Overview
Nintendo's original portable game system introduced in 1989.
- Known As
- Game Boy • GB
- Company
- Nintendo
- Launched
- 10th Aug 1989
- Type
- Handheld
- Wikipedia
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy
Latest Reviews of Game Boy Games
Review Glory Hunters (Game Boy) - A Glorious 8-Bit Throwback With Some Rough Edges
Achievement Unlocked: Wait, wrong console
We originally published this review in June 2024 with a note that we'd flag if the game ever came to Switch. Well, it did! Published by Ogre Pixel, Glory Hunters lands on Switch today with various extras, including artwork and sketches, a markable world map, and a live performance soundtrack. For this...
Review Donkey Kong (GB) - One Of The Game Boy's Very Best
It's on with the King of the Kongs
This review was originally published in June 2011. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. In 1994, Nintendo had a great idea; why not make a true sequel to the original Donkey Kong arcade game? The result is Donkey Kong for the Game Boy,...
Review Castlevania Legends - A 'Vania So Poor It Got Booted From Canon
Tainted bloodline
This review was originally published in October 2012. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. The odds were stacked against Castlevania Legends almost from the start. When it was released towards the end of the '90s, it had the near-impossible task of following
Review Wario Land II (3DS eShop / Game Boy)
Greed is good
After the success of the first Wario Land, Nintendo decided to take another shot at putting its beloved new anti-hero in the spotlight. To differentiate it from Mario even further, it removed the "Super Mario Land" prefix and also made a massive gameplay change for Wario Land II. But is it one for the better? Defeated at the end of...
Review Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure (Game Boy)
Dude, where's our phone booth?
You leap about the screen avoiding enemies and collecting “fragments of time”. Grab them all and your phone booth appears to whisk you away to the next level. With characters and locations from the two films, Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure sees you travel across several time-zones in this simple but...
Review Hyper Lode Runner (Game Boy)
An enjoyable and frustrating title
Arriving in 1983 the original Lode Runner was a platform puzzler that appeared on numerous systems of the time including the NES. More Lode Runner games followed on various platforms including Battle Lode Runner for the PC Engine, whilst the Game Boy's entry in the series was Hyper Lode Runner. The aim of the game...
Popular Game Boy Games
Latest Game Boy News
News Nintendo Music Expands Its Library With Another Game Boy Soundtrack This Week
"That Stinks!" and other Wario Land songs return
Last month, Nintendo released a new update for its music application Nintendo Music, adding the WarioWare: Move It! soundtrack. Now, in a new update this month, it's added the Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 album to the paid service. Here's what you can expect from this latest update. This includes...
News PSA: Pokémon Red & Blue Game Boy Jukebox Back In Stock
Take an audio tour through Kanto
Earlier this year, as part of Pokémon's 30th anniversary celebrations, The Pokémon Company released a Game Boy Jukebox that took trainers on an audio tour through Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue. If you haven't already got it, or weren't able to secure it on release, TPC has now announced the jukebox is back in stock...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Metroid 40th Anniversary Special
The mainline entries do battle
Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get cracking, let's see how things went down last time. We looked at Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for the GameCube, throwing North America, Europe, and Japan into the ring to do battle. Admittedly, all of the designs were a little similar to...
News "I Threatened Him" - Capcom Producer's Radical Approach To Negotiating With Miyamoto
Well, it worked
Some of the most memorable Zelda games weren't actually made by Nintendo, but were instead developed by Capcom – more specifically a now defunct division of Capcom called 'Flagship'. These games include Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Four Swords, and The Minish Cap. It's fairly well known by this point that Capcom's...
Guide Every Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy (Color) Game Ranked
All the GB and GBC games on NSO
Updated with Fortified Zone, The Sword of Hope II, and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 from the July 2026 update. Enjoy! Game Boy and GB Color titles first arrived on Nintendo Switch Online in February 2023, pleasing many old-
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Fortified Zone
NSO newbie
We are back with another edition of Box Art Brawl! We celebrated the launch of Rhythm Heaven Groove last week by matching up the three regional covers for its Fever Wii predecessor, and it wasn't even close. The North American design walked away with a staggering win, taking 72% of the vote and leaving Europe and Japan with the remaining...
News Pikachu 1996 Style Plush Now Available At The Pokémon Center
Fingers crossed for restocks
Earlier this year, The Pokémon Company released a special retro-style Pikachu plush in Japan to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon series. This was followed by confirmation the plush (and a key chain based on the same design) would be getting a local release in the future. This plush has now been made...
Change the tune
Nintendo has often been accused of keeping its fans on their toes when it comes to announcements, and it's fair to say that nobody was expecting the Kyoto veteran to reveal (alongside The Pokémon Company) a tiny Game Boy-sized music player earlier this year. Released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon series,...
News Yoshi NES & Game Boy Soundtracks Join Nintendo Music This Week
It's Yoshi time!
After a special Star Fox release last week, Nintendo Music is now celebrating Yoshi with the soundtracks from his NES and Game Boy puzzle titles. The Game Freak-developed title originally debuted in Japan in 1991, and followed with local releases in 1992. The composer of the soundtrack is Junichi Masuda, known for composing...
Guide Best Pokémon Spin-Off Games Of All Time
Ranked by you, now with Pokopia and Champions
Pokémon Pokopia and Pokémon Champions launched nearly two months and one month ago, respectively, so today we're revisiting our reader-ranked list of Pokémon spin-off games to see where they've both settled in. Remember, you can influence the real-time ranking even now by giving any of the games...
News Move Over, Indy - This New Game Boy Color Indie Wants Some 'Fortune & Glory'
Ah, rats
The release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Switch 2 has us here at Nintendo Life Towers cracking out our 4K discs for a cheeky rewatch. A little righteous swashbuckling and fantastical archaeology in these troubled times is just what the doctor ordered. However, there's another treasure-hunting game that caught our eye recently,...
News Today Is Nintendo Legend Yoshiaki Koizumi's 58th Birthday
The 35-year Nintendo veteran deserves to be celebrated
Today, 29th April 2026, is Yoshiaki Koizumi 58th birthday. Currently the Senior General Manager at Nintendo EPD, and a Senior Executive Officer at the company, Koizumi-san is a long-time legend, having been with the company for 35 years (via Stealth40k) He's also the face of many Nintendo...
Talking Point Is Legend Of Zelda's Link Left Or Right-Handed? Let's Look At The Evidence
Rightward Sword or A Left to the Past?
The Zelda series has a passionate and devoted fanbase. Over the years, timelines have been debated, settled, shaken up, or outright ignored. Storylines have been contested, shredded apart, put on a pedestal. But nothing, not even recovering the Triforce, is more important than making sure Link is holding his...
News These Custom Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con Pay Tribute To A Truly Iconic Game Boy
Clear as day
For some inexplicable reason, Nintendo isn't giving us different coloured Joy-Con for the Switch 2 – at least not yet, anyway. Sure, we have the slightly different Light Purple and Light Green set, but the plastic on the bodywork is the same colour as the standard Joy-Con that ship with the console – and a far cry from the weird...
News Pokémon Confirms Anniversary Pikachu Plush Local Release
Following the confirmation of restocks in Japan
[Tue 3rd Mar, 2026 06:55 GMT]: Pokémon is celebrating its 30th anniversary in all sorts of ways, and one of the most in-demand products is the "Beginning Pikachu" plush, available at the Pokémon Center. At the moment, this retro Pikachu inspired the Pokémon's pixel design and look from the Game...
Guide Best Pokémon Games Of All Time
Every mainline 'mon, ranked
In honour of Pokémon's 30th anniversary, we're republishing our ranked master list of all the mainline games. Enjoy! Ranking the best Pokémon games is no easy feat, given that many of them are considered among the best games of their particular hardware generation. Then you have to consider just how many spin-off...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Pokémon 30th Anniversary Edition
Generational Divide
'!' Whoops! Looks like you've walked into our path. The exclamation mark has already appeared above our heads. We challenge you to a very special edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we send out this week's competitors, however, let's recap what went down last time. Marking another significant Nintendo anniversary as Zelda turned...
Community Miltanks For The Memories - 30 Years Of Your Pokémon Stories
Heart(Gold)-warming
27th February marks the anniversary of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, but this year's event is an extra special one: the Pokémon series is now 30 years old. In that time, it's evolved from a mere Game Boy monster-catching RPG into the world's biggest media franchise, with generations of gamers catching 'em all over three...
News Pokémon-Themed Mini Game Boy Announced, Though It's Not What You Think
Music to your ears?
The Pokémon Company has announced a mini Game Boy as part of its 30th anniversary Pokémon Presents, but it's not quite what you might have in mind. The Game Boy Jukebox / Game Music Collection is a small music player themed after Nintendo's Game Boy into which you slot one of 45(!) mini Pokémon Red or Blue cartridges, which...
News Nintendo Music Update Adds Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Album, Here's Every Song Included
It's time to blast "Mario Land" and other bangers
After the surprise release of the Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Game Boy Advance album last week, Nintendo Music is seemingly back to its regular schedule in terms of weekly updates. With this in mind, today it's added an absolute banger - it's the soundtrack for the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario...
Related Hardware
List of hardware items (add-ons?)
Where To Buy
List of places to buy this system