The Game Boy Color stands as an icon of old-school portable gaming. With its bright color screen and extensive catalog of games, Nintendo‘s 1998 handheld paved the way for gaming on-the-go. And while all sorts of great games appeared on the Game Boy Color, it was arguably one of the greatest systems ever for role-playing adventures. This guide will highlight the platform‘s seven most stellar RPGs and discuss why the GBC was so pivotal for the genre.
What Made the Game Boy Color Special, Especially for RPGs?
Spec wise, the Game Boy Color featured a sharp color screen supporting 32,000 colors and was powered by an 8-bit Zilog Z80 central processor running at 8 MHz, allowing for faster performance than the original Game Boy …
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While those components allowed for better graphics, bigger games, and attractive ports, there were even more reasons why the Game Boy Color proved to be an amazing fit for the distinctive play style of role-playing games.
An Introduction to Role Playing Video Games
Unlike action games that challenge players with difficult levels and high scores, RPGs place players within fantasy worlds as warriors, wizards, and rebels where they advance by gaining experience, acquiring new abilities, and unraveling epic adventures. Gameplay therefore tends to be slower, more story-based, almost like digitally flipping through the pages of fantasy novel.
Iconic Examples like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest established many standard RPG tropes during the NES/SNES era before exploding further in popularity across all platforms.
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This deeper RPG gameplay suits portable gaming extremely well. Players can slowly work through battles, upgrade stats/abilities, enjoy story reveals and generally feel immersed in an RPG world in brief daily gaming sessions, even if they aren‘t parked in front of a TV for hours on end. The graphics and memory allowed by the GBC let developers port classic RPGs to handhelds with almost no compromises while also creating exclusive new RPG adventures not possible previously on the original Game Boy.
Now let‘s analyze the best of the best RPGs that either originated on or were perfectly adapted to take advantage of the Game Boy Color‘s strengths.
Release Year: 2001
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Game Freak
Platforms: GBC, 3DS, Switch
Other Games in Series: 20+ on Most Nintendo Consoles
Units Sold: 23+ Million Copies Across All VersionsPokémon Crystal
Pokémon Crystal remains the pinnacle …
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While graphical capabilities predictably increased with future Nintendo handheld systems like the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, some may argue the GBC RPG library represented a quality over quantity peak for Nintendo portable RPGs.
For example, the GBA may have featured gorgeous 32-bit visuals, but also moved towards quicker action-centric games and remakes over slower-paced, original RPGs. Fans also criticize the Nintendo DS for having too much shovelware amongst some gems in its enormous library spanning over 1,000 games.
Technologically primitive compared to today‘s machines, the Game Boy Color also enjoyed a development climate that disproportionally benefited RPGs over other genres…
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With revolutionary titles like Pokémon Crystal paired with flawless ports of classics like Dragon Warrior III, the Game Boy Color‘s library proves beyond a shadow of doubt that graphics do not make the game. Its roster of incredible RPG quests remains just as magical today as two decades ago for millions of fans worldwide. For an 8-bit, pure-portable system it hosted one of greatest collections of role-playing epics ever seen at that point across any platform.
So for anyone wanting to enjoy monumental RPGs during spare minutes waiting in line or lounging in parks, planes, or treehouses, the Game Boy Color provides the ideal venue for losing oneself in whimsical fantasy lands anywhere, anytime.
