The Best and Worst of "Classic" Game Boy

[digitalpress]

Including ONLY Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, what do you think are the best and worst, and why?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I've gotta nominate some retro goodness (and badness) from the monochrome years.

Namco Arcade Classics: Galaga / Galaxian
For my money, still better than the Galaga and Galaxian ports on Namco Museum for the GBA. Nice big playfields and characters, incredibly accurate gameplay, sounds are spot-on...it's a thing of beauty. Sorry, Namco Museum. I'm still not getting rid of my Namco Arcade Classics cart.

Dig Dug
Ugh. This one's a toss-up. On the one hand, this version of the original Dig Dug blows worse than Fygar. On the other hand, the New Dig Dug quest-style game, for all of its obvious Super Mario-inspired trappings, shows what kind of game Dig Dug could've become in the late 8-bit/early 16-bit era.

Lock 'n' Chase
Not perfect, but pretty good. Who in the world would've thought this game would've resurfaced?

Galaga: Destination Earth
From the late GBC years. UGH. Get this OUT of here. I think a week after I got this, it went to eBay. I know the whole GE thing didn't go over well with a lot of people, but lord, the PC and PS1 versions didn't stink like this little cartridge did. Blech.

Q*Bert
Both versions of this game are a couple of the coolest games the Game Boy ever had, despite the control difficulties that have followed it around all the way back to the 2600 days. The monochrome version takes the original game and adds some nice new twists, plus it's got awesome sound - even the garbled-speech !@#$%-speak. The GBC version lets you play either a quest-style game or a slight variation on the original arcade game, only with altered playing fields. And it's just beautiful to look at either way - and fun!

Monopoly
I have PC Monopoly. I have PS1 Monopoly. Next only to having friends over and pulling out the real live game board and pieces, this is the best video Monopoly I've played, hands down. Very customizable, almost nothing I would change.

Those are some recommendations (and brickbats) right off the top of my head.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I both loved and hated shantae for the gbc. Loved it for it's metroid type feel and cool gameplay. Hated it because you could never seem to avoid being hit.

[calthaer]

Some great classic GB games?

Gargoyle's Quest:
Great platformer...almost like Zelda II but better.

Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu):
The music alone is worth the price of admission. Of course Sword of Mana is sort of a remake, but this game is still worth playing.

Super Mario Land 2 & 3
SML2 was a classic platformer in the mario style. Wario Land (SML3) was equally superb; really made the game, IMO. SML4 kind of stunk, though - they shrunk down Wario's size.

Tetris
Do I need to clarify?

Pokemon (Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal)
Almost feel like no explanation is necessary...great RPGs, great use of the link cables, a little gimmicky in that they made you collaborate to really finish the game, but all in all really solid.

Zelda / DX / Oracle of Ages / Oracle of Seasons
Classic Zelda adventures - took all the innovations of Ocarina of Time and successfully brought them back to their 2D roots, IMO.

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Not a SotN successor, this game was more like the classic CV. Great music, somewhat challenging, but quite fun.

Motocross Maniacs:
One of the early GB games - great motorcycle racing reminiscent of the Excitebike days but with whirly-loop ramps and hidden goodies when you did flips and all sorts of other stuff.

EDIT: Kirby's Adventure (1 & 2)...I had forgotten about those until I read some of the later posts. They're completely awesome.

BAD:
Super Hunchback:
Impossible platformer - I'd love to see anybody make it through without cheating. Unresponsive horizontal controls made this game a chore to get anywhere.

There are lots of other mediocre games, like Rolan's Curse and Commander Keen and such, but I guess we're only hitting the peaks and valleys of the GB experience.

[girth305]

The good
The Legend of Zelda games for GB and GBC

Link's awakening
Oracle of Seasons
Oracle of Ages

I loved all three, graphics were great and controls were spot on. The end bosses are a little easy, but the puzzles in these games are good. The interconnectivity (password system) between the oracle games is neat. Lots of fun.

Metroid 2
This is metroid goodness with the first introductiion of the the spring ball and the not often seen sticky ball. The graphics and music for this were spot on and played this through several times.

Project S-11
I am a shmup fan and I enjoyed it

Take Care all!

[dethink]

i'll second galaga/galaxian.

2 words: PENGUIN WARS.

[downfall]

Donkey Kong '94 - Awesome, and the lead-in to what is one of my favorite games right now (Right Perk?).

Mario's Picross - I love this game. Probably my favorite puzzle series.

Kirby's Dream Land - Loved this one too. Played it more than I did any other Kirby game.

[swlovinist]

Metroid II-great platfrom fun, although It lost a little now being compared to Zero emission...Now I want Super Metroid!

Donkey Kong(grey cart) I have to agree this game is the bomb!

Dragon Warrior I & II -classic RPG goodness, even with better graphics!

Bonks Adventure-Not a bad platform game, even for the original GB.

Super Mario DX-classic gameplay with lost levels once you beat it. Worth every penny!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS...Extreme Sports with the Bernstein Bears...The lesson to learn today is that this game sucks! Poor graphics, control, and most of all, its not fun. If I got this as a child, I would have rather got a piece of coal OR Deadly Towers for the NES!

[Crush Crawfish]

Favorites:

Adventure Island 1&2- Excellent Ports of NES Adventure Islands 2&3 and I love this little platformer series.

Great Greed- One seriously kick-ass RPG that went completely unnoticed. Very unique game. How many games have a villain called Bio-Hazard Harry? None dammit!

Kirby 1 & 2- Kirby rocks, gotta love devouring your foes.

Mega Man 1-5- Do I really need to say anymore? Well, I will anyway. number 5 rocked, and was a completely new game. Dr. Wily wasn't even the final boss!

Mole Mania- Awesome underrated puzzler

Pokemon- Who cares if pokemon's for kids? All the games are incredibly well made RPG's!

Dragon Warrior Monsters- Best Monster-raising RPG ever.

Robopon- Though it's a pokemon rip-off, It's a damn good one.

The Bad:

Magi-nation, Legend of the River King- two RPG's that I could just not get into.

Bugs Bunny Crazy castle 2: Craptastic puzzle-platformer thing with no jumping. I just hate it.

[DDCecil]

First, the great:

Dragon Warrior 3 - Awesome port of the Super Famicom version.

Super Mario Land Series - All 3 games are excellent.

Final Fantasy Legend II - My Favorite game out of the SaGa series. Excellent graphics and music.

Final Fantasy Adventure - Another great game with excellent music.

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - An excellent companion piece to LttP.

Now the Horrible:

Castlevania Adventure - A disgrace to the entire series. Simon (pardon me, Christopher - hey! I've never seen the manual! How was I supposed to know back then (1991)?) moves too damn slow! <- I'm sticking with this.

Prehistorik Man - I love the SNES one, but this one is no fun to play.

[ArnoldRimmer83]

Donkey Kong 94
Final Fantasy Adventure
Links Awaking, Oracle of Ages/Seasons
Solar Striker
Wario Land 1, 2, and 3
Castlevania 2: Belmonts Revenge
Revenge of the Gator
Kirby's Pinball Land
Operation C
Quarth
Nemesis
Gradius: Interstellar Assault
Metroid II

Those are some of the best gameboy games. I can't really think of any specific bad gameboy games, as there are tons of terrible games out there for the system. I guess Castlevania Adventure would be my pick. The movement is incredibly sluggish, and it has poor level design. Belmont's Revenge thankfully improved upon that game.

[Mr. Smashy]

Of games not mentioned already, I'll go with Mario Tennis and Pokemon Puzzle Challenge as a couple of the greatest on the system.

Mario Tennis is a very polished sports/RPG hybrid that is just a blast to play. It's my favorite hand-held sports game.

Pokemon Puzzle Challenge is just another version of Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack with the commercial appeal of the Pokemon world. It's a frantic little puzzler in 1P mode but head-to-head mode is well worth having 2 PPC carts in any GBC collection. I couldn't put it down until I got through the most insane difficulty available.

[marshalldylan1]

Good:
Legend Of Zelda:Link's Awakening/DX: Obvious reasons. Need I explain?





Bad:
Tamigotchi: Ok, they should of never ported this onto the GB. It was fine as a keychain, but the GB version just sucked, and got boring within 5 minutes. It's not fun at all, and has absolutely no replay value. Although it probably wasn't meant to have one.

[chrisbid]

B&W Game Boy

Super Mario Land - very fun mario game that came out BEFORE SMB3. It marked a return to the classic SMB gameplay, but added twists like exploding koopa shells and shooter stages

Super Mario Land 2 - WOW, it looks JUST LIKE SMB 3, on Game Boy!! (thats what we thought in 1991

Alleyway - super easy breakout clone, but fun to play anyway

Tetris - the game that put Game Boy on the map

Metriod II - when the Gameboy was slumping, Nintendo pulls out this great game. Samus is a huge sprite and kicks metroid ass all over the planet

Kirby's Dream Land - remember the commercials? Kirby was originally white, not pink

Game Boy Camera - Years ahead of the digital camera revolution

Super Game Boy

Space Invaders - the GB version is pretty good, but the hidden treasure in this cart is the arcade perfect SNES version accessible through the Super Game Boy

Donkey Kong - though the first 4 levels are far too easy with all the new moves, the rest of the game rocks

Galaga/Galaxian - the classics on the small screen

Game Boy Color

Dragon Warrior I/II, Dragon Warrior III - Outstanding remakes, even better than the Final Fantasy remake on PSX

Mr. Driller - It's Mr. Driller, nuff said

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe - The definitive version of SMB

Mario Golf - RPG elements in sports games are hit and miss, but here they are used to near perfection



Misses

InfoGenius French Translator - this is the dumbest idea ever, but is absolutely hilarious. if you see a copy in the wild for cheap, buy it and see for yourself

Crystalis - I love the NES version, and was bummed at the changes Nintendo made to this port. All the cool music is gone, the challenge was watered down, and the story changes (though needed) were done in 30 minutes. I was hoping this game would ignite interest in somebody doing a sequel, but it won't happen after this shameful port

Centipede/Millipede - Slow, slow, slow

Interesting (not good or bad, but worthy of checking out)

Burgertime Deluxe - Burgertime with interesting backgrounds, a happy-go-lucky soundtrack, and SMB style worlds

Lock 'N' Chase - Same as Burgertime, too bad Data East didn't port Bump N Jump

Pokemon - What can you say, Gameboy was dead in the mid 90's, this brought it back with furious anger, and paved the way for Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance

Deadaliun Opus - The hardest puzzle game i have ever played.

[spooie]

Of all the games I've played, I would have to say the best of the original Gameboy is Capcom's BIONIC COMMANDO. --The original, not the Elite Forces one that Nintendo released some years later.

It is the best version of the game to date, in my opinion. Very well constructed, it takes everything from the NES version and expands on it. The controls are better than ever, the graphics look great, and there are loads of replay value. Sure, Hitler doesn't get his brains blown to bits, but the main boss in this one is a fricken transformer! And instead of the puny Albatross from the NES version, you actually play the last 3 or 4 stages ON the actual ship! Including one where you have to swing across the bottom without falling to your death, and timing each so precisely that you aren't singed by the ship's rockets.


The worst, I would have to say Mysterium. I just completely despised that game for some reason.

[Pantechnicon]

Best:

Tetris: The perfect pack-in game for the system when it was new, as it utilized the bundled link cable not to mention some of the most addictive gameplay ever. Fifteen years after the release of the model I Gameboy this cart still sells used for $15$20, whereas a model I goes for less than $10. What does that tell you? People may upgrade their Gameboy, but they hold onto that Tetris cart no matter what.

Super Mario World: Proved that the Gameboy could provide the same levels of gameplay as its big brother NES. This was the first Mario game I ever played, and it helped me to understand what all the fuss was about.

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. All the great gameplay of NES Legend of Zelda in the palm of your hand. The fact that Nintendo made this the pack-in game after Tetris (around 1994) is probably the single greatest contributor to giving this system the extra needed momentum until the GBC came out.

Nobunaga's Ambition: Very special game. Unique gameplay of the sort one does not expect to find on a handheld. Virtually unlimited replay value and great music to boot.

Worst:
Castlevania Adventure: Someone else has already commented on the insanely slow pace of the game, so I'll just second that (I never could beat Belmont at the end either, and I traded my cart away leaving that issue unresolved. Damn it all).

Fist of the North Star: Horrendous graphics, shoddy AI and a 2-player system that wasn't worth the effort to hook up the cable.

[Cmosfm]

GOOD

Adventure Island - Me and my ex would play this CONSTANTLY, it was different than the NES game and pretty damn fun.

Bomberman Quest (GBC) - Who knew a side scrolling Bomberman would be so fun!

Darkwing Duck - Fun and just like the NES game.

Donkey Kong 94 - Best. GB Game. Ever.

Duck Tales 1 & 2 - I just love Duck Tales.

Game & Watch Gallery 1-4 (GB/GBC/GBA) - I've bought every single one of these becuase these games are so excellent. I love being able to unlock the mini games and gallery pics.

Hamtaro - Ham Ham's Unite (GBC) - SOOOO CUUUUUTE! And so fun! also hard...pretty hard...watch out.

Harvest Moon - The game that made me love the series.

Mario Picross - shares title with DK 94. I love this game.

Pokemon Blue/Red - I spent so much time with Blue but I finally caught ALL the pokemon without cheating. 120 hours baby!

Ren & Stimpy: Space Cadet Adventures - Borderline good and bad, I spent a lot of time trying to get SOMEWHERE on this game but I never gave up...so it's ok!

TMNT 3 - Radical Rescue - VERY fun game.

Tetris Plus - Why? CAUSE YOU CAN SAVE YOUR HIGH SCORE! I never beat my own score though.

Wario Blast - This is the game that made me like Bomberman

BAD

A Bug's Life (GBC) - Why is it so choppy?

Battle Arena Toshinden - Only thing I liked about this game was the cover.

Bubsy 2 - OMG! What's going on!?!?!?!

Simpsons - Escape From Camp Deadly - Wow, what a load of trash.

Rugrats: The Movie - THE BOREDOM! MAKE IT STOP!

Street Fighter 2 - What the hell? Why does my character have only a handful of animations?

[Aussie2B]

Castlevania Adventure - A disgrace to the entire series. Simon moves too damn slow!

It's Christopher Belmont, you know. ;)

As for my picks...

Best:

Forget best Game Boy game, Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is the best RPG and best game ever, in my opinion. AMAZING graphics for a game that wasn't even Game Boy Color exclusive, awesome music, more depth than you can shake a stick at, addictive battles, brilliantly designed dungeons, a highly satisfying challenge, a simple little plot with a few juicy plot twists, it's just got EVERYTHING. And just when you think you've seen everything, you play two player mode, expecting you can fight someone else in the same way that you do in the one player game, and you see that it's a TOTALLY NEW strategy RPG style battle system with every move rendered in a completely different way.

The great stuff:

Zelda: Link's Awakening - One of my favorite Zelda games. I even like it more than Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker and such. o_O

The Castlevania games - I know it's popular opinion that Castlevania Adventure blows, but I like it a lot. I think most people can't get beyond it being slow and very challenging, but neither bothers me. In fact, I love the challenge, and the slow pace makes you have to really form a plan of attack. As for Legends, it's pretty so-so, but I've gotten enjoyment out of it. I just got Belmont's Revenge about a week ago, so the jury's still out on that one. :P It's really fun, though.

Kirby's Pinball Land - Hard as hell, but it's still probably the best pinball video game ever made.

Metroid 2 - It scares the crap out of me, but the series is supposed to do that anyway. :P I love the rush of adrenaline I get when a Metroid pops out of nowhere. :)

The crap:

Aladdin (and pretty much any other Disney-licensed title) - I managed to play this one up to the last stage, and all I can seem to do in the stage is get hit by a bird enemy which CAUSES THE GAME TO CRASH. Yes, a normal bird enemy, right in front of you, causes the game to crash. BAD DEVELOPERS, BAD! How the hell did the bug testers miss it? Because the game is so crappy that they refused to play that far into it, that's how.

Donkey Kong Land - Donkey Kong Country style graphics + black and white + blurry original Game Boy screen = UNPLAYABLE. Even on the sharp Game Boy Pocket, it still blurs, and the movement is all fast and twitchy which doesn't help. Even without those problems, the game would still suck. It was such a massive disappointment after playing Donkey Kong Country. It's totally lacking in all the charm and magic of the SNES games.

Dragon Warrior Monsters - Boredom is thy name. Pokemon was pretty repetitive to begin with, but when you add huge randomly generated dungeons that all look and play the same and contain nothing that's even remotely interesting... ugh.

Harvest Moon GB/GBC - Like the previous two, it's so inferior, boring, and repetitive compared to the SNES version. I mean, I can look at a Game Boy game as a Game Boy game. I don't expect the home console version. But in some cases, they're just WAY too much inferior to the point that they're not fun. It's beyond watered down; it's the home console version with everything fun removed. :/

[ubersaurus]

GB:
The Good:
Links Awakening-I must've killed my batteries a few times playing this game half the night. Simply put, it was amazing. And who could forget the bomb arrow trick?

Super Mario Land 1/2: I was a sucker for these games. I love them. 2 looks and plays alot better, but the first one has a decidedly "original SMB" feel to it, and shmup stages. Where do you lose with that?

Heiankyo Alien: My aunt got me this game by accident, but I actually thought it was awesome. Digging holes to catch those aliens, that's entertainment.

Mega Man 1/2: The first 2 GB mega man's were pretty well done, though I never got to play the other 3, if they were as good as those two, then, they must be awesome.

The Bad:
Stargate. Yuck. It's a nonsensical puzzle game.

Donkey Kong Land: The blurring made this impossible. Even on the super game boy it was hard to see.

GBC:
The Good
Yars' Revenge: This a really fun remake of the original, especially when you get later in the game, where you have to find alternative means to get the zorlon cannon going.

Zelda: Oracle games: Ah, hard zelda games. I love.

Dragon Warrior 3: I never got to play the NES one, no matter how much I wanted to, so naturally I was a huge fan of the GB one. Of course, then I got stuck, and honestly I don't even remember where I am anymore.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe: Screen problems aside, it had SMB and Lost Levels on it. I can't complain about that.

Mario Tennis: It's a great version of the N64 game, and really fun when on the road.

Mr. Driller: Mr. Driller rocks no matter what you do.
Bad:
Hm..Can't say I ever played enough GBC games to make that call, but I'll just say anything licensed from a period cartoon probably sucks.

[Gamereviewgod]

Great:

Operation C: Still tough for me to beat and a great alternitave to the NES versions.

Mario Golf: The update looks great, but an RPG/Golf mix was a great idea to begin with and it works. The golf portion is good as well. I still believe this is better than the N64 version.

Terrible:

Tech Deck Skateboarding: Arrghhh! What utter and complete pointless crap this is. Read my review here on the site for more.