I literally finished this game for the first time a few nights ago! I saw it on a few other “best Game Boy games” lists and decided to order a cart and manual from eBay. While nowhere near as polished as beat ’em up titles like the exquisite Turtles in Time, it’s a solid action title! Essentially a 2D action game with a slight platforming (like the first Turtles on the NES), the game is only 5 levels long and takes an hour to complete. But like the excellent Hyperstone Heist, sometimes 5 stages is all you need! With detailed sprites and cutscenes, a great Turtles soundtrack, and fun boss encounters, it’s a great journey! Also, I’m a sucker for a good instruction manual, and the design of Fall of the Foot Clan has 90s nostalgia written all over it. It even made my “best Turtle games” list – check it out if you’re a fan.
Did you know this game existed? Because I didn’t until recently! I only grabbed this from my cart as an impulse buy during a Black Friday sale at the excellent Game Over Videogames a few years ago. And I got a surprise! One of Shigeru Miyamoto’s lesser-known titles, the game features the mole Muddy trying to save his family from the evil farmer Jinbe (because video games). You make your way through seven worlds made up of puzzle screens that you interact with by digging above and below the ground. In each one, you must avoid enemies while figuring out how to push and pull a black ball across a “goal” to advance. The puzzles are generally right in the difficulty “sweet spot” and the graphics, story, and mechanics are engaging and satisfying. Check out this hidden gem if you haven’t!
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Parodius (
VIEW ON EBAY
Parodius takes 48th place in this list of the best Gameboy games!
Zok Zok Heroes
If you’ve played an emulated version of Zok Zok Heroes on modern hardware, you probably wouldn’t see what’s wrong. After all, it’s a pretty standard JRPG in many respects. The problem is that it’s really not possible to play a properly emulated version of Zok Zok Heroes. This is because the original version of Zok Zok Heroes used a bizarre motion-controlled peripheral called the Full Changer.
By moving the Full Changer through the infrared sensor located on the Zok Zok cartridge, you can actually transform your playable character into different forms. It was a fascinating concept that, by most accounts, never worked quite as well as you needed to, given how often you were required to complete those transformations. And yet, what a strange and wonderful mechanic.
Kirby’s Dream Land
Released in 1992 by Nintendo, Kirby’s Dream Land is an action platformer known for its irresistible sense of charm and innovation.
The main character is the little guy named Kirby who is white as shown on the packaging and soon became a fan favorite. The game allows the player to float like a balloon and swallow his enemies whole. While you can fly indefinitely, the only method of attack while flying is to release the breath of air held in the character’s mouth. This in turn cancels his flight.
Donkey Kong Land (series) (GB)
Release date: 26/06/1995 (first game in the series) See the game in action
Main technical features :