Ludography
80/100
Critics1 review
Player reviews
95% positive111 reviews
Steam Deck
Verified
Runs on
Windows, Linux
Price
US$24.99

Where to get it

Goodboy Galaxy cover

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

PlatformReleasedRegions
Game Boy Advance28 November 2023Worldwide
Evercade15 December 2023Worldwide
Windows25 October 2024Worldwide
Linux25 October 2024Worldwide
Nintendo Switch30 October 2026Worldwide

Editions and related releases

Included in
Goodboy Galaxy/Witch n' Wiz

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.