Game & Watch Collection 2
The follow-up to Game & Watch Collection — two classic 1981 Wide Screen Game & Watch titles, Parachute and Octopus, plus the brand-new Parachute × Octopus: a never-before-seen dual-screen crossover game exclusive to this collection.
Overview
Game & Watch Collection 2 is the sequel to the original Game & Watch Collection, again released exclusively through the Club Nintendo loyalty programme. Like its predecessor it’s a Nintendo DS cartridge you couldn’t buy in a shop — it had to be redeemed using Club Nintendo points. Japan received it first on December 15, 2008, followed by North America on March 31, 2009, Europe on September 7, 2009, and Australia on September 3, 2009.
Where the original collection featured three Multi Screen Game & Watch titles (Donkey Kong, Oil Panic and Green House), Collection 2 takes a different approach. Parachute and Octopus are both Wide Screen single-screen games from 1981, each played across both DS screens with the upper screen showing the sky or surface and the lower screen showing the action. The standout addition is Parachute × Octopus — a brand new Game & Watch game created specifically for this collection that combines both titles into a single simultaneous challenge across the DS’s two screens.
The Three Games
Parachute (1981)
Paratroopers are jumping from a helicopter into shark-infested ocean — your job is to control a lifeboat and catch them before they hit the water. Tap the D-pad left or right to reposition the boat. Miss three and it’s game over. It’s one or two frames per second of pure reflex challenge: deceptively simple, increasingly frantic as the jump rate speeds up.
Octopus (1981)
A team of divers descend to the seabed to grab gold from a treasure chest — directly beneath a giant octopus that fills a third of the screen with its tentacles. Collect the treasure, then get back to the surface before the tentacles snag you. The controls are sharp, the octopus is menacing, and greed is always punished. Three catches by the octopus and it’s over.
Parachute × Octopus
The headline feature — a never-before-seen Game & Watch title created exclusively for Collection 2. Parachute runs on the top screen, Octopus on the bottom screen, both simultaneously. Catch a set number of parachuters and the screen flashes to send you underwater for the Octopus phase; retrieve enough gold and it flashes back up to Parachute. It’s a relay of sorts — the most demanding and most original thing in the package, switching your attention between two entirely different challenges without pause.
Characters
Features
- Three games included — Parachute, Octopus, and the exclusive Parachute × Octopus crossover.
- Game A / Game B — both difficulty modes from the original Wide Screen handhelds are present in Parachute and Octopus.
- High score keeping — personal best scores saved for each game.
- Clock & alarm function — as with the original Game & Watch hardware, both Parachute and Octopus retain their real-time clock display using the DS’s built-in RTC.
- Colour enhancement — like Collection 1, colours are more vivid than on the original monochrome LCD Game & Watch screens. The DS version adds a full blue sky on the upper screen when playing well, and fireworks when you perform particularly well.
- Sharp controls — the D-pad responsiveness is near-instant, which matters at the one-to-two frames-per-second pace these games operate at.
Screenshots
Title screen
Parachute
OctopusParachute × OctopusTrivia & Facts
- Like its predecessor, Game & Watch Collection 2 was never sold at retail — Club Nintendo exclusive only.
- Both Parachute and Octopus were originally Wide Screen Game & Watch titles released in 1981 — the same year.
- Parachute × Octopus is a brand new Game & Watch game that did not exist before this collection. It was created specifically for Collection 2.
- Unlike Collection 1 (which used Multi Screen dual-screen originals), Collection 2’s Parachute and Octopus are Wide Screen single-screen games — the DS screens are used to show different visual layers (sky above, action below) rather than a direct top/bottom split from the original hardware.
- Japan received the game over two years before Europe and Australia: December 15, 2008 vs September 2009.
- Parachute was also recreated in Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Game Boy Color) and Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA). Octopus was recreated in Game & Watch Gallery (Game Boy) and Gallery 4.
- Mr. Game & Watch’s Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. (Brawl onwards) is called “Octopus” — he transforms into the giant octopus from this game.
- The Pocket Gamer review noted the collection’s most challenging mode is Parachute × Octopus, calling it “a neat bit of work” and a “Game & Watch relay.”
- A sequel to GWC2 was never released — these two Club Nintendo DS collections remain the only official Game & Watch compilations for the platform.