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Today is the 28th anniversary of the Game Boy

S

Skeletos311

Junior Member
Released on April 21 1989 in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy

Want to read about a bunch of GB games? Check out Game Boy World. http://www.gameboyworld.com/

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I got mine for Christmas in 1990 with Tetris. I thought Tetris was really lame and got Super Mario Land the next day. I actually learned to like Tetris, but GB was all about Super Mario Land when I got it.

I played a lot GBized versions of NES games on it, like Double Dragon and Mega Man. One crappy Ninja Turtle game, Fall of the Foot Clan. Japanese games brought over using the name of more popular series, like Ninja Gaiden and Final Fantasy Adventure. My first Kirby game, Kirby's Dream Land 2. I played my first Pokemon on it, Pokemon Red. And of course, my favorite GB game of all time, Zelda Link's Awakening.
 
S

Sushigod7

Member
Got the same two games for Christmas that launch it was mind blowing to have Mario on the go as a kid. Good times! I feel old now as well lol.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
Even though this is the Japanese Annviersary, I gotta say Kirby's Dream Land and the OG Tetris on GB are some of my favorite games of all time still.
 
T

Trago

Member
Nintendo, ahead of the curve when it came to mobile gaming.

Tetris on the go was perfection. Also Pokémon.
 
S

Sectorseven

Member
Majine said:
Links Awakening is a masterpiece that's not brought up often enough in "Best Zeldas" discussions.
Click to expand...

A great game, but it hasn't aged well in some regards. Too much item swapping, especially with things that could be passive abilities like the power bracelet. Also, those annoyingly long text boxes whenever you get a power up or key. They make me actively avoid picking those things up.
 
B

BumRush

Member
As a 5 year old (and for the few subsequent years) I remember thinking it couldn't get much better than that...
 
S

Stopdoor

Member
Sectorseven said:
A great game, but it hasn't aged well in some regards. Too much item swapping, especially with things that could be passive abilities like the power bracelet. Also, those annoyingly long text boxes whenever you get a power up or key. They make me actively avoid picking those things up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I really don't get the people singing "best game ever" with Link's Awakening. Like, yeah, it's pretty great, but the constant item swapping for basic tools is constantly annoying.
 
S

silverhick

Member
Still remember the day I walked up to the Nintendo kiosk in the mall and the attendant was playing Super Mario on this device I had never seen before. He showed it to me and I was absolutely blown away. Gotta love the days before the internet and month's long anticipation. Got mine for Christmas later that year.
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
Sectorseven said:
A great game, but it hasn't aged well in some regards. Too much item swapping, especially with things that could be passive abilities like the power bracelet. Also, those annoyingly long text boxes whenever you get a power up or key. They make me actively avoid picking those things up.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure you can skip the power-up text box instantly with B, but yeah, the long text for the compass is annoying. At least that's only once per dungeon.
 
B

Baron Von Beans

Member
You watch your mouth! That TMNT game was the best only thing available on the go at the time! Dang hard to play, and even harder to see sometime. Still have fond memories of the game.
 
J

jeremy1456

Junior Member
Stopdoor said:
Yeah, I really don't get the people singing "best game ever" with Link's Awakening. Like, yeah, it's pretty great, but the constant item swapping for basic tools is constantly annoying.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the highly segmented world map that feels like it was designed by someone who just didn't care.

Worst overworld in the entire series. Such a disappointment after A Link to the Past.
 
U

Unicorn

Member
Over decade reign. Fucking I remember having to play pokemon silver on my brick because I lost my GBC. When I got another for my bday my shiny gyrados was a marvel. Fuck, the colors period were a marvel.
 
B

Blackpuppy

Member
Growing up, my family was very lower middle class, and with 5 kids, Christmas was always great but we were never spoiled, so to speak.

I begged my mother for a Gameboy when they first came out and every time she replied with: "No! They're too expensive!" But being 7 or 8, I was tenacious and kept begging her.

Come Christmas morning, I opened a package and to my utter surprise there it was: that glowing pink, blue neon with grey trim box. A Gameboy! I didn't get anything else that year but I assured them that I didn't care and played Tetris all day long.

I still have that thing in storage.
 
N

NotSelf

Member
I remember cutting class in high school just to play metroid 2. I would go to the mall and just sit on some display sofa to play the game.
 
S

supermarioworldE

Banned
Growing up so late in the Gameboy's life, I didnt have a chance to play many games outside of Pokemon Gen 1 and Gen 2. It's funny looking back on how many batteries I wasted and how I'd keep the lights in my bedroom on all night just to see what the fuck was happening on the screen. Handhelds have come so far since then, but I will always appreciate the Gameboy for introducing me to handheld gaming and the Pokemon franchise.
 
T

Trunx28

Member
aw man, this little man has a golden place in my heart.

Saw it on tv commercials and suddenly two of my classmates had one, playing by the bus station in the morning on our way to school. That night I even dreamed of it .. Of course my parents were against it. "You'll drop it into one corner of your room after a few months." Little did they know .. One of the classmates sold me his GB later on for cheap with a terribly scratched display which I replaced a few months later. Got 5 games for starters: Tetris, Spiderman, Tennis, Roger Rabbit and Bugs Bunnys Crazy Castle. Loved the last one, especially the ending .. "You are a good player. Game Over."

The Game Boy was my first step into console gaming. My next games where Mario Land 2 and Links Awakening. I played them to death, I think I still know all the little secrets ..

List time? List time!

1. Links Awakening and Donkey Kong 94 share this place
2. Mario Land 2
3. Tennis
4. Metroid 2
5. Super RC Pro AM
6. F1 Race
7. The Jungle Book
8. Mortal Kombat 2
9. Bugs Bunnys Crazy Castle
10. Donkey Kong Land
 
Rhomega Beta

Rhomega Beta

Member
How I got started on gaming. Don't know what my first game was.

The Amazing Spider-Man (vanished)
Baseball
Cosmo Tank
Deadheat Scramble
Double Dragon
Golf
Qix
Quarth
Paperboy (vanished)
Red & Stimpy: Space Cadet Adventures
SolarStriker
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
Super Mario Land
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
Tennis
Tetris (2x)
Wheel of Fortune
 
M

maxcriden

Member
For a good read on the history of the Game Boy and especially Tetris, Game Over: Press Start to Continue is a classic nonfiction book about the history of Nintendo and a very good read from what I remember.
 
mindatlarge

mindatlarge

Member
Never owned the original growing up, most of my money as a kid went to the NES. I did borrow one from a friend along with a TMNT game but it wasn't until the Game Boy Color that I owned one.
 
X

XaosWolf

Member
Mario Land and Pokémon Blue were my games. They were pretty much all I had during my stint with the original GB. (Only one of us had Tetris for some reason)

Now I have a bunch of games and a backlight all on my original unit. Probably the oldest thing I own.

STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHERE MY POKÉMON BLUE IS
 
RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
Many pretenders to the throne came, and died subsequently, the only competitor who really gave it a run for it's money in some respects was Sega, but even then the gulf was tooo huge...
 
B

BriGuy

Member
I think I got mine in 90 or 91. Played the shit out of Tetris, SML and Metroid 2. I have no proof, but I think Gameboy was responsible for my poor eyesight.
 
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