Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (GBC)

Survival horror on the Game Boy Color? It sounds almost absurd, and yet in 2001 Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare proved that fear can be evoked even on a handheld. While the big PlayStation and Dreamcast versions drew on pre-rendered backdrops and cinematic atmosphere, this GBC adaptation tried to carry the essence of the genre – dread, loneliness and tension – into an 8-bit world.

The player explores a dark house full of mysteries, solves logic puzzles, collects items and keys and faces monsters that a flashlight and light often defeat more effectively than brute force. The very interplay of light and darkness, the central mechanic of the whole New Nightmare brand, was carried into the handheld version with surprising ingenuity and gives the exploration the tension it needs. Firearms round out the combat, but the game relies on atmosphere and the gradual unfolding of its story more than on action.

For retro gamers this title is a fascinating showcase of ambition – an attempt to squeeze a grown-up, atmospheric genre into a format meant more for colourful platformers. It is not without flaws and technical compromises, but that very daring to attempt the impossible makes it a remarkable piece for collectors and lovers of unconventional retro experiments.