I still remember the days when I was hiding in bed playing GBA. The purple machine in my hand had a small screen, but I played every game with gusto. Recently, I played a game called "Jelly Beans Must Die" using an emulator on my mobile phone. I saw that the production team was Xiamen Weihu Network. Oh, it's a domestically produced independent work. The plot tells the story of Timmy, a social animal who is notified by the God of Death that he has 15 hours to live. He wants to go home and sleep to wait for death... This setting is so flavorful that it reminds me of the nonsensical dialogue and realistic satire of "Ace Attorney" on GBA back then, as well as the heaviness of experiencing life in a limited time like "Chain of Memories".
However, compared with the original classic game, there are still many differences between the modern remastered version or this type of mobile game version. First of all, the graphics are all high-definition retina screens now, but although the cartoon rendering style of "Jelly Bean Man" is delicate, it lacks the pixel matrix texture of the GBA back then - you know, the kind of persistence of squeezing out a bunch of details with a 120x160 resolution, and every little character is as warm as a puzzle. Looking at the smooth lines now, I always feel that they are missing a bit of "soul".
Let's talk about operation. Back then, GBA had cross keys and AB keys. When playing “Golden Sun”, it took a long time to combine the magic, but the feedback feeling of physical buttons could never be given by a touch screen. Although this game is purely about tapping to advance the plot, to be honest, it lacks the pleasure of "pressing down". Now I always use a Bluetooth controller to connect to my mobile phone to play, and only then can I regain the sense of solidity I once had.
Music is also a focus. The BGM of this game is in the modern electronic style, which has a sense of atmosphere, but it is not as good as the "buzzing" nostalgic magic of the 8-bit sound source back then - like the soundtrack of autumn farming in "Harvest Moon". When it sounds, it reminds me of the balcony after school. Although the sound quality of the remastered version has been improved, the emotional intensity seems to have been diluted.
There is also a paid model. This game is completely free, which is a good idea. Think about the time when we played D-version pirated cassettes, and it took a long time to save pocket money for a four-in-one card. Nowadays, the awareness of authenticity is strong, but many replicas of mobile games have in-app purchases to draw cards. "Fall Beans Must Die" is currently free. I hope there will be no krypton gold system in the future, otherwise it will ruin this purity.
Overall, this game allowed me to relive the feeling of playing story-based games in a fragmented time. Although the graphics, operations, and music are all different from classic GBA games, the "limited time" immersion makes me feel youthful again. Recommended to all migrant workers, see if this Timmy looks like you who just want to lie down after working overtime 😂