The Game: The Boy and The Gear

[NYN]

As in the handheld systems GB and GG.

Back then, when it got to me to make a wish in the 90s, I asked my parents for a popular Nintendo GAME BOY system.
And got a SEGA GAME GEAR instead! Lookit, it got colours! Whoa, what's that one called? COLUMNS?! That music! Here, use your SMSII power supply!

Yes, I purchased, played and kept ( ) GG games. What little there was available to me. VF ANIMATION!! It wasn't until later when GG fell out of favour with me, that I realized that the quality wasn't much on a whole. Kids just wanna play. Sure, GG Shinobi are still fun. But that's what I gather from other opinions on the board.

Currently playing DuckTales 2 on original GB hardware, my mind is bending. Here, in this Land, even Super Mario is mediocre!

Was there ever something fun on those limited systems? Please don't name the T-puzzler PHENOMENA; I don't consider that a game.

It's not even "8-bit" -quality level of games. I mean what a riot! It's close to cheating the customer.

Seems to me it's just the T-hype for playing mobile and the rest falls deep, with some rare exceptions.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Am I to understand that the premise of this thread is that no good games were ever made for the Game Boy and Game Gear?

[Sumez]

Honestly I've never felt there's much in the way of quality on the original Game Boy either. There's a few really good games, but overall at the time it felt like a dumping ground for companies to make compromised handheld versions of their "bigger" games on "real consoles".
There's a few gems, but at least to me a lot of them have been something I've had to rely on an internet of knowledge to dig up many years later.

Link's Awakening is the absolute biggest most obvious exception. It's a game easily on the level of the best of its own genre, to the point where if it's not my favourite Zelda game out of the entire series, it's at least #2, and I know I'm far from alone in that.

Wario Land is another top tier game that I think worked well on the GB an managed to bypass that implied leeway I think most people intuitively apply to Game Boy games.

Other games I liked a lot on the platform are Rockman World 5, Bomberman GB 3, Cave Noire, Kirby, and Metroid II. None of them are top-notch masterpieces, but all absolutely worth playing.
Donkey Kong 94 is worth mentioning too, it's a decent game, but I think it's extremely overrated.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I mean, I don't disagree that the ratio of bad games to good games feels like it's higher, but in an absolute sense there were still plenty of great games made specifically for the handheld systems, and not ones that were simply handheld ports of an existing console game. Asking "Was there ever something fun on those limited systems?" is way too harsh.

There were some bad ones for sure, namely ports of games that had no business being on a limited handheld (Bubble Bobble doesn't show the entire level and you have to scroll the screen with Select!). The limited screen size made the port of Sonic II basically unplayably cramped, and the GG version of Ecco the Dolphin also feels sorely lacking in part due to the screen size. The Game Gear seemed to have more of those examples. Though, the Sonic Drift games were pretty damn fun, and the port of Outrun was quite serviceable! Shining Force: Sword of Hajya was a very respectable game too, and Jurassic Park for GG was a fantastic platformer (on par with Shinobi). The port of Streets of Rage 1 was frankly awful due to how collision detection worked, but the port of the second game was vastly improved and is very fun and playable, even if it's stripped down. There was also a JP only port of Gunstar Heroes that was quite well done, though obviously most people would never have touched that.

I do know that the Game Gear felt like it was sorely lacking as far as RPGs go. There just wasn't the larger library the GB had there such as all three SaGa games, the JP exclusive (recently translated) Wizardry games (which are amazingly good), the Sword of Hope games, Seiken Densetsu/Final Fantasy Adventure, and so on. We did get a few weird ones like Great Greed, and the "cockfighting but for children" Pokémon games sold like crazy.

I feel like due to screen issues with the early GB hardware, and general shaking if you're playing in a vehicle, that both systems were better suited for RPGs rather than action games with a lot of motion. Also, because of the insane battery demands of the Game Gear, I often played it plugged in as an option in a hotel room or something when travelling. There were some very good sidescrolling action games as well as shmups for both systems... but to be honest a lot of the cream of the crop feels nowadays like they were JP exclusives (ZAS on Game Boy, GG Aleste 1 & 2 for Game Gear, tons of RPGs that were JP only and are only now getting translated like the 3 Wizardry GG games).

There were plenty of not revolutionary but still really fun games for them. I had a lot of fun with Tail Gator (GB), Bubble Ghost (GB), Jurassic Park (GG), Psychic World (GG). There was also a surprisingly competent Garfield platformer for GG, and I think some of the Mickey Mouse games got worthy, playable GG ports.

[Air Master Burst]

There are plenty of good games on both systems. Game Boy just had the dubious distinction of being the only game in town for the better part of a decade so it got a bunch of shovelware, and back in the day most people would just buy kids whatever licensed garbage was on the rack at Target, so nobody got to play half the good games.

Game Gear has a much better library with a lot less shovelware. It got decent to great versions of most of Sega's major franchises from the era. It even got a decently playable version of Gunstar Heroes! The only thing really holding it back is the battery usage.

ETA: there's also the fact that if you didn't want to play Game Boy or Game Gear games, you often just weren't playing video games at all. This was your only option outside of arcades or sitting in front of a tv/computer.

[NYN]

Am I to understand that the premise of this thread is that no good games were ever made for the Game Boy and Game Gear?

Not at all. I just think terms as "fun" and "good" are rather relative. My "point" being that I don't think there was ever an impressive handheld game on a technical scale. I have yet to find an actual title that doesn't underperform (with slowdowns, box detection etc.). Something I had no experience with when very young. I'm not on the "It's-all-junk!!"-side. Just my current stand.

If you think I am rather wrong with this I would appreciate your examples. No baiting. *And you did. Many thanks!

Yet, that's another point, right? Were there any "original" software (yes, cleary) or do I recognize only "ports" of names and IP's from other systems?
The GB/GG "version" of [ THAT GAME ].

[Air Master Burst]

My "point" being that I don't think there was ever an impressive handheld game on a technical scale.

Then your standards are hilariously inflated.

Also, excluding Tetris from the conversation is pretty silly because Game Boy Tetris was SUCH a huge deal. Pretty sure it was the first time non-pc video games were openly and heavily marketed toward adults. You couldn't walk through an airport in the 90s without seeing dozens of Game Boys.

Anyone else remember that glorious time in the mid 90s when chain restaurants like Denny's and Perkins used to let parents hand over a credit card so kids could play the house Game Gears while they waited for food?

[BryanM]

Action games were a non-starter, puzzle games and RPG's were what these machines were for. And if you were a graphics/music whore, then not even that.

The stripped down effort and budgets they put into these games didn't help.. Shining Force gutting out the town sections. Last Bible is... Last Bible. It's a bit dumb the best game on these platforms was Dragon Quest 3. Have enough faith in your work to make something original, guys!

On the upsides, Pokemon made use of the trade cable. Devil Children games were solid for the time. Roguelikes were made perfect for mobile. (Azure Dreams and Lufia 3 weren't quite the best, maybe someone has a better example that has some zazz to it.) Games like Last Bible Special and Wizardry paved the way for Etrian Odyssey.

And... card game RPGs actually existed. Pokemon Card Game, Card Summoner, Neo Geo Pocket got Card Fighters Clash... were there any card game RPGs on the SNES or Genesis? I'm drawing blanks... Eh? Eh?

One gaping hole in their libraries was a Monster Hunter/Diablo kind of clone. Maybe an entire franchise could have been built on it back then; this is before the internet, these would have been the only way to give someone their own screen in multiplayer. Outside of having two computers sitting next to each other linked together by their SCSI ports or something..

The Gameboy Color came out eight years after the SNES. And a few years before the GBA. It was never going to impress with aesthetics.

[BrianC]

The port of Streets of Rage 1 was frankly awful due to how collision detection worked.

Are you confusing the GG and SMS SoR? They are different. SMS SoR is the one with the odd collision detection (and seems to have been designed for PAL). GG SoR has better collision detection, but still sucks since it's missing basic grapple attacks and the throw attacks don't do enough damage.

I found the GB had the much better library, though the GG still got solid stuff like the Mickey Mouse games, Sonic 1, GG Aleste, the GG Shinobis, and Jurassic Park. Some highlights on GB include Lock 'n Chase, Burgertime Deluxe, Super Mario Land (say what you want, but I found it to be a fun time, despite how short it is), Castlevania II, Konami shmups, Contra, Solar Striker, Dr. Mario, HAL Pinball games, Zelda, Kirby, Final Fantasy Adventure, Final Fantasy Legend II, Game and Watch Gallery, Megaman III-V, and Wario Land I and II.

Edit: Forgot to mention Mole Mania. Definitely one of the highlights of the GB library with nifty SGB support to boot.

[NYN]

Then your standards are hilariously inflated.

Maybe. So what? Starting with consoles on 8-bit, even if there were earlier gens before the crash, GB/GG being handheld making it the only selling point at the time. Certainly couldn't be the tech performance with the GB Dot Matrix and the GG's need of SIX AA batteries.

Also, excluding Tetris from the conversation is pretty silly because Game Boy Tetris was SUCH a huge deal.

That's just a personal choice. And because it was HUGE it converted also millions of first-contact to regular players who wanted more up until now? Our experiences differ there, then. Many then parents and grandparents I know of played nothing but T, even the cheap clone ones.

Let me know what you think about the Virtual Boy, eh?

[BryanM]

OIIIII, I HAD FORGOTTEN THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME.

Harvest Moon GB2.

Yeah, it lacked some features from the SNES game, but at least we had chickens!

Fucking staple Harvest Moon, Zelda, and Monster Hunter together well and you would have had an immortal money printin' machine back then.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

My "point" being that I don't think there was ever an impressive handheld game on a technical scale.

Then your standards are hilariously inflated.

Yeah, you're doing a bit of a disservice to the people who busted their ass to produce some great quality ports. Being able to play a good quality port on a handheld like Tetris or Columns was really fun! Even nowadays, with powerful handheld devices that can run console games, there are many worthy Game Boy and Game Gear games that are well worth playing and aren't merely ports or feel like watered down experiences of existing IPs.

Hilariously, I can even think of an example where the handheld port is BETTER than the SNES port. Ultima Runes of Virtue I & II are top down adventure games, and the second one actually had a SNES port which... actually looks really genuinely bad compared to the Game Boy one due to a bad isometric perspective.

It's worth noting that once the GB Color came along that needed a measly 2 AA batteries for TONS of playtime and ran classic GB games amazingly due to the vastly improved screen technology, that was the way to play. You also got access to a huge library of GBC games.

Are you confusing the GG and SMS SoR? They are different.

Nope, never played the SMS one. The GG one's odd because there's like a weird half second delay between your sprite's punch landing and the actual "hit" registering. I wrote about this years ago when describing how much the second game improved things from the first in a review. There's also the weird jumping angle, and the lack of knee attacks during a grab, and in what was already a fairly basic beat'em up! It struck me as technically playable, but felt totally off, whereas the second game felt much more like a proper port, albeit with tweaks due to the limited buttons on the GG.

Super Mario Land (say what you want, but I found it to be a fun time, despite how short it is)

I agree, but I'd also say that the small sprites coupled with how blurry the screen tended to get when in motion means that it plays WAY better on a GBC or GBA, or in an emulator than it did on the original hardware. Other games like Link's Awakening or Donkey Kong that either had larger sprites or slower movement worked a bit better, at least on the early model Game Boys.

Let me know what you think about the Virtual Boy, eh?

It was one of Nintendo's forays into selling wacky but unique hardware with a gimmick (which they've oft repeated, especially from the Wii era onward). Given that nowadays people love playing VR games and see no problems with having goggles strapped to their head for hours, I don't think their attempt was wildly off the mark, and there were some interesting games, but it was definitely a gimmicky piece of hardware that was never going to attract a major audience.

[NYN]

Yes, yet wasn't it meant to screw to a table and to strap the players face into it? I mean officially!
What a concept! Quirky and weird? Collectable? You got it. But consumer-oriented? Hardly.

[Sumez]

I don't think any points have been made in this thread to truly defend the Game Boy (I'm gonna ignore the Game Gear entirely for now, because I'm not very familiar with its library, and my general impression is that the GB is much better off in direct comparison).
There's a lot of reasonable arguments about how it's better suited for a very specific subset of games, which is definitely true. And a few games, even more action games than you'd probably assume, managed to make quite do with those limitations. But at the end of the day, it's still limitations, and the effects of those were quite obvious. Even if you consider the Game Boy mostly a puzzle machine, I don't think it really has any truly stand-out puzzle games that I'd ever recommend playing on one?

Again, like NYN I'm not in the "Game Boy is trash" camp, but there's absolutely the expectation that you need to give it some leeway because of what it is and when it was. But I also truly believe that genuinely amazing games are possible within its limitations, and we could have seen way more of those if most video game companies at the time didn't see it as the poverty NES.

Also, I think it bears repeating. Link's Awakening is a bonafide masterpiece.

Also, excluding Tetris from the conversation is pretty silly because Game Boy Tetris was SUCH a huge deal.

Huge deal? Yes.
Is it a good Tetris game? .... well it's fun for simple VS matches I guess.

[BEAMLORD]

were there any card game RPGs on the SNES or Genesis? I'm drawing blanks... Eh? Eh?

Arcana for SNES. Although I've not played it.

That is my contribution. Good evening, gentlemen.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

were there any card game RPGs on the SNES or Genesis? I'm drawing blanks... Eh? Eh?

Arcana for SNES. Although I've not played it.

The card theme is cute, but it's literally only the graphics that are card themed. It's functionally very much like a standard JRPG with zero card or deck-building elements. It's kind of like Megami Tensei in that you have a slot for summons and 3 human characters but if ANY of the human characters die it's game over. It's not too tough though as there's nothing cheap like instant death spells, and the music's amazing.

Huge deal? Yes.
Is it a good Tetris game? .... well it's fun for simple VS matches I guess.

This is kind of my attitude with the NES port of Tetris nowadays. It's good, but it's vastly overhyped and it's one of the only versions of Tetris anyone seems to care about in the mainstream compared to the way less popular but far more deserving TGM arcade games.

[BryanM]

..I think Dragon Ball card battler kinda things were as close as they got.

I guess Magic the Gathering was a few years after their time, and it took a few years on top of that for it to seep into the social conscious as a type of game one could make.

It's kind of weird nowadays, since it kind of feels like every kind of game that can be made has been made, short of stapling a Sword Art Online kinda thing to your brainstem..

--

And I forgot another big franchise: Dragon Quest Monsters. Randomized games you can replay with different units, they only needed a bit more to be perfect at what they were trying to do.

Legend of the River King also comes to mind for some reason, though I know nothing about them.

But I also truly believe that genuinely amazing games are possible within its limitations, and we could have seen way more of those if most video game companies at the time didn't see it as the poverty NES.

I kind of understand their mentality. For the same amount of money and effort, they could make a better looking and (often) playing game on the console. There's also the prestige from their peers - it's a lot like how old companies like Squaresoft intentionally sabotage their mobile games these days. They *could* technically make the best Dragon Quest game of all time; mobile, gameboy, whatever. But that would be competing against the AAA team, and none of the old monsters there want these upstarts diminishing their place in the pecking order.

Making a game there would be a strategic decision, to avoid competing with AAA games. And might have only been the kind of thing a company that wasn't already invested in consoles to do. Gamefreak expected Pokemon not to do so well.

In hindsight there was definitely more potential that could have been squeezed out of this little brick. But most of the people with the power to do that had little interest and motivation in that.

... hell. The Gameboy itself. The NES team at Nintendo wanted it dead dead deader than dead when it was in development. For that same reason I mentioned before: ego, social rank, degree of importance at the company, etc.

It's good, but it's vastly overhyped and it's one of the only versions of Tetris anyone seems to care about

It's neat they added multiplayer to it. Kind of reminds me how they have annual roster updates to Tecmo Super Bowl.

I bought my ex a DS and Tetris long ago, and I was horrified to learn of this thing called "infinite spin" at the time.

[BrianC]

This is kind of my attitude with the NES port of Tetris nowadays. It's good, but it's vastly overhyped and it's one of the only versions of Tetris anyone seems to care about in the mainstream compared to the way less popular but far more deserving TGM arcade games.

The SNES BPS Tetris games like Super Tetris 3 and Tetris Battle Gaiden are also very good and seem to be overlooked.

I grew up playing SML on the old-style GB. Despite the small graphics, everything was kept simple enough to be playable on the older system. Donkey Kong Land is the biggest offender since it seems to have been designed around the SGB (why, when DKC exists?) and not only is way too detailed for the older GB but has glitchy graphics on anything newer than GBC.

Alleyway was one of the first games I played on the system. I was disappointed in it because it didn't have power ups like Arkanoid. However, it's still a pretty good Breakout clone, even if that's all it is. There was a pretty good color hack made for it recently, though Kirby's Block Ball is the game you want if you want something more modern like Arkanoid (though it still plays a bit different and is a great game in its own right).

I didn't feel the GB b/w had all that much shovelware compared to other systems. It's the GBC that got most of it (which still has some nice games like Wario Land 3 and the Flagship Zeldas).

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Yeah, the GBC and GBA both had a particularly large amount of shovelware and crappy licensed kids show games. Was really unfortunate.

HAL Laboratory made some really fun pinball games for GB! In addition to the Kirby one there's also Revenge of the 'Gator which has a recent hack that came out last month which changes it to run full color as a GBC game and includes some speed improvements over the original game.

edit:

One gaping hole in their libraries was a Monster Hunter/Diablo kind of clone. Maybe an entire franchise could have been built on it back then; this is before the internet

It wasn't until the GBA that an actual Diablo-esque action style dungeon crawler with multiple classes with skill trees and lots of randomized loot to find even became a thing. The two Shining Soul games are quite good though. I'm not sure how well it'd have worked for GBC because lacking the two extra shoulder buttons would be a real limitation.

[XoPachi]

Donkey Kong 94, Wario Land 1-3, Zelda, Operation C, Belmont's Revenge, Mega Man V, Six Golden Coins, and Trip World are the only GameBoy titles off the top of my head I really care about.
X is very impressive and interesting with great music but I can't get into it.

I dont really like Game Gear games at all tbh.

[Sumez]

I think bringing the Game Boy Color into the mix, changes the playing field entirely. When I'm talking about the Game Boy, that's the original one.

The GBC is very similar in hardware, even though the clearer screen made a pretty big difference - but more importantly it came out nearly ten years later, and its ecosystem for game releases was just an entirely different beast that can't be compared at all. That's more than the life cycle of any other console, but even more so when that period stretches from the 80s to the late 90s.

This is kind of my attitude with the NES port of Tetris nowadays. It's good, but it's vastly overhyped and it's one of the only versions of Tetris anyone seems to care about in the mainstream compared to the way less popular but far more deserving TGM arcade games.

Ehh. I'm not a big fan of NES Tetris myself, but it's arguably probably the best single player variant of Tetris to play as a survival focused game outside of TGM.
The GB version is pretty much broken.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The GBC is very similar in hardware, even though the clearer screen made a pretty big difference - but more importantly it came out nearly ten years later, and its ecosystem for game releases was just an entirely different beast that can't be compared at all.

True, but the point is that there are some very enjoyable games on the systems, made all the better with the newer tech. The vast majority of my time spent with Game Boy games was on a GBC, and GB games sold quite well even when GBC games were on the market. Even the ones that are a bit blurry and are frankly better on the newer hardware are still generally quite playable on the original iteration of the Game Boy though, and there are plenty of early handheld games that are of exceptional quality that they're worthy of consideration even now that the "you can play this handheld" isn't a noteworthy or redeeming feature, what with emulation being easily and widely available.

[To Far Away Times]

I had a Game Boy growing up. I had a friend that had a Game Gear and Bust a Move for it.

There was a time when I was all about Bust A Move. One of those games where you'd get a little envious.

[BrianC]

The GBC does have a very good version of Tetris with some improvements over the older version. There's even a hack that puts the classic A-Type music back in. There are also hacks for the GB b/w non DX version of Tetris to adjust the balance.

Crazy that TGM is now playable on Switch and the Mister PS1 core (via a hack of the original to PS1).

[SuperDeadite]

Master of Darkness is surprisingly good for being a complete rippoff. I prefer the SMS version, but in NTSC land only the GG got it.

I also really adore Lunar Walking School. Its basic and extremely easy, but its just a fun RPG that requires zero grinding with great music.

Game Boy has so many great games its hard to know where to start. But for something no one else will mention, I adore Itchy & Scratchy Miniture Golf Madness. I played this to death as a kid and I still love it today. Cheap deaths galore, but that is I&S. Tons of secrets and surprisingly fun golf mechanics.

[Steven]

GG Aleste 3 exists.

[BrianC]

GG Aleste 3 exists.

With M2 currently having the only version playable on real hardware. Excellent game, though.

Master of Darkness is surprisingly good for being a complete rippoff. I prefer the SMS version, but in NTSC land only the GG got it.

Canada may have gotten it and that's also NTSC land (not 100% sure on them getting it, though). It does work on NTSC hardware, thankfully.

[BryanM]

Another way Pokemon was "made for the system" was how they optimized screen usage during battle for aesthetics: a 1v1 3 quarter view, just like Shining Force uses. Last Bible and Devil Children also only used a couple of enemies at a time, to make them as big as possible.

If you got greedy, compromises had to be made. Cramp city:



Anyway, Gameboy Wars has some historical value. Another genre they didn't mine on the system much, no Godzilla 3 Tactical Simulator I don't think?

[Koa Zo]

Was there ever something fun on those limited systems? Please don't name the T-puzzler PHENOMENA; I don't consider that a game.

I wasn't a fan of either during their life cycle but have grown to appreciate some of the games. I'd purchased a Game Gear at release and was very disappointed overall. Sold the GG and got a Lynx which was just as disappointing.
In recent years, looking at the Game Boy and GBC libraries versus the Game Gear's, I can say the Game Gear has more games that I'd enjoy playing today.

The few Game Boy and GBC games I can recommend:
Donkey Kong '94
Macross 7: Ginga no Heart o Furuwa Sero!! (GBC)
Mole Mania
Motocross Maniacs
Rubble Saver
Rubble Saver II
Snoopy Tennis (GBC)
Spanky's Quest
Super Robot Pinball (GBC)
SMB Deluxe (GBC)
Uchuu no Kishi: Tekkaman Blade
and the compilations like the Game & Watch and Konami collections.

and Game Gear:
Arena Maze of Death
Castle of Illusion (and the other Disney games)
Chuck Rock II
Coca Cola Kid
Crayon Shinchan Taiketsu Kantam Panic (mini games)
Devilish
Dynamite Heady
Fantasy Zone Gear
GG Aleste
GG Shinobi
GG Shinobi II
Gunstar Heroes
Jurassic Park Lost World
Magical Taruruto-kun
Mappy
Pac Man
Ristar The Shooting Star
Shining Force The Sword of Hajya
Sonic games (Sonic Drift II)
Sylvan Tale
Tail's Adventures
Wonder Boy: The Dragons Trap
Woody Pop
Zenki, Kishin Douji
Tail's Sky Patrol

[BrianC]

I was surprised to find out that Ninku Gaiden on Game Gear is an updated version of Pengo and seems to be a faithful update, from what I have played. The actual Pengo on the system is also nice. Try to play Ristar on a JP Game Gear (or mega sg, which supports region change), if you can. It has an extra stage segment that was blocked from the US version but is on the cart and playable on a Japanese system.