Review of Sabrina: The Animated Series – “Zapped!”

A spell that whisks you back to the 90s, like, what?

So, here’s the deal: Wayforward. You know them, right? Total legends of the 2D gaming universe. They’ve given us gems like River City Girls and Shantae. But, hold up! They also cranked out a bunch of licensed stuff over two decades. Enter: Sabrina: The Animated Series – Zapped for the Game Boy Color. This one weirdly feels like a peek into Shantae’s DNA or something.

Yeah, so this game is all about Sabrina – that teenage witch we all wanted to be. Imagine this: her pals get turned into animals (oops!) and scatter all over. The only way to reverse this? Jump on their heads (yeah, really) and whip up a spell. Sabrina scores new tricks like a double jump, lets her cat Salem squeeze through tight spots, and even bubbles up to float – like, seriously, floating bubbles!

Now the levels, man, they’re tight. Each one surprises you—some floaty bubble antics in vertical stretches, others where you’re this sneaky cat Salem, trying to open up paths. It’s not game-changing magic or anything, but there’s that old-school charm. You remember those chunky sprites on Game Boy Color, right? Not to mention, the passwords keeping everything easy peasy.

Anyway—or wait, yeah, the controls! Oh boy, those Game Boy Color limitations. Running and spell-casting on the same button? You can guess how many times I face-planted into enemies. Still, for what it is – a spinoff from an animated series based on a TV show – you’d think it’d be a dumpster fire, but nope! It’s actually solid. Maybe not groundbreaking or Shantae-level polished, but it has its moments. Kinda like that odd curio on a shelf. Once you finish, the spell’s pretty much done, but hey, not a bad run while it lasts!