Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure (Game Boy) Review

Platform: Game Boy
Developer: Beam Software
Publisher: LJN Ltd.
Release Date: August 1991 (North America)
Genre: Action, Platformer

As I’ve been working my way through my Game Boy library between calls at work, I came across Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure. Being a fan of the movies back in the day, I figured it would make for a fun retro review. Unfortunately, while the game isn’t terrible, it also doesn’t do much to capture the spirit of Bill and Ted.

I didn’t finish the game, but I played enough to get a solid feel for its mechanics and overall design, which is my usual approach when reviewing a large number of retro games.

Gameplay

At its core, this is a very straightforward platformer. You run, jump, avoid enemies, and make your way through each stage. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the gameplay, but there’s also nothing particularly memorable about it.

The difficulty curve is a little awkward. The first couple of levels are fairly easy, then the third stage suddenly ramps things up considerably. It’s not brutally difficult, but the jump in challenge feels abrupt rather than natural.

The game does at least offer a generous number of lives to start with, along with a continue system. It also uses an old-school password system instead of battery-backed saves, making it easy enough to return to where you left off as long as you remember your password.

Controls

The controls are responsive, but they also feel clunky. The biggest issue is jumping.

Many of the platforms are small, and I often found myself either falling just short or overshooting them completely. Missing a jump frequently meant falling to my death, making platforming more frustrating than it needed to be. The controls aren’t broken, but they never felt precise enough for the challenges the game throws at you.

Graphics & Presentation

For a Game Boy title released in 1991, I try to judge the graphics by the standards of the time. Even with that in mind, I found them pretty generic.

Nothing about the visuals really screams “Bill & Ted.” Aside from a few enemies that vaguely resemble Abraham Lincoln, this could easily have been any random platformer with the license swapped on at the last minute. It lacks the personality and charm that made the movies so memorable.

Music & Sound

The music and sound effects didn’t leave much of an impression on me. They get the job done, but they’re not something I found memorable enough to stand out, either positively or negatively.

Replay Value

Personally, I don’t see myself coming back to this one. Once was enough.

The password system is convenient if you want to continue later, but the game simply doesn’t offer enough unique ideas to make me want another playthrough.

What I Loved

The game is functional. The controls, while awkward, are responsive, and the generous life count makes it more forgiving than many platformers from the era. The password system is also a welcome feature, especially for a portable game from the early ’90s.

What Didn’t Work

The biggest disappointment is how little this feels like a Bill & Ted game.

Instead of embracing the humor, characters, and time-traveling fun of the movies, it comes across as a very generic platformer wearing a Bill & Ted costume. It feels like a licensed game that was produced quickly to capitalize on the popularity of the films, something that was all too common during that era.

The uneven difficulty curve and imprecise jumping only add to the feeling that this is an average platformer rather than a memorable one.

Who Should Play It

If you’re a die-hard Bill & Ted fan or someone who enjoys exploring obscure Game Boy platformers, it’s worth checking out just to satisfy your curiosity.

For everyone else, there are simply better platformers on the Game Boy that are more deserving of your time.

Final Thoughts

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure isn’t a bad game. It’s just an incredibly average one.

It functions well enough, and I had enough fun with it to keep playing for a while, but once I put it down, I didn’t have much desire to pick it back up. More than anything, it’s a missed opportunity. The Bill & Ted license had plenty of potential, but very little of that personality made it into the finished product.

Overall Rating

5.0 / 10.0 – Average

This earns a solid 5.0 because it does what it’s supposed to do without doing anything particularly well or particularly poorly. It’s competent enough to pass the time, but it’s also highly forgettable. Unless you’re a Bill & Ted fan or a retro gaming enthusiast looking to experience every corner of the Game Boy library, this is one you can safely skip.