A Strange, Impenetrable Final Fantasy VIII Bootleg

Some time ago, I came upon a gamer's curiosity of particular interest to me as the number one fan of Final Fantasy VIII in the whole world, and a freak about old and obscure games in general: a demake of Final Fantasy VIII for the Game Boy Color.

Hell yes.

This oddity is by Waixing, a producer of many Chinese bootlegs of games, and it's called 特种部队 A计划 (tèzhong bùduì a jìhuà), which translates to something like 'special forces plan A'. Given that it is in Chinese, a language I cannot read, I can't comment on the dialogue, but there is an unstoppable delight in seeing Squall and Quistis right away as little Game Boy sprites.

There they are!

Most of its music consists of chiptuned versions of songs from the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack, but on getting my first game over I was delighted to hear a rousing Game Boy rendition of Eyes On Me. The game over comes quick, because as soon as you encounter your first enemy it becomes clear how unbalanced and dangerous this game is. Squall got killed after stepping one foot into the fire cavern. It's over. Ifrit's waiting in there, but my man is dead.

The second attempt (I had to start from the beginning) had me dead after finding this game's version of the training centre. Squall and Quistis were mercilessly murdered by what looked like a bite bug. I'm beginning to think this game is unplayable. At least Selphie is here though!

She is very cute.

I like a lot of little design elements, like Quistis's portrait, and some of the monster designs, which are quite faithfully translated to GBC style pixel art, and clearly a lot of work has gone into constructing some of these environments - but I do wish I could progress beyond a single battle.

I suppose such a massive deterrent adds to the mystery of a project like this. I've read that it takes you up to Esthar, which means there surely must be a lot crammed into this game, but how can I see it? For now, the enemies elude me, and I am still.