Best Game Boy / Game Boy Color RPGs

I think that harry potter game might be where the ugly hagrid came from

Oh boy (no pun intended), even genre highlight lists mash two handheld generations into one now.

And since unofficial translations like God Medicine were brought up, it bears giving a shoutout to Another Bible as well - while a rather distant cousin in the Shin Megami Tensei family, it's still one of the best and, let's face it, one of the precious few tactical JRPGs on Game Boy. And a rare JRPG I've ended up beating twice, actually.

@Beatrice Came here to say the same thing. It's better than Crystalis, IMO.

I really don't remember the Harry Potter game being all that good.

With the upcoming Analogue Pocket this list would be perfect--if the games could be found on eBay for reasonable prices. Which most of them can't.

Dragon Quest 3 is the single best GBC game out there.

Ah, Memories with Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, I liked that story behind of the Tennis Academy / Golf Club, the main character and the Mushroom Kingdom and obviously, the connection with the N64 versions.

Pokémon, what would I say?, classics that many here, we started with this franchise.

Survival kids, this hidden gem from Konami really I liked a lot, really a survival game, that, though of it cute desing, its very cruel when you don't take seriously the topic of "survival", many game over I get it and never completed the real ending.
I hope that a remake could appear, but, well, another game in my wish list of games that I would like to revivir today

@ecco6t9 Ikr? Dragon Warrior III is a SNES port, that at the same time is a remake from a NES game, but for a handheld game it has SO much replay value. From the vocation system to the post-game dungeons.

@JimmySpades but everdrive

I’m missing the action RPG Final fantasy adventure.

Or would you not consider it a RPG?

@TheLightSpirit I remember that problem with the Gameboy, having to try and get some light all the time. Everyone takes backlights for granted these days, they don't realise how lucky they are.

So many good games on this list. I'd like to check out Azure Dreams, haven't played that one yet. Loved Dragon Warrior Monsters, didn't play the second game but think I might buy it.

Nintendo needs to stop playing and release a Game Boy line Switch Online app please, thank you & asap.

Would pay full price for a Lufia: The Legend Returns and Dragon Warrior Monsters port.

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE something like the recent Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch but loaded with GB/GBC games, especially Pokémon.

For anyone interested, the following titles on this list are currently available on 3DS Virtual Console (in Europe, at least):

• Pokémon Red / Blue / Yellow
• Pokémon Gold / Silver / Crystal
• Legend of the River King 2 (and its predecessor)
• The Sword of Hope II
• Lufia: The Legend Returns
• Mario Tennis
• Mario Golf

Ummm did you miss Pokémon TCG? Is that one considered an RPG?

No love for Revelations: the Demon Slayer?

I must confess, I only played the Pokemon and Mario games on that list on the GB/GBC! It was the GBA era onwards where I really bit into the handheld RPGs. And the gorged on them.

Interesting article

Pokemon R/B/Y and G/S/C were what made the GB/C for me. I had a very hard time getting into GB games before Pokemon and thus always found it to not be all of that exciting of a system, but then Pokemon happened and I was addicted!

I will say that I also enjoyed the two Zelda GBC games: Oracle of Seasons and Ages, as well. Also Pokemon TCG, of course.

I've only played Pokemon RBY and GSC of that list but those were pretty great back then.

@jobvd Yeah, no.

I've owned Stranded Kids for quite some time, played it quite a bit back in the day but was kinda stuck and didn't know what to do to progress further. Didn't have internet at the time, so I couldn't rely on any outside help to get unstuck.

I've felt like trying it again lately, and now the fact it got mentioned again here as a top RPG for the system makes me want to take the plunge even more. I've also owned Azure Dreams since like... forever, but never even tried to start on it. I still don't quite feel it, even today, it's just one of those that I felt like I had to own and found it for like €5, used, so had to get it for myself, but when it comes to actually playing it, I never felt like it.

@GrandScribe
The Harry Potter games were surprisingly really good.

@jamesthemagi maybe I’m misremembering

@TheRealKyleHyde Thanks for the list, you've also got me wanting to play Hotel Dusk as well.

Gargoyle's Quest and Final Fantasy Adventure deserve a place but other than that, a very nice list!

The GB/GBC actually did have a number of JRPGs.
It's just that few of them were localized.

Also, the GBC version of Crystalis was NOT developed by SNK, but as one of the first games by Nintendo Software Technology, essentially the first American development team Nintendo set up (along with Bionic Commando: Elite Forces).

@TheRealKyleHyde thanks!! I’m interested in the sword of hope II.

@brandonbwii Not even Atlus cared about bringing it to the 3DS VC internationally (only in Japan did they release the game and its Japanese-exclusive sequel).
@fafonio No, it's a card game. I don't believe there is any actual RPG element to it.

@Beatrice Dragon Quest II has at least historical significance.
The first game felt kind of like a demo for the genre, and the second felt like its first full game.

@KingMike I don’t remember Mario Tennis and Mario Golf having RPG elements to it either.

Instead of having golf tournaments or Pokémon battles, you had card duels.

@bozz dragon warrior monsters 2 would also be a dream if it was released for the 3DS. 👌🙂💜😏

Not a Game Boy/Color game, but Dark Arms on Neo Geo Pocket Selection is a pretty decent handheld RPG from that era.

Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 and 2 were two of my favorite GBC games.

@MarcusIsCool Sadly there was a remake of both Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 and 2 for the 3DS, but for whatever reason they decided not to localize the games. So if you can speak Japanese you're good to go, otherwise you're out of luck. Also both versions of DWM2 were remade into one game.

@stache13 I speak multiple languages, however I don’t speak Japanese unfortunately. I’m SOL.

I picked up sword of hope. Who knows when I'll actually get to it though.

@fafonio I don't think I actually played Mario Tennis GBC beyond the tutorial part on my 3DS but I remember it having an EXP system of some kind.

@KingMike In this case, instead of exp you got better cards for playing against harder opponents. It is a kind of leveling system.
I think it should be considered an RPG

I can't believe Animorphs hasn't made the list*

*I totally can. Although, the speedruns of it by Keizaron at GDQ are hilarious.

@MarcusIsCool Me too. Except for the whole being able to speak multiple languages thing.

@Beatrice Not sure I understand then how Dragon Quest III got made and had record-setting waiting lines upon release, if the second was "never good".

@nhSnork To be fair, the GBC wasn't exactly a generational leap. It barely added anything beyond guaranteed full color, most GBC games are playable on a standard Game Boy (just without, you know, color), and the ones that aren't are few in number. It's only natural that the two systems be combined on most lists.

@fafonio Hmm, I'm not sure whether the "Pokémon TCG" game should count as an RPG. On one hand, you just collect and battle with cards instead of the actual monsters, while it has an RPG-like story mode with some RPG-like mechanics.

On the other hand, the individual cards themselves don't actually become any stronger like normal RPG party members, while overall it doesn't do that much more than many other card battling games like most "Yu-gi-oh!" games.

A favorite of mine that I don't see mentioned is Robopon. It's a Pokémon knock off with robots. One of my favorite features was a base building feature that you could build up as the game went along. I thought it also had a fairly compelling battle system and quirky robots that have it done good replayability.

The GBA sequel is also a great game but plays significantly differently. Closer to DQ/FF than Pokémon but still with Robot collecting.

Needs more Final Fantasy Adventure. I will die on that hill.

@BulbasaurusRex GBC exclusives are over a hundred even by Wikipedia's estimates (compare the handful of New 3DS ones), and many of them are clearly something that original Game Boy hardware could never do. The rest was abundant for sure, but still stemming mostly from the blend of backward compatibility and the traditional cross-gen periods we observe to this day (boosted by the fact that Game Boy itself had been on sale long enough to cover almost two generations, making Color a relatively late bird).

So happy to see Metal Walker on this list. That game seriously needed so much more love. It basically invented Monster Strike's style of combat.

Only thing I disagree with a little bit is that I honestly felt Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was better than the first one as that game actually gave you party members to play with whereas the first game had you play as just Harry, making it unnecessarily frustrating at times. (Seriously, how many times did that ogre kill me?)

@nhSnork That's still a relatively small amount compared to the total of over 500 releases, and while that's a lot more than the New 3DS got, the power boost was even smaller than with the New 3DS. Nobody considers the New 3DS as a new generation, do they?

Backwards compatibility is somewhat common, yes, but the forwards compatibility that the Game Boy has with the majority of the games made for its colorized variant is an extremely rare feature if not entirely unique. Off hand, the only other thing I can think of in the history of electronics that has even a somewhat similar forwards compatibility feature is the ability of black-and-white TVs to show color analog broadcasts and tapes without the color. There may have also been silent movie projectors that could play early "talkies" without the sound, but that's about it.