Thehandheldmarket of video games has always been a difficult corner of the industry to monopolize, but Nintendo has been the most successful in this area. Sega & Sony’s handhelds never quite took off as they hoped, but Nintendo’s handhelds have all been very popular and it started with theGame Boy.
Related:10 of the Best Games for the Game Boy
The Game Boy marked experimental territory for Nintendo and it became the home for a lot of NES ports. Many people were initially skeptical of the Game Boy’s capabilities, but the humble handheld still features somelengthyand robust titles. This is especially true when it comes to RPGs and there are some real expansive gems on the platform.
10Great Greed (13 Hours)
Great Greedis a serious anomaly of a video game. It’s an environmentally conscious RPG fromNamcoexclusive to the Game Boy that sees players prevent the pollution of Biohazard Harry and eventually tackle a corrupt political figure. Its story is ridiculous, but it takes its visual aesthetics and gameplay cues from theFinal Fantasy LegendandDragon Warriortitles. Impressively,Great Greedalso features numerous different endings and a lot of interactivity on the user’s part, which contributes a substantial amount to the game’s length for those that want to experience everything.
9Donkey Kong Land III (13 Hours)
TheDonkey Kong Countryfranchise on the SNES helped solidify the relationship between Nintendo & Rare and it’s considered to be one of the best platformers on the console. TheDonkey Kong Landgames for the Game Boy try to translate this magic over to a handheld context and even though the games are greatly simplified, they’re still technical successes.Donkey Kong Land IIIis the series’ swan song and it packs in as much as possible, both in terms of the core game and the amount of hidden content.
8The Final Fantasy Legend (13 Hours)
Final Fantasy Legendis a real turning point for Nintendo’s Game Boy and it marks a real effort to legitimize the handheld as a home for RPGs. The game even originated the feature of built-in batteries so players could save their progress.
Related:The 10 Best Handheld Games Of All Time (According To Metacritic)
Originally known asSaGa,but changed toFinal Fantasy Legendin America to capitalize on the success of Square’sFinal Fantasy franchise, the game is a fundamental RPG from the ‘90s.Final Fantasy Legendhelped inspire many of the games that have gone on to become modern classics.
7Donkey Kong Land 2 (15 Hours)
Rareare responsible for some of Nintendo’s best titles from the ‘90s and it’s encouraging to see that they could even show the Game Boy some love.Donkey Kong Country 2is considered by many to be the apex of the three Super Nintendo platformers and the same is true with the Game Boy’s equivalent series.Donkey Kong Land 2focuses on Diddy & Dixie and it manages to refine some of the rougher aspects of its predecessor. The more confident game also includes a ton of challenging material that’s guaranteed to challenge even the most seasoned Game Boy users.
6The Sword Of Hope (15 Hours)
The Sword of Hopetells a story that’s downright Shakespearean. Prince Theo has to rise up against his maniacal & corrupt King father and avenge the death of his mother. The game is a first-person RPG set against a medieval fantasy backdrop and it has a fairly clever approach for its unique boss battles.The Sword of Hopeis a title that doesn’t get nearly enough attention outside of Japan and it’s the prime sort of property that would benefit from a modern remake.The Sword of Hopewas put on the3DS’Virtual Console, but only in Japan.
5The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (18 Hours)
Link’s Awakeningused to be one of the more obscureThe Legend of Zeldatitles, but thanks to the recent remake on the Switch, there’s been a whole new audience that can experience this unusualZeldatitle.Link’s Awakeningis the first handheldZeldagame and it’s still one of the best.
Related:The 10 Worst Handheld Games Of All Time (According To Metacritic)
It proves how the franchise’s mechanics easily translate over to the Game Boy and this game in particular has such life to its eccentric world and enemies. Players can rush throughLink’s Awakening, but there’s a lot in there for those that want to look for secrets.
4Final Fantasy Legend II (18 Hours)
All of theFinal Fantasy Legendtitles for the Game Boy are satisfying and lengthy experiences, but it’s the second entry in the saga that’s looked at as the series’ best. The game improves upon the RPG mechanics fromSquare’sinitial game and while the story is somewhat typical, it’s still easy to connect with these characters.Final Fantasy Legend IIhas eight different characters to experiment with and 77 Magi shards to collect, which promises to be one of the longer Game Boy games.
3The Sword Of Hope II (25-30 Hours)
The Sword of Hope IIis a bigger game than its predecessor, but in this case that’s not necessarily a good thing.The Sword of Hope IIembraces dungeon crawler aesthetics, but the repetitive and prolonged nature of its battles draw out what’s already a long title. There’s also a much more generic plot present this time around where a released evil needs to be extinguished and a powerful relic needs to be found.The Sword of Hope IIloses the momentum that the original game builds and it’s unfortunate the series didn’t go on to continue on the Super Nintendo.
2Final Fantasy Legend III (25-30 Hours)
The final entry in theFinal Fantasy Legend/SaGaseries for the Game Boy is also the longest and most comprehensive of the three titles.Final Fantasy Legend IIIreally shows what can be accomplished on the Game Boy’s hardware and the story features the biggest scope yet with an adventure that covers the past, present, and future. TheSaGaseries would migrate over to theSuper Nintendo, butFinal Fantasy Legend IIIis still an achievement and proof that the Game Boy can handle lengthier RPGs.
1Pokémon Red & Blue (100+ Hours)
ThePokémonseries is still going strong and it’s finally properly migrated over from Nintendo’s handheld systems over to home consoles. TheoriginalPokémongameshelped seriously popularize the Game Boy and it’s not just one of the most successful titles for the platform, but it also features some of the most content. The main game and the extent of the challenges that are featured will run players around 45-50 hours, but for the completionists out there that strive to catch them all, it’s very easy to invest at least 100 hours into the RPG.
