8 of The Best Original Game Boy Games

[Steven Bogos]

8 of The Best Original Game Boy Games

The original Game Boy helped establish the "portable gaming" market. Here are its best games.

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[American Fox]

List is disqualified if Heiankyo Alien isn't on it.

 

[TheScorpion]

A predictable list I have to say. Guess I'm alot more interested in hearing about decent Game Boy games that not alot of people talk about more than anything.

 

[Hawki]

Of the list, only played SMS and Pokemon (and Tetris, just not on the Gameboy). One game I would nominate is Donkey Kong (not Land, just Donkey Kong), how it not only recreated the original arcade, but gave a plenthora of new levels and Mario new abilities as well.

 

[Nazulu]

Those are it's best games? But it had so so many good games! How did you choose them so easily? Granted, I did own and enjoy all the games you mentioned. Actually... you may be right, because I can't remember much else now.

I also really enjoyed Super Mario Land 2, Aerostar, Volley Fire, Alley Way, Megaman 5 and Chase HQ. And that's all I remember! There was this weird Flinstones game that gave me a hard time along with one of the Simpsons games, but I'd easily place Pokemon and Kirby's Dreamland over those.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Gargoyle's Quest was one of my favorites. A different take on platforming. Challenging and it had an interesting story. Also the Gameboy Castlevanias weren't half bad either. There's a lot more I'm sure I'm forgetting though.

 

[RJ 17]

Here are its best games.

Pffft, best games if you just like jerking off the primary Nintendo mascots, maybe.

Super Mario Land was crap, Super Mario Land 2 was fantastic. Oh, and Wario wasn't introduced in Wario Land...he was introduced in Super Mario Land 2 as the main villain.

And just in case the lack of Super Mario Land 2 wasn't enough to make this list completely invalid, the fact that you don't have Kirby's Pinball Land on this list makes the list utterly worthless. *nodnod*

 

[the December King]

Gargoyle's Quest was one of my favorites. A different take on platforming. Challenging and it had an interesting story.

I was just thinking about this game. I would have put this on the list myself, just because it was not another Mario game, let alone the fact that it was a blast.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

I'd say Metroid 2 was more held back by Nintendo's handheld game strategy at the time, rather than the GB's graphical limitations. (Although, those big ol' shoulder pads on the Varia suit upgrade are the result of not having anything but shades of grey/green to work with.) They wanted games that were, for lack of a better term, "simpler" for players to pick up on the go. They still didn't get out of that phase even with some GBA titles. (Metroid Fusion, while great, was another victim of that "simple and linear" ideology.)

It's also funny how many of Nintendo's handheld spinoff games get the "Land" subtitle. It's like some sort of Disneyworld/Disneyland contrast.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Danm, those game covers bring back alot of memories for me.

 

[Major_Tom]

Link's Awakening was the first Zelda game I played and I was really confused. Who the fuck is Zelda? The giant egg thing? My game being in fucking German didn't really help.

 

[Souplex]

Mario Land and Wario Land were both vastly surpassed by their sequels, which were both also on Game Boy Classic.
Other than that, the list is pretty accurate.
Edit: *Re-reads* You failed to mention that Links Awakening introduced the best item in the series: The Roc's feather.

 

[Jorpho]

A predictable list I have to say.

Aye, "predictable" is the right word.

Warioland 2 was some darn good platforming. Making Wario immortal was quite the change-up, but it made a lot of sense.

(It would be neat if Nintendo made a proper Super Mario All-Stars style re-release of all the Wario games, including Virtual Boy Wario Land, but I guess the miserable failure of Wario: Master of Disguise (DS) effectively put an end to that line.)

I'll throw in Konami's TMNT2, which has easily some of the best graphics and sound ever featured on the platform. I never got around to TMNT3, but I understand it's vaguely a predecessor to Symphony of the Night.

One game I would nominate is Donkey Kong (not Land, just Donkey Kong), how it not only recreated the original arcade, but gave a plenthora of new levels and Mario new abilities as well.

Hell yes! Donkey Kong Land is a weird experimental thing that didn't quite work, but ol' Donkey Kong '94 is a quality product through and through. Mario vs DK on the GBA failed to capture the same magic due to some annoying little gameplay changes.

It's also funny how many of Nintendo's handheld spinoff games get the "Land" subtitle.

Um, there was Super Mario Land, and there was Donkey Kong Land, so... there were exactly two? (Not counting the sequels, or Kirby's Dream Land, which wasn't really a spinoff.)

My game being in fucking German didn't really help.

Ahh, the Moyse German version, in which Cukeman [http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Cukeman] advises players about safe sex. Classic!

 

[laserwulf]

That brings back some memories. I owned the first six entries, when they were brand new. I'd throw the original Harvest Moon and Faceball 2000 in, as well.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

But.... But.... What about Golf?

And Island Adventure?

And Populous?

 

[KDR_11k]

A predictable list I have to say. Guess I'm alot more interested in hearing about decent Game Boy games that not alot of people talk about more than anything.

I'll recommend Jeremy Parish's Game Boy World series for that: http://www.gameboyworld.com/ He talks about all games, good or bad and in this early stage a lot of games you might recognize if you had one of those ubiquitous pirate carts. Volley Fire is going to be next, that was on practically every single one of those carts.

Donkey Kong certainly was my favorite out of my rather slim collection. I think it deserves a slot much more than, say, Super Mario Land.

 

[Jorpho]

But.... But.... What about Golf?

And Island Adventure?

And Populous?

Those were all substantially better on other platforms, I suspect. I never knew there was a version of Populous. Populous, in four colors, on that tiny screen? Hardly seems worthwhile.

I assume you mean Adventure Island instead of "Island Adventure". The sequel is indeed a rather slick little game, but I don't think it can really be recommended over the NES version.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I own three of these games and the sequel to Kirby.

Many an hour was spent squinting at a Gameboy Colour screen in the dark backseat of a car driving home from Grandmas...