I was a Game Gear kid (despite otherwise being more of a Nintendo fan). But I was someone who never had rose-colored glasses for the GB screen. It looked as bad to me then as it looks to you now. I loved my Game Gear and couldn’t believe that a plate of creamed spinach crushed it in the marketplace.
It was all about the games, sure, but you didn’t really want a huge library of portable games. A few really good ones (Slider, Castle of Illusion, Shining Force) carried you through until next time.
The GG was a battery hog but I had the AC adapter and car adapter, for my family’s 8-hour road trips. I didn’t have a use case for the thing that wasn’t within reach of one of those two plugs. I guess that’s the difference from me and the GB fans.
The Game Gear was amazing for its time, with a solid bunch of games as well. Shame it never had a hit as omnipresent as Tetris to call its own (Columns doesn't count).
I guess that’s a blind spot for me — I was never a fan of “falling block” games. I never owned and barely ever played Tetris. Played some Columns because it was a pack-in. The music was alright but yeah, not much of a game.
But to “casuals”, Tetris was huge. Even some moms played. I’m sure some other games really appealed to casuals too. The early 90s equivalent of Candy Crush. The GB was much better for playing on the toilet, I guess.
The deeper games I think about GG never having an answer to were Link’s Awakening and Donkey Kong. A friend picked up the Super Game Boy and we played them that way.
Of course, if you had asked me, I would have said the GB had no answer to Shining Force. But I was a weird kid.
"Falling block" titles more or less peaked with Tetris, although I still have a soft spot in my heart for Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine aka Puyo Pop.
Super Game Boy was the best way to play GB games for me. The games were sort of in color! As for deeper GG games, yeah, Shining Force was good, as was Dragon Crystal.
I got the Game Boy in the middle of a cross country family road trip. It was bundled with Link’s Awakening and I also got Kirby’s Dreamland. The affordability of it can’t be understated! I don’t think I needed to change the batteries for the rest of the vacation.
I still play Game Boy games on occasion, but they can be tough to get into with the outdated tech. Been seeing videos on a new inexpensive GBC clone, very tempting!
Hopefully you know Mole Mania, Nintendo first party game.
Two lesser puzzle games: Kwirk and Catrap. Kwirk was also on PC Engine (not TG16) and had a GB sequel called Amazing Tater. Catrap has a good concept but unfortunately awful sound.
A friend had Kwirk on his GB. He loved it but I was too stupid to get it back then. It’s more fun now. The PCE version is prettier but full of moon language, so pick your poison.
They ruined the Kirby franchise. Kirby's Dreamland was one of my favorite games growing up. Then after that it shifted to "this is a game for 6 yr olds." The original was kind of hard but you could have fun with all the power ups and mix and matching them.
I loved the Game Boy growing up. My favorites: Kirby's Dreamland, Kirby's Star Stacker, Mario and the 6 Golden Coins, Warioland, Link's Awakening, Pokemon: Blue Version. I'm sure I left a lot off.
I had a life threatening illness in fifth grade that made me miss almost a whole school year. Pokemon Blue came out and I was so happy to have it in that hospital.
I'll say the two franchises Nintendo messed up were Wario and Kirby. The games were great and kinda hard. After that Wario became a meme, ADD, minigame franchise and Kirby was marketed to kids who could barely figure out a controller. I do know people who like the new Wario and Kirby like my sister but it kind of killed me.
I remember playing my best friend on Game Boy with Tetris and the system link. If you ever got the chance to, remember that feeling you got when you heard the Tetris sound? The one sound that indicated your opponent was about to send several blocks over to your screen!
I forgot about Gargoyle's Quest and Operation C, good choices. I could never get into Metroid II, unfortunately. I hated how Samus' sprite took up 50% of the screen.
I was a Game Gear kid (despite otherwise being more of a Nintendo fan). But I was someone who never had rose-colored glasses for the GB screen. It looked as bad to me then as it looks to you now. I loved my Game Gear and couldn’t believe that a plate of creamed spinach crushed it in the marketplace.
It was all about the games, sure, but you didn’t really want a huge library of portable games. A few really good ones (Slider, Castle of Illusion, Shining Force) carried you through until next time.
The GG was a battery hog but I had the AC adapter and car adapter, for my family’s 8-hour road trips. I didn’t have a use case for the thing that wasn’t within reach of one of those two plugs. I guess that’s the difference from me and the GB fans.
The Game Gear was amazing for its time, with a solid bunch of games as well. Shame it never had a hit as omnipresent as Tetris to call its own (Columns doesn't count).
I guess that’s a blind spot for me — I was never a fan of “falling block” games. I never owned and barely ever played Tetris. Played some Columns because it was a pack-in. The music was alright but yeah, not much of a game.
But to “casuals”, Tetris was huge. Even some moms played. I’m sure some other games really appealed to casuals too. The early 90s equivalent of Candy Crush. The GB was much better for playing on the toilet, I guess.
The deeper games I think about GG never having an answer to were Link’s Awakening and Donkey Kong. A friend picked up the Super Game Boy and we played them that way.
Of course, if you had asked me, I would have said the GB had no answer to Shining Force. But I was a weird kid.
"Falling block" titles more or less peaked with Tetris, although I still have a soft spot in my heart for Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine aka Puyo Pop.
Super Game Boy was the best way to play GB games for me. The games were sort of in color! As for deeper GG games, yeah, Shining Force was good, as was Dragon Crystal.
I got the Game Boy in the middle of a cross country family road trip. It was bundled with Link’s Awakening and I also got Kirby’s Dreamland. The affordability of it can’t be understated! I don’t think I needed to change the batteries for the rest of the vacation.
I still play Game Boy games on occasion, but they can be tough to get into with the outdated tech. Been seeing videos on a new inexpensive GBC clone, very tempting!
Are there any hidden Game Boy gems we should be aware of? It's definitely a blind spot for me.
I’ll say this, Raging Fighter is a surprisingly competent one-on-one fighter exclusive to the platform!
Never heard of it, thanks!
I researched this back in the day.
Hopefully you know Mole Mania, Nintendo first party game.
Two lesser puzzle games: Kwirk and Catrap. Kwirk was also on PC Engine (not TG16) and had a GB sequel called Amazing Tater. Catrap has a good concept but unfortunately awful sound.
A friend had Kwirk on his GB. He loved it but I was too stupid to get it back then. It’s more fun now. The PCE version is prettier but full of moon language, so pick your poison.
Forgot about Mole Mania and Amazing Tater, thanks! Kwirk sounds familiar, but Catrap is entirely new.
They ruined the Kirby franchise. Kirby's Dreamland was one of my favorite games growing up. Then after that it shifted to "this is a game for 6 yr olds." The original was kind of hard but you could have fun with all the power ups and mix and matching them.
Absolutely. The first game had a good challenge, plus at the end you got the code for hard mode, which was difficult but still fun!
I forgot about that! Good times.
I loved the Game Boy growing up. My favorites: Kirby's Dreamland, Kirby's Star Stacker, Mario and the 6 Golden Coins, Warioland, Link's Awakening, Pokemon: Blue Version. I'm sure I left a lot off.
I had a life threatening illness in fifth grade that made me miss almost a whole school year. Pokemon Blue came out and I was so happy to have it in that hospital.
I'll say the two franchises Nintendo messed up were Wario and Kirby. The games were great and kinda hard. After that Wario became a meme, ADD, minigame franchise and Kirby was marketed to kids who could barely figure out a controller. I do know people who like the new Wario and Kirby like my sister but it kind of killed me.
I remember playing my best friend on Game Boy with Tetris and the system link. If you ever got the chance to, remember that feeling you got when you heard the Tetris sound? The one sound that indicated your opponent was about to send several blocks over to your screen!
I'll have to look that up on Youtube, as alas, I've never played Tetris on Game Boy with another person. Shame on me!
I forgot about Gargoyle's Quest and Operation C, good choices. I could never get into Metroid II, unfortunately. I hated how Samus' sprite took up 50% of the screen.
That is a fascinating take. I'll have to give it another go!
Super Mario Land was a lot of fun on Game Boy, but Tetris was the "killer app" on there for sure.