Wendy: Every Witch Way

Sometimes the best idea hides where no one would look for it — say, in a licensed platformer with a witch in the lead role. Wendy: Every Witch Way is exactly such a case: a title that conceals a surprisingly clever game mechanic beneath an unassuming shell.

At first glance it's a standard platformer on the Game Boy Color, but the real star is its handling of gravity. The game lets you flip gravity — Wendy doesn't just fall downward, she can "fall" upward too, turning ordinary jumping into a spatial puzzle. You have to think in two directions at once, plan your fall paths and use the flipping of weight to overcome obstacles you otherwise couldn't reach.

This idea isn't just a decoration — it permeates the entire level design. The passages are built to force you constantly to reconsider where "down" actually is, and the game's best moments come when you have to switch the orientation of gravity rapidly in rhythm with your jumps. It's a mechanic that later made a number of independent games famous, but here it runs on a modest handheld.

It's precisely this gameplay idea that elevates Wendy above the average of the licensed titles that came out by the hundreds in the late '90s, most of them forgettable. Instead of hiding behind a familiar name and phoning in the execution, it stood on an idea that's fun in its own right.

Today it's a small treasure for anyone who enjoys platformers with a clever twist. Don't expect a grand production — expect honestly designed puzzles built around one great idea that works just as well today as it did back then.

Why play it: For clever gravity-flipping that turns an ordinary platformer into a spatial puzzle — an unassuming gem among licensed titles.