The Game Boy was the first game system I bought with my own money, earned though raking blue berries. I can still remember going shopping with my father to get it, going to a few different stores and picking out games. I have fond memories of playing my early favourites, from Solar Striker to The Amazing Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers to Yoshi.
The Game Boy was a constant companion when going on long car trips with my parents, and it was a good distraction to keep my sister and I from fighting. We relied on the system for entertainment as we traveled across Canada and the United States one entire summer. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Castlevania II – Belmont´s Revenge were amazing experiences to me, and kept me from seeing the terrain passing by out the car window.
Oddly, I can remember one day buying games in particular. My family was at a department store and we found the games Daedalean Opus, Shanghai and Heiankyo Alien on clearance at deep discounts. The games didn’t become my favourites, but they stayed in rotation.
There were so many games that took up my hours, like Qix, Battle Bull, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and Balloon Kid. There were countless others I didn’t get to play during those years, and other games I played for a short while when I borrowed them from friends. There was an unmatched variety of games for the Game Boy and even today I find new gems to enjoy.
When Pokémon was released, I watched the anime from the first episode on and as soon as I could, I was playing Pokémon Red. This began one of the great obsessions for me in gaming, joining The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Castlevania as a series I would need to play for endless hours. Pokémon delivered on so much of the promise of portable gaming and just as it gave the Game Boy new life in the market, it kept me committed to the Game Boy as the Game Boy Color was released.
I could spend hours remembering the good play experiences the Game Boy and later the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance brought, but that’ll be for another time. For now, I want to share a few of my favourite bits of nostalgia from other spots.
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- Nintendo Life’s “The 50 Best Game Boy Games“
- Nintendo Life’s “Our Favourite Memories Of The Original Game Boy“
- Retronauts’ “Ever Green: 30 years of Game Boy classics“
- Retronauts Episode 213: Game Boy
- Williams Pelegrin’s “The Game Boy helped me become who I am today, even if I never had one” at Android Authority
Also, don’t forget that a new Game Boy game, Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe is on Kickstarter now.
Featured photo by Mike Meyers.
