A peek at what almost was: Diablo on the Game Boy

25 Comments by Kevin Kelly Jun 8th 2007 6:00PM
Filed under: Culture, Retro, Adventure, RPGs

Although it seems like this is a joke from deep within the bowels of hell, yes ... there really was a version of Diablo being developed by Blizzard (apparently) for the Nintendo Game Boy.

It's hard to imagine this hellfire-filled hack and slash RPG on the family-friendly Game Boy (just imagine playing this in church), but Past to Present Online has some screenshots including a picture of the development cartridge, and even a video (which can also be seen after the jump).

It's not terribly impressive, and is no doubt years old, but just imagine what could have been.

Tags: Blizzard, Diablo, Game Boy

Source

(Page 1) Reader Comments

BPM: Jun 8th 2007; 6:16PM

Diablo GB isn't that hard to believe, considering nearly every Mortal Kombat was watered down to be on Game Boy.

I think they were all rubbish ports, though. But I remember back in the day, when I was in elementary school, I was really excited to play my friend's copy on my Game Boy pocket.

How foolish I was.

Anyhoo... That doesn't look too bad for an early demo. It's always interesting to see what could have been, but never was (just like Resident Evil for Game Boy Color).

Zach: Jun 8th 2007; 6:31PM

For the GB, nah.

For the DS...ohhhh yes.

Einhanderkiller: Jun 8th 2007; 6:35PM

You'd break your screen if it were on the DS.

Joshua: Jun 8th 2007; 6:38PM

The video makes it look pretty good.

vaylen: Jun 8th 2007; 6:44PM

Starcraft on the DS is where it's at, baby!

Kn1ves: Jun 8th 2007; 6:52PM

that runs faster than the diablo on the PC

Diablo III on the DS? Yes.

Max: Jun 8th 2007; 6:58PM

@ vaylen

OH JESUS YES!! starcraft on the DS would GARENTEE me buying a DS

Joseph Villalobos: Jun 8th 2007; 7:06PM

OMG!!!

Kn1ves: Jun 8th 2007; 7:31PM

too bad the expansion pack wasnt actually released by Blizzard but by Sierra? So.. nobody cares.

Le Driver: Jun 8th 2007; 9:26PM

Damn... I think this game would have planted the seeds of my RPG-nerd-dom much earlier if I'd been able to get my hands on it.

- Natasha
http://www.rpgb.blogspot.com

nate: Jun 8th 2007; 9:32PM

maybe Nintendo wouldn't have been so anti third-party from the get-go...

Quakeulf: Jun 8th 2007; 9:55PM

>:3 Rawr, I'm a lion! I want Diablo, Fallout and Chrono Trigger on my DS!

rDr4g0n: Jun 8th 2007; 10:03PM

is it just me, or does that look really good for a gameboy?

Borman: Jun 8th 2007; 11:53PM

Hah I assure you, its quite real. I apologize for the video quality on Youtube, the original video is much better, and doesnt run quite as quick, but that wonderful Youtube conversion gave you that. The Tech Demo is extremely early, and is on an official GB dev cart, along with the fact that it comes from a reputable source. And just to make it clear, my development experience consists of VB, which can in no way be used to make a GB game.

Mindbleach: Jun 9th 2007; 12:59AM

Kick ass! I love seeing things ported down to their base elements. It's a pity that similar games that were released - Gauntlet: Dark Legacy and Dark Alliance for GBA - had godawful gameplay.

O_o: Jun 9th 2007; 1:03AM

@"that runs faster than the diablo on the PC"

Faster? What? Make some sense please.

Kn1ves: Jun 9th 2007; 4:54AM

it does make sense, you can not run that fast on the PC version.

ThornedVenom: Jun 9th 2007; 6:16AM

GIMME STARCRAFT ON THE DS YOU B-TARDS!! T_T

Zach: Jun 9th 2007; 8:03AM

By faster he means the character moves faster. In Diablo the player basically crawls across the screen. Note another reason why D2 is more popular.

mattclarkie: Jun 9th 2007; 8:41AM

I like the bit where he jumps over the wall a few seconds before the end.

Miharu: Jun 9th 2007; 9:30AM

If you want some Diabloesque action on GBA, check out the Lord of The Rings games (Not fellowship of course that's crap), they are exactly like Diablo.

Hugh Jass: Jun 9th 2007; 10:44AM

#22 is right -- Two Towers and Return of the King are ptetty much "Diablo Lite" and are worth a play.

Rallion: Jun 9th 2007; 12:23PM

Just reading that headline made me want to play Diablo again.

Not Diablo 2, though that was certainly a hell of a fun game. Diablo. Or possibly Diablo: Hellfire. I enjoyed that expansion pack a great deal.

wastingorpheus: Jun 12th 2007; 1:01AM

Just sold for $500 on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=230139938063

vdeogmer: Jun 12th 2007; 12:32PM

there's also baldur's gate on the gba, it's not that hard to imagine diablo being done the same way.

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