Retro 101's Top Ten Game Boy Games

Nintendo's classic system has a whole host of games worth your attention. Below are the ten games (in no particular order), we feel are the ones that every Game Boy owner should add to their collection.

Donkey Kong 94

  

Arguably the best game on the system is this reboot of Donkey Kong. Designed to make the most of the Super Game Boy add on it still plays brilliantly on the hand held. Tons of high quality levels await as Mario must make his way to a key needed to unlock the exit door in each level. Each area adds something new and it remains fun and inventive throughout.

Kirby’s Block Ball

Taking a simple block and ball game and adding Kirby shouldn’t have been anything special.   However, inventive level design and clever use of power ups end up creating one of the most enjoyable games on the system. Themed areas and the inclusion of enemies add another layer of fun as you fling Kirby around the screen to clear the blocks.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Essentially a Manic Miner clone, this offers some of the best reflex based platforming action on the system. Simply make your way around the single screen levels picking up all the objects while avoiding the enemies. Once all the objects have been collected you need to make it back to your time machine to move onto the next level. Some levels can be completed in seconds which makes it perfect for gaming on the move.

Super Mario Land

It may be a little basic and short but the original Mario game will have you playing through again and again. The graphics are small but still clear and the level design remains strong throughout. This game also sees our hero taking to a submarine and plane for some side scrolling shoot’em up action.

Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Though a colour version is available the original still holds its charm. Link’s Awakening is many people’s favourite Zelda game and it’s easy to see why. The dungeons are among some of the best in the series and the small island hides more magic than most bigger games can manage. Filled with great moments and characters this remains as essential now as it was upon release.

Killer Instinct

It should be terrible but against all the odds Killer Instinct is an essential title. The graphics and speed still do a good job in getting the ethos of the game across and it is surprisingly easy to control. Holding down the kick or punch buttons for different amounts of time decide whether attacks are weak, medium or strong and even the fatalities are included. This is an amazingly ambitious conversation that remains a great portable fighting game.

Pokemon Blue/Red

The first Pokemon game that started it all is still potentially one of the best in the series. It’s hard to beat the simplicity of the combat system mixed with the charm and collecting game mechanic. Building your team and taking on the gym leaders is an epic quest still worth undertaking.

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

The first time Nintendo’s antihero takes centre stage is well worth the visit. Superior in many ways to Mario Land 2, the game adds new game mechanics and the ability to put on different hats to power up. There’s a ton of courses to get through and it represents a decent challenge for retro gaming fans. Good level design and inventive bosses help to keep the Mario magic going.

Tetris

The first and still the best version of Tetris you can play. The repetitive tune will get into your brain and you’ll be rotating blocks in your sleep. Simply create lines of four out of different shaped blocks as they fall from the top of the screen. As the speed picks up the panic of needing a ‘long block’ intensifies to unbearable levels. As a pure gaming experience it can’t be beaten and goes to show that simplicity and a good concept is sometimes all you need.

Castlevania 2:Belmont's Revenge

The other two Castlevania Game Boy games could do with some improvement but Castlevania 2 offers up some classic platforming action. It runs smoothly and each of the initial castles can be attempted in any order with passwords also available. It may be a little basic when compared to later Castlevania games but it’s certainly up there with the first NES title.

Mario Vs Donkey Kong Review (GBA)

In 1981 Donkey Kong made his video game debut and then promptly ran off with Mario's (then Jump man's) girlfriend. To rescue the girl players had to negotiate four levels, climbing up Donkey Kong's tower before finally knocking his platform away. Ever since then the Mario vs Donkey Kong franchise has been rarely used, with both characters taking on many other roles. Indeed only the NES version of the arcade game (and an excellent title designed for the Super Gameboy in 1984) have seen the two Nintendo properties clashing head on.

Now on GBA the two giants of the Nintendo world clash again in a platform come puzzle game, which is a slight departure from the previous iterations in the highly enjoyable series. Anyone who has played the Super Gameboy version will be on familiar ground, though the impetus has now been placed heavily on the puzzle element of the title rather than the platforming fun of old. The manoeuvres that the mighty plumber can pull off are much the same as before. For the uninitiated Mario can jump, pick up enemies/other objects and do a hand stand-to-hand spring jump which gets him to high places. In a round about way what we have is Mario 64 moves plus a touch of Super Mario 2.

A new system brings with it a new graphical overhaul; everything is given the muddy, mock three-dimensional style that is beginning to creep into GBA games at an alarming rate. We have yet to see this technique pulled of completely successfully and again here it proves to be more of a hindrance than a help to the gameplay. The extra animations needed to pull off moves - mean that at times - Mario can seem to be slightly off the pace. It doesn't happen that often, but enough to make you consider throwing the cartridge at something.

The goal for the initial six worlds is to get Mario to a locked door with a key found somewhere on the screen. On the way you can pick up little present boxes, which if you collect them all give you a bonus. Luckily, (though the graphics can hinder the play some of the time) on the whole Mario is more than equipped to make it around the levels without the controls causing a problem which is good as players need to use all of Mario's abilities in order to do achieve the simplest of tasks. The game really does have some hidden depth in this respect.

In order to make it through safely you must be thinking right from the off, as solutions are rarely as straightforward as they first appear. Mario vs Donkey Kong is more about planning an effective route than the fast paced Mario action we have seen previously. However, though the levels are clever and the controls hold up the majority of the time, there is a distinct lack of an addictive quality in the title. Furthermore the game really is not that much fun to play, meaning what you are left with is a taxing puzzle game which you are not really driven to solve.

The title is not a bad game, it just lacks the little touch of Nintendo magic that make Mario titles such a compelling affair, something that the previous version of the Mario vs Donkey Kong franchise had in abundance. True there is some joy to be had during the boss battles, and when you solve a particularly tough puzzle the feeling of relief is a rare joy, but more often than not you will end up frustrated and worn down.

Mario vs Donkey Kong is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, and the franchise deserved to be revived and contains a lot of promise. But this title simply is not enough to launch the plumber and the big ape's feud into the Nintendo hall of fame. It tries to be Mario platforming crossed with all the goodness of lemmings but really it ends up showing only glimpses of the brilliance of each.

6/10