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Game Boy / Game Boy Color Appreciation Thread

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
I love the Gameboy simply because of Pokemon. So many memories of middle school trading for me. I can't believe the damn thing held on as long as it did. Released in '85, wasn't it? And people were still playing some games from it until 2000-2002?
 

Jazzem

Member
Dr Mario came in the post today, £1.50 :D Am at 38 original GB games and 32 GBC now, meager by 'collection' standards but I've got a lot of the essentials at least. Shall keep grabbing GB(C) games, always wanting moar!
 

Dr. Chaos

Banned
Played through DWI&II about a year or so ago, enjoyed the hell out of it. The older I get, the more I seem to appreciate that series.

Didn't get very far in DWIII though, going to have to come back to it at some point on my gameboy player.
 

womp

Member
TheSeks said:
I love the Gameboy simply because of Pokemon. So many memories of middle school trading for me. I can't believe the damn thing held on as long as it did. Released in '85, wasn't it? And people were still playing some games from it until 2000-2002?

It came out in 1989...I bought it at launch with Super Mario Land and Alleyway. Then I got a Lynx not too long after. Study hall in my senior year of high school was comprised of California Games on the Lynx and Tetris Vs. mode on Gameboy. Total blast.

I never got bit by the Pokemon craze since I was about 23 when that came out but my younger brother was a total whore for it. Looking back I wish we had a smaller age gap (We are 16 years apart) since I would have more likely had been interested in playing it with him then but I was simply too much into my Playstation to give a crap at the time.

Pokemon Pinball was more my speed anyhow. :)
 

ReyVGM

Member
I'm going to repost something I posted on another forum some time ago about overlooked GBC games:


The following is a nod to the overlooked titles, the ones that were ignored as their uniqueness stood untouched. Hopefully not for long.


Bomberman Quest
Developer: Hudson Soft
Plays like: Neutopia + Link's Awakening

What can I say? It's Bomberman taking a piece from Neutopia and Link's Awakening (just look at that map). The game is a simpler take on the Adventure genre and manages to deliver the necessary goods to keep it over the average crowd, yet right under the great ones.
Bomberman's usual repertoire is here: remote bombs, shoes to walk faster & to kick bombs, plus a lot of new power ups such as jump boots, armor, lanterns and a variety of bombs. Every classic Bomberman enemy is also here, they usually say a few words too before you blast them to oblivion.
There's a sequel for the Game Boy Advance called Bomberman Tournament, but it wasn't really on par with this one.

bomberquest.png






Blade
Developer: Hal
Plays like: Double Dragon + Mighty Final Fight

If you really need an excuse to play the game, just look at who made it: Hal Labs (of Kirby fame).
It really isn't an outstanding title, but it looks and plays good enough to let you know it's not another crappy licensed title with horrible controls. In some stages all you need to do is shoot at all the enemies, while on the others you play Double Dragon style with a touch of Mighty Final Fight. It's a simple game, but entertaining enough if you think you've played everything the GBC had to offer.

blade.png







International Track & Field
Developer: Konami
Plays like: Track & Field + Training & Love Simulator

This one came out of left field. Konami managed to successfully mix a classic Track & Field game with a training and love simulator. If you want, you don't have to play the story mode and can just concentrate on the classic T&F game play. But if you do, you'll play as a student training for the annual Olympics in his school. You'll have to make up exercise and rest routines (really easy to do) which will last for a week. The exercises are automatic too, so you don't really have to race around a million times. Train too hard or rest too much and your abilities will diminish, you'll have to find a balance to keep your abilities on top shape. Occasionally, female trainers and friends will call you to hang out, eventually the might fall in love with you if you go out of your wait to be with them (such as calling them or skipping practice to be with them).
Eventually several events and tournaments will take place (usually on Sundays) and will test your button pushing powers. If you want you can skip them by staying asleep or going out, but you don't want to do that.
I managed to reach the annual Olympic and I lost, but it didn't matter because you started training for the second year. I don't know if you beat the game by winning the Olympics or if you have to play for several years before reaching the end.

inttrack.png







Merlin
Developer: RFX
Plays like: Little Samson + Ghosts n Goblins

Merlin. Made by an obscure European company and published by an evil corporation trying to take over the world (EA).
It plays like a mix of Little Samson (attacking and movement) and Ghosts n Goblins (weapons, stages and enemies), the game is really straight forward and simple, which is a good thing if you just want to have a nice time.
You pick different powerups that make your shots stronger, a defense armor that protects you from 1 hit (like Arthur, but without a sprite change) and if you kill enough enemies, you gain "levels" (out of 3) that make you stronger.

merlin.png







Looney Toons Collector: Alert!
Developer: Infogrames
Plays like: A vewwy vewwy simple Zelda game.

Wow, this has to be maybe the ONLY good game Infogrames has ever made.
This game really impressed me (as much as a simple game can impress), the sprites are pretty, the controls are good, every WB character in existence is in the game (you can even rescue them if you want, hence the "collector" part of the title) and it has enough variety to keep you playing.
You'll visit deserts, several towns, inns, a haunted house, islands, underground rabbit holes and you'll pick up many items to help you on your quest.
There's a sequel too, called Marvin Strikes Back and it's just as good. In fact, one might call it a "second quest" based on the similarities.

looney.png







Mickey's Racing Adventure
Developer: RARE
Plays like: RC Pro Am + Adventure elements.

Say, you remember RC Pro Am for the NES? This is his brother and he will kick your ass.
Don't be fooled by the Mickey license, this game plays exactly like RC Pro Am and on top of that RARE went ahead and pulled a GBC Mario Golf by adding Adventure and RPG elements to it. You start off as Mickey Mouse on an overworld map, you can move around finding money, solving problems, talking to other characters from the Disney universe (you can even play as Pluto, Minnie and others), buy new cars, etc. Once you feel confident enough you can go and race Pete's kids RC Pro Am style until you beat all the tracks.

mickeyracing.png








Inspector Gadget
Developer: RFX
Plays like: Any platfor *This message will self-destruct* 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... *BOOM*

Nice little platformer. You can play as Inspector Gadget, Penny or Brain (the dog). Gadget is the all-round character, has great stamina, can fly and can use weapons. Penny can swim underwater and hack computers. Brain can double jump and fit through small crevices.
The sprites are very well done, the control play is tight and the game is pretty easy. Perfect to pass the time.

inpectorgad.png







Monster Rancher Explorer
Developer: Tecmo
Plays like: Solomon's Key

If you are thinking that this game looks exactly like Solomon's Key then worry not, you are not crazy. This game is known in Japan as Solomon, a beefed up remake/sequel of the NES version (the actual sequel is known as Fire 'n' Ice in the USA). Even though it's originally a Solomon title, the characters and story are taken from the Monster Hunter games. So the name change to Monster Rancher Explorer is really not that bad.
You play as Cox, a researcher trying to climb the tower to finish his paper on monsters. When you start the game you have the option of entering a guard house to save your game, a stage studio for link cable options and the tower. Other places will open up as you clear the floors.
Once you enter the tower, the game plays just like the Solomon's Key we all like to love and hate. The controls are top notch and thanks to the save feature and a handy map, the game never becomes as frustrating as the NES version. You also have a status screen with all the items you've collected and a bestiary with all the monsters you've seen. The tower has 60 floors, you'll fight a boss every 10 floors, after you complete the 60 tower levels a basement will open up with even more levels and the real ending.

monsteranex.png







Scooby Doo! Classic Creep Capers
Developer: Digital Sclipse
Plays like: Maniac Mansion!!!!!!!

This is it! Maniac Mansion for the GBC! Don't be fooled by the license.
If you by any chance are thinking that all of the games I've mentioned up to this point are crap, this is where that stops. This game is a MUST PLAY. The only thing this game has that could be a flaw is that it is way too easy.
But other than that, it's a classic Scooby Doo story with the goodness of Maniac Mansion's gameplay. You can play as any of the cartoon's characters, switching between them at will. Scooby and Shaggy are outside the mansion, while Velma, Fred and Daphne are inside on different parts of the mansion.
You need to use all of them in tandem to solve the mysteries across all 6 chapters. And just like most Point & Click adventures, you'll collect a different array of items that you'll need to solve puzzles in other areas.
If you're going to play just ONE of the games I've mentioned, please let this be the one. You will not regret it.

scoobycreep-1.png







WWF Betrayal
Developer: Wayforward Technologies
Plays like: Double Dragon 2

Don't be fooled by the wasslin' license, this game is really a beat'em up with popular WWF characters.
You can pick from 4 characters (The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker) and you'll start on the ring fighting an opponent. One of the starting characters will yell offensive stuff at you and run away, you come down the ring and beat up some referees that are down there trying to pick a fight. You'll then enter backstage where Mcmahon will tell you his daughter was kidnapped and he needs you to rescue her. After that you'll go through several levels fighting enemies Double Dragon 2 style, but with less moves.
That still doesn't deter you from trying the game, as it's a different take on all the WWF games released. Ever.

wwfbetrayal-1.png
 

Tiktaalik

Member
RomanticHeroX said:
I actually only played the first one, but it's pretty much an extension of the SNES original. It's very basic but that's why I like it so much, it's just the essence of what makes the series so appealing.

Yeah this game is really good. I recall playing it on a long band trip drive once and everyone was asking to borrow it. We ended up splitting things up so various would people would play each "day."
 

lordy88

Member
Stupacabra said:
Trip World is great stuff, manages to have beautiful graphics with very little of the blurring issues GB games usually present. Quite short and easy, but always interesting and imaginative.

I also recommend Sunsoft's Looney Tunes game.

197796_27929_front.jpg


There are quite a few good Looney Tunes games on GB/C, actually. Martian Alert/Revenge were both hugely enjoyable, and Daffy Duck: Fowl Play is a gorgeously animated and tense platformer.

I came in here to talk about this one!

I have a distinct memory playing this game on the bus in summer camp way back in the 90s, defeating a boss (I think Porky pig?) right as I died, creating a glitch that gave me 99 lives. Can anyone out there confirm this glitch, or will I have to keep living my life contemplating if it was a dream or not?
 
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/ Philosopher's Stone is an excellent RPG, even if you're not a big fan of HP the game is very well made.
 

Thoraxes

Member
When I think of Dokey Kong Country 2, the original Pokemon games, Pokemon Trading Card Game, Pokemon Pinball, Mario tennis, Kirby's Pinball Land, Dragon Warrior Monsters (The black cart edition), Dragon Warrior 1+2, my body gets all hot and bothered-like.

Man, I really miss those games and hope to see some of them along the line. Also GBA games.
 

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
That's a great post ReyVGM. Those games are definitely not what they would appear to people who'd only glance at the title. I actually do own Bomberman Quest, but I had forgotten all about it.

Surprised about International Track & Field having a dating sim element, but then again, Konami's Power Pro series has it as well and it's a great addition in that series. Though I have my doubts that IT&F has the humor Power Pro does to make it work.

Will definitely take a look at that Scooby Doo game.
 
I bought one at launch with Lock 'n Chase or something iirc, got a PC Engine GT soon after but still came back to the GB up until finishing Link's Awakening, that crappy, blurry screen had a lot of character.
 
ReyVGM said:
*Awesome post*
Thanks for posting this list. There are so many licensed titles on the Game Boy that are far better than they have any right to be, I'll certainly look into picking up Scooby Doo.

Pretty much all the best games seem to have been covered already, but I'll drop this gem in to the mix.


Sabrina The Animated Series: Zapped!
Developer: WayForward

jqjbk5.jpg


2mds9pi.jpg


Baulk if you will, but Sabrina: Zapped is a very enjoyable platform game where your objective is to scour the levels for your classmates that have been turned in to animals and change them back to normal. Most notably it's by WayForward and shares so many similarities to Shantae in terms of visuals and gameplay that it could be classified as it's predecessor. The game also received a sequel called Sabrina: Spooked!, although I haven't managed to track down a copy so I can't vouch for that one.
 

womp

Member
drugstore_cowboy said:
I bought one at launch with Lock 'n Chase or something iirc, got a PC Engine GT soon after but still came back to the GB up until finishing Link's Awakening, that crappy, blurry screen had a lot of character.

The GB port of Lock 'n Chase is really great, as is Burger Time Deluxe. Two of my favorite GB games.
 
You know, I was just wondering about this, but is the Gameboy COLOR as powerful or more powerful than the NES? I mean, I know it pumps out more colors, but at a lower resolution, so I don't know how the 2 stack up to each other.
 

ReyVGM

Member
Cow Mengde said:
You know, I was just wondering about this, but is the Gameboy COLOR as powerful or more powerful than the NES? I mean, I know it pumps out more colors, but at a lower resolution, so I don't know how the 2 stack up to each other.

It was more capable yes, as to how much, I don't know.
 

alf717

Member
The GBC CPU ran at 8MHz which compared to the NES only ran at 1.7897725MHz for NTSC and 1.7734474MHz for PAL.

Pulled from Wikipedia

The technical details for the console are as follows:[9]
Main processor: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)
Processor speed: 4 or 8 MHz (two processor modes)
Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels (same as the original Game Boy and the Sega Game Gear)
Palette colors available: 32,768 (15-bit)
Colours on screen: Supports 10, 32 or 56
Maximum sprites: 40 total, 10 per line, 4 colors per sprite (one of which being transparent)
Sprite size: 8x8 or 8x16
Tiles on screen: 512 (360 visible, the rest are drawn off screen as a scrolling buffer)
Audio: 2 square wave channels, 1 wave channel, 1 noise channel, mono speaker, stereo headphone jack
ROM: 8 MB maximum
RAM: 32 KB
VRAM: 16 KB
Cartridge RAM: 128 KB
Power:
internal: 2 AA batteries, 30+ hours of gameplay
external: 3V DC
indicator: Red LED
Input:
8-way D-Pad
4 buttons (A, B, Start, Select)
Volume potentiometer
Power switch
Serial I/O ("Link cable"): 512 Kbps with up to 4 connections in serial
Infra-red I/O: Less than 2m distance at 45°
Cartridge I/O

The processor, which is a Z80 workalike made by Sharp with a few extra (bit manipulation) instructions, has a clock speed of approximately 8 MHz, twice as fast as that of the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Color also has four times as much memory as the original (32 kilobytes system RAM, 16 kilobytes video RAM). The screen resolution was the same as the original Game Boy, which is 160x144 pixels.

The Game Boy Color also featured an infrared communications port for wireless linking. The feature was only supported in a few games, however, and the infrared port was dropped for the Game Boy Advance and later releases. The console was capable of showing up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and could add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for the original Game Boy. It could also give the sprites and backgrounds separate colors, for a total of more than four colors. This, however, resulted in graphic artifacts in certain games. For example, sometimes a sprite that was supposed to meld into the background would be colored separately, making it easily noticeable.


I'm sure someone with more details on this will chime in but for now this is what I dug up.
 
alf717 said:
The GBC CPU ran at 8MHz which compared to the NES only ran at 1.7897725MHz for NTSC and 1.7734474MHz for PAL.

Are you sure? I recall reading that it was only 3Mhz or something around there. I think it was from EGM back in the day. Need to do more research to find out.
 

sfog

Member
Cow Mengde said:
Are you sure? I recall reading that it was only 3Mhz or something around there. I think it was from EGM back in the day. Need to do more research to find out.

I believe the GB (and backward compatible GBC) stuff runs at 4, while GBC-exclusive stuff can run at 8.
 

DMG-01

Member
sfog said:
I believe the GB (and backward compatible GBC) stuff runs at 4, while GBC-exclusive stuff can run at 8.
I can confirm this. In fact, I found out because I was going to overclock my GBC with an 8MHz crystal after overclocking my GBP with one only to find out that the GBC already uses one.
 

GeekyDad

Member
I missed out on both of those generations of GB, so I hope to catch up on a few gems via the eShop. I'm playing Risky's Revenge right now, and it's really quite beautiful and fun. I hope to see the original Shantae on the VC at some point.
 

womp

Member
Gooster said:
A podcast I was listening to was praising the hell out of this:

KdQYR.jpg


I want to check it out now.

One of the first GB games I bought shortly after launch. It is a fantastic little RPG/Action platformer mix, definitely worth checking out and one of the best titles on the system IMO.
 
Ok, I did a bit more digging and it seems the wikipedia specs are correct. So much for going with EGM's numbers. I hope the homebrew folks will make GBC games one of these days like they're doing with the NES now. I think the system still has untapped potential.
 

DMG-01

Member
Cow Mengde said:
Ok, I did a bit more digging and it seems the wikipedia specs are correct. So much for going with EGM's numbers. I hope the homebrew folks will make GBC games one of these days like they're doing with the NES now. I think the system still has untapped potential.
Well people have tried it before, but I don't know of any completed projects, nor do I know if anyone is currently doing anything. If you'd like, I could upload you a file that I found on the internet a while back that contains partial games, FAQs, and other such relevant stuff. I've been itching to get into it myself, but I have a Mac and haven't been able to get anything to work on it, so I have to wait a month or so until I get a PC.
 
Gooster said:
A podcast I was listening to was praising the hell out of this:

KdQYR.jpg


I want to check it out now.


I have this game. I used to play it a lot, but never got very far. It's hard as hell...at least I thought it was.
 
Wow I didn't expect to see mentions of the James Bond game and WWF betrayal.
The Bond game had such a great 3rd stage, I can't remember what country it was but you had to travel around a city and find the black market, go through a trading sequence, get rich enough to gamble at the table with whatever the villain of the stage was and finally get your ass kicked by oddjob hat spam and get lobbed in the desert. Shame the later stages don't compare.

As for the DK land debate, the first has aged poorly and plays like ass, the second on the other hand is still pretty good even if it is essentially DKC2 lite edition.

Wario Land 2, I don't remember much but it was great, various endings from different "final" stages and many branching pathways, if 3 was better than 2 than Nintendo better hurry and put it up on the VC since I never played it.
 
womp said:
The GB port of Lock 'n Chase is really great, as is Burger Time Deluxe. Two of my favorite GB games.

It was a great little game, I've always had a thing for portable maze games going back to those LCD Pac-Man watches through to Mini Munch/Epoch Man and G&W Squish.

Damn I want another handheld now.
 
DMG-01 said:
Well people have tried it before, but I don't know of any completed projects, nor do I know if anyone is currently doing anything. If you'd like, I could upload you a file that I found on the internet a while back that contains partial games, FAQs, and other such relevant stuff. I've been itching to get into it myself, but I have a Mac and haven't been able to get anything to work on it, so I have to wait a month or so until I get a PC.

Don't get me wrong, it's a very kind gesture, but not sure I care about unfinished games. Don't want to sound snobby, just that I was hoping for more complete games like Adventure Kid or the recently made Sega Genesis game... whose name I'm drawing a blank right now.
 

XLant

Neo Member
GB4Life! To this day the home of the greatest portable pinball game :)
Thoraxes said:
When I think of Dokey Kong Country 2, the original Pokemon games ... my body gets all hot and bothered-like.
I never got into Pokemon as a series, but I have fond memories of playing Red and Blue, and trading to get all the monsters.

I've often looked back and wished I still had my spinach green Game Boy, if only to try for the 9,999,990th time to beat Battletoads. Never have I so enjoyed failing at a game.
 
XLant said:
GB4Life! To this day the home of the greatest portable pinball game :)
I never got into Pokemon as a series, but I have fond memories of playing Red and Blue, and trading to get all the monsters.

I've often looked back and wished I still had my spinach green Game Boy, if only to try for the 9,999,990th time to beat Battletoads. Never have I so enjoyed failing at a game.
NES Battletoads is where the real pain is brought.
 

mingus

Member
Mmmm Costco bundle of the original purple gbc with Link's Awakening DX was my first foray into gaming. Good times.
 

AZ Greg

Member
I don't remember the exact year, but it was a year when there wasn't a new platform being launched and there must not have been a marquee game I wanted that holiday. But going into Christmas I hadn't really asked for anything in particular and my family got me a Game Boy, Link's Awakening, Wario Land, Madden 199X, Donkey Kong, and various accessories. The GB was probably at the midpoint of its life so it sorta felt like a uninspired gift (That doesn't come off nicely lol), but it turned out being one of the best gaming related things I ever got.

I can remember certain events and certain places that I was dragged to simply because they're tied with memories of progressing through Link's Awakening. Awesome platform.
 
Azure Phoenix said:
Thanks for posting this list. There are so many licensed titles on the Game Boy that are far better than they have any right to be, I'll certainly look into picking up Scooby Doo.

Pretty much all the best games seem to have been covered already, but I'll drop this gem in to the mix.


Sabrina The Animated Series: Zapped!
Developer: WayForward

jqjbk5.jpg


2mds9pi.jpg


Baulk if you will, but Sabrina: Zapped is a very enjoyable platform game where your objective is to scour the levels for your classmates that have been turned in to animals and change them back to normal. Most notably it's by WayForward and shares so many similarities to Shantae in terms of visuals and gameplay that it could be classified as it's predecessor. The game also received a sequel called Sabrina: Spooked!, although I haven't managed to track down a copy so I can't vouch for that one.
My younger sister had this game, and I'm not afraid to admit that I played the shit out of it. I also think it defintely seemed like a Shantae predecessor as well.
 

womp

Member
drugstore_cowboy said:
It was a great little game, I've always had a thing for portable maze games going back to those LCD Pac-Man watches through to Mini Munch/Epoch Man and G&W Squish.

Damn I want another handheld now.

Epoch was awesome. I still own my Galaxy II 'mini cab' table top. :)

8481008.jpg


*Not my pic
 
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