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Any 'Must Experience' Games for the Original Gameboy?
- Thread starter Deleted member 15737
- Start date
A lot of good ones already mentioned, I'll throw out Final Fantasy Adventure as another great classic gb game that holds up extremely well.
Other highly recommend classic gb games are (ignoring gbc games that were still compatible with gb)
Mario Land 2
Wario Land 1
Donkey Kong 94
Link's Awakening
Castlevania 2 Belmont's Revenge
Mega Man 3-5
Harvest Moon
Pokemon RBY
Dragon warrior/quest 1-2
I didn't include puzzle games like tetris, dr mario, and mario's picross since I think by their very nature they're basically timeless and function on anything you can play them on.
Other highly recommend classic gb games are (ignoring gbc games that were still compatible with gb)
Mario Land 2
Wario Land 1
Donkey Kong 94
Link's Awakening
Castlevania 2 Belmont's Revenge
Mega Man 3-5
Harvest Moon
Pokemon RBY
Dragon warrior/quest 1-2
I didn't include puzzle games like tetris, dr mario, and mario's picross since I think by their very nature they're basically timeless and function on anything you can play them on.
Recommendable GB games I've played or re-played in the last couple years:
Balloon Kid: A Balloon Fight sequel with scrolling levels and bosses.
Castlevania II: Very good action platformer, and the only GB Castlevania I could call essential. As much as I like CV Adventure, I can't recommend it. CV Legends is bad.
Donkey Kong: Probably the best release for original Game Boy. I say that even as someone that doesn't super dig on puzzle action games.
DuckTales 1-2: Basically the NES games, but with redesigned sprites and levels to fit the GB resolution.
Gargoyle's Quest: I don't actually feel like the RPG "wrapper" around the levels is necessary (drags things out a bit), but a well done game when you're in the action. Unlike any other Capcom ports from NES (I think), the Japanese-exclusive GB port of the NES sequal does not redesign the levels to fit the GB screen, making it kind of obnoxious to play. So, I can only recommend this one.
Kid Dracula: I lied when I said I could only vouch for one GB 'Vania.
Link's Awakening: I'm not as in love with this as some people are. My biggest nitpick comes from the limited amount of buttons. Whenever I have to traverse the overworld, I'm constantly entering the menu to swap feather/sword/bracelet, and it's slightly annoying. That's exacerbated by the overworld being so damn dense (which is otherwise a plus).
Mega Man I-V: The first four are largely remixes of the NES games (once again with care taken in the adaptation), but always at some new bosses and stages added in. Part V is wholly original and great.
Metroid II: Seems awkward and a little intimidating at first, but you may find after a while that it's actually pretty intuitively designed as far as where to go and what to do!
Operation C: Not talked about enough. Very good!
Kirby's Dream Land 1-2, Super Mario Land 2, Wario Land 1-2: As good as their reputations suggest!
I can never remember which GB Color games I like are backwards compatible, so these are all OG monochrome games.
Balloon Kid: A Balloon Fight sequel with scrolling levels and bosses.
Castlevania II: Very good action platformer, and the only GB Castlevania I could call essential. As much as I like CV Adventure, I can't recommend it. CV Legends is bad.
Donkey Kong: Probably the best release for original Game Boy. I say that even as someone that doesn't super dig on puzzle action games.
DuckTales 1-2: Basically the NES games, but with redesigned sprites and levels to fit the GB resolution.
Gargoyle's Quest: I don't actually feel like the RPG "wrapper" around the levels is necessary (drags things out a bit), but a well done game when you're in the action. Unlike any other Capcom ports from NES (I think), the Japanese-exclusive GB port of the NES sequal does not redesign the levels to fit the GB screen, making it kind of obnoxious to play. So, I can only recommend this one.
Kid Dracula: I lied when I said I could only vouch for one GB 'Vania.
Link's Awakening: I'm not as in love with this as some people are. My biggest nitpick comes from the limited amount of buttons. Whenever I have to traverse the overworld, I'm constantly entering the menu to swap feather/sword/bracelet, and it's slightly annoying. That's exacerbated by the overworld being so damn dense (which is otherwise a plus).
Mega Man I-V: The first four are largely remixes of the NES games (once again with care taken in the adaptation), but always at some new bosses and stages added in. Part V is wholly original and great.
Metroid II: Seems awkward and a little intimidating at first, but you may find after a while that it's actually pretty intuitively designed as far as where to go and what to do!
Operation C: Not talked about enough. Very good!
Kirby's Dream Land 1-2, Super Mario Land 2, Wario Land 1-2: As good as their reputations suggest!
I can never remember which GB Color games I like are backwards compatible, so these are all OG monochrome games.
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Both of HAL Lab's pinball games, Kirby's Pinball Land and Revenge of the Gator, are some of my fave virtual pinball games of all time. Less about realistic pinball, more about creative twists to its virtual version. In that sense, I like those more than the Pokemon Pinball game.
Seek out the Konami Collections on GB. Each one contains about 4 GB games, but each one has been boosted to GBC mode, so colors and reduced slowdown.
(edit) Missed OG gameboy, in which case I'd still recommend every castlevania game except the first one. Wonderful music and mostly still hold up. I also keep a copy of gameboy Monopoly which is an almost 100% faithful conversion of the NES one including most of the music/sounds. Great for quick matches against the computer.
(edit) Missed OG gameboy, in which case I'd still recommend every castlevania game except the first one. Wonderful music and mostly still hold up. I also keep a copy of gameboy Monopoly which is an almost 100% faithful conversion of the NES one including most of the music/sounds. Great for quick matches against the computer.
I'm also going to recommend that you track down a copy of Donkey Kong for Game Boy. It's an excellently crafted game that still holds up well to this day.
I also like many recommend Donkey Kong '94. It still amazes me to this day how great that game is.
The original Super Mario Land, Gargoyles Quest, Tetris, Castlevania Games, and Donkey Kong are all ace. The Ducktales games were good, as well as Battletoads. Solar Striker is pretty fun too.
OP
OP
Thanks, that's how I played links awakening dx, I think. Just sold it last week though. Really 8ts mostly about experiencing the original hardware and a few games. Never had one growing up, game gear was my first portable, and friends only had game boy colors, so I'm kind of excited just to experience the hardware. This yellow one is so pretty.
This plus donkey king and mole mania.
Oh shit, this as well
All of these have probably already been mentioned but I need to reiterate them
Donkey Kong '94
Link's awakening
Sword of Hope II
Dragon Quest (Warrior) 1&2
Dragon quest (Warrior) monsters (1)
Revelations: The Demon Slayer (the first MegaTen game released in America, part of the Last Bible series)
Mario's Picross
Super Mario Land 3
Star Wars (limited Run games is planning on rereleasing this apparently on cart)
These were my Life during the mid to late nineties (essentially until Pokemon/slightly after Pokémon changed the game boy game)
Donkey Kong '94
Link's awakening
Sword of Hope II
Dragon Quest (Warrior) 1&2
Dragon quest (Warrior) monsters (1)
Revelations: The Demon Slayer (the first MegaTen game released in America, part of the Last Bible series)
Mario's Picross
Super Mario Land 3
Star Wars (limited Run games is planning on rereleasing this apparently on cart)
These were my Life during the mid to late nineties (essentially until Pokemon/slightly after Pokémon changed the game boy game)
Pokémon Trading Card game.
Neat conversion of the real-life card game but in the Pokemon adventure/RPG format.
The game cart will be almost 20 years-old, though. I'm sure my save battery bit the dust long ago.
Thanks, OP, now I'm going to check to make sure.
edit: still works! Only got 222 out of 226 cards, though. Wonder what they were.
Some other recommendations:
Mario Golf (only works with GBC)
Metal Gear Solid
Pokémon Pinball
Neat conversion of the real-life card game but in the Pokemon adventure/RPG format.
The game cart will be almost 20 years-old, though. I'm sure my save battery bit the dust long ago.
Thanks, OP, now I'm going to check to make sure.
edit: still works! Only got 222 out of 226 cards, though. Wonder what they were.
Some other recommendations:
Metal Gear Solid
Pokémon Pinball
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Looks like everyone already covered most of my favorite original GameBoy games, but don't miss out on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 or Ninja Gaiden Shadow either. Both are pretty great.
Good catch. Just checked the back of the boxes, and only Pokémon Pinball and Trading Card Game work with the GB.
Yes. One of the best puzzle games out there.
I add Tailgator, which of course has a horrible english cover:
It's a puzzle platformer which I really enjoyed back in the day. I would like to show some gameplay, but with the short length it just spoils too much, imo. Still, if interested, here is a gameplay video of the first zone with all 4 areas. The game only consists of 4 zones, the first three have 4 areas, the last one only one.
If I had to pick just three, I'd choose Link's Awakening, Pokémon RBY and Kirby's Dream Land 2.
^This. I'd put it in my top 5 for GB (LA, Tetris and Pokemon RBY/SGC rounding it out I guess).
I loved Battletoads in Ragnarok's World as a kid. The hoverbike level is microwaved dogshit, but the rest was fun.
Link's Awakening, Gargoyle's Quest, Pokémon Red/Blue and For the Frog the Bell Tolls are my favourite GB games. The last one if JP-only though, if that's an issue.
best of the best. it had a rewind function before it was cool! (also known as Pitman in japan I believe, if you're looking for a copy online, also also it's on the 3DS?)
I know AVGN shat on the games, but I thought it was fun and the soundtrack is great.
Ninja Gaiden is really good. And isn't really a NG game but a sequel to the Nes game Blue Shadow/Shadow of the Ninja.
DK94 and Link's Awakening go without saying, but my pick would be Mega Man V. It's a fantastic original game, one of my favourites in the series. Those three are the ones I usually recommend.
Bionic Commando is another good one too, trades in the green/brown NES military aesthetic for more of an anime/sci-fi one. Mystic Quest (FF Adventure) is a fun action rpg, the forerunner to Secret of Mana.
Bionic Commando is another good one too, trades in the green/brown NES military aesthetic for more of an anime/sci-fi one. Mystic Quest (FF Adventure) is a fun action rpg, the forerunner to Secret of Mana.
This looked like a cheap SF2 ripoff but it was amazingly good.
It looks even better if you compare it with the awful Mortal Kombat port on the GB.
Link's Awakening is the best game though. It also has the best music of any Zelda game ever.
