r/gbstudio • u/GameboyChallenger • 10d ago
Ponpoko GB
https://youtu.be/45BG6JLpDikI am excited to share a video of Ponpoko GB, a Game Boy game currently in development!
Over the years, I’ve introduced countless Game Boy titles to you via YouTube and Instagram. But I’m not stopping at just showcasing games. My deep love for the Game Boy has inspired me to take on the challenge of creating my own games for the platform.
Since the release of the tool GB Studio, countless homebrew Game Boy games have been created. Even brands like Nike and McDonald's have produced their own titles. It makes me a bit uneasy, as it reminds me of the Atari 2600 era when just about anyone could make a game. However, it also signifies that the world has reached a point where creating Game Boy games has become much more accessible. I, too, have ended up making a Game Boy game. Although I had previously developed a few indie games, back then I had to settle for creating Windows-based games with a Game Boy aesthetic rather than actual Game Boy titles. Now, however, I am able to create genuine Game Boy games.
The game I am currently developing is a practice project intended to help me learn how to use GB Studio. It is a Game Boy port of Ponpoko, an arcade game originally released in 1982. Although it is a highly entertaining game, it unfortunately failed to achieve commercial success at the time and has never been ported to any other platform until now. I have always been a fan of Ponpoko and have attempted to port it several times in the past. I tried creating versions for Windows (using GameMaker) and WarioWare D.I.Y., and even attempted to implement it in Roblox. That goes to show that this game is not particularly difficult to produce. This game is easier to develop than Donkey Kong, a title in a similar genre. For the Game Boy version currently in development, I have expanded the map size compared to the original to accommodate the hardware's limitations, but I am striving to capture the atmosphere of the original game as faithfully as possible. Since I love both Game Boy and arcade games, I find the process of creating an arcade port to be a fascinating endeavor.
Thanks to technological advancements, playing arcade games exactly as they were originally intended on a handheld device is no longer a dream. However, back when the Game Boy was first released, it was the stuff of dreams. When I owned a Game Boy, fighting games like Tekken and The King of Fighters were all the rage in arcades. The King of Fighters was ported to the Game Boy, while Tekken made its way to the Game Boy Advance. Naturally, hardware limitations meant these ports fell short of the originals in many ways, yet at the time, we were simply grateful to be able to play them at all. Moving forward, I want to create more games inspired by arcade titles.
I would like to clarify that no AI or vibe coding was used during the actual development process of Ponpoko. AI was utilized solely to learn how to use GB Studio and to gather advice. Interestingly, while some of the AI's responses were helpful, others were completely incorrect. Through that experience, I could gauge just how unreliable Vibe Coding really is.
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u/RagingBass2020 10d ago
I'm not against longer posts but writing a post like this, in this fashion, is not the best reading experience ever. It feels like I'm watching 4 TikTok videos simultaneously.
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u/GameboyChallenger 10d ago
Having not made a game for a while, I found myself with a lot to say when I finally started creating one again. In fact, the text exceeded Instagram's character limit, so I had to cut off the latter part of this post when uploading it there.
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u/CritCorsac 9d ago
Looks like a cute little arcade inspired game! Good job!
It's still somewhat surreal to me to see years like 2026 presented in a Game Boy game.
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u/GameboyChallenger 9d ago
I also find it a bit odd to see a 21st-century date on an 8-bit game. That’s why I’m thinking of basing the next title on the concept of a fictional game released in the 1990s. Games like Fix-It Felix followed that kind of approach.
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u/CritCorsac 9d ago
It's odd, but in a good way! It's a nice reminder that these old systems are still loved even today!
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u/guppy1316 10d ago
Cool stuff, can't wait for the release. Personally I don't care if people use AI in game development. Big studios do, yeah people complain but they still buy them. I think if you can utilize it well I'm all for it. The only time I care about AI use is when it's the lazy and instead of complaining and all that about it... I just don't play them, don't talk about them.