Vermin

Vermin is a game released in 1980 for the Game & Watch, it is the third Game & Watch handheld after Flagman, and is the third in the Silver series, it was originally known as The Exterminator in North America. Like Ball and Flagman, it has been re-released multiple times.

Vermin
Developer(s)	Nintendo Research & Development 1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Released	Game & Watch July 10, 1980 Nintendo DSi JP July 15, 2009 US April 5, 2010 EU April 9, 2010

Gameplay

Like previous games, the player can choose to play Game A or Game B, or have it display the time. In Game A and Game B, the player has to hit the moles coming out of the holes, in Game A, moles come out of all holes except the middle one, and in Game B, they come out of all holes. If the player fails to hit a mole in time, they player loses a life, losing all three lives loses the game. If the player chooses to have it display the time, it will show the time where the score is while the game plays itself.

Ports

Vermin appears in Game Boy Gallery, where the gameplay is the same, with characters appearing when the player gets a specific amount of points, with a girl appearing at 200 points and a man with a spear at 500 points. This game takes place in between Ball and Flagman in the story, where after failing to get a job at the circus, they start working at the local pest control company where they have to hit moles on the head when they surface, but each time they hit them, they become angrier and faster, they end up losing that job and start working at the local boating lake which leads into Flagman.

Vermin appears in the Game & Watch Gallery series, where it's featured in the Gallery Corner in Game & Watch Gallery, being unlocked when the player gets 400 points in the modern version of Octopus, it can be unlocked in the next two game's Gallery Corner by either linking them to Game & Watch Gallery or an extra method in Game & Watch Gallery 3 where it can be unlocked by getting all stars. It is a playable game in Game & Watch Gallery 2.

In the modern version in Game & Watch Gallery 2, the player plays as a Orange Yoshi protecting six Yoshi Eggs from Koopa Paratroopas, Fly Guys, and Boos, which all move at different speeds, with Boos not moving if the player is looking at them. If an enemy gets to an egg, they start breaking it, each egg takes three hits to break, if an egg breaks, the player gets a Game Over. Every 200 points, each egg break themselves to reveal something good, Yoshi Cookies at 200 points, fruits at 400 points, Baby Yoshis at 600 points, coins at 800 points, and Super Stars at 1000 points, and after that, it repeats, they also give five points for each egg. If an egg is broken at 200 points, all other eggs don't reveal what's inside of them, but if the same happens at 400 points and after, they do reveal what's inside, but they will start from 200 again. Monty Moles appear at 200, 500, and 700 points to put a heart on the field, if the player hits it, it recovers a third of the damage done to the eggs.

Vermin is one of nine Game & Watch games to release as digital software on the Nintendo DSi, and it was one of the first four to release in Japan, it was also in the second group of games to be released in North America and Europe with Helmet and Manhole. It plays the same as the original release alongside all of the features in the other releases.

A version of Vermin is included in the 2021 Game & Watch game Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda alongside The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. It has no differences other than the character's face which has been changed to Link's face, but if the player holds the A button while starting the game, the game starts a hard mode where the player only has one life and the moles become faster at the start.

Representation in Super Smash Bros.

Moves

Mr. Game & Watch's down smash and floor attacks originate from this game. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, his down smash is changed to look more like the character in Vermin.

Stickers

No.	Name	Sticker	Effect	Characters
490	Vermin		Weapon Attack +15	Mr. Game & Watch