What Gameboy games are the most fun to play on a SNES via Super Gameboy?

[algol291]

Try 'Metroid 2: The Return of Samus'. That's the second best game behind 'Link's Awakening'. After those two, 'Mario and the 6 Golden Coins' is awesome.
Oh, and the other two Zelda games for GameBoy Color 'Oracle of Seasons/Time' are good.
If you have a GameCube, buy the GBA player. GameBoy games can be played on it as well as GBA games. 'Metroid Fusion' on a tv was like a short version of 'Super Metroid'.
I just ordered 'Metroid: Zero Mission' off of e-bay and it'll be here this week. Life is good.

[c0ldb33r]

Does Bonk's Adventure have anything enhanced for Super Gameboy?

[Gunstar Hero]

Try 'Metroid 2: The Return of Samus'. That's the second best game behind 'Link's Awakening'. After those two, 'Mario and the 6 Golden Coins' is awesome.
Oh, and the other two Zelda games for GameBoy Color 'Oracle of Seasons/Time' are good.
If you have a GameCube, buy the GBA player. GameBoy games can be played on it as well as GBA games. 'Metroid Fusion' on a tv was like a short version of 'Super Metroid'.
I just ordered 'Metroid: Zero Mission' off of e-bay and it'll be here this week. Life is good.

Yea I'm ordering those 3 games today that you first mentioned. Life is good

[Leo_A]

I hope if you ordered Link's Awakening that you went with the DX release.

The two Oracle games are GBC only and aren't compatible with the SGB. So keep that in mind.

Algol291, if you liked Metroid Fusion, you're going to love Zero Mission. Such a great game. The only downfall is that they didn't give Metroid II a similar treatment and you'll be wishing they had by the time you finish it

[joshnickerson]

Does Bonk's Adventure have anything enhanced for Super Gameboy?

Bonk's Revenge has some nice graphical enhancements (border plus some extra colors), but Adventure was out way before the SGB.

[Rickstilwell1]

The main thing the original Link's Awakening has over the DX remake is the ability to abuse the select button glitch when you enter the next room. It's so fun to mess with that and see all the weird areas you end up in.

[Jorpho]

As I recall, the DX version had funky glitches of its own.

[JSoup]

The pokemon games, because it is the closest thing you'll ever get to a console based pokemon game

Pokemon Colosseum
Pokemon XD

As I recall, the DX version had funky glitches of its own.

It does and some copies can use the screen warp glitch from the non-DX version as well, but I never finished my research on the subject.

[SonicBoom]

Well, Mortal Kombat is better with the SNES Controller. Also, Like it has been said, Pokemon

[Jorpho]

If you're playing Mortal Kombat GB on the SGB at this point, you need to go out and get better games.

[calthaer]

I hope if you ordered Link's Awakening that you went with the DX release.

The two Oracle games are GBC only and aren't compatible with the SGB. So keep that in mind.

I'm going to chime in here and note that the two Oracle games actually have a few features that are unlocked only when played on a Game Boy Advance. I think it had something to do with a special shop, or those "rings" you could collect.

Also, I agree that Pokemon Colosseum and XD are worthy games in the franchise and should be considered true console games. Wish the Wii had something similar.

[SparTonberry]

The only special feature is that one shop has a "Advance Ring" or something that really doesn't do anything, just to show off that you own the (then-new) GBA (I think the Oracle games came out a month before the GBA). Supposedly the only other change was an alternate palette designed with the original GBA's dark screen in mind.

[nensondubois]

Only a handful of Game Boy games make use of the SNES features when played using a Super Game Boy. I started a Super Game Boy listing project a few years ago over at GSCentral.org and later moved it to http://luigiblood.0fees.net/board/index.php.

Here are some Youtube videos showing the super Game Boy features in great detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHirSih4XU - Contra The Alien Wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lk1b_aiKJE - Desert Strike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPV6SgAzYP4 - FIFA 97
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Msg7u5QlJE - Madden 97
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyRoXkpg-FQ - Pocahontas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quGCbDkW4og - Donkey Kong 94
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-i5cQNQz7Y - Animaniacs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66KA11Q6DTM - Pokonyan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-hqPtUx4s - Nekketsu Beach Volleyball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR4OTnoTgB4 - Pro Mahjong Kiwame GB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-U5QclS1jQ - Toy Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4DSuUDYG1I - Small Soldiers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aez80rxLMnA - Fatal Fury
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0CY_C5Lrpo - Solar Striker (default Pallete)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTJkFNHrUD0 - Tetris 1.0

There are a few other games not covered yet, and all of them have something to show off The sadly yet seldom used Super Game Boy hardware capabilities.

[A Black Falcon]

Only a handful of Game Boy games make use of the SNES features when played using a Super Game Boy. I started a Super Game Boy listing project a few years ago over at GSCentral.org and later moved it to http://luigiblood.0fees.net/board/index.php.

Here are some Youtube videos showing the super Game Boy features in great detail.

[list cut]

There are a few other games not covered yet, and all of them have something to show off The sadly yet seldom used Super Game Boy hardware capabilities.

Actually, a pretty fair number of games support the SGB. The SGB wasn't released until 1994, remember, and 1995-1997 or so was the Game Boy's weak period, when game releases, and interest in the system, dropped. Considering that, of the games that were released for the GB between late 1994 and 1998, many do support the SGB. These are easily discerned because they have a "Super Game Boy Game Pak" logo on the cart, instead of Game Boy, or Link Support, or what have you, for other original GB games. There are a few games that don't have the SGB logo but do have SGB support, the US/EU releases of Pokemon franchise titles most notably, but most do.

In addition, many dual-mode (black cart) Game Boy / Game Boy Color titles also have Super Game Boy support. This isn't shown on the carts -- instead, the logos will be on the back of the box (apart from Pokemon, again -- Gold/Silver and Pinball do indeed have SGB support, just like Red/Blue/Green and Yellow), but they are there. If you don't have boxes, just try black-cart titles on the SGB, and see which ones have SGB enhancements. The last US release with SGB enhancements was in fact the last dual-mode release for the GB/GBC, and thus the original GB's last release in the US -- Dragon Warrior Monsters II.

Now, unlike the 1994-1998 period when many games had SGB support, most dual-mode titles don't have SGB enhancements, and they are much more common in Japanese games than Western -- it's obvious that the SGB was more successful there than in the West. But still, it is there, and it's a somewhat hidden element of SGB support that many people seem to forget. Some examples of dual-mode titles with SGB support include Link's Awakening DX, Survival Kids, Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 and 2, Dragon Warrior 1 + 2, Pocket Bomberman, Wario Land II, etc. Oh, and Tetris DX has both SGB enhancements plus a special, nicer looking border only for the Japan-only SGB2 (that one with the link cable port on it).

And I love how the SGB does colorization, too. Because it allows the screen the be broken into zones, each of which can be colored separately (though not changed on the fly, only between levels), it's so much more dynamic than the basic "several colors for sprites, several for backgrounds, and unchangable after power on" system that the GBC and all models of GBA use. That games can have different colors in each stage, and even different color palettes on different parts of the screen (generally used for having the status bar have separate colors from the screen), really add something to the games. And that's not mentioning the custom borders or multiplayer options either. It's pretty unfortunate that the GB Player and 3DS VC emulation both do not emulate SGB enhancements.

So yeah, the SGB really is a great enhancement. I do wish that more games made better use of it, though -- while a good number of titles have a border and some basic colorization, only a relative few really push what it could do. Still, those that do are well worth getting. For example:

-Street Fighter II, Killer Instinct, and all eight Takara fighters (four US released, four Japan only -- the US ones are Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters '95, Battle Arena Toshinden, and World Heroes 2 Jet) have two player modes where you can play a versus game on the TV with two SNES gamepads. Very nice feature! Unfortunately none of the GB or GBC Mortal Kombat games have this feature. The GB/GBC dualmode fighting game RPG Power Quest does, though, which is great.

-Wario Blast and Bomberman GB have four player modes on the SNES with a multitap and four controllers. I love Bomberman GB in 4p versus on the SNES, it's a great game and so much fun... (Yes, there are two US released SNES Bomberman games, and three more in Japan, but still, Bomberman GB is great too! It's probably more because of nostalgia than anything, because I had the GB one when I was younger but not a SNES, but I'd rather play Bomberman GB than Super Bomberman 1, regardless of the completely pitiful AI in battle mode if you have less than four players. )

-Space Invaders is the only SGB game with a fullscreen SNES mode, ie, a full SNES game on the cart. However, it's just basic Space Invaders, so it's not a full replacement for the SNES version which does have more modes.

-Yes, some older games have built-in palettes. The same is true on the GBC, of course, for some of the same games. Expect them in Metroid, Mario Land, etc.

-Donkey Kong ('94), Wario Land II and Kirby's Dream Land 2 are some of the top standout platformers, as far as borders and colorization go. Don't forget stuff like Mega Man V too, though. Puzzle games like Hexcite, Kirby's Star Stacker, Tetris DX, etc. look great on the SGB too. Toshinden GB's nice looking too on the SGB. Yes, some games, like Wario Land II or Survival Kids, have color, B&W, and SGB modes, so most people would probably gravitate towards the color mode, but do try out the SGB modes too, the borders and colorization look pretty nice. Wario Land II is a particularly strong effort, with something like six or seven different borders in the game... unfortunately you can't have both color and B&W/SGB mode save files on the cart at the same time, which is a pain, but still the SGB mode is worth seeing. The only real difference is visual, gameplay is the same in both.

On the note of Hexcite, which is a two player (vs human or CPU) puzzle-boardgame conversion that I think is pretty fantastic and incredibly addictive, has a lot of features. That game is a dualmode title, and has GB, SGB, and GBC modes, and supports two players sharing one system, two SNES controllers, or two GBs or GBCs with a link cable for multiplayer (gameplay is always turn based). That's covering all their bases. It has battery backup too, for saving stats and progress in the main mode, and for saving a game in progress as well.

-Conker's Pocket Tales is unique in that the color and B&W/SGB modes are actually entirely different games. It only allows you to have a save file in one mode or the other at a time, which is annoying, but at least here there is more of a reason for it, because they really are quite different. Sure, both have the same basic plot and similar top-down action/platform gameplay, but the level designs are entirely different, and there are some game design differences too. The color game has save anywhere, while the B&W/SGB one has save points only; still, I think I might like the B&W/SGB one more...

There are some SGB games worth avoiding, of course. Of what I've played, the one with the weakest added features is The Lion King, which adds nothing I can see. If that thing is actually SGB enhanced, maybe it has enhanced sound or something, because it sure doesn't have either a border or custom palettes. Toy Story's pretty weak too, with only a border and no palettes, though it claims to have enhanced sound, but I can't really tell. Toy Story's not a very good game either, though -- I considered it the worst GB game I owned in the '90s. The Lion King only somewhat better -- it's got great music and good graphics, but frustrating and finnicky gameplay. Those two were the ones that convinced me to not buy licensed games anymore... For another one, Super Return of the Jedi is a fun game (much easier than the SNES title, but still fun), but it was disappointing that its SGB enhancement was solely a border -- like in Toy Story there's no colorization at all, just the default palette.

Overall though, even if it should have been supported better, the SGB is a nice addon with more than enough support to make it well worth using. And with ~48 palettes to choose from, swappable while you're playing, it's fantastic for non-SGB enhanced titles too -- remember, that's about four times more than the twelve palettes the GBC and all models of GBA have for colorizing original GB titles!

[Jack7]

dragon warrior I& II was an awesome experience. the border would change depending on where you were, if you were in a castle itd be castled theme, forest cave etc.

[A Black Falcon]

dragon warrior I& II was an awesome experience. the border would change depending on where you were, if you were in a castle itd be castled theme, forest cave etc.

That's pretty cool. I only know of a few SGB games that have multiple borders... Wario Land II has a bunch of them of course, with a separate border for each world. Tetris DX has one for each SGB model. Pocket Bomberman has several (Jump mode has its own border). Bomberman GB and maybe also Wario Blast might have two borders (one for the main game, one for battle mode) if I remember right, Street Fighter II has a separate border for each stage (art of that stage, of course)... that's about all I can think of at the moment. It is pretty cool when games have multiple borders.

[Jack7]

That's pretty cool. I only know of a few SGB games that have multiple borders... Wario Land II has a bunch of them of course, with a separate border for each world. Tetris DX has one for each SGB model. Pocket Bomberman has several (Jump mode has its own border). Bomberman GB and maybe also Wario Blast might have two borders (one for the main game, one for battle mode) if I remember right, Street Fighter II has a separate border for each stage (art of that stage, of course)... that's about all I can think of at the moment. It is pretty cool when games have multiple borders.

it deff adds to the atmosphere of the game

[nensondubois]

Lion King doesn't even have any Super Game Boy features programmed even when setting the bit to enable SGB mode they don't appear. No idea why any company would false advertise like that. I would have personally like to have seen music and other cool things besides the overused borders. Sure, its nice to have atmosphere but its not overall impressive. Some games even disabled your ability to change pallete and control schemes in game which was rather lame and stupid. Animaniacs disabled screensavers for some strange reason and palletes. Dragon Quest and other games actually would force the pallete to switch back which is not really needed since they're disabled already. Why Nintendo added that really makes me shake a fist. Small Soldiers is probably one of the best used examples of Super Game Boy additions.

Men in Black II the Series was supposed to have a Super game Boy soundtrack but they probably rushed it and so they padded the game with the soundtrack from A Bug's Life and left it well hidden.

[Gunstar Hero]

Dragon Quest and other games actually would force the pallete to switch back.

Donkey Kong Land does that... I was playing it this morning and had the perfect color scheme set but every time the level changed, or I died, it would revert back to the original palette. (Which didn't look nearly as good as my custom palette)

[Drixxel]

That's pretty cool. I only know of a few SGB games that have multiple borders...

While I only have one of the set, I assume that all four of the Konami GB Collection feature multiple screen borders that change depending on the game selected. The Japanese release of #3 does, at least.