Mole Mania – Retro Game A Week Episode 19 –

This weeks Retro Game a Week looks at a forgotten gem for the gameboy, created by the mastermind that brought you such timeless classics as Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda and… Wii music… Shigeru Miyamoto!

From wikipedia:

Mole Mania, known in Japan as Mogurānya (モグラ〜ニャ?), is a 1996 video game developed by Nintendo EAD and Pax Softnica, and published by Nintendo for the original Game Boy. It is also one of the least known works of Shigeru Miyamoto. The game was re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in North America on July 26, 2012.

In the game, Muddy has to move a black ball to a gate at the end of the screen in order to get to the next screen. He can push, pull, and throw the black ball. Muddy can also dig into soft ground to find underground paths around obstacles. Choosing where to dig is a crucial element of the game’s various puzzles, as creating holes in the wrong areas could hinder the player’s efforts to advance. Dropping the ball into a hole would cause it to return to its starting point. Given the nature of Muddy’s ability to move the ball, digging holes in the wrong places could make reaching the gate with the ball completely impossible, requiring Muddy to leave the screen and then return to try again. Along the way, there are many obstacles, such as moving enemies, pipes, barrels, weights, and bosses.