Gameboy DMG Games with Enormous Impact

[Press_Start]

I'm also not that impressed with the library of games for the gameboy. Seems like a ton of shovelware, even in established series like Castlevania (good god, Castlevania...). Zelda, Kirby, Gargoyle's Quest, those were great. There were a handful of really great games. But for how long the system was out, I'd expect more than just a handful. Part of that is probably just due to my weird tastes, but even if I look at it objectively, it just doesn't seem like a really impressive amount of quality titles compared to, say, the NES (which had tons of shovelware as well but also tons of great quality titles).

The ol' shovelware test...apply that to all systems and EVERYONE of them will FAIL except Turbo Grafx and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Face it, every library has it's a large share of "crapfest", a handful of well-known titles and amazing selection of underrated gems. GB and NES are even footing with one another and stating one is better than the other is more personal preference than objectivity.

[Jorpho]

Someone posted a link a while back to an interesting article/video on Argonaut software, and how the relationship that spawned Star Fox and the like began with X for the DMG - but that was only released in Japan.

We got only the Gameboy and NES Gargoyle's Quest games here in the U.S., so perhaps the series continued onto other consoles in Japan. I'm not sure.

You are severly uninformed.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gng/gng4.htm

[sebastiankirchoff]

I got a Game Boy a couple of years ago, and I was very impressed with several games on it. Pokemon is a great game (and my first GB game), Tetris is fun but I can't stand Super Mario Land. While there may be plenty of crapola on the Game Boy, you could also say that for most successful consoles (there will always be bad games, it doesn't matter what system it is). I am hoping on getting a copy of Final Fantasy on the Game Boy soon, since it looks like a good game.

[Ryaan1234]

You are severly uninformed.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gng/gng4.htm

Wha? I should've remembered Demon's Crest. I had no idea that it was a spinoff of Ghost 'n Goblins. Both Gargoyle's Quest and Ghost 'n Goblins have such different gameplay styles that they should be considered to be entirely different. Nevertheless, the Gargoyle's Quest series of games did start on the gameboy.

I'm also not that impressed with the library of games for the gameboy. Seems like a ton of shovelware, even in established series like Castlevania (good god, Castlevania...). Zelda, Kirby, Gargoyle's Quest, those were great. There were a handful of really great games. But for how long the system was out, I'd expect more than just a handful. Part of that is probably just due to my weird tastes, but even if I look at it objectively, it just doesn't seem like a really impressive amount of quality titles compared to, say, the NES (which had tons of shovelware as well but also tons of great quality titles).

Au Contraire. Let me list some more great gameboy games. Super Mario Land, Game & Watch Gallery, Yoshi, Tetris, Hatris, Balloon Kid, Qix, Harvest Moon, Gameboy Camera, Rolan's Curse, and Mercenary Force. In fact, I'd say that the original Gameboy and the GBC have the lowest amounts of shovelware in comparasion to the DS and the GBA. Many original (and Color) Gameboy games were original creations, ports or movie liscenses. I think that a typical Gameboy game shows more quality than Horsez or some crap like that.

[calistarwind]

I was a big fan of Balloon Kid. I would take my brothers Gameboy and play on my grandparents patio instead of running around in the hot sun all day. Enjoy the memories if you have them and if you had none, well time took care of that.

[Baloo]

The ol' shovelware test...apply that to all systems and EVERYONE of them will FAIL except Turbo Grafx and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Face it, every library has it's a large share of "crapfest", a handful of well-known titles and amazing selection of underrated gems. GB and NES are even footing with one another and stating one is better than the other is more personal preference than objectivity.

Turbographx fails that too.

Darkwing Duck and Talespin anyone?

[mobiusclimber]

I know most consoles have tons of shovelware, I meant as a ratio of crap to good, the GB fails. But again, it could be my weird taste. I loved the Sword of Hope games, Final Fantasy Adventure, but most of the RPGs for it I thought were awful. And if a system doesn't have enough good RPGs, it's already failed me. There are plenty of great non-RPG titles for the GB, but so many others I thought were going to be great or at least good turned out to be pretty poor. I've played two Mario games for it, for instance, that I thought were awful. Same w/ the Castlevania games (I know, other people like at least one or two of the three, but I'm not one of em). And... I really don't care for most puzzle games. I can play a few minutes of Tetris before getting seriously bored and turning it off. (I'm more of a Puyo Puyo kinda guy, tho I prefer human to CPU opponents, I can't get very far in any of the games I've played.)

[Press_Start]

Turbographx fails that too.

Darkwing Duck and Talespin anyone?

No, at least half the Turbo games are good, unlike other systems where the good-to-bad ratio is usually 1:6-10. But that's besides the point.

Point is the perception in judging a system on its merits of crap is faulty. That's like someone saying the 360/PS3 is bad cause they got Wall-E, Up or (insert not-so-good license title here).

[Ed Oscuro]

i think there were alot of hidden gems noone ever saw, like sword of hope, those Final fantasy games for GB, Lufia, and a ton of other crap that just didn't get the spotlight it shoulda.

One of the Final Fantasy games on GB is actually a Seiken Densetsu series member, I've heard. Maybe that's where that little series started!

[Arkhan]

Yes, Final Fantasy Adventure

it came out again later as Sword of Mana on GBA

funny enough, the Final Fantasy Adventure version was more fun than Sword of Mana. Sword of Mana was such a fucking disasterfuck.

[RASK1904]

There are a ton of good games on the Original Gameboy. Some of the lesser ones that I've always liked are Motocross Maniacs and Mario's Picross. Both are very fun games.

[GrandAmChandler]

Game Boy is the best portable video game system of all time, no other portable comes close to the long-lasting effect that Game Boy has. There are so many different types of games for the system, there is something for everyone. Yes, every system has it's crap, but there are tons of good titles for the system, I encourage everyone to try some out you have never heard of before.

Also. Gbdb.org.

That is all.

-GAC-

[Arkhan]

I think the Gameboy as an independent from console handheld kicked everything elses ass in terms of games.

but when all is said and done, the Turbo Express really kicked everythings ass. You didn't need to get a new library of games! They played the home ones!

its a shame they made NES carts so fucking huge, a portable built around the FC cartridge size might have had the same kind of product come out of it back then.

backlit, homegames on the go, maaaan that would've been cool.

[BetaWolf47]

It annoys me what they did with NES carts. They just put Famicom games in a shell with a converter at first. Then, when they actually did what they should have done in the first place, the games ended up only using half of the shell. We ended up with oversized carts that wasted a ton of plastic.

[Arkhan]

yep, it is pretty idiotic if you really compare

its the only system to do that I think.


a handheld that accepted FC carts would have been killer, even if it had a B&W display!

[Jorpho]

its a shame they made NES carts so fucking huge, a portable built around the FC cartridge size might have had the same kind of product come out of it back then.

A portable of that nature would probably have failed for the same reasons that the Nomad and Turbo Express did, namely terrible battery life.

a handheld that accepted FC carts would have been killer, even if it had a B&W display!

A B&W LCD display capable of displaying enough shades of grey to make anything watchable probably wouldn't have been too much cheaper than a color display.

[Arkhan]

everything back then had worthless battery life. i didnt think the turbo express was that bad. the GAMEGEAR on the other hand, was awful.

I wonder though if a B&W display mighta run cheaper and been less power hungry than a color one.

Those portables that accept NES carts , etc, are popping up all over now. They're pretty great actually.

[Ed Oscuro]

The NES carts are hard to lose, at least, and you can fix a sandwich on them (improv cutting board). The high pin count is the biggest issue I think really - the good old days of parallel connectors, instead of serial...heh.

[Arkhan]

lol. kitchenware made out of NES carts. that would be good stuff

[Jorpho]

everything back then had worthless battery life.

...Except for the Game Boy, of course!

I wonder though if a B&W display mighta run cheaper and been less power hungry than a color one.

If it was going to be cost-effective and usable, I doubt it.