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Self Simulated is a GBC platformer from developer 2nd Law Games released in 2025. It can be purchased in a physical cartridge form from ModRetro, but is also gearing up for a new digital release to Steam, previewed here, and itch.io. The game stars a humanoid robot who can’t remember what has happened. He has a trusty friend to guide him, however, and must make his way through an AI-infested facility.
The demo for Self Simulated introduces the core mechanics, such as jumping and attacking, as well as how to overcome obstacles and use the surroundings to get through the maze of 100 small levels. Each of the levels has a variety of enemies, traps, and obstacles to overcome, and we were impressed by how fast-paced the action is considering the whole game has been designed within the constraints of a GBC.
Although Self Simulated is a precision platformer and falls into the difficulty level of the Donkey Kong Country titles on the SNES. That is to say, some of the sections will take many attempts, and there is only one way to overcome them. Although the demo is short, there were a couple of sections that took us numerous goes, but luckily, with each death you start back at the level rather than being sent further back.
The graphics and music are excellent in this game, and we were most impressed with the animation that seems to get every ounce of power from its handheld limitations. The controls are equally as good, and the emulation on Steam felt very on point, we didn’t notice any lag or performance issues with the emeulator. It’s also wroth mentioning that translation services have been used to bring eight different lanaguages to the game, most GB Studio developed games use AI, so this may be the first one to use actual real translators. We look forward to the full digiatl release of Self Simulated in 2027, and will make sure to bring a full review of the finished game.
