Tag Archives: handheld

Pokémon Gold Version, Game Boy Color

Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in 1999 in Japan and 2000 everywhere else. They are ‘second generation’ Pokémon games and were released simultaneously as twin titles, as has become the norm with Pokémon games.

These were the first proper, full-colour Pokémon games, with graphics that have been created to take advantage of the Game Boy Color‘s extended palette (Pokémon Yellow, which preceded this game, didn’t really do that; the graphics were simply colourised from the black and white originals). And you can tell from the very beginning that the visuals in Gold/Silver are a step-up from what we saw previously.

Continue reading Pokémon Gold Version, Game Boy Color

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, Game Gear

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap is a platform action game developed by Westone and published by Sega in 1992. It is considered to be one of the best games on both the Master System and the Game Gear.

Continue reading Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, Game Gear

Pokémon Yellow Version, Game Boy Color

Pokémon Yellow (aka Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition) is a remake of Pokémon Red/Blue/Green that was released for the Game Boy Colour in 1998.

Continue reading Pokémon Yellow Version, Game Boy Color

Pokémon Red Version, Game Boy

Pokémon Red Version was the very first Pokémon game and it was released for the original black and white Game Boy in 1996.

Like all subsequent Pokémon games it came as a pair of releases, so that players could have Pokémon exclusive to their version of the game and so that trading was required between versions – if you wanted to catch every single available Pokémon. Some might view that as cynical, but it wasn’t really intended to make people buy both versions, just to encourage link-up play and trading between them. It does however mean that you can’t catch all the available Pokémon if you only have one version of the game, and have no way of trading with someone else who has the other version.

In Japan, Pokémon Red (originally titled Pocket Monsters: Red) was accompanied by Pokémon Green (Pocket Monsters: Green), but in North America and Europe Pokémon Red was accompanied by Pokémon Blue, which is basically a remake of Green.

Continue reading Pokémon Red Version, Game Boy

Royal Stone, Game Gear

Royal Stone is a tactical, turn-based fantasy RPG with combat and magic that was released for the Game Gear – in Japan only – by Sega in 1995. Thankfully, an English fan translation does exist, so that we – non-Japanese-speakers – can now understand the storyline and enjoy the game in full.

Continue reading Royal Stone, Game Gear

Wario: Master of Disguise, Nintendo DS

Wario: Master of Disguise was developed by Suzak and published for the Nintendo DS by Nintendo in 2007. It utilises dual screens (of course), and also requires use of the DS touchscreen when playing.

Continue reading Wario: Master of Disguise, Nintendo DS

Wario Land 4, Game Boy Advance

The fourth game in the Wario Land series (after Wario Land, Wario Land II, and Wario Land 3) is arguably the best one at this point, having been released for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2001.

All three of the previous games were fun, varied, and beautifully-designed, but the enhanced graphics and power of the Game Boy Advance definitely gives this the edge over its predecessors.

Continue reading Wario Land 4, Game Boy Advance

Wario Land 3, Game Boy Color

Wario Land 3 is the sequel to Wario Land II and was developed and published for the Game Boy Color by Nintendo in 2000. It once again features Mario‘s rival, Wario, doing what he does best: shoulder-barging things and cheekily going about his destructive platform business.

Continue reading Wario Land 3, Game Boy Color

Wario Land II, Game Boy Color

The follow-up to Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 on the Game Boy is this 1998 release for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color.

Wario Land II was initially released for the black and white Game Boy, but was re-released for the Game Boy Color six months after its initial release and it is the Game Boy Color version that I’m focusing on here (because it looks much better in colour than in monochrome).

Continue reading Wario Land II, Game Boy Color

Defenders of Oasis, Game Gear

Not to be confused with Beyond Oasis on the Sega Megadrive, Defenders of Oasis is a turn-based Role-Playing Game for the Game Gear that is based on the “One Thousand and One Nights” middle-eastern folk tales, also known as “Arabian Nights“. It was developed and published by Sega in 1992.

Continue reading Defenders of Oasis, Game Gear