The Game Boy Collection

The Game Boy is the most successful games console ever, shifting something like 118 million units worldwide. The technology behind it isn’t amazing, a 4Mhz processor, 4 possible shades of grey and an amazing 8Kb of RAM. As the saying goes though, it’s not how big it is, it’s what you do with it…

The Game Boy’s vision is simple; an interchangeable Game and Watch LCD game unit. It was (relatively) small, portable, and fun. The bundled game, Tetris, is one of the best games of all time. You could get a decent run out of the 4 AA batteries it demanded (against the 6 AAs in the Game Gear, which would last about 2 hours).

I used to have a Game Boy. I would play it a lot, even before I bought Zelda, at which point my hands melded to the buttons. Recently, I saw a Game Boy on eBay with Tetris and Super Mario Land for £15; perfect, as I had fond memories of both games. It arrived today; to say it was in immaculate condition would be an insult to it; this Game Boy’s condition is beyond perfect. Not a scratch on it, not a single speck of dirt caught in the raised print on the back, not a single scuff on the screen. Like I said, perfect.

Well, I thought, it is in a condition that would make a collector weep with joy; why not become a collector? At the least, it may make for some interesting stories. I do have quite an extensive emulator collection, but it simply isn’t the same.  I will be buying games and writing them up here, so this list will be updated constantly.

The best game on the Gameboy. It’s graphically amazing, it sounds awesome, and it has an obscene amount of playtime within the cartridge. It has a battery backup on the cart itself so you can save your progress. I have put this game in my list of Greatest Games (if you’re interested, check out my other hubs to find the list) and can’t think of anything extra to add here. I’m a bit annoyed with this cart, as the battery backup has died rather suddenly. The front sticker is also faded and peeling, so I am tempted to buy another. When I started playing, it hit me how awful the more recent Zelda games are. The Phantom Hourglass was like a joke; so so boring and uninspired. The Wii version is a very strange and clumsy affair, lacking the sheen that Nintendo are known for on their “own” games. This Zelda and the SNES outing are the best, and I fear will always be the best unless Nintendo can turn this around.

I bought this because it was going free with the Gameboy Pocket I bought as a playable Gameboy. It has a few of the classic Game and Watch games on it. They do pass the time, but I couldn’t play it for more than a few minutes without feeling like I was wasting time. I also realized from this that the Game and Watches were unfair at times, giving you two places to be at once – that is until you realize that you can make multiple moves around the screen within the computer’s move. Anyway, even with these fresh tactics, still pretty boring.

This particular gem took away a good part of my spare time in my younger days, but I didn’t find that much time to actually complete it. You are Samus, bounty hunter or something. You have arrived on a planet and you need to find and destroy the Metroids, which are vicious space creatures hell-bent on taking over the galaxy. What this translates into is a massive multi-level adventure with loads of creatures to destroy, puzzle-type obstacles and tough-as-nails bad guys. This game DOES have a battery backup save game feature, which is handy. The most interesting thing about this game is the powerups and upgrades, such as the ability to lay bombs when in ball mode, or to climb walls. There is a SNES sequel to this which is better, but still – a game of this size on a console this size? Fantastic.

I suddenly realized when writing this; both Super Mario Land and Tetris had their music make it into the English Top 40 charts, albeit remixed by some out-of-touch monkeys. Super Mario Land is a wonderful platform action side-scroller that has a lot of influence from the NES version. All the powerups make it into this version, such as the invincibility star, powerup mushroom and the fire flower. It is hard, much shorter than the NES version, but still wonderful. Again, this made me realize how little patience we now have as I almost complained about it not having a battery backup save game, but I didn’t have that luxury back in the day, so why does it matter now?

The ultimate game; stack the shapes and try to complete horizontal lines to make them disappear. That’s about all there is to it. I got this with the unit I bought off eBay, and it is in a fantastic condition too. As soon as the music started, I was whisked back to the early 90’s – secondary school, sports lessons, English homework, Chess club… this game was my escape from all that. My record was 120 lines I think. I forgot how much the music makes this game, and I absolutely love the tune on the screen where you put your initials.

 I bought this from my local games store.  In fact, I bought this with the Super Gameboy, Micro, and about 5 other games.  I would have thought this would have raised an eyebrow from the owner and I was ready to field any attempts for smalltalk, yet he simply bagged it and took my money.  Either there are lots of GB collectors out there, or he has simply lost the passion for his work.  I suppose it's the same for gynacologists; if you have to talk about it, look at it and deal with it all day, you become insensitised to it.

Asteroids is the same as every other asteroids game ever released.  I was thinking vector graphics, but it has sprites instead.  Par for the course I guess.

 Yay!  Like Lemmings, Space Invaders is out on every format in one way or another.  Shoot the space invaders before they reach the bottom.  Hide underneath your buildings, or even shoot up through them to provide you some offensive capability whilst hiding.

The sticker on this cart is slightly damaged at the side, and faded at the top.  Otherwise, good quality.

Mortal Kombat was infamous because of the blood and death portrayed so realistically.  I remember the hype surrounding the console releases; Nintendo completely bottled it and pulled the punch (no blood and some characters had their fatalities tamed) whereas Sega simply did not care and allowed the real deal.

For a GB release, this had some pretty good fatalities and moved alright for a 4Mhz B&W handheld.  The cart that I have is in poor shape; has a massive dark blemish on the plastic - makes me think that a really strong coffee has somehow stained it.  Shudder.

 Can anyone remember Super Probotector (Contra 3 in the USA) on the SNES?  I almost creamed when I first played it all those years back.  The Mode 7 look-down levels were splendid, as was the platform shooter parts.  But wasn't it ever difficult?

This is pretty much the same game, maybe closer to the arcade release.  You have some of the same pickups as the SNES version, and a few of the same enemies.  Same difficulty too. 

This cart is in absolute mint condition; not a speck of dirt on it, and no sign of use either.  I was very surprised to find this game in this condition.

Awooga - geek alert! Yep, good ol' chess. I used to play a mean game of Chess in my youth; represented county a couple of times and was a member of two clubs. GEEK. Even played correspondence Chess too. Major GEEK. I even had Chessmaster on the Gameboy. Ultra GEEK.

As far as games of Chess goes, this can play pretty well. It does make the odd mistake on the default level (meaning you can strike like the SAS and make a decisive blow to your enemy's forces, har har har!) and it gives you lots of options such as timings, take back moves (not that I would, of course) and analyse the current game for mate.

This cart is in the same condition as Probotector; perfect. I bet there's a lot of Chess game carts that look like they have never been played.

Played it to check it works, beat it. Too easy? Or am I too good? Nope - it was too easy.

Before the Wii, were golf games ever taken seriously?  I mean, this game is a 2D simulation of the game that is a spoiler of good walks.  It's not golf - you don't get an advantage by being a golfer.  Oh, apart from knowing which clubs hit longer, and knowing what a bogey is.

It isn't a bad game, and you can play against someone else using the link cable.  None of this fandangled wifi that seems to be the rage of late, but good old copper cabling. 

Ah yes - a typical official game of a popular fad/film.  It has little to do with the story, and is of the format "walk around collecting items before moving onto the next level".  Utter crap, and I bet it sold like hotcakes.

This cart arrived a little stained, similar to the Mortal Kombat cart. Is this a result of sunlight or something? Seems odd that two independent carts have got the same disease.

This game is a kind of a cross between Zelda and Alex Kidd. Not bad, good artwork on the front.

Oh wow!  I used to have MM on the Megadrive - this is an awesome version that moves about as fast but without the colours.  When I was in 6th form, my friend brought his Megadrive into the common room, and that's where it stayed for the full two years.  During breaks, people would flock to the common room to play Micro Machines on this Megadrive.  It was a game stitched through our education.

Race your Micro Machine around breakfast bowls and rubber ducks, trying to beat your opponents.  In the challenge mode, you try to get one full screen's worth of space away from your opponent.  All-in-all, pretty good fun!

Cart is perfect, artwork awesome. 

Another game from memories past; this time, summer camp.  It fascinated me that this was an expensive game which was simple.  Where was the value?  Ah...there it is.  Pick it up, do "stunts", then turn it off.

I love it because of its simplicity.  It's never going to be a game that makes it into anyone's Best Game list, but it does have a certain appeal, and I'm glad I have it.

 Bloody hell - the guy I got this from was in the 'states.  Talk about lazy - long story short, it came after a month of waiting.

One of the last games released on the Gameboy, Harvest Moon is a farm simulator.  The detail is amazing really, but farm?  Na - not for me, and I even sound like a farmer.  Pretty rare cartridge though.

I bought this because it looked quirky.  Not sure how rare it is; can't find any rarity value on it!

It's a Chess game with Final Fantasy fighting overtones; you have control over ten pieces that can move in different directions.  When you try to take a piece, you attack using a deck of cards.  Not a bad little game really, just plays a bit odd.

Or, Super Mario World for the Gameboy, the graphics and speed of the original are improved as well as increasing the number of levels and even including a battery backup for saving your game! What folly.

It is a very good game and should be in anyone's collection. The box came with an Electronic Boutique pricetag slapped on the front - remember EB? The funny thing is that this game was £19.99 when it was new. That's pretty pricey for 17 years ago, although I remember paying £25 for Zelda when it first came out. Maybe my outlook on money hasn't changed.  That's scary.

This is more like it; no learning curve, hard as nuts, and pretty pointless.  A great Gameboy game; eat the smaller fish whilst avoiding the bigger fish.  I love it!

What a challenge; port over a game that requires 6 buttons onto a device that has 2.  Actually, it does do a good job in terms of keeping you entertained for a while.  Most of the moves are there - there are a few missing characters but sod it - if you're that serious about Street Fighter, you'd play it on the SNES.

Table football!  Wicked - you don't catch many computer conversions of a lads' classic on a console, but this is a pretty fun waste of time. 

The main point of Killer Instinct is to beat up your opponent with a combination of moves plus a finisher if you can.  I thought this would not be possible, yet you can actually put in a decent combo; see the video above.

As far as I can remember, all the playable characters are in this version.

This is typical of how brave programmers started to get with the Gameboy; rather than the small titchy sprites as in Super Mario, they started drawing bigger sprites with more detail to them.  This is an average platformer.

I love Ghost 'n' Goblins, Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts...  you get the idea.  I had this cartridge when it first came out, and I didn't realise that it was GnG 2! 

Anyway, you play the other side of Ghouls 'n' Ghosts; the flying gargoyle at the start of the original.  You have to fly, jump and shoot your way through the same kind of levels as Magic Knight had to.  It's very good and worth a go.