the odds are stacked against him, but you can't keep a good dog down.
Help Maxwell explore unfamiliar worlds, make strange new friends and contend with mysterious forces.
Players say
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
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 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.
Story
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 to have a hope of rescue.
Development
The lead developers Rik Nicol 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, Clarke 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.
Reception
Damian McFerran of Time Extension praised the game's "gorgeous visuals and brilliantly animated cutscenes", suggesting 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".
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Editions and related releases
- Included in
- Goodboy Galaxy/Witch n' Wiz
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Collections1 collection
Platform libraries
- Game Boy Advance gamesAftermarket releases
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
