The original Game Boy celebrated its 35th anniversary this week, leading to all sorts of timely articles about Nintendo’s handheld wonder.

And we’re joining in the party! As we had one, we loved a great deal (flaws and all), plus it’s a vital part of gaming history. Let’s explore this one, yo.

How the Game Boy Came to Dominate Gaming

The Game Boy was created by toy maker and games designer Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997). Unfortunately, Yokoi died in an October 1997 traffic collision. He was also responsible for Nintendo’s successful Game & Watch series from 1980 onward.

This followed on from Nintendo’s global success with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which launched in 1985.

Yokoi was convinced he could create a handheld alternative.

He met with then Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi and then began development within Nintendo R&D1 (a division of the gaming behemoth). The result was a handheld with these specs:

• CPU: Custom 8-Bit CMOS, 2.2Mhz clock speed
• Memory: 64-Kbit static RAM
• Screen: STN type dot matrix LCD, 160 x 144 pixels, 4 shades of grey
• Size: 90mm x 148mm x 32mm
• Weight: 300g with batteries

Primitive for the time and a step back from the NES. As is always the case with handhelds—they aren’t as powerful as a home console unit.

But then you can’t drag a Super Nintendo or Mega Drive around with you and play it on the bus. That was the beauty of the Game Boy.

It launched in early 1989 and was packaged with the legendary Tetris. This was just a match made in heaven! And brought gaming to the masses.

People who hadn’t played games before gave Tetris a whirl, got addicted fast, and the result was the Game Boy shifted over 118.69 units during its lifetime.

The little handheld was so popular its official production only stopped in 2003.

The Arrival of the Game Gear

The Game Boy destroyed all competition in its path. That may seem odd, given its technological limitations, but there’s a clear reason for why.

Nintendo’s competitor SEGA launched the Game Gear in 1990. This boasted fully colour games—an obvious improvement on Nintendo’s handheld.

SEGA’s North American marketing strategy circa 1990 was to mock Nintendo and try to make it look uncool. It ran campaigns with the slogan:

“SEGA does what Nintendon’t”

Which is cringeworthy. You know, SEGA had more than enough fantastic games on the Mega Drive to not stoop so low—we do wish it’d taken a more intelligent approach to marketing.

As you look at those adverts now and they’re just embarrassing.

It also backfired spectacularly. As impressive as the Game Gear was to run in colour, it cost $149.99 at launch compared to the Game Boy’s $89.99. SEGA then didn’t support the handheld properly, instead focussing more time on the Mega Drive.

With some six AA batteries in its backside, the Game Gear could also only run for around three hours of playtime. The Game Boy? Four AA batteries and up to 20 hours. Couple that battery life with a cheap price and by far the best games?

The Game Gear was discontinued in 1997 after selling 10.62 million units.

The Very Best Game Boy Games

It’s always been a big part of Nintendo’s appeal—those incredible exclusives. The fact was the Game Boy just had some incredible titles on it, which ensured its long-term success.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

The crowning jewel in the Game Boy’s crown, Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a masterpiece. Launching in 1993, it was an instant classic and set incredible new boundaries for gaming as a whole.

This game fitting on a primitive handheld unit was an incredible achievement from Nintendo. Absolutely pushing the Game Boy beyond its natural limits.

An amazing game, it mixes the usual action-adventure stuff with a genuinely heartfelt plot. It’s such a legendary title it get an excellent second outing for the Switch in 2019 (see the Link’s Awakening remake).

Tetris

The most successful video game ever, Tetris had a troublesome history in the ’80s. Most people will probably assume Nintendo created the game and launched it on the Game Boy in 1989.

But it was created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984 during the Soviet Union. An international legal battle began for the official rights in the late ’80s (see Game Over by David Sheff) with Nintendo emerging victorious.

The combination of the Game Boy and Tetris (packaged together at launch) was irresistible and instantly iconic. Everyone was playing it and hopelessly addicted, from kids to adults.

Super Mario land: 6 Golden Coins

Launching in 1992, we have very fond memories of playing 6 Golden Coins. It’s a game we can play and remember being a kid all over again.

Whilst not the best Super Mario game by a long shot, it still sold over 11 million copies and really pushed the handheld’s technical abilities to the limits.

The appeal of having a Mario game in handheld form may now have gone (what with the Switch and everything), but you’ve got to remember how big a deal that was in 1992. Not just a Mario game… but an exclusive handheld Mario! Oh did the minds boggle.

Wario Land II

Launching in 1993, Wario Land is arguably the best platformer on the Game Boy. We remember it vividly as a kid—the big chunky graphics and methodical pace.

It’s a brilliant game and sees Nintendo’s red nosed wonder Wario shoulder barging his way across destructible courses.

A Few Notes on the Game Boy Camera

The Game Boy was home to many peripherals. The most accidentally prescient was the Game Boy Camera (1998), which let you insert a mini-camera to the top of the handheld.

From there you could snap pictures and even have them printed off.

It was one weird little thing, featuring bizarre (in a Japanese surrealist sense) mini-games. You could take stupid pictures of yourself and have them inserted into these games, ramping up the absurdity to new heights.

Ridiculous as it was, the camera remains one of the highlights of the Game Boy’s existence.

Where to Play Game Boy Games Now

Hello there! Welcome to another section. By the way, if you’re yearning to get access to Game Boy games… you can do so on the Nintendo Switch!

The home console’s online library has a bunch of classics on there. It’s £35 for the annual subscription to access them, but you get SNES, GBA, N64, and Mega Drive games thrown into the mix, too.

Addendum: THE PLAYDATE (with crank)!

To wrap things up, we’re nodding to the excellent little Playdate handheld that launched in 2022. This thing wears its inspirations on its yellow sleeves and is an obvious homage to the original Game Boy.

The graphics and black and white and deliberate in their minimalism.

It does its own thing in magnificent style (see adventurous titles such as Mars After Midnight), but it’s distinctly 1989. In the sense it’s a direct step away from the AAA gaming scene’s obsessions with cutting-edge graphics.

Instead, here we’ve got a merger of the old with the new. A new type of Game Boy with Wi-Fi connection, system updates, and online downloads.

Plus, the crank. Never forget the crank!