GAME BOY Games That Will Always Be Enjoyable – Retro Bird
Retro Bird
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Not everyone loves the Game Boy, but could they? I go over which Game Boy games I think stand the best chance of turning somebody into a Game Boy fan as well as which games I think are timeless.
GAME BOY Games That Will Always Be Enjoyable – Retro Bird / Nintendo Game Boy Games That Are Still Worth Playing / Game Boy Games That Are Still Fun / Game Boy Games That Don’t Suck / Handheld Nintendo Game Boy Games
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17.07.2022
One of my favorites has always been Avenging Spirit. It's an action platformer where you play as a ghost that can possess every enemy, all of whom move and attack differently, giving you a lot of gameplay variety. I had it as a kid, got it again a few years back and still enjoy it as much as back then. Unfortunately it is way on the pricey side (pricecharting listing it loose at 149$ right now, which sounds ridiculous to me…), but retro 8bit just had preorders for a limited edition on original hardware (already closed, sadly), so hopefully the price drops a bit. Or, you know, emulation is a thing 🙂
Anyway, I'd recommend checking it out.
I still haven't got into the GB in a big way. The GBA SP is all right but not comfortable to hold. I think I need to jack up my GBC with a modern screen, then I might appreciate it better. I did that with the Wonderswan and it's amazing now. I do have a Super Game Boy, and Link's Awakening and Donkey Kong '94 easily stand with the best Super Nintendo games. But some GB games can look a bit sad when running on the SNES.
One game I got a lot of stupid fun out of was Mario's Picross. Barely more complicated than digital crossword puzzles, but still weirdly satisfying and it's not spoiled by a bad screen.
If there's one channel guaranteed to cheer me up when I'm feeling down, it's this one.
Donkey Kong for the Gameboy is pretty dang amazing.
Currently at a cottage drinking some morning tea with my Switch & now missing my Gameboy that's back home, how haven't they put Gameboy games on the switch yet?
You listed most of my favorite games on the system, but I also enjoyed Gen 1 & 2 pokemon as well as Legend of the River King. It's a fishing JRPG which is unique enough, but you could say it's an odd game vs accessible. I also loved the ports of Killer Instinct & Battle Arena Toshinden, but now I'm just listing off my collection.
Oh no, how'd I forget Mario Golf & Pokemon Pinball!
I was that kid my freshman year who pulled out his Original Gameboy on the school bus at 6:30Am and proceeded to turn on the light and magnifying glass attachment. The original Nintendo DS had just came out that year to give you a timeframe. RetroBird your one of a kind and very awesome 😎 keep on moving up! Best wishes to you.
For me gameboy means pokemon Lol great video keep flying bird 🐦
You make Saturdays so much better. Like cartoons back in the '80s.
Finally, someone who understands the pain of watching someone else play Tetris! Excuse me while I go fish my Gameboy out and play a round or twelve
Yoshi’s Tetris Attack is my go to. I like it better than the SNES version. Feels snappier.
Great vid as always I’d say Batman and burai deluxe 👍🏼
Love how some game boy games still hold up really well. Links awakening is still one of my all time favorite games. Plus i could easily recommend to people gargoyles quest, operation C, Castlevania 2 and avenging spirit.
I'm old enough that the Game Boy came out while I was a senior in high school. Bought one, along with the rechargeable battery pack, and loved it. Spent much time between classes playing, especially once I started college. Didn't have too many games, though…money was tight. Got married, was broke, and had to sell it. So sad. Today I have a GPi Case and all the games I missed back when I couldn't afford them. And today all my gaming dollars go into the Switch. But playing those game boy games on an almost-Game Boy is still tons of fun!
I personally prefer the 3ds port of link awakening dx the most because it's the same game but with a back-lit screen and a sleep function. Links awakening dx is amazing and that's my preferred way to play it since I don't have an advance sp
Always love your videos! Especially when my favourite, the game boy, is mentioned!
Great game selections, I would also add Kirby to that list and also, quick little fun fact for ya, the homebrew scene seems to be making some great new games in the last few years!
Keep up the amazing work and thank you again!
Tetris should be played never. Other than that, a great list of must-play Gameboy games. 👍
Tetris trolling really made this video lol. I can't say I was ever a huge GameBoy fan though as I didn't get one until Pokémon Red and Blue came out and stopped after I finished it. Looking back though, I should have given it more of fair shake. All of the Zelda games look great, so I'd say one of those. The Final Fantasy games on the GameBoy look pretty solid too. Oh yeah, those backlight mods look awesome.
This guy is so underrated.
For anyone wanting to see which Game Boy games you would like to start with or discover new ones, I highly recommend this book: https://www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/all/products/game-boy-the-box-art-collection
It has the Game Boy covers and screenshots from both Japanese and Western games. Personally, I would recommend Looney Tune Game, Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle series and V-Rally cause they were my first Game Boy games ever 😁
The family enjoys watching your show together. You must do yourself a favor and get a copy of Cyraid.
Kids today don't understand what it was like being a kid in the 80's & 90's. They have their games downloaded on their iPhones or whatever devices they use & start playing. They get to choose from 1000's of free games or just games in general.
So let me tell you when I was a kid when the Gameboy came out. It was a new idea for handheld gaming. So we didn't have 1000's of games to choose from because that didn't exist. The gaming market along with everything else was really small. There was no internet to look up things to see if they were good or not. Because it was handheld they didn't rent them at video rental stores. I believe Gameboy games were $50 each. So if you wanted a game you had to ride, drive down to a store location that wasn't to big just to buy a video game. Because of this & cost, I only had like 5 games. Again there is not save states when you play them & I don't think game shark was out for this system or Game Genie for Codes yet.
Again games with no saves. So if you had a game over you would also have to restart these games.
Cattrap I’ve never heard of so will try that. Couldn’t agree more about the others all classics. Had them since I was a kid. I was an odd kid so even still have the boxes and manuals.
Any Balloon Kid fans here? No love for Alex…?! 🎈
a couple months ago the wife and I went in together on a modded game boy pocket system. already have about half a dozen games for it, too! of the ones we have so far I definitely recommend nemesis (aka gradius) not just cus it's a great shmup, but the game has a built in level select and you can start with 100 lives if you so desire! not that it necessarily makes the game a pushover but I'm sure the average player would appreciate the extra assist. another one of my all time favories has to be hyper lode runner! all the classic treasure collecting and avoiding enemies, but now on a portable! also comes with the level builder if you're so inclined. definitely have most of these picks on our wishlist already so definitely going to pick some of these up in the future!
I had to look on with wistful wanting at other kids' game boys growing up. But, I got a GBA in 2001 and my life changed forever. Man, that thing was like my non-human best friend for so many years. So much time was spent on games like Mario Land 2, Mario Advance 1, Crash Bandicoot the Huge Adventure, Metroid Fusion and the one I love the most, Metroid Zero Mission.
I enjoyed my gameboy a lot as a kid. Haven't played one in years though
I feel the same about Donkey Kong on Game Boy. I consider it the best game on the system, and a great representation of what the handheld is all about. It's also ridiculously fun, and deceptively challenging in spots! Always a top recommendation from me whenever I'm asked about what GB games people should play.
I played Cat trap. Seems like there is 99 levels to this game. You can start at any round. They have a password system & a rewind feature. This game is good all the way up to round 18. Once there it's impossible to beat any level. At that point I quit the game.
I also tried Castle Vania 2 & also Donkey Kong via Super Game Boy. Castle Vania 2 is way too hard. I liked the new Version of Donkey Kong. It's not that hard & I like the fact that there's a bit of a puzzle that's possible when you get the key & head towards the key door. It has a save file. So that is really cool.
1990's: Most of these games I never played. Either because I wasn't interested in them, my friends didn't have them or they weren't selling them. Again very limited when it came to video games in 1990's.
I still love the gameboy, play it all the time, was my first game console I ever owned and it was so durable, favorite console to collect for too
I highly recommend Trip World by Sunsoft! It’s way too expensive no matter what region you’re trying to get it from but it’s one of those games you have to play any way you can cause it shouldn’t be ignored and has a killer soundtrack
Have you done this topic yet?
-Games that aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be.
It's an interesting topic to me, since a lot of us will avoid these supposed "bad" games. Yet I've found that some of these games have been quite good and I've missed out at times.
I'm surprised at the lack of mention of anything Pokemon. From Red, Blue, and especially Yellow to Silver, Gold, and especially Crystal, it's all good stuff. I thought I'd see Metroid 2 as well. Other than that, I would like to shout out the Game & Watch Gallery games. Very cool way to experience classic Game & Watch titles. I also enjoy Final Fantasy Adventure. It's actually the first Mana game and it feels a lot like playing a Game Boy Zelda title. Speaking of…the Zelda Oracle games are also awesome. Finally, I'd like to say that Dragon Quests 1, 2, and 3 all have Game Boy versions that are really good under the names of Dragon Warrior 1 +2 and Dragon Warrior 3.
I need more good Game Boy games for my Super Game Boy. Never had one growing up and finally got one.
I will still play a game of Kirby's Pinball every now and then. Best Kirby game in my opinion.
Nice list man!
You deserve more recognition
Cool episode. Never heard of Catrap but it looks fun. One game that gets overlooked I feel is Final Fantasy Adventure aka Seiken Densetsu which was the first game in the Mana series. It has had several remakes but the original version is still very fun.
Back in 1999 or so, my cousin gave me his copy of "Battle Arena Toshinden" and hoo boy, that's a fun little fighter for the Game Boy. Definitely recommend for folks wanting something a bit different/an interesting entry point to the system! It's even got a two-player mode and a turbo mode, if you play it on the Super Game Boy 🤘
Kirby’s dream land is worth a play though once every decade or so.
The Donkey Kong game is awesome!!
Pokémon is a cop out answer from me but those are really great too for fans of the series or maybe for newcomers!
gargoyles quest
The first Batman game is one I return to regularly. Its not at all like any other Batman game, and is more of a mario style platformer. One of the Gameboys best I reckon!
I feel like the Retro bird is the type of man that could rig up a Detonator at a moment's notice
I started with Gameboy color and Warioland 3 was prob one of my favorite games on that thing…played it again last year (after 20+ years) and it was just as fun and it almost felt like a new game.
Didn’t get one until 96. Still wasn’t a big price drop. I never saw the reason to get a monochrome handheld when color systems like the Lynx, Turbo Express and Game Gear weren’t far off.
We literally picked up our very first OG gameboy about a month ago. This is a pretty timely video.
What's the best way to play gameboy cartridges on a TV in 2022? Have a handful of cartridges for gameboy and advance and would love to be able to play them.
My sister took most of the Gameboy time. Lol
GB GOLF ⛳️ It plays incredibly well!
Just let the thumbnail loop over and over again