The Addams Family

The Good
If there's one thing the Game Boy is good for, is keeping you nailed to your car seat (train seat, plane seat, or whatever) for hours at a time. That's precisely what The Addams Family will do to you: it's nothing short of addictive.

The Addams Family features terrific graphics (relatively speaking, of course...), which despite the blurry nature of motion on LCD display does not detract any from the gaming experience; moreover, it is FAST. By that I mean the game is absolutely smooth, unlike other platform games on the Game Boy which are frequently choppy (unfortunate, but true).
The music is great as well: the TV theme conversion isn't anything to call home about, but the other atmospheric music in the game is fantastic, and for the most part fits the "feel" of the levels like a glove.

Level design is excellent, providing challenge and secret areas everywhere; the weapons are also varied and unlike most games, you won't find yourself using just one weapon at all times, but rather changing weapons to address different types of enemies. Also, some weapons aren't actually weapons but rather items without which you'll have tremendous difficulty passing certain areas of the game, which is also part of The Addams Family's charm: you don't have to go through the various areas in order, but it helps if you know where you're going. Also, the end bosses are, for the most part, challenging but not overly difficult once you figure out an acceptable strategy.

Combine smooth controls with great graphics and music, and excellent level design to boot, and you've got - drum roll please - a winner!

The Bad
Well it took me about 20 games before I could really get "into" the game and finish it, so I'd rate this game at above-moderate difficulty. Not everyone will appreciate the challenge, but then it's not "rip your hair out" difficult either.

The Bottom Line
Fantastic game, worthy of any Game Boy owner and platform game fan!