If you often frequent video game websites, you’re probably well aware that the Gameboy turned 20 earlier this month. I’m not going to go into the history of the little portable that could, because chances are all you already know how awesome it was, how Tetris did this and that, and how Pokemon literally pulled Gameboy out of a coma in the late 90s. Instead, I’m going to go the more personal route and run over a handful of the games that I felt really defined my experience with the Gameboy.

Super Mario Land Series

An easy way to get people to buy a Gameboy was to make a Mario game that played on it. Enter the original Super Mario Land, likely one of the top two reasons to buy a Gameboy at launch. This somewhat oddball Mario title, complete with shooter-like stages, was the first game I personally ever played on Gameboy and needless to say, it was love at first sight. Although Super Mario Land may have been the first true Gameboy experience for many people, mine was actually Super Mario Land 2.

I actually didn’t have a Gameboy for the first few years it was out. I would always beg for one, but it was more money than my family could afford at the time. When Mario Land 2 was released it killed me I couldn’t play it. I wanted to know who this Wario guy was, and I wanted to explore more Mario worlds, especially being hot off Super Mario World. Thankfully, that Christmas I was blessed with my big beautiful Gameboy along with Super Mario Land 2. Being that this was the first game I was really able to sit down and play on the Gameboy (and not bumming it off a friend for a few minutes to get my fix) Mario Land 2 will always be the first game I think of when thinking back to the Gameboy. I seriously remember playing it Christmas day huddled under a light at around 4 in the morning until god knows when… great memories right there.

Super Mario Land 2 is still a rather fun game these days, and again, shares some of the strange quirks that made the original Land feel slightly alien. Eventually, the series morphed into what we now know as the Wario Land games. In fact, the first Wario Land game was called Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, heck of a subtitle, I know. The game shared a lot of similar visual design ideas from previous Wario games, but added the unique Wario flavor of being the “bad guy” and going around bashing through enemies with Wario’s trademark dash. It was an interesting twist on the Mario formula that was successful enough to launch Wario into a career of his own. I played my fair share of Wario Land as well, and to this day, it’s still the only Wario title I’ve played through.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Proof that a Zelda game on the small screen could be just as good as it’s big 16-bit brother, Link’s Awakening is in many ways the perfect Zelda game. Sure it’s not quite as long as some of his other adventures, but the brevity of the title is what helped make it such a great portable adventure. One thing I personally loved about Link’s Awakening were the mini-bosses of each dungeon, now a Zelda standard, but here they acted as a means to open up a warp gate at the start of the dungeons. Not only did this make it easier to jump back into dungeons when you only had a few minutes to spare, but it also made for twice the amount of boss battles through out the game. Can never have too many clever Zelda boss battles now can we? I also liked the side scrolling segments that made use of Link’s new jumping ability. Several fun cameos, like goombas, King Wart, and an evil Kirby character, were also fun touches that were not really seen in previous Zelda games.

Kirby’s Dreamland

Speaking of Kirby, how can we talk about Gameboy and not mention him? I remember a friend of mine got the first Kirby game for his birthday and we were able to blow through it in a single sitting. Sure the game was a piece of cake, but it sure was a good time. The unfortunate thing with a Kirby game is that if you played one, you kind of played them all. It is hard to say if it’s actually worth going back and revisiting the original if you played the countless follow ups, but there is no denying the little guys charm.

Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge

Before the Castlevania found its true home on portables in the form of various high quality GBA and DS games, the first few outings on the Gameboy weren’t exactly the greatest. Castlevania Adventure, the first of three portable titles, is likely the worst Castlevania in the history of the franchise (well, maybe aside from Judgement). It’s a slow paced, slow moving, and frustrating game.

Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge on the other hand, while still a little slow moving, was like a small masterpiece compared to the original. Belmont’s Revenge felt like a true Casltevania game with a more balanced difficulty, and better level design. It’s also the only Casltevania game with a Mega Man like stage select from the outset. The variety of different castles was welcomed, and the music is freaking fantastic. It’s a bummer that Castlevania Legends, the third and final of the original Gameboy Castlevania games, was such a let down. So while Belmont’s Revenge isn’t the best Castlevania game, it’s still decent enough in it’s own right. Did I mention the music is awesome?

Donkey Kong ‘94

I have sung the praises of Donkey Kong ‘94 somewhat recently, and I still believe it’s possibly the greatest Gameboy game ever created. It relaunched the Donkey Kong character, the pacing is perfect for a portable game, the game plays flawlessly and the whole package is polished like nearly nothing else on the platform. If there is a game on this list worth playing to this day, then this is the one.

Metroid II

Metroid II is another game I’ve sung praises about before here on the Shamoozal, so I won’t dedicate much space to it. Still, it’s the only game on the Gameboy that I think I’d classify as a piece of art. Don’t listen to what anyone says, R&D1 did the most they could with the hardware, crafting a game that actually worked around the Gameboy’s weaknesses. The fact that they were able to create an eerie atmosphere on the Gameboy should prove that these guys knew what they were doing. Not only did the team best what they did on the NES, but they made one of the few Gameboy games worth revisiting today. Also worth noting is that R&D1 included a secret “color” mode in the game that wouldn’t be discovered until the debut of the Gameboy Color.

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, is actually a bit of a let down. The NES original is one of my favorite games, even if it does have some flaws. The Gameboy version feels like a cheap soulless version of its big brother, with bad music (the dungeon music is catchy though), somewhat sloppy control, and lacking anything that makes it feel genuinely new. I figured it was worth a nod since there are a ton of people out there clamoring for a new Kid Icarus, yet chances are they probably never played this follow up that went largely unnoticed. For people curious enough, it’s worth looking into it just to see it (and can easily be blown through in an afternoon), but beyond that it lacks the magic of the first game.

This is all just a small fraction of the games that really defined this system for me. I could go on and on about games like TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan, Bubble Ghost, Final Fantasy Adventure, and Operation C, but I’ve rattled on long enough. The Gameboy may have been built on some of the oldest technology at the time, but it sure did make the most of it. I’ll always love the little guy.

Feel free to share some of your Gameboy memories in the comments section.