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My love for the Gameboy has never been understated here on The Outerhaven. Starting with one of my favorite editorials, Ode to the Gameboy, I have always wanted to do more to bring attention to one of the best handheld gaming consoles of any generation PERIOD. I know a lot of people will state differently, that some with superior technology took what the Gameboy did and made it on par with the home consoles that are all over the market, but without the Gameboy to begin all of this, none of those handhelds would have existed.
Now while I could do the "Top 10 Gameboy games of the generation" or "Karl's favorite Gameboy games", I decided to go another way. While the Gameboy had some amazing games in its original iteration (and more with the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance eras), I thought I would bring some attention to some of the weirder and underrated Gameboy games that people might not have heard about before... And might get a chance to buy on the second-hand market without having to sell body parts to afford.
Now while I could do the "Top 10 Gameboy games of the generation" or "Karl's favorite Gameboy games", I decided to go another way. While the Gameboy had some amazing games in its original iteration (and more with the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance eras), I thought I would bring some attention to some of the weirder and underrated Gameboy games that people might not have heard about before... And might get a chance to buy on the second-hand market without having to sell body parts to afford.
12. DuckTales 2
Price (Loose): $35-$50
Price (Complete): $1000+
Everyone knows about Ducktales from the NES and the remake on the XBOX 360/PlayStation 3, it's one of the best games featuring one of the best cartoons on the planet. However, not that many people know about the excellent sequel that is both on the Gameboy and NES. This adventure sees Scrooge McDuck chasing down the legendary treasure of Clan McDuck, stopping Glomgold from getting it. The game follows the formula that made the first game a success but goes and gives you more by allowing upgrades to Scrooge's cane and allowing the player to go back to previously completed levels and get more gold and treasures to give them a better chance at getting the better of two endings.
[table id=41 /]
11. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue
Price (Loose): $25-$110
Price (Complete): $250-$600
One of the weirder entries into the TMNT gaming library, TMNT3 is more of a dungeon crawler than a straightforward arcade brawler. You start out as Michaelangelo, who must rescue the other turtles, along with Splinter and April O'Neil, who has been kidnapped by Shredder. Following the in the vein of games like Metroid and Castlevania, you fight your way through many different sewer systems, parks, and other locations as you search for the kidnapped other characters and face off against the boss villains. Due to the later published nature of this game in the West, the English version is highly-priced, but the Japanese version is a lot cheaper and one of the only editions you can buy complete in a box.
[table id=42 /]
Price (Loose): $25-$110
Price (Complete): $250-$600
One of the weirder entries into the TMNT gaming library, TMNT3 is more of a dungeon crawler than a straightforward arcade brawler. You start out as Michaelangelo, who must rescue the other turtles, along with Splinter and April O'Neil, who has been kidnapped by Shredder. Following the in the vein of games like Metroid and Castlevania, you fight your way through many different sewer systems, parks, and other locations as you search for the kidnapped other characters and face off against the boss villains. Due to the later published nature of this game in the West, the English version is highly-priced, but the Japanese version is a lot cheaper and one of the only editions you can buy complete in a box.
[table id=42 /]
10. Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
Price (Loose): $10-$30
Price (Complete): $60-$70
I love me some Bomberman, but when you do something weird like adding Wario into the game, then you've got my attention. This is basically a port of Bomberman GB, the Japanese version of this game, but with Wario's name slapped on it for the Western market. It's due to this fact that this is one of the rare times where you'll find the English version of the game will cost less than the Japanese version. Either way, you're getting that great Bomberman gameplay in a portable format. Extra points to this version though due to the excellent Super Gameboy enhancements on the SNES, which included boosts to the sound as well as the visuals.
[table id=43 /]
Price (Loose): $10-$30
Price (Complete): $60-$70
I love me some Bomberman, but when you do something weird like adding Wario into the game, then you've got my attention. This is basically a port of Bomberman GB, the Japanese version of this game, but with Wario's name slapped on it for the Western market. It's due to this fact that this is one of the rare times where you'll find the English version of the game will cost less than the Japanese version. Either way, you're getting that great Bomberman gameplay in a portable format. Extra points to this version though due to the excellent Super Gameboy enhancements on the SNES, which included boosts to the sound as well as the visuals.
[table id=43 /]
9. Boomer's Adventure in ASMIK World
Price (Loose): $2.50-$25
Price (Complete): $850
One of the weirdest games I ever played as a kid, and one of the most challenging. Playing a top-down adventure game where you play as a dinosaur who digs holes to trap enemies and get items to help make his way back up and down a tower is just weird. Also calling this an adventure in an ASMIK world where nobody outside of Japan would have a clue about what's going on, then you have one of the weirdest games out there.
[table id=44 /]
Price (Loose): $2.50-$25
Price (Complete): $850
One of the weirdest games I ever played as a kid, and one of the most challenging. Playing a top-down adventure game where you play as a dinosaur who digs holes to trap enemies and get items to help make his way back up and down a tower is just weird. Also calling this an adventure in an ASMIK world where nobody outside of Japan would have a clue about what's going on, then you have one of the weirdest games out there.
[table id=44 /]
8. Mr. Chin's Gourmet Paradise
Price (Loose): $8.00-$20
Price (Complete): $850
Another game where the premise and gameplay make no sense at all. You play as Mr. Chin, a Chinese stereotype who goes around taking weird flaming ball creatures and either killing them or turning them into peaches and eating them. Kind of an action-platformer mixed with a strategy game that makes you think about what you are doing before you do it but also has a fast enough reaction time to adapt to new situations. A great game for the thinking gamer, but still very weird that it doesn't demand a high price online.
[table id=45 /]
Price (Loose): $8.00-$20
Price (Complete): $850
Another game where the premise and gameplay make no sense at all. You play as Mr. Chin, a Chinese stereotype who goes around taking weird flaming ball creatures and either killing them or turning them into peaches and eating them. Kind of an action-platformer mixed with a strategy game that makes you think about what you are doing before you do it but also has a fast enough reaction time to adapt to new situations. A great game for the thinking gamer, but still very weird that it doesn't demand a high price online.
[table id=45 /]
7. Burger Time Deluxe
Price (Loose): $19-$60
Price (Complete): $80-$250
Take the platforms from Donkey Kong, add food-based enemies, and make the objective about running over hamburger pieces in order to make a complete burger to win, and boom, you have Burgertime Deluxe. Starting life in the arcades, this basic but challenging puzzle title is something that needs to be played to see how challenging it really is. Long before most other puzzle games were ported to the Gameboy, Burgertime Deluxe showed the portable world how things are done.
[table id=46 /]
Price (Loose): $19-$60
Price (Complete): $80-$250
Take the platforms from Donkey Kong, add food-based enemies, and make the objective about running over hamburger pieces in order to make a complete burger to win, and boom, you have Burgertime Deluxe. Starting life in the arcades, this basic but challenging puzzle title is something that needs to be played to see how challenging it really is. Long before most other puzzle games were ported to the Gameboy, Burgertime Deluxe showed the portable world how things are done.
[table id=46 /]
6. Bubble Ghost
Price (Loose): $20-$70
Price (Complete): $300
The objective is to guide a bubble throughout a number of halls in a haunted house. If the bubble hits any walls or obstacles, then it will pop and the player loses a life. Obstacles include lit candles, electricity, and fans. These can be all controlled by the ghost, who can wander around the level freely and blow at things - such as the bubble to add speed, the candle to put out the flame, or switches to turn them on or off. What makes Bubble Ghost such a great game is probably the way that my mother and I challenged each other with this game to see how far we could get before the game was over. She won a lot, but these days I'd probably win.
[table id=47 /]
Price (Loose): $20-$70
Price (Complete): $300
The objective is to guide a bubble throughout a number of halls in a haunted house. If the bubble hits any walls or obstacles, then it will pop and the player loses a life. Obstacles include lit candles, electricity, and fans. These can be all controlled by the ghost, who can wander around the level freely and blow at things - such as the bubble to add speed, the candle to put out the flame, or switches to turn them on or off. What makes Bubble Ghost such a great game is probably the way that my mother and I challenged each other with this game to see how far we could get before the game was over. She won a lot, but these days I'd probably win.
[table id=47 /]
5. Catrap
Price (Loose): $50-$100
Price (Complete): $50-$2800
Catrap is a puzzle game. The player directs the avatar, an anthropomorphic cat, to navigate a room while clearing obstacles and kicking monsters and ghosts off the screen. Once the player has knocked all of the enemies off the screen, they advance to the next level. Advancement grows difficult for the player as increasingly intricate obstacles is presented to complicate the process of overcoming all of the monsters and ghosts. The game encourages trial and error. A player may try one combination of maneuvers by moving the obstacle in one direction, then they may find themselves trapped. The player can hit the 'A'-button to reverse their movements and try again in a different way until they find the solution that enables them to access all of the enemies and knock them off the screen. Trial and error make up a large portion of the game. Players can also create their own mazes.
[table id=48 /]
Price (Loose): $50-$100
Price (Complete): $50-$2800
Catrap is a puzzle game. The player directs the avatar, an anthropomorphic cat, to navigate a room while clearing obstacles and kicking monsters and ghosts off the screen. Once the player has knocked all of the enemies off the screen, they advance to the next level. Advancement grows difficult for the player as increasingly intricate obstacles is presented to complicate the process of overcoming all of the monsters and ghosts. The game encourages trial and error. A player may try one combination of maneuvers by moving the obstacle in one direction, then they may find themselves trapped. The player can hit the 'A'-button to reverse their movements and try again in a different way until they find the solution that enables them to access all of the enemies and knock them off the screen. Trial and error make up a large portion of the game. Players can also create their own mazes.
[table id=48 /]
4. Solar Striker
Price (Loose): $10-$30
Price (Complete): $70-$500
The player controls the advanced space fighter, code-named Solar Striker. There are six levels of play against enemies known as the forces of Reticulon. These enemies appear from the top of the screen. The player can amass power-ups by shooting special ships. One power-up doubles the player's firepower, three power-ups triples the player's firepower, and five power-ups causes shots to explode on impact with enemies, greatly aiding combat against tough enemies and bosses that take many hits to destroy. There are a variety of enemies as well as sub-bosses in later levels.
[table id=49 /]
Price (Loose): $10-$30
Price (Complete): $70-$500
The player controls the advanced space fighter, code-named Solar Striker. There are six levels of play against enemies known as the forces of Reticulon. These enemies appear from the top of the screen. The player can amass power-ups by shooting special ships. One power-up doubles the player's firepower, three power-ups triples the player's firepower, and five power-ups causes shots to explode on impact with enemies, greatly aiding combat against tough enemies and bosses that take many hits to destroy. There are a variety of enemies as well as sub-bosses in later levels.
[table id=49 /]
3. Motocross Maniacs
Price (Loose): $5-$20
Price (Complete): $40-$80
The player controls a motorcycle moving one way horizontally, much like Nintendo's Excitebike for the Nintendo Entertainment System. When a level has been completed within its time limit, the player starts on the next. With only eight different levels and fairly simple gameplay, the game's complexity is not too different from other Game Boy games released around the introduction of the system. Despite this, Motocross Maniacs requires quite some skill to master. Additionally, the game provides replay value by letting the player beat previous time records, which are announced at the completion of a level. The game's cartridge, however, does not retain these records after the Game Boy is turned off.
[table id=50 /]
Price (Loose): $5-$20
Price (Complete): $40-$80
The player controls a motorcycle moving one way horizontally, much like Nintendo's Excitebike for the Nintendo Entertainment System. When a level has been completed within its time limit, the player starts on the next. With only eight different levels and fairly simple gameplay, the game's complexity is not too different from other Game Boy games released around the introduction of the system. Despite this, Motocross Maniacs requires quite some skill to master. Additionally, the game provides replay value by letting the player beat previous time records, which are announced at the completion of a level. The game's cartridge, however, does not retain these records after the Game Boy is turned off.
[table id=50 /]
2. Penguin Wars
Price (Loose): $8-$20
Prince (Complete): $Unknown
The player participates in a sport called "Dojiball" (ドジボール, dojibōru), a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of "Dodgeball". In the arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System editions of the game, the five animals featured are the penguin, bear, panda, koala, and beaver, with the penguin being controlled by the player. In the Game Boy version, the player can choose any one of the five animals, which, in addition to the penguin, are a cow, rabbit, bat, and rat. In all versions of the game, the player plays against all the other animals. In each game, the participating animals find each other on opposite sides of a square table with five balls on each side. The object of the game is to roll those balls over the table. As soon as all ten balls are on one player's side, that player loses the game. Each game also has a time limit of 60 seconds; if that is reached, the player with the fewest balls on their side wins.
[table id=51 /]
Price (Loose): $8-$20
Prince (Complete): $Unknown
The player participates in a sport called "Dojiball" (ドジボール, dojibōru), a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of "Dodgeball". In the arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System editions of the game, the five animals featured are the penguin, bear, panda, koala, and beaver, with the penguin being controlled by the player. In the Game Boy version, the player can choose any one of the five animals, which, in addition to the penguin, are a cow, rabbit, bat, and rat. In all versions of the game, the player plays against all the other animals. In each game, the participating animals find each other on opposite sides of a square table with five balls on each side. The object of the game is to roll those balls over the table. As soon as all ten balls are on one player's side, that player loses the game. Each game also has a time limit of 60 seconds; if that is reached, the player with the fewest balls on their side wins.
[table id=51 /]
1. Snow Bros. Jr
Price (Loose): $80-$160
Price (Complete): $150-$400
Snow Bros. is a platform game reminiscent of Bubble Bobble and Tumblepop, where players assume the role of snowmen twins Nick (P1) and Tom (P2) through 50 increasingly difficult stages, each with a boss at every tenth stage that must be fought before progressing any further, in an effort to rescue twin princesses Puripuri and Puchipuchi from captivity as the main objective. Now the Gameboy version is only 1 player, but it manages to capture all the gameplay of its arcade original to perfection. This version is my personal favorite because its a great game to throw on for a lazy afternoon playthrough.
[table id=52 /]
Price (Loose): $80-$160
Price (Complete): $150-$400
Snow Bros. is a platform game reminiscent of Bubble Bobble and Tumblepop, where players assume the role of snowmen twins Nick (P1) and Tom (P2) through 50 increasingly difficult stages, each with a boss at every tenth stage that must be fought before progressing any further, in an effort to rescue twin princesses Puripuri and Puchipuchi from captivity as the main objective. Now the Gameboy version is only 1 player, but it manages to capture all the gameplay of its arcade original to perfection. This version is my personal favorite because its a great game to throw on for a lazy afternoon playthrough.
[table id=52 /]
