GameBoy Original + GameBoy Pocket + GameBoy Color Top 9

Little needs to be said about the Gameboy. It is the Godfather of handheld systems. Video Games would not be where they are today without the Gameboy. Whether your first Gameboy was the good ol’ grey fatty, the slim and stylish Pocket, or the Color, you knew that you were in for a treat. Without further adieu, here are the Top 9 Gameboy/Pocket/Color games as selected by the Mediarahan staff.

 

#9 Kirby's Dreamland

In the pantheon of great Nintendo heroes Kirby is often overlooked. This is a shame because Kirby’s dreamland is one of the most fun and charming platformers ever created. There’s just something appealing about guiding a gluttonous cute pink puffball through hordes enemies, yum.

P.S. I’ve always wondered why he’s white on the box art.

 

#8 Metal Gear Solid

This alternate universe Metal Gear aimed to get its sneak in while you’re on the move. The Gameboy Color’s Metal Gear Solid blended the revolutionary game play of the original Metal Gear games, with the over the top story telling of the Solid games. It also used a mission based system which was perfect for the pick up and play needs of the Gameboy. Sadly, David Hayter’s voice could not be used but we’ll forgive that for a great MGS experience.

 

#7 Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land

The first time I heard about this game I was in total shock. The main enemy from Super Mario Land 2 is now the protagonist!? Not just that but he wasn’t after Mario, he was after all the treasure in the land. Wario is truely one greedy fuck, it’s no wonder those pirate ducks on the cover are pissed. Wario Land, much like Super Mario Land 2, brought many different powerups for Wario to use, my personal favorite was the Dragon hat which shot fire somehow. On top of the enjoyable level design, there were a shit-load of secrets to find in this game, which would require a few playthroughs to find them all without a copy of Nintendo Power. Put all of that together and you can actually have a really fun road trip.

 

#6 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Link’s first outing on the Gameboy was also my (TripV’s) first experience with Nintendo’s grey fatty. The game was simply flawless. Every dungeon was expertly crafted with unique items like Roc’s Feather, which allowed Link to jump. Zelda DX took all the greatness of Link’s Awakening and colorized it making it the definitive version of a beloved classic.  It also added a special color dungeon to give veterans of the original a little more.

 

#5 Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins

When I think of the Gameboy, this, along with its predecessor, are some of the first games I think about. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is without a doubt the best original Mario game on the Gameboy system. Following in Super Mario World’s footsteps, Super Mario Land 2 presented Mario with some new power-ups (bunny ears and bubble), as well as different takes on old ones (fire flower). The biggest downside of this game is that it is short, but that is easily forgotten because the fifth playthrough is just as fun as the first. This game is the first Mario game that doesn’t involve resucing a princess and due to that introduces Wario who is one of my favorite Nintendo characters. All of above reasons places this classic at #5.

 

#4 Pokémon Blue/Red

TripV might not have jumped on the Pokémon bandwagon back in 1998, but I sure did. Starting with the anime and trading cards, then moving on to the game, I was in a Pokémon craze for two whole years of my life so It should come as no surprise that I can still name the first 151 Pokémon. A game like this brought a whole new style of RPGs to America that had been around in Japan since the original Megami Tensei games. The “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” formula is very addictive and successful, not to mention fun. I probably don’t need to say anything more about this game, because everyone has played this game in one way or another.

 

#3 Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

I remember getting this game on my 12th birthday as I requested, and it did not let down. In fact it exceeded in everyway possible. The last time I played the original Super Mario Bros. prior to receiving this game was probably 8 years earlier, back in 1991 before my dad decided to send our NES away. Aside from the original Super Mario Bros., this game threw in the Lost Levels, as well as a few bonus modes, such as challenge mode(added a hidden yoshi egg and 5 red coins), a vs. race mode, you vs. boo (race against boo), and the toy box which kept all the mini games and non playable extras where you could really waste a lot of time. I remember you could edit the opening sound in the Toy Box when the game first loads, and my brother spent a lot of time putting in different riffs from jazz songs, a pretty cool extra if you ask me. If this was still in stores today, I would have no problem dropping $30 on it.

 

#2 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages

When deciding the order of the Top 9 Gameboy games, TripV was trying to put Zelda DX above the Oracle games. Now I understand where he is coming from and I know that Link’s Awakening is a true handheld classic, but these games took everything that made Link’s Awakening as well as the N64 iterations great and improved upon them. It also must be noted that he did not play these games and that will be a perminant stain on his gamer record. He decided I was right when I told him that after beating both games and linking them together you get to fight Ganon, the pig version. I asked him what other games you fight the Pig version of Ganon and without much hesitation decided to heed my judgement. Most people will rank these games seperately, but it just wouldn’t be right to play one and not the other, heck I remember having a hard time deciding which game to start on. In the end I started on Seasons because the Nintendo Power guidebook started there also. Both games were classic Zelda titles from the beginning and had every bit of charm that prior games had. Back in April of 2001 the Gameboy Advance was on the horizon, and with these two games coming out literally a month before the Advance, I would say this is a great way to close out 12 years of handheld gaming while leading into the future. If you picked both of these up back in 2001, you’ll agree that instead of putting down $30 each for two new Zelda titles, you really paid $60 for a great Zelda experience ($75 if you’re like me and got the guide). The Oracle games delivered two of the best weeks of my adolescent gaming career.

 

#1 Tetris DX

Well, we’re finally at #1. Over 12 years of portable games and only 1 can be the best, that is why we have chosen Tetris DX. This is exactly what the gameboy was made for, an endless puzzle game that is filled with nothing but endless fun. Heck the original Gameboy launched with Tetris, and the Gameboy Color launched with Tetris DX. The reason we chose Tetris DX is because it added marathon mode and was in color. This is the game all my friends would play when I lent them my Gameboy on school trips. I would play this at home or in the car, and in some cases whenever I went to someplace boring that my parents forced me to go. It was only last week that I pulled out my Gameboy Advance to play some more of this game. The day my cartridge dies might as well be the day I die, or at least purchase another copy.

Now that we’ve listed our top 9, if anyone else is reading this, feel free to leave any comments or post your personal top 9.

~ by dkn29 on July 23, 2008.