Stray, the popular cat game from BlueTwelve Studio and Annapurna Interactive, is the subject of a demake video showing what the game would be like on the original Game Boy. The video has been created with a surprising level of attention to detail, mimicking the first few levels of the game and delighting retro gamers and cat fans alike.
Stray is one of the indie darlings of 2022, taking the internet by storm when it launched. Putting the player in the position of a cat who needs to get back to its family, players find themselves in a world devoid of humans but full of robots, frightening creatures, and a long road home.
YouTube channel 64 Bits has now shared a video imagining what Stray could have been like if it released in 1992 for the original Nintendo Game Boy. The video fits the aesthetic perfectly, not only being depicted as being played on a Game Boy, but with the iconic green-tinted 8-bit graphics the system was capable of. The game starts out just like the actual Stray title, with the playable cat being separated from its family after a pipe suddenly collapses under its feet. After recovering from the fall, the game follows the cat for the first few levels as they avoid Zurks and meet B-12.
The video ends just as the cat begins its entry into the city occupied by robots. While short, the video follows the original story flawlessly and transforms the game's free 3D open movement into a 2D sidescroller that would be more appropriate to the handheld console's capabilities. While the incredibly realistic cat animations of Stray have received immense praise, this recreation also carefully transforms a cat's real movements into pixel art, realistically depicting how it would look as it walks, runs, and hops over obstacles to climb and navigate its surroundings.
While this isn't a real game that players can enjoy, it's clear that demakes are a popular phenomenon in the gaming community. The retro aesthetic is something that invokes nostalgia for older gamers, while many younger gamers simply enjoy the look of the gaming era. Indie games, in particular, have continued to produce new releases that look like they could have come out of the last ten or even twenty years. While some players might wish that they could enjoy a classic-styled, portable take on the cat game, they'll have to settle for playing Stray on a Steam Deck to get their lost cat game fix while on go.
Stray is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.