Favorite Gameboy Game?

[StarGGundam2]

Post your favorite Gameboy game here.

1) Tell us the name of the game.

2) Tell us which Gameboy Handheld it was for.

3) Give us a good description of the game and why you liked it so much.

4) If you have more than one favorite, make a list with all the games; don't forget to give descriptions for each and which gameboy.

As always mind the forum rules... and have fun

[Fayt]

1) Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
2) GBA
3) As with all Fire Emblems is a Strategy-RPG, involving group turn based combat. One thing that is favourable about Sacred Stones is the many promotion options you have, other Fire Emblems don't have as much choice in what the character will become on promotion. It's weakness however is its really too easy for a Fire Emblem, they are supposed to be hard, SS ain't as much so due to the easy experience, still a fun game

I also have some Street Fighter II game on it that I love to play for old times sake, Ken kicks arse!

[StarGGundam2]

Originally Posted by Fayt.

I also have some Street Fighter II game on it that I love to play for old times sake, Ken kicks arse!

No Ryu kicks Ken's arse... LOL

My Favorite GameBoy game. This is a tough one.

1) Wario Blast
2) GameBoy (Big and Grey)
3) It's the first Bomberman game ever made. But it includes Wario too. Wario and Bomberman battle it out to see who will win. Lots of boss fights and I believe you could connect and battle your friends.

1) Zelda: Links Awakening DX
2) GameBoy Color
3) It's original was meant for the pocket. But the color version had a bonus where you could get two different tunics. Overall you had to Awaken the WindFish by collecting the eight instruments. A tipical Zelda game.

1) Zelda: A link to the Past and Four Sword
2) GameBoy Advance
3) Just like the orignal on the SNES, it is now portable fun game that you could carry anywhere. But it had a bonus, which was the new multiplayer game called Four Sword. My favorite Zelda Game.

1) Pokemon... LOL just kidding ("well I used to like it ")

1) Star Ocean: Bluesphere
2) GameBoy Color
3) If it was in English I could give you a better description. But it's been in Japanese and no one's made a remake of it. Still I'm wishing they would and put it on the DS

[Dynomite]

1) Megaman 4 blue moon

2) GBA

3) Its graphics are very good for a GBA game, and plus its fun for me. My first MM game too.

[one_of_a_kind]

super mario world
gba
because it will keep you entretained and its fun to look for all the secret levels

[StarGGundam2]

Originally Posted by one_of_a_kind

super mario world
gba
because it will keep you entretained and its fun to look for all the secret levels

I found it fun too, I loved looking for those secret levels. That was the fun in every Super Mario World game. Nice pick

[...Bent!]

It depresses me whenever I see someone refer to a Mega Man Battle Network game as merely a Mega Man game...

So:

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening [DX]
GB[C]
The first Zelda game without the overused "save the princess" theme, it had a cool story, and music that I love to this day. Also the video game I grew up on, which introduced me to the Game Boy and later to the Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages.

Pokemon Crystal
GBC
Definitely the best Pokemon game, this was the highlight of the series in its prime. Great graphics for GBC, and it's also got a real-time clock so time actually changes while you play. It's also the only Pokemon game with some semblance of a plot; it doesn't go into corny humor at all, either (unlike Pokemon's disappointing GBA incarnations). I highly recommend it.

Mega Man III
GB
Back in the days of classic "black and white and four shades of grey" handhelds, when nobody cared about graphics and challenging games were the norm. Just great sidescrolling action, and blasting Gemini Man to bits.

Mega Man Zero 2 & 3
GBA
For those who can't find the classic MM games, this is the next best on Game Boy. The sequel to the Mega Man X line, it's got great customization and an RPG-worthy plot (provided you don't mind looking through translations, concept art and drama tracks, that is). The second game had the best story and final boss sequence (the final fight was too easy, but the other boss fights more than make up for it), the third game had the smoothest feel (beautiful menus, best upgrade system, great final boss fight, and the minigames that make it SO worth it), but unfortunately the fourth game was less than stellar.

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
GBA
It's strategy, if you like that sort of thing. It's also challenging, and currently the only game (other than Wario Land 4) in which I haven't unlocked all unlockables (I still need to get Hachi, the Hard Mode pictures, and all the gold icons).

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages
GBC
Unlike Pokemon, these two games are codependent but VERY different -- totally different items, worlds, and stories. If you have a GBC, GBA, or SP, get both, and prepare for a masterpiece. Definitely my second-favorite Zelda games.

Wario Land 4
GBA
It's fun. Not a challenge, even on Super Hard Mode (especially when compared to the sidescrolling Mega Man games), but it's good for fun and to keep younger kids occupied. That and the imaginative boss fights make it shine.

Tetris
GB
'Cause it's just so awesome.

[alphabass]

Favrite GBA game would be mmbn 3 blue.Becase its so fun after and before you defeat alpha.Because afterwards when you beat alpha you can get all 7 stars vs bassGS and bassGS omega.And time attack navis omega navis but too much BN seems it gets annoying because out of the whole series 3 was the best and none of the others was as good.Also you get to vs sernade and others.But megaman and bass and megaman x (rare games) were the best and i remember megaman 7 was i game when i was little a played i didn't remember much but it is just about impossble now to find it since its so old.But megaman 7 was a good game.I can't really choose but in megaman x 2 or 3 i remember when you beat the game or sometime around that time you can call on zero to defeat a enemy.One of the things i hate is just about every navi name ends with man.But all in all i have some pretty Rare and good games that i think were the best.OOh i forgot megaman legends.Very very fun game and making all those cool things.Very fun.Well thats about it.

[StarGGundam2]

Originally Posted by =Bent=

It depresses me whenever I see someone refer to a Mega Man Battle Network game as merely a Mega Man game...

Mega Man III
GB
Back in the days of classic "black and white and four shades of grey" handhelds, when nobody cared about graphics and challenging games were the norm. Just great sidescrolling action, and blasting Gemini Man to bits.

Mega Man Zero 2 & 3
GBA
For those who can't find the classic MM games, this is the next best on Game Boy. The sequel to the Mega Man X line, it's got great customization and an RPG-worthy plot (provided you don't mind looking through translations, concept art and drama tracks, that is). The second game had the best story and final boss sequence (the final fight was too easy, but the other boss fights more than make up for it), the third game had the smoothest feel (beautiful menus, best upgrade system, great final boss fight, and the minigames that make it SO worth it), but unfortunately the fourth game was less than stellar.

Yeah I prefer the old MegaMan games like Megaman X and X-2 all the way up to X-6.. I've played the Zero games too. I found them fun. But I kinda played them backwards. Cause i started playing Zero3, then I played Zero 4. After that I decided to pick up on 1 and 2. They have the old games on the Gameboy? Now that's something new to me.

Originally Posted by =Bent=

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages
GBC
Unlike Pokemon, these two games are codependent but VERY different -- totally different items, worlds, and stories. If you have a GBC, GBA, or SP, get both, and prepare for a masterpiece. Definitely my second-favorite Zelda games.

Yeah, you couldn't just play one of the games. You got to play them both to figure out the secret ending and the boss battle with Ganon in the end.

Originally Posted by =Bent=

Wario Land 4
GBA
It's fun. Not a challenge, even on Super Hard Mode (especially when compared to the sidescrolling Mega Man games), but it's good for fun and to keep younger kids occupied. That and the imaginative boss fights make it shine.

Wario land was really fun, I remember those days. Oh the memories.

[dre]

Actually, my favorite game for a handheld was/is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, although I can like 30 other really good games without getting a piece of paper.

For the Game Boy Advance, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (FFTA) is a tactical, grid-based game (think Ogre Battle, Advance Wars and Fire Emblem), but with the classes/jobs and (cheesy) storyline of a Final Fantasy game.

The reason I like it so much is the fact that, even though it is definitely possible to go through the game and know pretty much nothing of the game's jobs, items, and missions, there are 300+ missions that can be completed, enough weapons, armors, and items to last any party of more than 6 units, and even though it is hard to do, you can obtain a level 3 unit with ANY job in the game, so there is definitely room for competitive play.

And god knows there's replay value...

[Haze]

Let's see here.

Pokémon Emerald/Crystal
Tetris
Mario Tennis
Dr.Mario

[Jason.]

Super Mario World Deluxe
Gameboy Color
It's Super Mario Bothers.... In color....... And you dont need a huge system and TV.... And I had a Gameboy printer thingy so I got extras!

[xirtamehtsitahw]

I'd have to say that my favorite GBA game so far is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. It's a dungeon crawler, combined with the Pokemon franchise--an excellent partnership!

[StarGGundam2]

Originally Posted by xirtamehtsitahw

I'd have to say that my favorite GBA game so far is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. It's a dungeon crawler, combined with the Pokemon franchise--an excellent partnership!

Yeah, is it any different than Blue's Rescue Team? I just started playing Blue's a little while ago. It's kinda of entertaining, and really reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics.

[...Bent!]

Also would like to add Metroid 2 to my list. I can't believe I totally forgot about it. >.<

I'd explain why I like it, but these articles do so better than I ever could:

Metroid II is, in my humble opinion, one of the best games on the good old Gameboy. It is also one of the most tense and scary games I've ever played - and that without the benefit of "hyper-enhanced ultra-3D graphics", and without tons of blood and gore. I've always been fascinated by games that can actually scare me, so I've spent a lot of time thinking about what it is that makes Metroid II work the way that it does.

Of course, there is no single answer to the question of what makes a game scary. There are very many different factors that contribute to the scariness of a game, and there are many different combinations of these factors that can make a game scary (and a game can be scary in different ways, too).

In this GA article I'm going to try to analyze one of these factors - the factor knowledge. They say that we are afraid of the things we don't know. But that's not the complete truth. Knowing something, or being able to anticipate something, can be just as scary.

Now, a few words about the gameplay of Metroid II. You are Samus Aran, a woman in a fancy robot-like spacesuit, sent to the planet of the Metroids to exterminate them. The Metroids are nasty flying alien creatures that suck people's life energy. There are also three mutated versions of the Metroid, two of which look more humanoid (a cross between the creatures from the Alien movies and your other worst nightmare). There are forty or so Metroids on the planet, and you've got to explore it and kill them all. The planet is also inhabited by various other lifeforms, which can also be dangerous to you. All creatures except Metroids can be destroyed by your basic weapon with unlimited shots. The Metroids, however, can only be killed with your secondary weapon, missiles - of which you have only a limited amount.

Now this is what happens when you get near a Metroid: first of all, the screen freezes for a second, and suddenly the music gets very loud and scary. This, in fact, is sometimes enough to make you almost drop your gameboy (especially if you've got speakers attached to the thing). Then the Metroid charges at you - flies towards you, actually - and then tries to stay on you, draining your life energy. To defeat it, you got to run pretty quickly, dodge it when it comes towards you, try not to fall onto any spikes or similar unpleasant surroundings, and shoot plenty of missiles at the Metroid.

No matter how good you are and how well-equipped your character is (in terms of missiles, energy tanks, and so on,) fighting a Metroid is scary, and often quite difficult. Even if you don't get killed, chances are that you'll walk away with very few energy points left. Once you've fought your first Metroid, you know exactly what such a fight will be like. You fully realize that each time you meet one of those things, a difficult fight is waiting for you. And, having read the manual, you know that there are some even nastier versions of this beast waiting for you. As you explore the planet, you are constantly aware that there are more Metroids waiting for you out there, and that you have to fight them. You know that with every step, you're getting closer to them, closer to the next time that the screen will freeze and the music will go loud and you will have to fight for your life.

It's not just the way that the Metroids suddenly attack you that makes the game scary - it's far more than just the 'boo'-effect. It's the knowledge that they're out there, the way that you try to guess when you're going to meet the next one. In this game, you know your enemy, you know him very well, and you're able to anticipate some of his behaviour - and it is this knowledge that makes every single moment of exploring new ground in this game scary.

This, of course, is helped by the game's design. Quite often, you can guess that there's a Metroid waiting for you in a particular area. Sometimes it's because you've seen an empty egg, but quite often it's because you've just started to understand the way in which the designers placed the Metroids - there's sort of a pattern, if you know what I mean. What makes the game even scarier, of course, is that this pattern is not absolute, and you know that too (after the first time you meet a Metroid in a place where you didn't expect it at all). This really makes you paranoid, and quite often you end up walking *very* slowly, hoping not to run into one of them.

Let me get back to those eggs for a minute. During the course of the game, you often find eggshells - in fact, the first Metroid is still in its egg when you find it, so you know what the eggshells mean when you see them. I find that these eggshells are one of the most brilliant game design ideas I've ever seen - so simple, yet so effective. When you see one, you know what's going to happen... just not *when* it's going happen. Every single time you see one of those eggs, you'll think 'oh ****'.

In a horror movie, you know that the killer/monster/whatever is going to strike, but there's always hope that the good guys might get away. In Metroid II, however, you know that you will have to face the Metroids, because you're here to exterminate them. You can't run - you've got to go find them, fully knowing that it's going to be hell.

If the Metroids weren't a specific thing that you actually know something about, and they were just some strong bosses you ran into every one in a while, the game would still be scary - but by far not as scary as it is now, now that you know what you're up against.

Conclusion: sometimes knowing what is going to happen and not being able to do much about it can be just as scary as not knowing.

First of all, let me say that I don't know too much about the creative side of music and sound. I don't know all the right words and expressions. But the sound/music of Metroid II impressed me quite a lot, so I felt that I needed to write this article.

In some places, Metroid II has 'traditional' music - music, that is, which has a melody and a rhythm and is played by (digital) instruments, or synthesizers, or whatever - you know what I mean. This music is pretty good, but it's nothing terribly original - and certainly not worth writing an article about. But this traditional music is only played in certain areas of the game; what truly interests me is the music played in the rest of the game, and how it works to create (in combination with the other music) certain feelings in the player.

In Metroid II, you are exploring an alien planet. It's a pretty inhospitable place, full of lava, and spikes, and really weird creatures. I don't think I've ever felt so close to being on a strange alien planet as when I played Metroid II. The graphics, although quite simple, manage to convey a certain amount of 'alienness' (and an article about this will appear at a later date). But I think that most of the atmosphere derives from the music.

It isn't exactly music, you see - at least not by any standard definition. It's very experimental stuff. Instead of traditional music played by instruments that has a rhythm and a melody, in Metroid II you have some very organic-sounding and insectoid-sounding (if that's possible) ...umm... sounds. And you also have strange humming sounds, and beeps, and something that sounds like little feet running, and... similar stuff. It doesn't really form a melody. But believe me when I say it creates and atmosphere. An almost unbearably tense and sometimes extremely unpleasant one - which is just what the game needs, of course.

Personally, it reminds me in a way of Expressionist painting. In Expressionism, the artist tries to express an emotion by painting an image; the image does not have to make sense, or represent something physical - many Expressionist paintings are totally abstract- but it has to express an emotion to the viewer. Good paintings of this kind truly 'radiate' emotion, or, if you wish, atmosphere. The experimental music of Metroid II works in the same way. It is not so much music inspired by the game world and graphics (that would be Impressionism), rather than music which expresses these in completely abstract musical terms. Of course, music is by its very nature abstract, but most music does follow certain rules (melody, rhythm, etc). But in this case all that matters is the emotion of fear, or alienness -and what is more alien to man than strange insectoid sounds?

What makes it even better is that there is 'normal' music in the game - in certain areas. More specifically, there is normal music in the first large area where the game starts out, which branches into several other areas - and in the 'ancient civilization' areas, where you can save, or get special items. Thus, normal music comes to be associated with the things we are familiar with, the things that make us feel relatively safe, while the experimental music/sound whatever comes to be associated with all that is alien, that scares us, that makes us feel insecure.

Super Metroid, the SNES sequel, was not a bad game, but I think that one of the reasons that it wasn't half as scary as Metroid II was that the music was far more normal. It was scary at some points, yes, but it didn't sound so alien, so horribly unpleasant and strange.

I think that Metroid II is a game that sound designers and music composers should look to for inspiration and a better understanding of how to make music for games. Metroid II proves that music/sound must not be nice or pleasant, but that it must fit the game and express what the game is about, and that in this case it is the feeling evoked that matters, not technique, or adherence to the rules.

The URL escapes me at the moment, but the articles were written by a Jonas Kyratzes -- I'm sure you can find him if you use Google.