This is a late celebration of the Game Boy's 30th anniversary! The fat gray DMG Game Boy was my first handheld ever, and I still have no idea how I saw anything on that screen. But my world blown by the handful of games I was fortunate enough to have for it, and the music for the system is still absolutely incredible. It completely changed my bus rides and lengthy car trips, and I still have a tremendous amount of fondness for the system, despite lacking a very good grounding in its library. I only had a handful of games for it (Super Mario Land 2, Pokemon Red, F-1 Race, Tetris, Pokemon Gold, Yoshi's Cookie, Pokemon Trading Card Game, and The Final Fantasy Legend). It turns out that my exposure to the system now is not too much greater than it was back then (as you'll see from my list), although I have beaten many more of these games now than I did as a kid. I also think my childhood collection was a remarkably solid one that touched on probably 40 or 50% of the must-have Game Boy titles, but I'm definitely biased by nostalgia, so take that with a grain of salt. For what it's worth, I only have a handful more games than that now, and some of them are in virtual console form.
Same rules as always-no ports, no problems with multiple games from the same series! I included dual mode games here (capable of play on Game Boy and Game Boy Color), as I consider them to have been released for both consoles simultaneously, rather than being backwards compatible. Sue me. Most Game Boy Color games weren't done like this, so I feel entirely justified in lumping them in here, and will gladly include some of them on my best Game Boy Color list, if I ever make one.
Apologies to the following games, and any of your favorites I'm not thinking of, which I haven't played enough to fairly evaluate:
Kirby's Dream Land
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Kid Dracula or any Castlevania games
Gargoyle's Quest
Final Fantasy Adventure
Final Fantasy Legend II or III
Wario Land II
I don't have a super deep library of honorable mentions, but I do want to mention that Yoshi's Cookie is greatly underappreciated. That's it. Man, I need to play more Game Boy games.
10. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
This is a fun, silly platformer with tons of charm. I really like Wario Land 3 better, but that's not dual mode, and I've never played Wario Land II.
9. The Final Fantasy Legend
This is a fun, and more importantly, very important game. It's the first handheld RPG I ever played, and the first RPG released for the Game Boy, so to be as good as it is is a remarkable accomplishment. It's got its warts, but it's well worth playing.
8. Pokemon Trading Card Game
This is one of my all-time guilty pleasures, and the first of the dual mode games on this list. If there was a sequel I'd support, a brand new video game based on the card game would be high on the list (yes, I know Japan got an exclusive sequel, and I'm just glad for fan translations). There are a ton of cards for being so early in the card game's history, there are plenty of opponents to battle, it curves delightfully, and the card game is just flat out fun. I'm a sucker for card game video games, and this one is among my favorites.
7. Kirby's Dream Land 2
I really need to play some more Kirby. I had such a blast with this game, as well as with Kirby's Adventure, that it's really inexplicable that I haven't played more Kirby. I think those two games are the only ones I've ever beaten, to my great shame. Anyway, we're now in all-time classic territory-this one is a must play.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
This game is flat out incredible, and it's a testament to the quality of the top of the Game Boy's library that this one can't be higher than 6. I absolutely love this game!
5. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Before there was Pokemon Red, this and Tetris were my favorite Game Boy games. I spent so much time in this world that I can still remember almost all of the secrets. It's the perfect handheld Mario experience, and may still be the best handheld exclusive 2D Mario game, ever!
4. Pokemon Yellow
Sure, it shares a lot of similarities with Pokemon Red and Blue, but you can get Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle and battle Team Rocket, so it's different enough to get its own slot. It's fantastic!
3. Tetris
It's Tetris. It's the reason the Game Boy attained the dominance necessary to make Pokemon a global phenomenon, and its amazing today. I give it the edge over Super Mario Land 2 for importance, but they're both perfect in my book. I bent the rules a little since this is technically a port, but it's such an iconic Game Boy title that it's criminal not to include here.
2. Pokemon Gold/Silver
To be clear, Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal are better games than Pokemon Red/Blue *shudders*. Red/Blue is incredibly innovative, but also remarkably broken. Moves like Wrap and Fire Spin give high speed Pokemon way too much power, and Psychic, Dragon, and Normal types are left mostly uncountered in the games. The combination of Special Attack and Special Defense also makes special attackers like Mewtwo way overpowered. They are also super glitchy, and don't have a lot of cool features included in Gold/Silver. So these games fixed a lot of the problems, and are superior, but Red/Blue are still more important, and I personally have far more nostalgic attachment to Red in particular.
1. Pokemon Red/Blue
Picking a number one on these lists is rarely difficult, but this task was particularly easy. Red/Blue launched a global phenomenon that remains my favorite video game series of all time. It's an RPG with 151 playable characters. Find me that kind of depth wrapped up in seemingly simple mechanics anywhere else, in black and white, on the go. I'm waiting. There's really no debate here, except for perhaps with Tetris, but this is my list.
Anyway, that's the list! Making this list made me realize how many "Game Boy" games I love that are actually Game Boy Color games, so I'll probably need to tackle that one next, to continue doling out the Game Boy love near the 30th anniversary. Feel free to let me know if I missed any of your favorites!
-TRO
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