Astro Rabby retrospective: Lapin it up | Game Boy Works

A pleasant surprise this week, as one of the most charming game boxes to have appeared in some time contains… a thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable little game. Astro Rabby turns out to be a little-known Japan-only release that isn't a puzzler, isn't shoddily made, and isn't painful to play. It's a good-natured top-down platformer for flexible controls and a decent difficulty curve that steadily ramps up from breezy to brutal. Not a classic, but in a way it's better than a masterpiece: It's just a fun little diversion with no frills and no expectations attached.

[@TheCompletionist]

One of the best things about your dedication to your research regarding the systems your addressing is you get to come across games such as astro rabby that don't get much attention in the realm in the video games. I always love the allure of finding enjoying games that don't get talked about very often and I think astro rabby fits that mold pretty well. I don't actively collect for the older systems anymore but I'll try to find a way to play this eventually.

[@JeremyParish]

It's possibly my favorite part of the process, too. I don't often know what these games are going to be like before I pick them up to explore them, and sometimes I come across stuff like this.

[@ajpiskel]

And sometimes you get another SD Gundam game. ;>

[@JeremyParish]

Thankfully, not for a while.

[@fireflocs]

So I guess this inspired Jumping Flash.

[@aford70]

the second best part about discovering a fun forgotten game is finding out what other games its devs were connected to. i loved golgo 13 and wurm as a kid, flawed as they were. definitely looking forward to giving this game a try too!

[@gabrieleriva651]

99 episodes already! It seemed like yesterday when I discovered this series with the Qwix episode!

[@GeekatHome]

Nice to find out about gems like this! Also, I am happy you managed to get drunk Usagi in there.

[@THEmuteKi]

I commented to this effect on the blog but Mario 3D World has a couple levels like this game, top down platforming affairs. You don't jump so high in them. Bounding also reminds me of that DOS classic, Skyroads

[@Padoca]

wow, 100 episodes (not counting those you revisited) soon! Awesome work Jeremy! I have a huge amount of respect for your work.

[@GameBoyGuru]

I love listening to you talk about these obscurities, because each episode is well researched and well put together. The jumping rabbit concept immediately made me think of Jumping Flash on the PlayStation, and on the Game Boy front, it shares some similarities with Aero Star, though obviously with far less overt shmup trappings. This looks fun, however, and something I would probably play if I happened upon a copy.

[@tinotormed]

when I first played this game, I first thought it was like a shmup. but after figuring out how most of the game goes, going throughout the entire game without a continue requires proper usage of the powerups and continuous hoping on the white platforms while the screen hasn't even moved a bit further yet in order to reach a score interval that gives you an extra life every 50k. and once you reach stages 7-1 and 8-1, you will definitely need a lot of lives to get past the entire game. Good news is that going through the bonus stage is optional.

[@yars45]

I can't believe I hadn't heard of this game until now. The concept seems really interesting. The scrolling aspect takes it one step further than Jumping Flash did years later.

[@JVeg199X]

Reminds me of The Adventures of Dino Riki for NES.

[@robotlorekeeper9880]

Rabby is the most perfect and precious creature and I WOULD die to protect them

[@CarozQH]

Really makes you wonder why no company in the west ever bothered giving this game a release over here. It doesn't even have much to translate!

[@robbyrobot3303]

Three cheers for Rabby!

[@RabbitEarsCh]

I found this game randomly while trying to track down Amazing Penguin (since it's really close alphabetically), and I do love rabbits so I tried it, and it is just good rollicking fun the whole way through. I didn't quite get the hang of the bonus stages, or understand the powerups beyond Bullet Stock until I watched this, but it's just so nice. I've wanted a game where you can hop this higha nd control this well pretty much forever, and I'm pleasantly surprised that there's exactly what I want all along, buried in the Game Boy library. Plus, it has some of the most adorable cover art of all time. Can't beat that!

[@IanSane]

This would have been perfect to port to the Virtual Boy... if porting to the Virtual Boy made any sort of business sense. Or for something a little more financially viable a spiritual successor as a 3DS eShop game would have worked very well.

[@MrLeo34]

In addition to later games Aerostar and Jumping Flash, the top-down jumping mechanic reminds me of Bump n' Jump. That was obviously a racing game but certain bits of it had a platforming feeling. The infuriating Adventures of Dino Riki also did that in certain areas.

[@bivisbuns]

The Legend of Valkyrie games (arcade one not the famicom version) has a very similar top down jumping mechanic plus combat

[@dezm101]

great episode! Looks like a fun game, I like the references such as Bounder and Jumping Flash. Only one question remains... How is Rabby formed? lol sorry couldnt resist

[@SendyTheEndless]

RABBY GOT A POWER-UP PARTS

[@mavrick45]

I wonder if the moon rabbit or space rabbit lore was partially responsible for Bucky O'Hare

[@JeremyParish]

Could be. It was written by Larry Hama, and he's always been pretty tuned-in to Japanese lore.

[@sega20x80]

Rabby is like Cream the rabbit except he's a robot.

[@cableshaft]

The instant I saw this I thought 'Cosmic Bouncer' on Amiga, which I always thought was a criminally overlooked game. I'm glad you mentioned Bounder, which Cosmic Bouncer seems to be a form of sequel to (or possibly a clone). Cosmic Bouncer has better graphics and plays smoother than Bounder, although it came out a few years later, so that makes sense.

[@LagBlowz]

This reminds me of jumping flash on PlayStation.

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

I kept on thinking it said Baby Got a Power-Up. I think that would be more interesting. :-)

[@fluffychouchou1388]

wonderful work as always! cheers

[@domenicalonzo3274]

Thinking about Jumping Flash! the whole time. ^_^

[@fact-factcheck4680]

When will we get Game Boy works 1991???? :)))))

[@glottis5]

Astro Rabbi

[@MissFuzzbottom]

I've actually heard of this one. I never fully looked into it, so I didn't understand the concept until now.

[@GrecoCalabrese]

Another awesome review on Gameboy Works!

[@jamesmoss3424]

Astro rabby should have been released in the USA in the first place. 😀👍🎮

[@MRCAB]

Just tried it. A lot easier than it looks. Very fun.

[@doomfatlikesbluesphere9984]

Its a gud gam

[@fazares]

Fantastic game...i just bought a loose cartridge of this one

[@emulationemperor8924]

Comparisons to Mario Oddessy and Ghost in the shell. I can tell if you're grasping at straws or actually just pretty clever. Oh well, been loving the series man.

[@JeremyParish]

Did you actually listen to the comparisons...? They're pretty self-explanatory.

[@emulationemperor8924]

Jeremy Parish they were super self explanatory. And so I do think they were clever. I just was not expecting those 2 games to be brought up together in the same video about a game boy. I tried to be funny but it didn't quite work. My bad.

[@Trainy2]

He’s clearly grasping as straws and nailed two cleaver comparisons. Smh

[@JeremyParish]

All according to keikaku. Being a stopped clock, I am right twice a day.

[@emulationemperor8924]

Jeremy Parish now that was funny

[@mackerelphones]

I remember hearing about Astro Rabby on, I think, a gay guy's video game blog. Hopefully the next episode will be something incredible to celebrate the milestone. Well, the video will be great no matter what, so there's that at least.

[@JeremyParish]

I will be celebrating the milestone by publishing a 100th episode, so that should be a thrill?

[@KTP200]

I would rather play a game called Astro Rabbi

[@aeschafer1]

Wasn't there a top-down platformer for Virtual Boy? Or maybe just a prototype of one? Bound high or something similar?

[@JeremyParish]

The cancelled game that's mentioned and shown in this video, you mean? Perhaps…

[@aeschafer1]

Well, yes, if you expect me to NOT comment in the middle of a video, then sure I'm going to see you actually mentioned it. But I don't have time for that!

[@hikaruk.981]

I'm starting to think maybe I'm just completely missing the boat on what is or isn't good on GB. Titles like this (and another IGS-published overhead game, Vattle Giuce) don't feel so great to me, but then I like games that are considered absolute garbage, like Toei's Volley Fire.

[@JeremyParish]

Yikes, Volley Fire…

[@hikaruk.981]

Yeah, I know. I just have such a blind spot for the BGM and the general concept that I'm kind of blinded to its annoying cheapness.