Ah, the Sport Boy Coloration. The awkward center baby between the unique Sport Boy and the Sport Boy Advance. It is likely to be tempting to put in writing the Sport Boy Coloration off totally with its rather more succesful successor arriving solely lower than 3 years later, however the console nonetheless had a large library of nice titles.
Not all of them maintain up so effectively right now, however just a few are stone chilly classics which can be nonetheless value taking part in if you may get your arms on them. There are some notable omissions on this record — video games which have been remade or which have been accessible in superior variations on different consoles. These are the ten finest handheld experiences that you may’t discover wherever else however on the Sport Boy Coloration.
10. Tetris DX
![Tetris DX Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Tetris-DX-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
This isn’t a should play sport by a variety of measures. It’s Tetris, you know the way it really works. It doesn’t have the historic significance of the unique Sport Boy launch, and it isn’t as polished, vibrant, and diverse because the myriad Tetris video games which have launched within the years since. Properly, really it is likely to be as vibrant.
Tetris DX’s aesthetics could also be somewhat garish, however they completely match the luminescent, oh-so-’90s vibe that the console itself was going for. There have been loads of different nice puzzle titles on the GBC, together with Pokemon Puzzle Problem, however Tetrix DX’s time honored gameplay remains to be unimaginable to withstand.
9. Pokemon Pinball
![Pokemon Pinball Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Pokemon-Pinball-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
Arriving on the top of Pokemania, this pinball spin-off did much more than merely stick some Pokemon graphics round a digital pinball desk and name it a day. Arriving simply months earlier than Gold and Silver, Pinball gave trainers yet one more alternative to catch all 151 unique Pokemon. This time nevertheless you’re flicking Pokeballs at them relatively than throwing them.
A sequel would arrive just a few years later for the Sport Boy Advance, however that sport was lacking one of many unique’s largest promoting factors — a rumble characteristic constructed into the cartridge. One other sport on the system — Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble — even featured built-in tilt controls.
8. Rayman
![Rayman Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rayman-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
Whereas the unique sport would skip Nintendo house consoles, Ubisoft’s iconic limbless hero made his method to handhelds 5 years later. This stripped again model of the unique is a spotlight on a console stuffed with nice handheld platformers. It’s additionally top-of-the-line wanting video games on the GBC. There’s maybe no different sport which higher embodies the console’s distinctive graphical color and style pallete.
A sequel, which translated the plot of Rayman 2: The Nice Escape to 2D, arrived a yr later, and whereas it has extra character and story in comparison with the primary sport it isn’t fairly as a lot of a graphical showcase.
7. Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Tremendous Warriors
![Dragon Ball Z Legendary Super Warriors Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dragon-Ball-Z-Legendary-Super-Warriors-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
At a time when Dragon Ball Z video games have been all middling fighters, Legendary Tremendous Warriors got here out of nowhere to ship a surprisingly expansive turn-based sport that ran by way of the collection’ total storyline.
A card battler with a collectable character ingredient, Legendary Tremendous Warriors had some fairly fierce issue spikes, however what’s Dragon Ball with no hard-fought battle or two? There have been a number of Dragon Ball RPGs since, however this one holds up as a tactical various to the standard button mashers.
6. Resident Evil Gaiden
![Resident Evil Gaiden Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Resident-Evil-Gaiden-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
Even in case you’re a large Resident Evil fan you’d be forgiven for having omitted Resident Evil Gaiden. Make no mistake about it, this isn’t a hidden gem, however it’s a very distinctive tackle how you would presumably convey the Resident Evil expertise over to an early handheld console.
When you’ll spend most of your time taking part in from a top-down perspective, enemy encounters happen in first-person. The execution of this method will not be excellent, however Resident Evil Gaiden is general a neat package deal and a worthwhile detour for collection followers. Simply ignore the notoriously weird ending.
5. Steel Gear Stable
![Metal Gear Solid Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Metal-Gear-Solid-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
Often known as Steel Gear: Ghost Babel, this sport efficiently introduced the collection again to Nintendo consoles for the primary time since Snake’s Revenge, a sport made with out the involvement of collection creator Hideo Kojima. Whereas not a mainline title, Kojima served a a producer on Ghost Babel, and it’s bought all of the weird hallmarks you’d count on from a Steel Gear sport.
Like Resident Evil Gaiden, Steel Gear’s handheld foray is a non-canon affair, however that doesn’t imply that there isn’t a lot right here for followers of the collection to take pleasure in. Combining gameplay parts from the unique Steel Gear on the MSX and Steel Gear Stable on PS1, it’s exhausting to think about the way you’d pull of a Steel Gear sport on the Sport Boy Coloration any higher than this.
4. Shantae
![Shantae Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Shantae-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
However what about unique video games I hear you ask. Sport Boy Coloration had a variety of nice video games that relied on franchise recognition, however Shantae might be the breakout unique sport on the console. One of many GBC’s final, and subsequently rarest titles, Shantae is a high tier platformer with heaps of character.
This primary sport would go on to spawn a number of sequels throughout different consoles, and was finally rereleased itself on the Nintendo Swap and PlayStation consoles. Except you’re prepared to shell out a substantial quantity for an unique cartridge, these could also be your finest bets to check out this cult traditional.
3. Pokemon Buying and selling Card Sport
![Pokemon Trading Card Game Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Pokemon-Trading-Card-Game-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
A dream come true for younger Pokemon followers who couldn’t afford to maintain up with the excessive value of the bodily card sport. This digital model was an efficient translation of the sport that introduced all the joys of opening packs and constructing decks with out having to persuade your mother and father that it wasn’t ‘simply cardboard’.
The spotlight of the sport nevertheless proved to be the unimaginable soundtrack, stuffed with catchy melodies that appeared to transcend the console’s restricted {hardware}. A sequel adopted which added playing cards from the Staff Rocket growth set, however it was by no means launched outdoors of Japan.
2. The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Ages/Seasons
![The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Oracle-of-Ages-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
The Sport Boy Coloration already had one terrific Zelda title in Hyperlink’s Awakening DX, however that was simply an enhanced model of the unique sport from the unique Sport Boy. Arriving late within the console’s lifecycle, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons have been all new totally fledged titles launched alongside one another and providing comparable however distinct experiences.
Arriving after each Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Masks, these two video games have been a triumphant return to 2D for the franchise, proving that there would all the time be followers of each gameplay types. Opinions are cut up on which sport is the perfect, however you’ll have to finish each to get the total story.
1. Pokemon Crystal
![Pokemon Crystal Version Title Screen Game Boy Color](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Pokemon-Crystal-Version-Title-Screen-Game-Boy-Color.jpg?resize=640%2C360)
The final word Sport Boy Coloration sport. Pokemon Gold and Silver have been already large, stunning video games that appeared to push the console to its absolute restrict, but in some way Crystal eked out simply that bit extra. As with its predecessors, gamers might traverse not solely the brand new area of Johto, but in addition Kanto. For the primary time nevertheless they might now achieve this as a feminine coach.
This was very a lot an iterative third entry within the second era of Pokemon video games (the one different main change being animated sprites), however in case you’re going to select up simply one of many three, the updates in Crystal undoubtedly make it the only option.
Sure, that does imply that 3 out of the ten finest video games on the Sport Boy Coloration have been Pokemon video games however there’s no getting round how a lot the franchise dominated Nintendo’s handheld output at the moment. Pokemania was at its zenith and Nintendo completely delivered the products to capitalize on it.