Game Review: Hopping Through the Frontier with ‘Kero Kero Cowboy’
Kero Kero Cowboy is a brand new Game Boy Color-inspired sidescrolling platformer developed and published by MetagameMike. In fact, this game is not only inspired by the Game Boy Color games of yesteryear; this title can actually run on original Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance hardware if you purchase this game on the developer’s Itch.io store page.
While this review will be covering the release available on the Steam storefront, your experience will be similar no matter which method you choose to buy this game. Taking up the role of Kero Kero Cowboy, you’ll traverse five different areas that all have their own unique themes. In each area there are four main levels, a bonus challenge level, and lastly, there’s battle against a member of the Ferocious Five.
I spent all of my time with Kero Kero Cowboy by playing the Steam version, but if you head over to the Itch.io store page for this game, you’ll be able to directly purchase the ROM files. Purchasing the ROM files will allow you to emulate the game on whichever capable device of emulation you choose, or you can load the ROMs onto a GBC flashcart and play it on original hardware.
Kero Kero Cowboy, like many other Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, is relatively short, with it taking me approximately two hours to complete the game. Don’t get me wrong, because while it may be short, I did have a wonderful time playing through this handheld-centric game.
Rootin’, tootin’, and shootin’ in Kero Kero Cowboy
When you load up Kero Kero Cowboy and select your save slot, you’ll be treated to an opening sequence that sets up the scene for the rest of the game. The Wild West has become lawless, and it’s up to our hero to trek across the wilderness and stop the terror being caused by the Ferocious Five.
These wanted criminals have set up bases across the five different regions of the untamed west and have been plotting their evil plans to cause fear and oppression. Thankfully, our froggy lawman has his trusty tongue and sidearm to handle anything that the Wild West throws at him. You’ll traverse the desert, dive deep into a dangerous mine, pass through a boarded-up ghost town, and handle anything dangerous that comes across your path.
The gameplay in Kero Kero Cowboy is pretty simple. Like other platformers that graced the Game Boy Color, you’ll have to move along and try to avoid taking damage as you only have three hearts per life. Thankfully, due to random drops, you may end up finding hearts to replenish your health. Never fear though, as you also have the ability of sticking out your tongue and keeping enemies in your mouth that can be used later to spit out and do damage to others.
In addition to your tongue ability, you can press the select button at any time to pull out your trusty six-shooter and shoot your way through the enemies you encounter. As you make your way across various obstacles, you’ll collect extra lives, refill up your ammunition, and get money that can be used at the checkpoints.
Throughout my time with Kero Kero Cowboy, I was constantly amazed by how well this game played. The movement mechanics felt really tight and the buttons used for jumping and using your abilities felt completely intuitive. I specifically mention the controls for this game because there have been some original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games that have issues with their controls.
Nearly every aspect of how this game plays is wonderful, so kudos to the developer for working on getting the way our frog hero performs while on land. There’s a nice variety of enemies for each of the five areas in the game, and you’ll notice this immediately in the first desert area with moles, scorpions, and more. Even as I went through the areas of the game, the enemy variety never felt stale, and everything felt thematically correct for each level.
The boss battles you’ll experience are at a good level of difficulty, especially as you progress from one boss to the next. The first boss of this game is a cranky armadillo, and he is not incredibly difficult, but this battle is a good introductory boss that helps set up how the difficulty curve works in this game.
For example, with every new area of the game you start, you’ll be expected to take what you learned from the previous levels and apply it to what comes next. It was apparent to me that after I defeated the first boss, my time was being respected by the developer by not assuming I had no idea what to do next. The flow with this game is extremely well done, and it makes me want to play more.
The only issue I ran into with Kero Kero Cowboy was when I entered the water stages, particularly level 5-2, where the game requires me to navigate through a sequence of aquatic obstacles. I ended up becoming frustrated with 5-2 because it requires precision to jump out of the water to another water obstacle where if you miss, you will fall to your demise.
The time I spent playing Kero Kero Cowboy was lengthened by the woes with the controls on this water stage alone, and I ended up losing around 25 lives going through this sequence before I figured it out. Unlike the controls when you are above ground, I found this particular set of challenges to be hindered by poor water controls. It is my only complaint, and I’m still recommending this game despite this one minor issue.
Fun sound and music in this froggy western
The beautiful use of the color palette really shines as you make your way past breathtaking vistas, deep, dark caverns, moving trains, and everything else in between. I’ve personally played around with similar tools that were used to make this game and other games like it. It may just be that I’m new to all of that, but goodness me, it’s technically impressive how much color and style the developer has put into this game.
Every little detail shows the craft that went into this beautiful game so much that I think that other newer GBC-style games coming out are going to have stiff competition here.
The sound design in Kero Kero Cowboy is delightfully well made as well. Even as I write this review, I catch myself humming the title screen and stage music from this game. Every song that this game has is incredibly catchy and memorable, plus the sound effects are perfect for a game like this. If MetagameMike were to release the soundtrack either on a store page or on Bandcamp, you better believe that I’d be the first one to leap at buying it.
Final thoughts on Kero Kero Cowboy
I’ve played a lot of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games throughout my life, and it’s rare these days to say that a newer game might actually be in my top five favorite handheld games, but Kero Kero Cowboy has done just that. It’s not perfect, but it is a well-packaged experience with fun level design creative boss battles, and it even has a few surprises that I intentionally left out.
If you’re worried about the control scheme when using the Steam version, you’ll be happy to know that it works perfectly with most wireless controllers. The best way I’d describe this game is that it’s incredibly fun and satisfying.
My rating for this game is 4/5
The fact that games like Kero Kero Cowboy are still being made to be played on hardware that is almost 30 years old is wonderful. I adore this game so much, and I’ve been recommending this game to other people from the moment I played the demo on Steam.
If you’re at all still on the fence about getting this game either on Steam or directly on Itch.io, I recommend trying out the free demo that covers everything to the first boss stage. If you’re as much of a fan of old-school style platformers, no matter when they were made, then Kero Kero Cowboy might just be the game for you.
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