Play Medarot 4 - Kabuto Version (Japan) Online

Game Overview

Medarot 4 - Kabuto Version is one of those Game Boy Color gems that never made it outside Japan, which is a shame because it’s basically Pokémon with customizable robot battles. You start by picking your Medarot (I went with the beetle-themed Kabuto, obviously), and then it’s all about swapping parts—legs for speed, armor for defense, weapons that actually feel different in fights. The first hour is just me in the menu screen obsessing over stats like "Will this laser arm look cool and hit hard?" (Spoiler: Usually not both.)

Battles are turn-based but weirdly tactical—positioning matters, and some attacks only work up close. The pixel art’s full of personality, especially when your robot dramatically explodes after a bad fight. There’s a whole trading thing if you’ve got friends with the Kuwagata version, but let’s be real, most of us played this alone in 2001. It’s janky in that classic GBC way, but if you ever duct-taped together toy robots as a kid, this’ll hit the same part of your brain.