We found my wife’s Game & Watch a couple of weeks ago in the loft. This was the game she played at school in the 1980’s and coincidentally so did I. This particular Game & Watch is the same device she played more than 40 years ago and after a battery change it still works perfectly.

I thought I would have a go myself, and after a few minutes found myself completely drawn in by the simplicity of the game, the decades-old familiarity which I thought had become a distant memory, and how difficult it becomes very quickly.

There is something about the simple beeps and noises, the buttons, the hard-to-view screens in dull light, and the way most of the graphics are printed on the screens that just draws you in. Yes, it feels 40 years old. Yes, the gameplay is archaic in comparison to what’s available today, but it has something truly special about it that I genuinely think anyone would enjoy if they took the time to see what was happening so many years ago.

Also, can you imagine a new PlayStation or Xbox working in 43 years’ time? I really can’t. They are too complex, they are too mass-produced, and the components are built to a budget. Devices like this one likely have thicker wires, larger components, and a much bigger element of being hand-built and likely checked, because although this did sell an awful lot of units, the way it would have been built is light years away from what we would see today.

43 years later, this game is still great fun, and I’m amazed that I have found myself picking it up time and time again. It’s as though the decades didn’t happen, but it does highlight that often the simplest games are the best.

Categories: Gaming, Product Reviews, Retro