Vermin

This article is about the Game & Watch game as it appears in the Game & Watch Gallery series. For the microgame from WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, see Vermin (microgame).

Vermin's Classic version (left) and Modern version (right) from Game & Watch Gallery 2

Vermin (originally released in North America as The Exterminator) is a Game & Watch game released as part of the Silver series on July 10, 1980. It appears in Game & Watch Gallery's Gallery Corner. It also returns as a minigame in Game & Watch Gallery 2, which includes an updated "Modern" version of the game.

Gameplay

Classic version

Moles pop out of the ground, attempting to get into the player's garden. To keep them out, the player must move left and right and smack them with hammers. The player earns a point for every mole they hit. As the game progresses, the moles move faster. If any moles are left untouched for a few seconds, the player gets penalized with a miss. The player receives a Game Over when they have three misses. Game A features four different positions the moles come from, while Game B features five different positions.

Misses cannot be cleared at all in this Game & Watch title, which means the player needs to be very cautious.

Modern version

The Modern version of this game features Yoshi (depicted as an Orange Yoshi in the Game Boy Color version) guarding six Yoshi Eggs from incoming Para Troopas, Fly Guys, and Boo Buddies. Different types of enemies move at different speeds. The Boo Buddies do not move if Yoshi is looking at one. If any of the baddies are left unattended, they start pounding the eggs. Each egg can take up to only three hits. If an egg gets completely broken, the enemy that broke the egg mocks Yoshi, and the player gets a Game Over. Every 200 points, all the unbroken eggs break themselves to reveal something good (i.e., Yoshi Cookies at 200 points, fruits at 400, Little Yoshis at 600, coins at 800, and Super Stars at 1,000, with the cycle only continuing after that), and every unbroken egg rewards the player with five points. If any eggs are broken at 200 points, unbroken eggs do not reveal their contents and no bonus points are given, but unbroken eggs reveal their contents at 400 points and so on, although the contents are what they would have been at the previous set of 200 points. Monty Moles also appear at 200, 500, and 700 points to lay a heart on the field. Hitting the heart with a hammer recovers a third of the damage done to the eggs. Unlike in the Classic version, music is featured, with the tempo changing depending on the speed of the game.

Controls

Classic version

• (left and right): Move
• : Move left
• : Move right

Modern version

• : Move
• : Move left
• : Move right

Gallery

Modern version

• 

  Super Game Boy screenshot

• 

  Yoshi Egg

• 

  Para Troopa

• 

  Another sprite of said character

• 

  Boo Buddy

• 

  Fly Guy

• 

  Square-shaped Yoshi Cookie

• 

  Flower-shaped Yoshi Cookie

• 

  Cherry

• 

  Apple

• 

  Little Yoshi

• 

  Coin

• 

  Super Star

• 

  1 UP Heart

• 

  Monty Mole

• 

  Orange Yoshi

External links

• Vermin info page on In the Attic, a website dedicated to classic videogames (Internet Archive: Wayback Machine)