Customer Reviews

Xena Warrior Princess [Game Boy Color]

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Xena Gameboy Review

I had known for some time this game existed, but it is hard to find and it took me quite a while to get a copy. It is for Gameboy Color, and I played it using Gamecube with Gameboy Player. It's pretty to look at, with only a small frame of color around the edge; for the ease and beauty you get, the gameboy player is well woth the fifty dollar price tag.

Now it IS Gameboy and so cannot compare to say X-Box. If you get past that expectation you will be fine otherwise you likely will be disapointed. With these graphics and gameplay I place the game somewhere between Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64--which when considering the small size of the Gameboy cartridge is quite amazing. The small screen size and controls take a little getting used to as well.

Xena awakens to find herself still in a dream; Morpheus the sleep god has been imprisoned and Xena must walk through her dream world and find him and release him to get out of her dream.

The game can't really compare to Xena Playstation but there are similarities. Neither game is merely whack and slash; Xena travels through various world levels to fight battles, solve puzzles, and over come obstacles to finally reach the end battle and enemy (Kalabrax in Playstation and Darpheus and his entourage in Gameboy). In many ways Xena for Gameboy resembles the third Zelda (for Super Nintendo). In both games Xena uses a sword AND chakram.

The music is passable and resembles the midi music of Super Nintendo. I found 14 different tracks for a total of about 25 minutes...really amazing for such a tiny cartridge. None of the characters actually SPEAK, they communicate all in text.

Hercules makes no appearance in this game either and this time neither does Gabrielle. The only real recognizable characters are Darpheus (an enemy of Xena's from early episodes of the TV show) Joxer, and Morpheus who also appeared in an early epsiode of the TV series that actually mostly focused around Gabrielle. There is one hint of Xena's evil past (in the Barbarian's village) unlike Xena for Playstation which has no such reference.

Short description of some gameplay and localities:

Find sword
Get honey for the sleeping bear
Visit Fates and get your chakram
Get the Gloves
Go through the Maze; get the Salamander Boots along the way
Get the Conch Shell while visiting the fairies
Go to the Forest of Stone and rescue Queen Lalala the first time
Defeat the Wasp boss
Go to the Barbarian's village behind the volcano and to the Centaur's village
Rescue some residents and perform some tasks in each village
Go to the temple and defeat the Eye Boss and then Darphus
Go see the Fates and retrieve the stolen Lyre from Joxer
Return to the Fates and have the Centaur's curse lifted
Go to the Forest of Stone, climb the great tree and defeat the Harpie Boss to rescue Queesn Lalala the second, and final, time
Go to the Swamps and walk the lily pad path
Swim the castle moat
Defeat the castle guards and then the kitchen chefs
Defeat the ghosts and free Morpheus

There are various underground shortcuts to take which lead you to levels; one leads to a 'communication device' which presumably is for the links between two players.

Unlike Lara in Tomb Raider, Xena in Playstation, and Rynn in Drakan who have their hair in pony tails, Xena in Gameboy has her hair loose and flowing.

You begin your game with four heart containers, three lives, and zero diamonds. You can collect more heart containers, heart refills (good for one use each) and diamonds which you need to save your game and to bribe characters for information and clues. This is one of the few video games out there you can get through without a strategy guide (I had to because I didn't have one) but still it has some challenges. I forgot to keep track of the gameplay but I'm guessing it was twenty hours or so not counting the one place I had trouble for awhile...the kitchen...which apparently is a common place for players to get stuck. This is from the strategy guide I created:

"If you kill all three chefs, the door will not open. Kill the first two chefs that come at you, but stay near the door. Then go left UP or north, to the top of the room, teasing the third chef to follow you. Do not touch this chef. Just make him follow you. Go right across the top of the table, then down toward the door, making sure the chef follows you. You might take a hit or two from the food he is throwing at you. Approach the door with the chef behind you. The door will open and so step through it.If the door doesn't open, you will have to backtrack to the guardroom, whack the four guards again, then go to the kitchen and try again with the chefs, as many times as you have to repeat this to get the door to open."

There was supposedly a 'Hercules the Legendary Journeys' Gameboy companion game to this, with a two-player option but if anyone has actually SEEN, owned or played the game I would sure love to know about it.