After seeing ports across multiple Nintendo consoles and portables over the past several years, indie run-and-gun shooter Gunman Clive‘s latest destination is…the Game Boy.
Developer Bertil Hörberg has released a demo version of Gunman Clive for the 8-bit Game Boy, adapting his side-scrolling adventure to Nintendo’s monochrome portable console. The result is playable on Game Boy emulators and on original hardware via flash cartridges.
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Boasting “near identical gameplay to the original [Gunman Clive],” Hörberg’s 8-bit adaptation was developed using assembler code, and fits within the Game Boy’s standard framework of four-color tiles and monochromatic graphical presentation. Hörberg developed the demake after updating both series entries with HD-resolution graphics in Gunman Clive HD Collection for Nintendo’s Wii U.
“It ended up taking a lot more time and going a lot slower and than I anticipated,” Hörberg recalls. “After over a month of intense development I finally have a presentable Demo. It includes the full Stage 1 of Gunman Clive 1 with all the gameplay features intact. There’s a few more things I’d like to do with it but I don’t know if I can justify spending any more time on it. So here it is, the first and probably final version.”
The original Gunman Clive, released for Windows PCs and mobile platforms in 2012, is a side-scrolling action game featuring gameplay in the vein of Konami’s Contra. Throughout the game, players traverse Wild West-inspired environments while taking down robotic enemies using a variety of ranged weapons.
A Nintendo 3DS port of Gunman Clive launched in 2013, and a 3DS sequel premiered earlier this year. Both games in the series were later collected in Gunman Clive HD Collection for the Wii U, which offered a selection of bonus features including a new playable character.
The Game Boy version of Gunman Clive is available as a free download via Hörberg’s website.
