The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993) is like a mini version of the Super Nintendo classic A Link To The Past (1991) – both games share more than just the same DNA. At times Link’s Awakening feels like A Link To The Past without colour. Which is a huge compliment because A Link To The Past is one of the best games ever made. This, too, is among the best Game Boy games of all time.
Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Game Boy
There have been quite a lot of excellent 2D Mario games over history, which makes the Game Boy Super Mario Land series easy to overlook. All three Super Mario Land games, however, are stunning and unique ‘best-in-class’ examples of what the Game Boy is actually capable of – ie. shifting lots of sprites around the screen, smooth scrolling, great sounds and perfectly responsive controls.
Continue reading Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Game Boy
I realised recently that I had completely neglected the Nintendo Game Boy on this blog, in spite of having owned one back in the day, and being a big fan.
Possibly because the black and white handheld’s graphics aren’t the best when it comes to dazzling grabs. The games are great though!
So – to rectify that – I’m going to dedicate a full week to the amazing Nintendo Game Boy and its games. Some of which are iconic.
A few famous franchises began on the Game Boy (the Mana series, for example), and – in spite of the Game Boy‘s limited graphical power – there’s a good reason why this early portable console sold more than 100 million units worldwide.
Here are links to what was published:
Monster Max,
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins,
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening,
Golf,
Final Fantasy Adventure,
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3,
Trip World,
Castelian,
Pinball: Revenge of the Gator,
Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge,
Final Fantasy Legend,
Final Fantasy Legend II,
Tetris,
Cave Noire
Enjoy!
The King of Grabs.
More: Game Boy on Wikipedia
The second ever Metroid game first appeared on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1991.
Metroid II: Return of Samus is a brilliant continuation of the first Metroid game. The animation of lead character Samus is much more gritty and realistic in this game, compared to the NES original. And the monochromatic graphics actually seem to add to the eerie atmosphere, rather than hamper the game at all.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance is a brilliant mix of platforming and level-grinding.
The ‘twist’ in this game is that you control both Mario and Luigi simultaneously during the game, and can switch between each character – or use them in tandem – to solve certain puzzles.
Continue reading Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Game Boy Advance
***CANNED GAME***
The retro games community got excited recently when two development cartridges from a cancelled version of Resident Evil for the Game Boy Color were found and dumped by some shadowy, anonymous people.
Was the excitement worth it?
Not the infamous Ion Storm first-person failure (also known as John Romero’s Daikatana), but a Japanese, Zelda-style implementation of the Daikatana franchise on the Game Boy Color, first released in 2000.
And it is surprisingly good too!
I want to post some more grabs from Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City on the Nintendo DS. Because it really is one of the best RPGs of all time, and because I can’t recommend you play it highly enough.
Continue reading Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City, Nintendo DS [Part 2]
Shantae is a great little platform adventure game, made for the Nintendo Game Boy Color by WayForward Technologies and published by Capcom in 2002.
The main character is a female, half-genie swashbuckler, called Shantae, and is up against the pirate Risky Boots and her band of cack-handed shipmates.
Fantastic 2002, Japan-only sequel to Kuru Kuru Kururin, developed by Eighting and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance.
The King of Grabs 