1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
2. Nuts & Milk (Famicom)
3. Commando (Atari 2600)
4. Binary Land (Famicom)
Hudson's
Binary Land is a puzzle game originally developed for Japanese home computers, and later ported to the Famicom in 1985. The situation here is a bit analogous to that of
Nuts & Milk, in that the Famicom version has been heavily retooled and is thus only scarcely reminiscent of the original. Graphics were redone to closely resemble the first-party Nintendo games of the era, controls were improved, and, most significantly of all, the cornball human protagonists featured in the original have been replaced by two adorable penguin lovers named Gurin and Malon.
The game is quite simple conceptually: the two penguins begin each level separated in the bottom corners of a maze. They must be guided to a caged heart in the top-center, where they'll reunite and express their mutual adoration. Then the next maze begins. It may sound fairly standard and easy; it's Hudson's ingenious control scheme that puts
Binary Land in a class of its own.

It works like this: the player is able to select either Gurin or Malon on the title screen. The one selected is the one the player takes primary control of. The other penguin behaves like a mirror image, moving at the same time as the chosen protagonist. However, the horizontal controls are inverted. So, for example, if you choose Gurin holding right on the d-pad will cause Gurin to move right and Malon left. And vice versa. It's a fiendishly clever bit of design, forcing the player to pay attention to two moving sprites, which are oftentimes travelling in two separate directions on opposite sides of the screen.
Naturally, these mazes are full of hazards. At the front of the queue is the penguin's natural enemy: the spider. These creep through the narrow corridors seeking avian blood. Not keen on simply attacking, the arachnids have also managed to deposit an ample number of webs throughout each stage. Getting tangled up in one of these does not spell instant death, instead a captured penguin will have to wait to be rescued by his/her free counterpart. Thankfully the penguins are not defenseless. Each is armed with an unlimited supply of pesticide spray that will vanquish spider and web alike.
In later stages foes with a pesticide immunity start to make an appearance. There's the (non-penguin) bird which has the power to swap the penguins' position on the board. This is incredibly disorienting in the busier mazes; immediate acclimation to the new penguin positioning is required or a swift death is all but guaranteed. Then there are the impervious fireballs, which need to be completely avoided altogether. There is some reprieve from the unrelenting assault found in the form of power-ups. Well, one power-up. Most grant nothing but points (yay) but a whale(?!) will yield temporary super-penguin mode. Much like Mario's super star, a "whaled" penguin can plow through anything including the once-invincible fireballs.
Wouldn't it be quaint if the aforementioned enemies were the only barriers to progress? Oh no. Let's analyze these mazes a little more. They're asymmetrical. So while one maze might feature a nice straight corridor on Gurin's side, Malon's path is instead a weaving blocky mess. And there's a time limit: an absolutely brutal one. Forget about putzing around, strategizing, or playing on "stealth" mode. These penguins are in a hurry! Sometimes the hardest part is aligning Gurin and Malon on both sides of the caged heart properly. Frequently I found myself in a maze with no remaining enemies but while one penguin was near the exit the other was in some other spot altogether and when I moved one the other moved too and when one got closer the other moved further away and then ah -- poof -- time over.

And that's what
Binary Land is: heart-pumping controlled chaos. Two simultaneously moving characters, hordes of enemies, untidy maze levels, power-ups to grab, webs to avoid, lovers to reunite, and no time to do it all. An absolutely feverish cluster of a sensory overload. What a cool game. And a
hard one at that. First week I owned it I couldn't progress past single-digit stages. Then I found myself tapping out once the "switch-bird" began making the rounds. These days I do "okay" for myself, but the randomization of certain elements makes every playthrough a new fresh challenge.
Progression through
Binary Land seems pretty standard and linear, though it's hard to determine when and where the game truly "ends." The final original maze configuration appears in stage 16, with stage 17 being the typical harder rehash of stage 1, and so on. That said, the actual stage counter won't roll over until after level 99 is conquered, should any expert penguin wranglers be up for the ultimate challenge. The game also has bonus stages sprinkled throughout, mostly for the purpose of adding to the point total. When these initiate, one penguin is already stuck in a web. In addition to making a rescue every heart littering the maze must be collected for a "perfect" score. I think the developers were trolling here, as it seems virtually impossible to accomplish this in every bonus stage save the first one or two.
The game's visuals are standard but pleasant, with a soft "Easter Egg" color palette highlighting the majority of maze walls. The penguins are well animated, with the "stuck in a web" flailing especially unnerving. As per tradition, there is no original music here, but a beautifully catchy 8-bit rendition of "Je te veux" loops throughout.
Ultimately,
Binary Land is quite the enjoyable little game. Of the many old Famicom action-puzzlers it stands out as one of the most original, and certainly the most
intense. Today it can be found on the same GBA compilation as its buddy
Nuts & Milk, though both titles remain cheaper separately on the Famicom.
As a final anecdote: this is a great game to play with really young children. You can fib to 'em and claim that
they're controlling the second penguin. Not saying I've ever done this, not saying I haven't.