Page 50 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #3

Rumble Boxing, and Rush 2: Extreme game, Metroid. Metroid 2: The Return Nintendo followed Metroid 2 with
Racing USA, Game Boy has it covered. of Samus made the cover and feature another hit, The Legend of Zelda:
Or, how about the great fighting games article on most of the popular video- Link's Awakening. With the release of
like Capcom's Streetfighter 2 and game magazines. Feature articles and Zelda, the Game Boy had grown from
Streetfighter Alpha, or SNK's Fatal strategy guides, along with high ap- an alternative system to a mainstream
Fury and Samurai Showdown? No one proval ratings from both gamers and one, where it could be a game player's
would've imagined seeing those titles critics, finally proved that the Game first system rather than their second or
on a Game Boy. Let's not forget Nin- Boy was more than just a system for third.
tendo's own classics, converting scaled By the mid 90’s, the Game Boy was
from the original Su- down versions of old blessed with conversions of both Nin-
per Mario Bros. and NES games. tendo and third party developers’ most
Donkey Kong re- Around the same successful series. From Nintendo's
makes, to today's Su- time, Konami re- Super Mario Land series, Metroid 2:
per Mario Land series leased the Game The Return of Samus, and The Legend
and Donkey Kong Boy's first smash title of Zelda: Link's Awakening, to Ko-
Land series. The from a third party de- nami's Contra series, Teenage Mutant
Game Boy's library is veloper: The Teen- Ninja Turtles series, Castlevania se-
of true heavyweight age Mutant Ninja ries, and THQ's John Madden Football
caliber and includes Turtles and the Fall series, the Game Boy had all the indus-
all gaming genres. of the Footclan. The try's biggest titles. Other big titles in-
Nintendo's first portable version cluded Squaresoft's Final Fantasy Leg-
offering for the Game would later be de- end series; Nintendo's Killer Instinct
Boy also turned out to scribed as better than and Kirby; Acclaim's Mortal Kombat
be the most popular the original TMNT Trilogy; NBA Jam series; and the WWF
Game Boy title ever: Tetris. Tetris is title for the NES because it featured the wrestling series.
the addictive game that sent gamers by ninja fighting that the NES version With the Game Boy's suc-
the millions to buy a Game Boy, re- failed to deliver (Konami would later cess, Nintendo started seeing colors:
gardless of its shortcomings. Tetris release Teenage Mutant Ninja Tur- red, green, yellow, black, and clear!
can also take credit for being the rea- tles 2: The Arcade Game for the When Nintendo started marketing the
son the Game Boy is so popular NES which turned out to be a huge Game Boy in different colors, gam-
among women. On any given day in smash later that following year). ers everywhere began picking up
New York City (and any other city, I'm
sure), you'll more than likely see a few
women playing their Game Boys on the
trains and buses during their commute.
Women's devotion to the Game Boy is
undeniable.
In the early 90’s, the Game Boy suf-
fered from an identity crisis. The Game
Boy was successful with all age groups
and Nintendo was trying to broaden its
advertising reach. At one time the sys-
tem was being marketed to the
"Yuppie" generation, offering software
that organizes appointments and
schedules! Titles like Infogenius' Per-
sonal Organizer, Travel Guide, and
French or Spanish Language Transla-
tor were introduced but failed to win
over the "Yuppie" crowd. Thankfully,
Nintendo finally decided to stick with
serious game players (Gen X).
During the Game Boy's first few
years, Nintendo was having a tough
time proving it was a serious game
playing system. With mediocre titles
like Super Mario Land and Konami's
Castlevania, the system was drawing
criticism from all corners and desper-
ately needed stronger titles. While Su-
per Mario Land was widely anticipated,
the game failed to live up to the stan-
dard set from the Super Mario 2 and 3
games for the NES (the later Super
Mario Land games for the Game Boy
would be much better).
Things started turning around for
the Game Boy when Nintendo finally
released a sequel to the popular NES

Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2000 50