⬤ Received: February 6th, 2014 ⬤ Written: March 21st-April 8th, 2026 ⬤
Alternate Title: Smart Ball
Year: 1991 | Developed by: Game Freak and System SacomPublished by: Epic/Sony Records | [ ⬤ ]
Hello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it!
Image from MobyGames
In 1981, Satoshi Tajiri created a fan video game magazine by the name of Game Freak, named as reference to his affinity with arcade and video games since childhood, which he wrote and edited. It was there that he would later meet Ken Sugimori, who joined after discovering the then teenaged Tajiri's magazine and liking it, who would work for the fan publication's artist and illustrator until 1986. Over time as Game Freak was getting more and more contributors Tajiri got the sense that a number of the latest video games may have been lacking in quality, so he got together with Sugimori and considered creating video games themselves. But before they could start doing so they had to learn how to make one, so to get a better sense of how to program video games they consulted with and studied the Family BASIC. After exploring and doing some experimenting with it as well as learning how to program for the next couple of years, this inspired Tajiri to create his own first game for Nintendo's Famicom console and founded the video game firm Game Freak (like the magazine before it) with Sugimori on April 26th of 1989. Because Xevious was among Tajiri's favorite arcade games, having covered it extensively and highlighting tips as well as how to access hidden easter eggs in his Game Freak magazine, he and Sugimori sought out that game's parent company Namco and pitched their first video game idea to them.
Screengrabbed while watching AAAA Hero's Quinty Walkthrough (Normal) video on YouTube
Namco approved and happily acted as publisher to Game Freak's inaugural game Quinty, an arcade-styled action puzzler which debuted on the Famicom in 1989 which would be localized to the NTSC NES format the following year under the name Mendel Palace (albeit with Hudson Soft being the only company willing to publish it outside of Japan as many other American companies Tajiri asked to localize his game declined as they deemed to "too cute"). It wound up being well-received and was a successful title worldwide. Quinty and Mendel Palace's collective success spurred Tajiri's desire to explore different genres for the next several years which eventually lead to tackling his biggest passion project, Pokémon.
Image from MobyGames
With Nintendo having announced that they would follow up their 8-bit Famicom console with the Super Famicom, naturally, it was only ideal that Game Freak's second game would be tailored for the upcoming 16-bit system. This time around they would be joined by System Sacom, a Tokyo-based Japanese company which was founded in 1981, through Mark Flint who would act as programmer (who was involved with the Famicom exclusive Fire Rock and FM Towns based Evolution mere years prior) and several other employees.
Image from GameFAQs
Come September 13th, 1991, Epic/Sony Records would release Jerry Boy for the Super Famicom in Japan. This game was directed by Tajiri, designed by him and Sugimori (based on their story idea) as well as Akihito Tomisawa, programmed by Flint, Yūji Sawairi, and Kazuihito Kashiwabara, produced by Hiroshi Kiyomoto and Takehiro Moriyama, supervised by Yukio Nagasaki, managed by Kouichi Sato, with Yuji Takahashi serving as chief development executive, and Shigeo Maruyama acting as executive producer.
Image from GameFAQs
For the North American SNES version published by Sony Imagesoft (only with Allan Becker in place of Kiyomoto as producer, Hiroaki Ishikawa in place of Takahashi as chief development executive, and Olaf Olafsson in place of Maruyama as executive producer) it would be released outside of Japan in March of 1992 under the name Smart Ball.
Do you suppose Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori were fans of the iconic Hanna-Barbera cat and mouse duo? 🐈⬛🐁 Because if that's not the case, having a character named "Tom" wanting to do away with someone named "Jerry" just to get what he wants is otherwise such a wild coincidence...
In the far-off land of Kyliria, King Geoffrey has recently passed away leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Jerry and Tom. Jerry being the eldest is to be the next in line as king and has asked his betrothed Emi for her in hand in marriage which she happily accepts leaving the youngest prince jealous. Tom is pulled to the side by a mysterious wizard and promises him
And for being supposedly younger, Tom looks to be remarkably the same size as his brother Jerry and equal in appearance outside of a different palette 🤨 Are we sure these two princes are not twins?
that he will be Kyliria's new king should he help eliminate Jerry. The eldest heir is about to see his girlfriend Emi who is waiting for him patiently inside her chamber, but just as he is about to enter Jerry is accosted by his envious brother Tom and his accompanying wizard
Left: Jerry's adventure to reclaim his humanity begins now | Right: Riding up on a vertically moving platform embedded onto a huge palm tree 🌴
In the sidescrolling action platformer Jerry Boy you take control of the human king to be Jerry who has been transformed into a gelatinously sticky and malleably bloblike creature. In this form he can move left and right, stretch his body upward by holding up, occasionally enter through doorway by also pressing up while positioned in front of them, flatten himself by holding down as well as enabling him to cross very thin gaps to the other side, and squeeze himself through pipes accessed from any which direction where once inside you can decide to ooze all the way to the end or reverse course partway or midway through depending on the situation (either way, once you decide how to go about it he'll move in that direction
Left: Clinging to and scaling up from the side | Right: Attacking from below
automatically, or if you felt inclined to you can hold down the direction you're oozing toward). You can make Jerry jump by pressing either the B or A buttons with how much altitude you gained depending on how light or hard you pressed the button, and when swimming in a body of water you can repeatedly tap either B or A to have Jerry swim upward. With either the Y or X buttons Jerry will perform the following actions given a situation: spew a projectile forward (or upward when pressing it simultaneously while holding up) with a simple press, speed up by holding the button down which will make Jerry move at a faster rate on the ground, holding it will also enable Jerry to stick to walls and
Left: "There's a slime in this town!" | Right: Can't reach the 1UP by stretching up from below it here, I'm going to have to jump up to claim it
ceilings (where he can stretch his body left, right, or downward depending what direction he's sticking from, and while sticking upside down he can flatten his body by holding up as well) after having oozed his way the ground up or after jumping on it albeit with slightly reduced mobility on either surface (where he will fall off once you let go of either button), and once you've reached a town you can listen to an NPC talk by sticking around next to them by simply pressing the button (where you'll really only get the full dialogue while holding still for the slightest movement will cut it short) which is sadly only present in the original Japanese release. There to act as your obstacles are a variety of enemies, which you can dispose of
Left: These houses have been completely decimated | Right: In this level in particular the "J" and "E" letter checkpoints are positioned inches apart from one another
within short range by stretching or squeezing next to, above, or below from them depending where they are in relation to you, or you can dispose of them by spewing out long ranged ball-shaped projectiles. The normal ball weapons can be found either sprouted from a stem on the ground or they can be gathered by jumping on top of or hitting flowers which will open up to reveal its contents where you can gather up to nine. As spitting one out depletes it by one number, it is possible to restock by spewing it upward and then having Jerry position himself in the direction it's falling in so that way he can catch it (whether that's possible largely depends on the ceiling or air space, but should it be attempted while at the top of the screen
Left: Spewing balls to eliminate those rock foes from a distance | Right: Well, now you know the source behind the ruinous state of these buildings
toward the upper edge, it will vanish and you will have wasted an ammo). Once the ball hits an enemy or any type of surface it will explode and blow up, fortunately you can restock easily by standing next to a flower where after a few seconds it will close up again and you can interact with it again to gather one ball ammo at a time. A word of warning, if you collect another ball should your current count be nine, it will send Jerry to square one with no long-ranged ammo in his system for the count will be set down to zero and not ten until you procure another one elsewhere. There are random flowers that will house special items that would help you like a heart to either replenish your lost health by one or augment your health
Left: Squeezing through a pipe leading down into the sewers | Right: Among the enemies down here that you'll contend with are pesky cockroaches who will skitter across the walls before they make their presence known 🪳
capacity by one (starting off with three hearts each time, it is possible to have a capacity of five hearts) which will last until you clear the level, a green seed which you can sprout by standing in a certain spot as it will grow just enough to give you assured access to a higher platform or path, a up arrow jump icon which will greatly increase Jerry's altitude and airtime per jump so long as he's still got it in his system, an black iron ball which can be spewed out as a means to defeat more than one enemy at a time (due to its durability it cannot be broken or shattered like the ball, seed, or jump powerup) though it will heavily reduce Jerry's speed and mobility so long as it's inside his system, and finally a yellow 1UP
Left: Oozing across the ceiling will help you circumvent ground obstacles such as spikes | Right: Jumping from the windows up into the roof to grab that ball
circle will give you an extra life. In most levels are five letters scattered around that spell out Jerry's name where gathering each one will serve as a checkpoint setting you back at that very spot after having lost a life one way or another, and should you be able to collect all five of them you'll be granted two extra lives to your count. Each area is divided into two levels, with the second one culminating in a boss fight, where in the level selection screen you can decide to proceed forward or you can revisit a previously cleared level to gather more lives if you felt the need to (though not required, it's good that you're given an option to). Once you lose your last life it is game over for you'll be taken back to the level selection screen.
Left: Slippery lines | Right: Descending
This game was designed by Game Freak founders Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori as well as Akihito Tomisawa, the last of whom had prior design experience with TRY's Family Trainer: Athletic World and Crea-Tech and Data East's Metal Max before contributing his talents to this game. Tomisawa also served as assistant designer alongside Maiko Iwamoto, Jun Niiya, Kazuyo Ishiai, Kiyotaka Matsui, Takeshi Ohsawa, and Satoru Higashida (most of these artists had prior experience working on System Sacom titles). The art direction is very appealing with a color palette that is very relaxing and pleasing to the eyes, and it is also incredibly adorable to look at with a very lighthearted flair. The opening level has got the most vibrant amount of green pasture with a nice purple mountain backdrop looming in the background whereas the second level has got a foreboding vibe to it as the once pristine houses and
Left: Pink flame | Right: There are a wide assortment of enemies here from piranhas to mice to fire and elsewhere little rocks who move about with their tiny legs and feet
architecture have been destroyed and laid waste. The city sewers are atmospheric to venture through with the black and turquoise bricks beneath the city with the occasional grays to serve as platforms, wall, and ceiling. The desert levels have got an appropriately arid color palette with the grainy dunes in the backdrop with an effectively gradient sky above them, I like too how in the second desert level it gradually becomes darker as you go along. The ocean levels have got subtly implemented amount of dithering used as a means to augment atmospheric depth to the enemies and background, and the first ice level has got a pleasant aurora borealis gracing the snow filled landscape. Once you're on the moon, because you're in space, Earth's sole natural satellite rotates clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the direction you're heading in with the stellar constellations decorating space. It's a simple trick made possible through the Mode 7, but it works wonders when viewed in motion, with its
Left: "Y", an eternal question asked since time immemorial... or in this case it's just a letter checkpoint surrounded by a litany of rock enemies who will wake up should you so much as approach them | Right: You're almost at the city, you just have to ride up the spiked platform and fit your way through the pipe leading up to the surface
a consistent size as well as the way he appears upon entering and exiting through a pipe). Due to his translucent nature as a slimy blob you can see the ball or powerup he currently is using floating in his body with the red ball, green seed, white jump ability, and black iron ball. If you pay attention to the upper right corner the color of his life icon matches Jerry's current state with voluminous blue when moving at a slow pace, faint blue when you're holding down the run button, and colorless gray when you lose a life (as Jerry flips upside down with an unconscious expression following his incredulous "I've been hit" face) which is a very cute touch. The enemy roster is also well-designed with an endearing lighthearted quality to them like the mouse enemies who come in different palettes, birds made out of fire, sentient fire with faces on them which momentarily burst into a wall of flame should another sentient fire enemy come into contact with it, small rocks who wake up and grow legs should
Left: Oftentimes in towns you'll meet up with a kindly old man who'll give you a 1UP | Right: Inside the city restaurant
you come near them, rolling manhole covers, piranhas, prickly cactus enemies with a cyclopic top who rise from and recede into the sand who are annoying to jump over and receive damage from when they appear in upward slopes, cute bunnies who make high leaps, flying fish, intimidating shark enemies when facing the left until it's revealed when facing the right side that they are in actually a slim cardboard cutout (likely design to cheekily reference the fact that the shark used in Universal's Jaws movie franchise is fake), and penguins, et al, there are also human obstacles in the latter end of the game such as streakers gadding about in an icy cold environment, balloon riders, soldiers, and psychotic knife tossing pastry chefs. The bosses are also designed solidly with that recognizable Game Freak touch like a giant bird who was responsible destroying the houses leading up to it with a big blue "B" on its white tummy (which is also flipped over the moment it faces the right side), a flock of birds
Left: Casually conversing gentlemen | Right: Just missed Emi
which occasionally drop off fish that sprout legs, a boss made out of a constellation, a large rotund penguin, and a huge fish with a dorsal fin so lethal it can cause damage up until it becomes nothing but bone. Exclusive to the Japanese version are also a numerous amount of human NPCs present in the towns who are endearingly designed and colored in an appealing manner with a simple two-frame sprite when they speak as if it were an anime for there is a kindly old man who gives you a life each time you find him anew, little boys, men and women, characters who wear civilian clothes in towns, have wings on their back in heaven, merfolk in the ocean (including in this setting a human weighing himself down with weighted chains), and are bundled in Eskimo clothing in the coldest outskirts of the world. There are also animals therein such as a dog, a camel, and an adorable white seal. Alas, once the towns got removed from Smart Ball so too were those NPCs.
The music to Jerry Boy was composed by Yasuhiko Fukuda, Akira Yamaoka, and the late Manabu Saito. Fukuda was a musical prodigy as a child, specializing in keyboarding and synthesizing music right up to adulthood, and had been fascinated with anime since his school days. From the late '80s to early '00s he would contribute his music composing skills to video games such as Data East's Tantei Jingūji Saburō: Kiken na Futari, AlfaSystem's Download, Hudson Soft's Bomber Boy/Atomic Punk/Dynablaster, Red Company's Tengai Makyō II: Manjimaru, Produce's Super Bomberman 2, Hudson Soft's Bomberman GB trilogy, AlfaSystem's NEC PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System and Super Famicom console versions of Glodia's Emerald Dragon, and Hudson Soft's J-League Eleven Beat 1997. This
Left: "J" | Right: Sticking to the underside of a platform in front of a loud waterfall
still alive for he sadly passed away the following year in 1992 at the age of 22 from kidney failure, but before he died he managed to create music for the latest Yami no Ketsuzoku iteration Haruka Naru Kioku developed and published by Naxat Soft which would be posthumously released in 1993. The title theme starts off with a royal flair before it suddenly contorts itself into music with a sinister air followed by a note of suspense finally culminating in an urgent action-packed melody, it's an incredible theme with the way it deftly switches genres for listening to it makes you realize your ears are in for a treat (what I love especially about this title theme is how it's synchronized to the events that are happening onscreen,
Left: Ascending the hill | Right: Riding across a lengthy gap of spikes safely riding on top of a red bird
something which was sadly lost when the prologue was removed outside Japan heavily which wound up diluting the music's effectiveness in the process). The rest of the soundtrack is also quite good as it spruces up in variety all while maintaining the lighthearted tone it is aiming for. The opening level theme sounds quaintly composed with the soft pan flutes, bouncy slap bass, and melodic trumpets which is played in a few more levels serving as Jerry's motif (with there being leitmotifs of it with a quietly atmospheric yet fun piano-driven rendition of it used in the first level of the sixth area and during the ending credits which sounds very grandiose yet highly triumphant concluding itself with great denouement as Jerry has completed his journey and reunited himself with Emi), the level theme where you see the
Left: Log jumping | Right: Planting a seed will make it grow which can help Jerry reach higher spots
aftermath of the houses being laid waste by the giant bird has got a contemplatively somber yet lightheartedly atmospheric quality to it as you explore the damage that has been done along the way, the theme for when you venture in the underground sewers sounds relentlessly foreboding and lightheartedly ominous as the enemies and obstacles start becoming harder, the desert theme has got an appropriate arid melody and instrumentation, the moon theme sounds so breathtaking and serenely wonderful in all its simplicity, the ocean theme is frigidly atmospheric with a quietly understated quality that makes it effective to listen to, and finally the theme for when you storm the castle which has now been taken over by Tom sounds fully supercharged and action-packed with a dutiful sense of urgency
Left: Crossing a bridge composed of flowers | Right: Those flock of birds will occasionally try to attack you by dropping down a fish which grows legs should you not take it out first
permeating throughout the melody. The normal boss theme is sufficiently action-packed, and the theme for when you face off against the wizard's true form is heart-poundingly supercharged and imposing (it's just too bad that like the quaint level selection and the haunting organ heavy church theme before it by the time you're through you'll generally not hear the whole melody in the game proper, especially with the latter cutting off completely just as it gets to the meat of the melody before engaging in battle with Tom transformed as a blob). There are a couple of themes heard exclusively in Jerry Boy that you'll never hear in Smart Ball due the exclusion of the story and towns: the normal town theme sounds inviting
Left: Cactus pricks, so annoying | Right: Jumping high into the desert sky
as it is filled with warmth and endearment, and the other is the theme for when Jerry lands in heaven after having finished his business up in the moon which sounds beautifully hallow and pristine with no corrupted notes in between making for a sublime and atmospherically revered listen. The music is by and large very good and generally does a good job at complementing the atmosphere and tone to the respective areas. The sound effects are also decently designed with the crisp-sounding explosions from the ball projections, the growing sound as the seed has been planted and sprouted, the heavy sound as the iron ball hits a surface, and what sounds like a hiccup any time Jerry sustains damage and/or loses a life.
Left: Being chased by a wormlike creature | Right: By oozing across from upside down you'll be able to access otherwise inaccessible spots like that small space with the two flowers
Several months after Jerry Boy's Super Famicom debut North American gamers who owned an SNES console would get a chance to play it through Smart Ball. When it came to the West there had been a few significant changes and removals that had been made in the localization process. Area layout-wise it remained the same, but one crucial alternation came from the control mapping: whereas in Jerry Boy both the run, stick, and projectile spewing functions had been assigned to the same button, in Smart Ball's case the projectile spewing ability had been reallocated to pressing either shoulder button. The story and intermediary towns had been removed, alas, as there was a bevy of dialogue in the original Japanese release during the opening narration and when pressing Y beside an NPC to listen to them talk which would've taken a long time to translate completely. Sony Imagesoft did not wish to take longer than needed to localize the game, so to save on time and money these sequences had been elided entirely at the expense of losing plot set up and immediate story context. The
Left: Squeezing in through the sand as if it were a pipe | Right: I've reached the oasis at last
wedding crash preceding the battle against Jerry's brother Tom in the penultimate level, pre-battle sequences against the final boss, and the ending where Jerry reverts back into a human before the credits roll were retained, however because the dialogue had been removed these aforementioned moments now had lengthy periods of awkward silence before getting right back into the action. The most garish change came with the title screen as Smart Ball replaced it with one of the dullest gray static title screens I've ever seen in a 16-bit title bar none (with no effects, no animation, no nothing), compared to Jerry Boy's title sequence which was exciting and colorful with its music being synchronized to the events of the prologue culminating in a splash of bright rainbow colors going through a perpetual cycle (it is pure eye candy). Despite changing the title, the very same rainbow splash one color at a time during the end credits is present in both versions (only with the respective title at the end). Because the prologue was removed in the West it loses some of the earliest examples of Jerry Boy's Mode 7 rotating and scaling visuals effects after Jerry gets cast the spell that makes him become a gelatinous blob disappearing into the center of the screen a la a vortex
Left: Not sure it's safe to bathe under the sun while in a very hot climate zone, but you do you... | Right: Camel 🐪
with the most incredulous expression on his face immediately replaced with the title which emerges from there and pinwheels itself until it grows to just the right size and settles itself into place. It's incredible to watch in motion and still hold up fairly well all these years later. Smart Ball's title screen is just inexcusably bland, even its title design doesn't quite have the same charm Jerry Boy's title design does (Jerry's blob form acting as a placeholder for the letter "o" is a cute touch). Even if they didn't want to spend a lot of time translating every dialogue, the least Sony Imagesoft should've done is retain the prologue setting up the story and translated that sequence which would've at least had been a better take. But they didn't, as Smart Ball just thrust you into the scene seemingly for no reason (leaving the story in the manual, however because it is not in the game, it is not in the game, and in the NTSC SNES release's case the plot is not in the game). This is why context matters, because by removing it that just leaves you with more questions than it does answers.
Left: Nighttime cloud hopping | Right: In the center are two doors to choose from, one will send you back to an earlier point while another will enable you to advance further
When Jerry Boy, and later Smart Ball, came out it did fairly well and was met with a mixed to generally positive reception. From the positive end of the spectrum ACE magazine which rated it 890 out of 1000, Computer and Video Games awarded it an 85 out of 100, Games-X gave it a 4.5 out of 5, N-Force generously gave the game a 91%, Super Action awarded it 89%, and The Super Famicom gave it a B-. SNES Force had the distinction of covering both versions of the game, awarding the original an 86% with the North American SNES localization edging it out by just one percentage with an 87%. Not every review outlet was
Left: Confronting a vaporous boss | Right: Retreating alien post-battle in a bubble
impressed, however, as on the other hand there was AllGame which ranked it 3 out of 5, Famitsu awarded it a 25 out of 40, Super Play gave it a 6 out of 10, Control a 64%, with the lesser reception coming from Game Boy magazine which gave it a 10 out of 20, and both Super Gamer and Super Pro equally gave it the score of 43%. On the upside, Ken Sugimori's character design helped Jerry Boy win the Digital Content Association's AVA Multimedia Grand Prix Award plus it became something of a sales hit during the console's lifespan.
The following eight screenshots were screengrabbed while watching Hack Games Longplay Channel's Jelly Boy 2 - Unreleased SNES Game video on YouTube
Despite Jerry Boy not always having gotten the best of reviews upon release, it did do well enough to warrant exploring the gameplay concept further with a sequel. Developed exclusively by Game Freak this time around, Jelly Boy 2 centered on a brand new cast of characters--five human youths and a dog--who all got transformed into jelly blobs by an evil jester after arriving at an amusement park. In it you start off as just one character, with each new one being rescued once you defeat the end of area boss. Once your selection of who to play as expands itself over time, before entering the area you can choose who to play as for everyone has got their own distinctive abilities which not only adds variety to the mix but also
And just to clear up any confusion, if it wasn't already apparent, this game bears no relation to Probe Software's SNES and Game Boy platformer Jelly Boy which was exclusively released in European shores at the time by Ocean Software
enables you to access particular spots that certain other characters are unable to. Once an area has been cleared you can choose to revisit it as thorough searching will take you to a door which will either take you to a hidden compartment which houses helpful power ups that would aid you or an important key item where collecting all nine of them will have you fight the true final boss after which you'll have attained the good ending. Jelly Boy 2 was extensively covered by gaming outlets during development, even with some gameplay shown in a televised ad, and was more or less complete for the plan was to release it in 1994, exactly
Left: Bunnies can leap very high when on top of them on the moon's surface | Right: Inside the moon is a constellation boss to engage in battle with
I learned of this game through the internet when I was in my teen years sometime during the '00s and it did look fascinating based on what screenshots I saw of it back then, but it wouldn't be until my Retro Duo days of playing Super Famicom cartridges between 2012 and 2014 (before I got a Super Famicom console in Christmas of 2015) that I would consider looking into it. I had since learned that the story and towns were only present in Jerry Boy, so in February 2014 I decided to give the base Japanese edition a go, although almost a full year later (January 31st, 2015) I would play the SNES edition Smart Ball also (outside of
Left: Huh! Odd that Jerry landed in heaven after having gotten off the moon despite not having canonically died, but I suppose it's a more preferable outcome than hurtling toward the planet in a burning flame until he became nothing but ash... | Right: What do you mean "God is not here right now", are you saying the devil took over?? Oh, no, that would explain why critical thinking and rationale are going the way of the dinosaurs and why double standards have become so normalized to the point of questioning the sincerity of everyone's foundation! ...is what I would say if Jerry Boy was the sort of game revolving around themes of faith and religion, but it's not
what changes and removals there were for the NTSC SNES market, neither version is really that dissimilar to one another). Now the concept behind Jerry Boy is a creatively imaginative one, with the ability to stretch and squish and squeeze the body given a scenario due the gelatinous state which ends up giving this platformer a unique flavor. The areas Jerry ventures through are all appropriately fantastical with the occasional urban setting which allows him to test out his newfound abilities with one of two ways to take out enemies to add to that, it wholly embraces an endearingly lighthearted charm through and through for
Left: That kindly old man is everywhere! Even in heaven he gets around somehow despite he himself not having died | Right: There's something rather oxymoronic about a hallow environment like heaven having a prison system
this game knows not take itself seriously (as titles greatly involved by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori tend to do), there is an undeniable quirk factor especially when it comes to inventive scenarios (going from battling a boss in the desert to flying on a rocket to the moon which demolishes it upon landing), it is incredibly cute and is not ashamed to be, there are hidden doors and compartments which can be reached with thorough searching, the visuals are appealingly bright and colorful, and the music is excellent. With all that going for it, it's unfortunate (for me, anyway) that the quality of the gameplay doesn't manage to live up to
Left: Dropping down from heaven down into the wide-open ocean | Right: When those yellow birds are around, be wary of the spiked projectiles they drop down in an attempt to try to attack you
those aforementioned elements, at least not entirely, for it honestly leaves something to be desired. With Jerry now a blob it allows him the freedom to do a lot of things that he would have had a high difficulty performing if he were still a human with the stretching, squeezing, and squishing abilities. Landing on top of most enemies (bar the sentient flame, for obvious reasons) does not automatically take them out unless you press down while on top of them, which is fine if you choose to do it this way as an alternative to spewing projectiles at them from a safe distance so long as you're careful (for a couple instances it is imperative that you
Left: Small spaces connected through individual pipes | Right: Spewing an iron ball upward in the depths of the ocean
exercise inhibition for you can safely ride on these respective enemies across an elongated gap of spikes to the other side), and attacking from below by stretching upward is also one option you could do. As Jerry's new body is all slimy that makes adherence to surfaces above the ground all the possible for it which works, almost too well. There is a vantage point in navigating the walls and ceilings, but the rate at which he moves on either surface is not the same as if he were on land and since you cannot jump from walls when it comes to going upward on the opposite wall or landing on a particular platform in midair you must let go of
Left: Entering a submerged tower | Right: Hmmm, there's something different about Sebastian... 🦀
the button you've been holding up until that point which will have Jerry drop down at a quick rate (and depending on how high you were at this point, you'll either successfully land on said surfaces or worst case scenario you drop all the way down where you have to find another way to get up there again). And since the speed, stick, and spew options have been assigned to the same button it's feasible that you might end up use a ball without meaning to (unless you spew it upward and then position yourself below it to reclaim it) after having pressed the button again following letting go of it during certain situations. In this regard, assigning
Left: Not sure what that human is trying to achieve by tying himself to a ball and chain underwater, but it's certainly counterintuitive to his health | Right: I cannot even begin to fathom what living inside a whale must be like, let alone for ten years... 🐋
these functions comes off as rather counterintuitive. As much as it pains me to admit this Sony Imagesoft had the right idea when reassigning the spew ability to a different button with Smart Ball as it comparatively felt more convenient to play (with no accidental ball usage given a circumstance), but that amenity did nothing to emend or fix Jerry Boy's overall structural and program-related problems for they are still there. I understand the need to limit the amount of ammo Jerry can carry in his system given his small malleable body size, but resetting the count to zero after you picked one more ball up with nine in supply was not
Left: Of course, the shark is fake! | Right: With the jump powerup in your system you can clear over tall obstacles with ease
the way to go as it limits him to attacking at close-ranged proximity. When picking up an item from a flower the game can act rather picky depending on whether you were currently armed with the normal ball weapon or a special item. Say you had a seed, iron ball, or jump powerup in these situations you are allowed to collect a normal ball projectile but you cannot gather a heart, 1UP, or another one of these aforementioned items until he spits it out of his system which does not make for conducive design and somewhat hampers the experience. This is especially true in certain situations where he must cross a very wide gap in order to
Left: Flying fish | Right: Large puffy penguin boss with a bowtie
make progress, because if you don't have either the seed or the jump powerups by this point you could attempt to make the jump through normal means but you are going to lose one heart in the process (but should you still be holding down the run button by the time you reach the edge on the other side you might end up save yourself, though the rate of success may vary), or if you wanted to reach the ceiling (depending how high it is) you must run just enough so that you can gain airtime after some added traction. The (high) jumps can also be rather loose sometimes for you have to be very mindful when maneuvering them when it
Left: Attacking those incoming blue penguins with the iron ball | Right: Must surpass and/or defeat that stack of rock enemies to get across
comes to landing on platforms, especially small and narrow ones, or sticking to its side. The momentum is curtailed a lot when the iron ball is in the system for while you could potentially use it indefinitely if you wanted to it comes at the expense of slow movement and reduced jumps. When in the water or in quicksand the gravity also affects Jerry's movement where the quickest way to float upward is to repeatedly press the jump button without also having to hold down the run button. Sometimes the slickness can act as an impediment when utilized wrong, and in regards to the gameplay makes for a highly inconsistent
Left: Bold of that man to run about in this cold climate zone without any clothes | Right: Met by gray penguins with the aurora borealis in the nearby sky
experience in terms of polish and enjoyment. It's too bad Smart Ball elided the towns when released in North America, but with the amount of dialogue in Jerry Boy almost enough to fill up a very brief action adventure or turn-based RPG it would've taken a long time to translate with what little resources were available at their disposal. It makes for a quicker game, I suppose, but you do lose many of the endearing character and animal designs in the process (even though you could easily plow through them without interacting with any one of these NPCs and it would not affect the story one iota, particularly when replaying a level that
Left: Engaging with a husky and a white pinniped | Right: Surprisingly bigger on the inside than the igloo's exterior build suggests
leads up to these safe havens). In the North American SNES release the signs signaling that you've arrived in these intermediary towns are still there, but you do not even get to visit them as you're instead taken to the level select screen immediately. One secret door leads to a little boy who somehow got lost in the first desert level and serves as an alternative exit where originally in Jerry Boy finding and reuniting him with his mother will reward Jerry with a life, but because the towns have been removed outside Japan this secret room now amounts to nothing more than a non sequitur. It's as if in cutting corners in their mad dash
Left: The cage might start off empty at first, but then once you get closer it shifts off to the side to reveal an enemy from within | Right: Hard to tell initially but there are invisible butterfly enemies that blend in with the curtains
attempt to ensure a speedy localized release, Sony Imagesoft didn't take any measure to leave out any potential loose threads. Had this game been handled by a different publisher, things would have played out a bit differently. I also get the sense that Jerry Boy may have been a bit rushed to meet its release, and if that's the case that might put into perspective why it doesn't fully feel polished or why the aforementioned status of inhabiting the special items disabling you from collecting certain items inside flowers unless you spit them out functioned the way it did. There is also a noticeable discrepancy regarding Tom's hair color, which up
Left: Jagged terrain | Right: Facing a snow bear with the blizzard in the air
until you meet and fight against him is a violet shade of pink but when Jerry regains his human form and his brother walks in from the left side offscreen his hair is instead green which raises questions. Was the original plan for Tom to have green hair but got changed to a different color at the last minute except for the ending because they were unsatisfied with how that color was implemented with the blob form? Or was Tom's initial hair color intended to be as such but didn't follow through in the end? Is the change in hair color supposed to a metaphor for how Tom regained his lucidity after having been blinded by his
Left: Riding up while on a balloon held down by a ballooner (but should you wish to go up quicker simply hold down while on the balloon for the ballooner to let go) | Right: Going up a waterfall
deep-rooted jealousy of Jerry over what he had this whole time? After having defeated him in his blob form he vacates the church silently with a dejected expression on his face, did he start to mellow out after having lost to Jerry or did he fully start to feel remorse after the wizard had been vanquished thereby restoring both princes to their human selves? This is never explained and elaborated on for the subject of Tom's hair color never comes up in discussion when interacting with a human NPC. It is just one surface level superficial detail, but a detail nonetheless which does not coalesce with what had been established before.
Left: You can see the effort Jerry is pulling to remain malleable and squishy as he's squeezing through pipes any which way | Right: If you look at this room a certain way it resembles a face
What probably happened was that there was a programming error which caused the palette of Tom's hair color to change at the end which was too late to rectify by the time either Game Freak and/or System Sacom noticed. I found Kyliria, while fascinating to look at with its various locales, didn't have a richly established lore which is never expanded on by its subjects and townsfolk (I'm also left uncertain on what its geography is supposed to be like given that you venture from area to area with varyingly differentiated climates). I've also been ruminating on the vital characters, and to be honest I didn't feel they were compellingly
Left: Last safe haven located up on this hill | Right: Listening in on a seated conversation
written for there's rarely anything to give Jerry, Emi, Tom, and the wizard more than their archetypical traits of hero, damsel, antagonist, and villain in that order for we don't really get a sense of what they're like as people. Generally with archetypes they are meant to have clearcut personalities and motivations, but I found Jerry Boy to be lacking in that regard. When the very impetus which set off the course of this game stem from Tom being jealous of Jerry, you don't get a sense of what their sibling relationship was like before that and you wonder whether he held a resentful grudge for his older brother his whole life or if it only
Left: Firebirds have the capability of producing fire which will spring to life upon touching the ground | Right: Guess there's no other recourse than to follow the arrow down
started right after King Geoffrey passed away and Jerry was going to be crowned king and marry Emi? After Jerry "disappears" Emi becomes worried and starts to look for her beloved, which you could interpret as her being devoted to him, but outside of that we don't know what she's like as a character. Before storming the castle and crashing the wedding you are told that Emi is about to marry Tom, which would give the impression that perhaps she has been coerced and magically compelled to do so but evidently that's not the case for she clearly is still lucid for she reacts by acknowledging her true love after the wizard announces
Left: That's a big fish you must battle | Right: Don't relax just yet, you must now deal with its bones
Jerry's arrival. If she wasn't spellbound, does that mean that Emi was willfully about to go through a loveless marriage with Tom if it meant finding out what happened to Jerry? That's... rather disturbing if you contemplate on those implications too much. What exactly was the wizard's endgame? You'd think it would be something along the lines of domination, for inside the castle walls you'd occasionally see images in his likeness, but outside of that it's never clear what kind of threat he is supposed to represent as the townsfolk don't act like there's any impending danger (they're likely not privy to his existence) or whether he had a
Left: Not a very friendly greeting by those soldiers | Right: Sentient bomb enemies who occasionally blow up must be dealt with along the way
history with Kyliria (the closest you get is a broken open prison cell up in heaven, of all places, where he used to be incarcerated before escaping underground but it's never stated why he was there in the first place or how he escaped). Yes, he helped Tom get what he wanted by disposing of Jerry, but the wizard would not have done this unless he wanted something in return or was simply using Tom as a means to an end where he'll eventually discard him once he's deemed no longer useful at which point he'd show his true colors. Perhaps Tom's jealousy of Jerry was so strong that the wizard was simply feeding off of it
Left: Squish yourself down to avoid being sliced by those swinging axes | Right: Which pipe, which pipe?
which granted him power. That would make more sense, and if there's a moral or two to be gotten from this experience is that holding on to jealousy causes more harm than good (also something, something, complicity or whatnot), but that should be obvious. That leaves us the title character Jerry, who while highly expressive in his blob form is initially portrayed as something of a blank slate. That may have been done by design, given that you're taking control as him, as he doesn't really utter a line until after he reunites with Emi after regaining his humanity at the very end of the game. I feel bad for being hard on the story and character
Left: That chef is a menace! He should not be allowed anywhere near knives if he's throwing them so loosely like that 🔪 | Right: Time to crash the wedding inside the church (naturally, the cross outside and inside the building would be removed in Smart Ball)
department for a platformer, I realize it's all a labor of love at the end of the day, but when you've got a story and there are towns in it there's usually a precedent. I just wish when it came to the townsfolk who are aware of these characters that they gave more than just surface level remarks than just "There's a slime in this town", "Prince Jerry has disappeared", "Emi is worried about Jerry so she went looking for him", "Emi is so beautiful", "Tom lives in that castle", "Emi is going to marry Tom", "Poor Jerry", et al. Had Jerry Boy been a manga or anime instead, great care would've been taken to expand upon and explore these
Left: "I object to this marriage!" | Right: In which Jerry must fight his brother Tom as an even bigger blob than he is, a simple alternating between pressing up and down will be enough to do him in
characters. If anything, I got to learn more about the NPC humans and their daily routines (including a couple elders who've been residing inside a whale for a decade and expressed concern for the other's well-being, for instance) than I have about the central characters. To be fair, it's possible that Tajiri, Sugimori, and company didn't manage to get everything they wanted included in the game prior to release which lends credence to my theory that Jerry Boy may have been rushed out. When you do get your bearing on the gameplay and manage to get through without issue (though you'll still suffer the unavoidable hit due the way this game was structured if not careful), the difficulty is not particularly high for it is rather facile when it comes to the boss department once you recognize their patterns (bar the frozen underground where platforms are few and far between for they are slippery) and most of them upon being defeated will leave behind a 1UP for you to collect. The moon level is a nice little break from the normal routine as enemies are few in number and it's a simple path forward, but when it comes to any other level you'll have to take care not to overdo things and
Left: Infiltrating the castle | Right: Contending with those salami enemies, or whatever they're supposed to be
be very mindful on not only how you approach defeating an enemy whether it be through a long-ranged ball or in close quarters by stretching and squishing in relation to where they're positioned from you but also the particularity of the sticking controls when it comes to the edge or ceiling and whether it's convenient for you given a scenario. The blob-oriented gameplay makes Jerry Boy something of a novelty, yet it's that very novelty that holds it back from being truly great given how the controls were implemented. Highlighting these issues and flaws, it's no wonder why it got a mixed and/or polarizing reception from certain media outlets: there is a clear lack of polish which is not aided by a half-baked plot where the stakes nary feel high and characters so underdeveloped that it struggles to make a compelling case for itself. But it didn't matter what anyone said, while not sharing the same numbers Game Freak's inaugural title Quinty and its North American counterpart Mendel Palace collectively made altogether this game still did well enough on its own merits (being an early Nintendo 16-bit title certainly helped back when the console was fresh and brand new). The
It only took until 2025, but the walking around with a bucket on the head game Mario & Wario finally got an official localized release outside of Japan albeit through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service so now gamers in the West who cannot afford the luxury of owning a Nintendo 16-bit console can at last play it without resorting to importing
aforementioned success of Quinty helped give Game Freak future job opportunities as Nintendo, initially reluctant to work with them directly on that title, paid close attention to the numbers which in turn led to them hiring Tajiri and Sugimori's company to work on an 8-bit puzzler revolving around the newly introduced character from Nintendo's 1990 16-bit launch title Super Mario World, Yoshi (no Tamago)/Mario & Yoshi, with work on it having begun after finishing development of Jerry Boy. Each new game Tajiri worked on was a learning experience for him (having worked again with Nintendo again with Mario & Wario on the Super Famicom, he even collaborated with Sega a couple times with the MegaDrive adaptation of Tatsuya Egawa's Magical Tarurūto Kun and the original game Pulseman), and in honoring the deal he was given the funds and means to fully realize his dream turn-based RPG project Pokémon which wound up taking the world by storm when it debuted in 1996 as it became such a huge worldwide sensation that made Game Freak a household name (if their previous titles hadn't done so already) and with each new installment continues to be among the most lucrative video game franchises to this day.
Left: The wizard has made a home here if that motif bearing his face is any indication | Right: More fire enemies that need to be expunged
I know there are some who hold this game in high regard despite its flaws, issues, and shortcomings that I've mentioned, and that's fine. For me personally, Jerry Boy squarely falls under the category of games I where I liked the concept more than the actual game itself. It certainly came out at the right place at the right time having gotten by on its colorfully cute visuals and endearing lighthearted charm with that unmistakable Game Freak brand of aesthetic, but the literal stickiness of the gameplay and occasionally problematic programming impeded my overall enjoyment of the game and for that I don't feel it holds up to scrutiny very well (it's certainly not the type of platformer where you play it for the story and characters where it leaves a lot to be desired). This game in my opinion is not among the
Left: It has all led to this, take care of the wizard to undo his magic | Right: Reconciliation
better Super Famicom games to have come out in 1991, but it's not among the worst in the console either for on its own terms I consider it okay. It's okay to play through at least once, it's not unplayable and does have interesting gameplay ideas even if I didn't feel the game fully lived up to its lofty ambitions, and depending on how you fare it should take roughly an hour's time to play through. It is fascinating to play a game made during Game Freak's humble beginnings knowing how far they would go after the fact (System Sacom, who has contributed, has been around longer and would also go far in their own way up to the end of the '90s), I just wish it came out a little better than it did and provided a more consistent level of enjoyment. Jerry Boy is no gaming masterpiece, but it is a quirky curiosity nonetheless.
My Personal Score: 6.0/10
● From Jerry Boy alone I took 349 screenshots on March 20th, 2026, which I had to decide which ones to use for this review specifically whereas the unused I either discarded altogether or reserve them for when I visually reference this game in another review.
● I originally reviewed this game on February of 2015 and awarded it a 6.5 out of 10 whereas I gave the North American SNES edition Smart Ball in the same review a 6.0 out of 10, which I have since deleted on account of not feeling it was well-written or well done looking back (there were also things I got wrong) because it doesn't align my current video game reviewing standards. Since I brought it up, I should elaborate on the inconsistent quality of the screenshots used in my old review for the sake of context: when it came to Jerry Boy in 2014 I managed to get screenshots up to the second desert level where I somehow softlocked myself and couldn't go any further and when the Retro Duo's 16-bit vital slot piece eventually broke I was left unable to get any more screenshots from it (and was left in a state where I couldn't play any of the other Super Famicom games I had in my collection at that point) so in 2015 I decided to get Smart Ball on the SNES to gather more screenshots up until I had just enough to fully justify a review because prior to that I did not have enough (even though that version nixed the story, towns, and dialogue). Had things played out different, I would have just stuck exclusively with Jerry Boy. I wish it didn't take until 2015 for me to learn that the Super Famicom and NTSC SNES consoles share the same outlet plug, otherwise I would've considered getting a Super Famicom in 2012 instead of a Retro Duo because I didn't know at the time (what does hindsight exist for but to make you question if you did anything right?). For those who liked my old review, I'm sorry, but I wanted to cover this game properly this time around with thorough research (properly crediting the names involved outside of just the music composers) and analysis and in-depth articulation with a consistency regarding screenshot dimensions (even if it's a process each time to do so manually). To be honest, a 6.0 is more appropriate for this game in my opinion.
● Jerry Boy is the one Nintendo 16-bit game where pausing is done through the Select button as opposed to the Start button like is usually utilized in the console.
● In early 2015 I also got to play through the sequel Jelly Boy 2 on a website, I didn't play it very often and had not beaten it but from what I remember playing that year I felt it was an infinitely more enjoyable improvement over Jerry Boy and felt it to be more polished with a nice variety of unique controls per character.
● One of this game's programmers, Yūji Sawairi, would go on to work on movie processing for the 3D rendered cutscenes of the Sega Saturn and personal computer versions of Traveller's Tales' Sonic 3D Blast/Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island on behalf of Sega of Japan. Because I couldn't find a way to add the .gif file in a way that didn't affect the review's flow (and had no desire to waste it as I wanted to reference it visually), I'm going to present it here:
Sonic 3D Blast was also the only game where I got its screenshots from when I played it on my old Insignia flatscreen TV whereas every other game I got screenshots from for this review I took while playing on my Samsung smart TV.
● I would've much preferred having finished my Jerry Boy review before I turned 35 on April 5th, 2026, but I suppose it's better late than never.
Happy 35th Annivesrary,
Jerry Boy, you earned it!!!! 🥳
(or rather your concept and cute charm helped you earn it)
Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW is allowed); hope you have a great day, be a kind human, and take care!
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