Play Goukaku Boy Series - Koukou Nyuushi Derujun - Chuugaku Eijukugo 350 (Japan) Online

I picked up Goukaku Boy Series - Koukou Nyuushi Derujun - Chuugaku Eijukugo 350 for the Game Boy back in 1992, a title from Imagineer aimed squarely at Japanese students preparing for high school entrance exams. It was a time when educational games were finding their niche on handhelds, offering a portable alternative to textbooks and flashcards, and this one focused specifically on drilling English idioms.

You work through a series of multiple-choice questions, each presenting an English idiom with several Japanese interpretations to choose from. The goal is simple: learn and correctly identify the meanings of all 350 phrases. The game tracks your progress and accuracy, letting you review mistakes, and the whole experience is underscored by simple, repetitive chiptune music that feels like a study session set to a low-fi beat. Some translations are charmingly awkward, making you puzzle over phrases in a way that’s equal parts frustrating and funny. It feels like carrying a tiny, slightly stern tutor in your pocket.