My Top Ten Game Boy Games

 

After the Gremlins 2 disaster, which I needed a hazmat suit to deal with, it's time for a palate cleanser. Surprised I haven't done this before considering it's my first system and the one I've got all this sentimental attachment to. This is simply the ten I like the most, not the ten I think are actually the best. Though it's likely 80 or 90 percent of this would overlap with a ten best list regardless. Not including Game Boy Color, as I'm one of the people who consider it a separate system (also no real sentimental attachment). Here we go.

HMs: The two Mario Land games. Both great games, and just barely missed making it into the top ten. Weirdly enough I think I prefer the first over the second. Probably the only person on the planet who does. I like how traditional the first is, while the second gets so weird/creative with the worlds that it at times doesn't feel quite like a Mario game. At least it debuts Wario.

HM: Mega Man III. The first truly solid Mega Man game on Game Boy, and while it would have been too difficult for me in 1993, I later got into it and had a good time.

HM: Final Fantasy Legend II. Favorite of the trilogy and one of the better SaGa games. I like the whole magi-collecting theme of this one and the party-customization is better than the first. Probably woulda been #11.

HM: Pokemon Blue/Red. As much as I like this game and have sentimental attachment to it, it doesn't really hold up today when we've got considerably less-buggy remakes of it. It's a near-miss for the list.

HM: Tetris. I mean, it's Tetris.

#10 - Kirby's Dream Land: My first game and a very fine game indeed. However it's only about 20 minutes long and just can't make it to the heights of other things on this list. Kirby hasn't yet evolved to the point where he can absorb his foes, so it's more or less a basic platformer. In all honesty it probably should have just been an honorable mention. The nostalgia is just too great though.

#9 - Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge: This one benefits a bit by how bad/mediocre respectively the other two games in its trilogy are. It looks great in comparison, and the stage select was a very inspired choice. One of the better games in this series not just on Game Boy but also in general. Soundtrack is great too. Only issue is that after the initial four stages, the game becomes very difficult, and the fortress stages are very close to reaching "unfun" levels as a result. Regardless, I personally like this game a ton and enjoyed playing it again not too long ago, so it still holds up.

#8 - Mega Man V: The Mega Man Game Boy series gets better and better as it goes on, and while IV is my favorite, V is pretty solid too. The only strike against it is how similar most of the levels are to each other. I can't really tell them apart and they all have the same "machinery" look to them. It's still a good capstone to the Game Boy Mega Man games and does some new things, unlike the others. I like the charged shot turning into a fist, and it's possible to make the fist travel super-fast which totally changes the game. Also liked that the final boss is basically a Super Shredder version of my favorite Mega Man boss, Pharaoh Man.

#7 - Kirby's Dream Land 2: Takes everything the first does and makes it much bigger and much better. Kirby can absorb the abilities of foes now AND you've got a trio of pets/allies that multiply all of the possible moves. The final world and final battle are extremely atmospheric, there are secrets to find (that are actually worth finding), and it's just a well-rounded game (no pun intended).

#6 - Operation C: The hidden gem of the Game Boy, and a game that deserves WAY more recognition than it has really ever gotten. Out of these ten, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the least-known by a good margin. It's basically Contra 2.5, and while they could have made it a remake of the original Contra or Super C, they decided to make it a fully-fledged game on its own. It plays just as well as the NES games, with great weapon variety and five extremely fun levels.

#5 - Wario Land: My liking of this game is no secret, and I find it to be the best Mario-like platformer on the system. Just a fun, timeless game where you kinda feel like you're playing as a boss. Not sure why the sequels just didn't gel with me at all because this is one of the best. There's also an entire world that's missable/hidden, fairly early in the game. And the Jet Hat is incredibly fun to play around with. The game also has a bunch of sound effects from Metroid II, which was trippy for me.

#4 - Final Fantasy Adventure: The first game in the Seiken Densetsu series, which makes this a Secret of Mana prequel...sort of. I find that the original still holds up very well and I'd rather play this than the various remakes of it that are out there. Some nice weapon variety here, an appealing world and journey, and just more fun to be had than any other "FF" representation on the system. It's a bit like a Zelda game if they had level-ups. You can really feel the power increases as you progress and the game gets better as it goes on. Just a super solid, and underrated, game.

#3 - Mega Man IV: A game with no weaknesses and the first time the Mega Man series reached its potential on this system. The stages are all instantly recognizable and diverse which puts it above MMV and its comparatively homogenous levels. Well, that game still made it into the top ten, but I gotta hand top Mega Man billing to this one. I'd stack this up with the better NES games in the series, even. It's also highly nostalgic for me, having appeared in one of the best Nintendo Power issues out there.

#2 - Metroid II: Return of Samus: How this didn't get into the Game Boy Player's Guide is beyond me, since it was out by then. This was my second game, and boy did I luck out. While I consider it in the bottom two of the five main series Metroid games, it's still head and shoulders above most of what's on the Game Boy, even without the benefit of nostalgia. It holds up. And as far as Metroids go, it's better than the first game in the series, at least.

Few things can beat the sense of exploration that this game gives you the first time through, especially if all you have are the rudimentary instruction booklet maps, and the soundtrack punches way above its weight. Lastly, the final boss is one of the most epic-looking foes in all of video gaming circa 1991. Find me a more bad-ass foe in any game than the Queen Metroid.

And finally...

#1: Terminator 2: The Arcade Game: Just kidding.

#1 - Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening: When thinking of the #1 Game Boy game, and my personal favorite, there isn't really any contest. I've told the story before, but when I was renting A Link to the Past as a kid, I became obsessed with this game. Then once I got this game, I became obsessed with A Link to the Past and ended up looping back around to getting that one and finishing it. There's also the story about how I was midway through a Space Megaforce rental when my mom sprang this game on me as a surprise. Needless to say, finishing Space Megaforce had to wait a few more years because it wasn't happening that week.

As for this game itself, it's compulsively playable, has an interesting world, a charming soundtrack, and memorable characters and settings. The only thing that'd make it better is more buttons, as the constant trips to the pause screen to switch items can get tiring. One of those rare things that I wish I could memory-wipe and play it again for the first time.