Nebulus is climbing onto the Game Boy Advance with a new physical release. A freshly produced port brings the classic tower-climber to everyone’s favorite 3:2 console.

Originally developed by John M. Phillips and published by Hewson Consultants in 1987, Nebulus built its reputation on a clever cylindrical tower effect that made it look borderline magical on 8-bit hardware. Playing as Pogo, a small green blob with places to be, you inch your way up hazard-stuffed towers while the structure spins underneath you, demanding careful timing and spatial awareness in a way that still feels pretty fresh.

Over the decades, the game has worn more aliases than Jennifer Garner: Castelian, Kyorochan Land, Subline, and Tower Toppler, among them. It has also done the full tour of classic hardware, hitting DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Atari 7800, NES, Game Boy, and even Acorn 32-bit machines, plus a sequel on Amiga in the early ’90s. The GBA version now being released comes via publisher The Retro Room and is fully licensed with Rebellion, the current rights holder, giving the official thumbs-up.

Physically-minded collectors get a boxed copy at $48 or a loose cartridge for $23, while emulation heads and flash cart users can grab it for $10. It’s the sort of release that quietly slots into shelves next to modern indie carts and unofficial dupes, and you just know some people have been waiting decades for exactly this kind of experience, a small but satisfying way to keep one of the smarter 8-bit puzzlers in active circulation.

Source: The Retro Room via Time Extension

What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!

This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.