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Game Boy / Game Boy Color Appreciation Thread

I found a see through light green game boy pocket the other day at the thrift store :D :D really cool.


I never had the original game boy or game boy color system when growing up :( , i was told i could either get a home console or handheld haha, sucked to be poor growing up.

I missed a lot of these great games but thank the based god for thrift stores, about a $1 for a lot of game boy games :D
 

Link1110

Member
Game Boy jrpgs give me a nostalgia rush like no other. Pokemon came out after my childhood, but i have great memories of Final Fantasy Legend 2 and Great Greed. Even ones I haven't played (I recently got into the Oni series) give me that feeling.

If you can read Japanese, I highly recommend th Oni series. ONI 3 especially is like dragon quest 4 with an ancient Japanese setting (same chapter system.) It also had the intro with the main hero before chapter 1 long before dq4 got a ps1 remake.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
TheAtomicPile said:
I recently bought Metal Gear Solid GBC for $7 from a mom and pop type place in Wisconsin.

Felt like a boss.

It's a really solid GBC game. I enjoy the alternative MGS universe a lot.
 

Ixian

Member
601228boxart_160w.jpg


Not sure why I bought this game when I was a kid but I got addicted and pulled a few all nighters to finish it. Fun fighting game and RPG hybrid.
 

Chopper

Member
This thread was brought to my attention in another thread earlier today, so I thought I'd bump it cos it's fucking rad and I got some new toys. :)

I started off trying to rebuild my GB collection from when I was a kid. I fucking loved my Game Boy when I was younger, and have some pretty awesome memories of various games that have slipped into obscurity over the years. Games from a more innocent age where review scores and controversial artstyles weren't factors that influenced any games that I could get my grubby little hands on. As a result, I decided these would be the first to get back (quoted from another thread):

Me said:
These are the first five games I re-bought. I did it this morning and it feels good. My collection could not be complete without them.

The Amazing Spiderman

Home Alone

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Terminator 2

Boomer's Adventure in Asmik World

I made a thread to get some opinions on others I should buy, and it became clear that there is only so much conversation you can create about OG games, and the pull of GBC games is inevitable. And seeing as I intended on buying a GBC to re-enjoy these games, I thought fuck it. Ebay is super cheap. As a result, here's a collection of loot I've got in the post the past few days.


Looney Toons and Alone in the Dark came with the Game Boy from ebay. I know Alone in the Dark is a bit of a technical wonder on the limited GBC hardware, but holy crap it sucks. And I've heard the previous Looney Toons Collector game to that one is supposed to be good, though I haven't tried either. All others are no-brainers/suggestions I've seen around Gaf.

Collecting these carts is quite alot of fun considering the nostalgia atteached to both them and the Game Boy hardware itself. I got this one off ebay for about £26 posted and the thing is absolutely immaculate. It might as well be brand new. Awesome stuff.

 

BoSox06DH

Member
I just recently found my GBC recently while cleaning my room. It was awesome seeing it again considering how many hours I poured into it (mainly Pokemon). I don't have any GBC games, so I can't use it but I may get one just for kicks.
 

MattyH

Member
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castles really is one of my most loved titles for the game boy also Chase HQ and The Addams Family
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
At this point I'm surprised I still haven't seen a definitive list of must-have Game Boy games. For its long history, the original GB hardware doesn't have a lot of hits that stand out in my mind today, at least not pre-Pokemon. Strangest of all in my opinion is how there really weren't a lot of RPGs on the platform at all until Pokemon Red. Even then portable RPGs didn't really start to become a thing until Golden Sun on the GBA.
 

Unicorn

Member
MvCXK.jpg

Dragon Warrior Monsters, and the sequel (which, coming after the Pokemon boom, came in two versions) are cooler than the DS version, imo.

This was out before Silver and Gold and HOLY FUCK did it sway me from Pokemon. It was my favorite GB game until Silver/Gold hit.

There was a weird glitch for me that If I would turn my gameboy off during a battle it would delete my save. When that glitch happened in the sequel, I could no longer hold a save. I could do the intro, but once I went into the well to actually play the game it would restart all at the start again. Gamestop took it anyway.

Also, to contribute.

Kirby Star Stacker is super fucking addictive.
 

Rich!

Member
Kirby Dreamland 2 or Warioland 1 ?
I would like to purchase one of the two from the 3DS VC.

Wario Land is absolutely incredible. It'll last you ages, if you want a challenge then try to collect all the treasures and unlock all the secret levels. One of my favourite games of all time - and the first game I ever brought.

Dreamland 2 is great! However, it lacks the challenge of Wario Land. Your choice, but I'd recommend Wario Land - if only to introduce you to maybe the best platforming series ever made apart from Mario. Wario Land VB, 2 and 3 are absolute fucking gaming heaven - and Wario Land 1 is a great start to see where it all began.

*currently through probably my 600th playthrough*

edit - and I stand by my opinion that Wario Land 3 is one of the best games ever made.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Mario Tennis GB(C) > Your favorite handheld game

I played it for so many hours back then - Nintendo where the F is the eShop release ?
 

Rich!

Member
Mario Tennis GB(C) > Your favorite handheld game

I played it for so many hours back then - Nintendo where the F is the eShop release ?

Yeah, this.

Annoying that I can't play it on my GB Micro due to Goomba Color not supporting it properly (one of the very few that don't work properly on the emulator).

Got my original cart, but no GBC. gah
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Kirby Dreamland 2 or Warioland 1 ?
I would like to purchase one of the two from the 3DS VC.

Wario Land is the better of the two games, and the longer of the two games. Dreamland 2 will also be on the Wii collector's disc this fall, so you can play it there if you want to :)
 

Seik

Banned
I have all those games in OP expect Shantae.

Its really not the first time I see people buying or showing a pic of this game, does it have anything special? I'm interested.
 

Celine

Member
Wario Land is the better of the two games, and the longer of the two games. Dreamland 2 will also be on the Wii collector's disc this fall, so you can play it there if you want to :)
To tell you the truth I'm not a Kirby fan but DL2 looks lovely albeit damn easy (that's what scare me).
I've already beaten WL1 back in the nineties although I don't remember much (aside being a great game).

Thanks everybody for the recommendations.
 

Rich!

Member
I have all those games in OP expect Shantae.

Its really not the first time I see people buying or showing a pic of this game, does it have anything special? I'm interested.

It's worth a fucking fortune.

And it's a great game from what I hear.
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
It's worth a fucking fortune.

And it's a great game from what I hear.
Yep, apparently very expensive to get. VGPC recently updated their Game Boy/Game Boy Color rare games post:
http://blog.pricecharting.com/2009/07/most-expensive-gameboy-color-game.html

Shantae: New Price: $400 | Used Price: $130

Amusing to me that I've only picked up things that interested me from time to time, for a couple of bucks here and there, and yet I have several games in that post: Castlevania: Legends, Resident Evil: Gaiden, Mr. Do!, Metal Gear Solid, and Tomb Raider.
 

LayLa

Member
bought a Gameboy Pocket the other day, very cheap and virtually no marks on the screen.
the reason i bought i was ... confession time ... i've never played a Pokemon game!
my plan is to play it next month while the Tour de France is on the tv.
but which Pokemon should i get? Red/Blue/Yellow? and will the battery saves still work?
 

gerudoman

Member
I see nobody has mentioned Jurassic Park 2. I've very fond memories of it, but that's maybe because I was a die hard fan of the movies back in the days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9eDDko3ew

Glad to see that the Harry Potter RPGs and Looney Tunes Martian Alert are getting their well deserved love in the thread, they were amazing games maybe a litlle bit overlooked because of being based in such popular franchises.
 

Rich!

Member
bought a Gameboy Pocket the other day, very cheap and virtually no marks on the screen.
the reason i bought i was ... confession time ... i've never played a Pokemon game!
my plan is to play it next month while the Tour de France is on the tv.
but which Pokemon should i get? Red/Blue/Yellow? and will the battery saves still work?

Get Red. Or blue. It really doesn't matter.

Yellow is fine, but it's gimmicky compared to the other two. Battery should still be fine - if not, they're easy as fuck to replace. Just get a tri-wing screwdriver.
 
Strangest of all in my opinion is how there really weren't a lot of RPGs on the platform at all until Pokemon Red. Even then portable RPGs didn't really start to become a thing until Golden Sun on the GBA.

The reason is because RPG worlds tend to be rather huge and varied in terms of size and detail, and that's hard to cram down into a Gameboy cart. Plus in most RPG's you expect some interaction between a few characters, but on the GBC, if you put more than ten 8-pixel sprite chars on a scanline, the extra sprites would disappear, so it was a challenge arranging cutscenes (a single character could be 3 to 6 sprite-chars wide, depending on how you made them).

I worked on three RPG's for GBC, of which only two got completed/released, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And both of those Harry Potter games used every byte of the largest GBC cart that Nintendo ever made (4 megs/512k if I remember right), at the end of the project we were really crunching things trying to get them to fit, using every trick in the book including compression formats designed for the Commodore 64.
 

Chopper

Member
I was surprised how bad my GBC games look on my SP. that frontlight washes out the colours horribly. Am I right in thinking the optimum way of viewing GBC games would be on the SP+ (AGS-101)? They were never released here in the UK, and seem bloody expensive. The Micro won't play GBC games, will it...
 

krae_man

Member
Thread needs more Gameboy Light

JpoAI.jpg


After current backlit systems spoiling me I can't go back to the horrible ghosting etc of the old systems. Gameboy light is the only way to play.
 
*caresses my minty complete in box copy of Shantae*

I had no idea it would be worth shit when I bought it, honest. There is the temptation to sell it, what with it rumored to come to 3DS VC soon. Hmm...
 

leroidys

Member
601228boxart_160w.jpg


Not sure why I bought this game when I was a kid but I got addicted and pulled a few all nighters to finish it. Fun fighting game and RPG hybrid.

Oh my. I had this game, and I can't believe that my adolescent self never snapped it in half. The game got incredibly frustrating later on - hard to say objectively now, but then it seemed that the big matches were basically completely rigged.
 

Ultima_5

Member
Thread needs more Gameboy Light

JpoAI.jpg


After current backlit systems spoiling me I can't go back to the horrible ghosting etc of the old systems. Gameboy light is the only way to play.

I'm so jealous... As soon as I graduate and hopefully get a job with disposable income, i'm going to be tracking one of these down.... So jealous ;_;
 

meppi

Member
Well that's just great. I suppose I'm just going to have to go and buy one then.

*goes to ebay*

Dammit!

Oh well...

*clicks*

:)

Don't think you'll regret it. It's a great little system. No more need for a worm light. ;)
I have two of them actually. One to actually play on and one new in box, just in case this one dies on me.
 

Chopper

Member
I can't wait for it to arrive! I actually paid a very decent price for a near mint unit. I am excite.

So, that's my OG Game Boy player sorted. I'm gonna go ahead and repeat my question though. The optimum display for a GBC game would be a GBA SP+, right?
 
Great thread, I have a lot of appreciation for the Gameboy line and a lot of fond memories. I always loved the idea that developers had to work around the hardware limitations to bring console-esque experiences into the portable realm, especially towards the end of the Gameboy Color's life. Metal Gear Solid for example, took cues from the contemporary Playstation game, as well as its NES/MSX forebears. It was a smart hybrid, and despite not being a fan of the Metal Gear series in general, I think the Gameboy Color iteration distils all the series’ purest game play elements in a wonderfully simple way. Similarly, Link's Awakening stands out to me as being the perfect Zelda game. The pacing and difficulty curve is perfect, there is no fat in the game, no superfluous cut scenes, and it has a succinct and emotionally resonant storyline. The graphics, while primitive, are full of personality and allow you to build the world in your imagination.

Gameboy Color games resembled NES games, just with modern design principles in mind. The fact that games were actively being made for it in the 3D era meant it held a unique position in the overall landscape, especially when it appropriated console IPs and licenses. The popularity and longevity of the systems, stretching back to the original Gameboy, also meant that they amassed an enviably large library of games over their lifetimes. Sure, there was a good deal of low quality software too, but the best games, as I’ve mentioned, felt contemporary, rich in content, and as value for money as anything on a console.

In addition to the titles already mentioned in this thread, here are a couple more to throw into the mix:

Cannon Fodder

g055160ux2w.jpg


27_cannon_fodder.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT_Gk87JdK8&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLDB6460601320E36D

Astonishingly, this game has an FMV intro and a 3D menu. Great port of the Amiga classic, with a simple interface disguising deceptively deep game play mechanics.

Perfect Dark

Perfect_Dark_%28handheld%29_Coverart.png


Perfect_dark_gbc_gameplay.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eg_My7nYAU

Rare's interesting portable version of the N64 game. The game had a real feeling of prestige and quality, and the giant cartridge even had a rumble pak. Despite a mixed reception, due to the poor AI and sometimes high difficulty, it’s still an impressive game for the system. Came out around the same time as Metal Gear Solid, and is reminiscent in some ways.
 

Celine

Member
I worked on three RPG's for GBC, of which only two got completed/released, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And both of those Harry Potter games used every byte of the largest GBC cart that Nintendo ever made (4 megs/512k if I remember right), at the end of the project we were really crunching things trying to get them to fit, using every trick in the book including compression formats designed for the Commodore 64.
What was the third one?
 
Pok%C3%A9mon_Trading_Card_Game_Coverart.png


This was listed as a "notable mention" in the OP, but it deserves more love, as I think it's one of the best games on GB/GBC. Unlike the regular Pokemon games, it hasn't aged one bit, and it allows you to play the Pokemon TCG without spending a fortune on real-life cards. For those of you who haven't played it, the Pokemon TCG is incredibly fun, and manages to be incredibly easy to grasp, but deep enough that strategy plays a big part.

Also, unlike the regular Pokemon games, there's no bullshit grinding for dozens/hundreds of hours before you get to the meat of the game; you can start building great decks pretty quickly.

It really upsets me that they never released a sequel (well, they released one in Japan, but that was also for GBC, so it wouldn't have had that many more cards). A more up-to-date version with a lot more series of cards would be incredible.
 
What was the third one?

Mythri by Team XKalibur - that was the RPG that really got me started in the gaming industry. I so wish we could have finished and shipped that game, it had a great story, literally the best GBC music I've ever heard, and awesome art. But unfortunately none of us had any experience in the gaming industry, and we were WAY naive in thinking we could finish the game in 6 months with that small team. And the GBA came out, meaning the only GBC games that could really sell decently after that were really huge licenses like Harry Potter.

mythri-02.gif


mythri-06.gif
 
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