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20- Pokemon Pinball: Game Boy Color (1999)
Since the release of the original Pokemon RPGs, Nintendo has inundated gamers with piles upon piles of spin-offs. These have included games where you talk to Pokemon, games where you watch Pokemon as they watch TV, and even games where you vigorously draw circles around Pokemon. One of the strangest Pokemon spin-offs, however, was Pokemon Pinball, a game where players caught and collected Pokemon using nothing but their amazing pinball skills. On paper, the connection between Pokemon and pinball sounds like it would be difficult to pull off, leading to a gimmicky piece of junk that only the most ridiculously obsessive fans of the franchise would want to play. In reality, however, Pokemon Pinball is a solid pinball game with two well-designed tables that are only enhanced by the addictive nature of Pokemon collecting.
This, in combination with nice graphics that feature full Game Boy Color support and above-average sound makes Pokemon Pinball a must-play Game Boy game. –Allison Bates
19– Donkey Kong: Game Boy (1994)
At first glance, Donkey Kong on the original GB might seem like a port of the original arcade game of the same name. However, mixing one part platforming and one part puzzle, and Donkey Kong on the Game Boy and you get one of the best Mario-centric titles ever made. The game paved the way for Mario’s crazy jumping techniques, including the triple jump and back flip, precursors to future Mario games like Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy.
Completing the package was full-blown Super Game Boy support (this is really one game you will have to play on a bigger screen). Built around simple controls and fantastic level design, Donkey Kong was one of the best games on GB. –Zachary Gasiorowski
18- Fire Emblem: Game Boy Advance (2003)
It’s hard to believe that it took thirteen years for this series to come to America. With six games preceding it, Fire Emblem, known in Japan as Fire Emblem: Rekka No Ken, achieved financial success in large part due to the inclusion of badass swordsmen Marth and Roy in the Gamecube brawler, Super Smash Bros. Melee. Even outside the fan service in Smash, though, the game itself was excellent . I’ve been playing strategy RPGs for a long time, and it was wonderful to finally get a new game after years of surviving on Ogre Battle. Since then, Fire Emblem has been very welcome here in America, seeing multiple handheld releases in The Sacred Stones on the GBA, a remake of the NES classic on the DS in Shadow Dragon, and a pair of console releases in Path of Radiance on the ‘Cube and Radiant Dawn on the Wii. –Marc Sakol
17- Kirby’s Dream Land: Game Boy (1992)
As far as I’m concerned Kirby is the greatest creation of Masahiro Sakurai. He’s a pink ball of fluff and doom. My childhood was a blur of various games, both console and handheld, but none took up more time than Kirby’s Dream Land. I would literally beat that game and then immediately start it all over again.
This of course was before Kirby had the ability to copy powers. Then, you would reach the most horrifying villain in gaming history, the overweight, mallet-carrying King DeDeDe. The entire game is relentlessly fun, and you can’t help but smile at the sheer cuteness. –Marc Sakol
16– Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis: Game Boy Advance (2002)
For me, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is probably the most nostalgia-inducing game that isn’t on the NES or Sega Genesis. To this day, Final Fantasy Tactics remains my favorite game and, like many others who feel the same, the block of time between FFT’s release in 1998 and 2003, when we saw the release of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, was a tough one.
Knight of Lodis was one of the few games that kept the genre going in that time, and it didn’t let down fans craving some grid-based battling. With a compelling story and an intricate job system, the game was among the first, and remains one of the best, handheld RPGs. –Steven Rondina
Stay with us as we announce #’s 15-11 soon.
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