Best Game Boy Color Nintendo First-Party Games, Ranked

Somewhere between a next-generation release and a hardware revision, the Game Boy Color would arrive internationally in 1998. Promising backward compatibility with original Game Boy games, the new 8-bit platform delivered the magic of the original Game Boy with a sleeker form factor and glorious colorization. Improvements in battery life and size meant Game Boy owners could continue to enjoy the slew of cartridges amassed over the years. While gaining a reputation as something of a legacy handheld, the Game Boy Color would release its own line of titles, many of which were outstanding.

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Nintendo are famous for taking particular care with their own developed and published titles and the Game Boy Color releases were no different. Below are the best first-party Nintendo titles on the platform.

13 Wario Land 2

Gamefaqs: 3.98

Offering close to a Metroidvania experience on an eight-bit handheld, Wario Land 2 would have its own Game Boy Color re-release just a year after its initial one. This second Wario Land game would establish the winning formula for the sequels to come. Emphasizing exploration and transforming from enemy attacks, the game gives one of the very best platforming experiences on the Game Boy Color.

In this title, the player takes the role of Wario pursuing Captain Syrup for stealing his treasure. Featuring improved graphics over its predecessor and removing a time limit, Wario Land II established Wario as a series protagonist to long-standing success.

12 Wario Land 3

Gamefaqs: 3.99

The Game Boy Color exclusive Wario Land 3 is considered by many the best platform game available on the platform. Players assume the role of Wario who must free himself and a strange entity from the inside of a musical box. Offering the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor, players can barge, jump on and throw enemies as well as be transformed by some of their attacks.

Universally acclaimed on its release, Wario Land 2 offers some of the most vibrant graphics and smart puzzle-platforming of the series. The tenth-best Game Boy Color game in the Japanese market, Wario Land 2 would be re-released on both the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch.

11 Mario Tennis

Gamefaqs: 4.00

Developed by Camelot to coincide with the N64 release, Mario Tennis on the Game Boy Color is one of the platform's sleeper hits. Making a unique choice of wrapping the tennis setting around an RPG formula, the player takes the role of Alex a boy accepted into a prestigious tennis academy. The player must take Alex and his doubles partner Harry through tournaments and matches to face Mario as the final boss of the story mode.

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Essentially, a fantastic tennis game with the Mario license carefully spliced in Mario Tennis is one of the platform's most engrossing games. Mini-games and unlockable characters add to the longevity of a game with exceptional depth. The game was also able to connect to the N64 title with the use of a Transfer Pak.

10 Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

Gamefaqs: 4.07

Among a relative sea of them, the Game Boy Color would receive its own Super Mario Bros. Remake in 1999. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is a remake from Nintendo with a surprising amount of care and consideration put into it. Expanding from the original, this remake features an overworld map, a challenge mode, a multiplayer mode and worlds from Super Mario Bros. 2.

Also known as Super Mario Bros. DX, the game also added visual improvements bringing lava and water assets into motion and gives the player the option of playing as Luigi. A brilliant remake for the platform though it would be beset by an issue of many Game Boy remakes, a smaller field of view thanks to the Game Boy’s small screen.

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8 Tetris DX

Gamefaqs: 4.10

A remaster of the Game Boy’s killer app, Tetris DX dropped on the Game Boy Color in 1998. Featuring the same signature Russian folk song-based soundtrack and remarkably engrossing gameplay, this remaster would bring Tetris into a full-color format. Additions specific to the Game Boy Color included new modes of play against a CPU, three player profiles and a time-limited ‘Ultra Mode’.

A further mode called ’40 lines’ would test the player to see how fast they could clear as many. Curiously this release would be backward compatible with the original Game Boy and has received considerable praise in retrospective reviews.

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6 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages

Gamefaqs: 4.16

Receiving universal acclaim on their release, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages would arrive simultaneously in 2001. Originally developed to be three games based on the three qualities of the Triforce, Capcom’s resulting project would be two connected but distinct Zelda titles. Seasons place Link in the land of Holodrum to stop Onox after kidnapping Din. Ages places Link in Labrynna to stop Veran after possessing Nayru. Colorful and stylish, these two top-down Zelda titles feature series staples including time travel mechanics and recurring items and characters.

Famously the games could receive a linked ending with the use of a password making one title a sequel to the other. The games would be re-released on the 3DS and Switch in the years ahead.

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4 Pokemon Gold & Silver

Gamefaqs: 4.35 & 4.36

Considered by many to be the series very best, Pokemon Gold and Silver would arrive on the Gameboy Color from 1999 to 2001. Based in the Johto region, these follow-ups to the groundbreaking Pokémon Red & Blue would introduce 100 entirely new Pokémon. Featuring the same top-down perspective RPG formula, the player must navigate the Johto region’s Pokemon gyms before taking on the Elite Four.

These games would introduce new features including carryable items, a real-time internal clock, Pokemon breeding and practical gear for navigating the region. Silver scores marginally higher, likely for certain Pokemon available in that specific game, the legendary Pokemon leveling and some of the sprite work, yet these are minor details over two stunning titles.