Nintendo GameBoy > Reviews > The Grandaddy of Handhelds

Author's product rating:   

Graphics capability
Sound capability
Range of Extra Features (I.e. email)
Ease of use
Value For Money

Advantages:	great games, great graphics(for his age)
Disadvantages:	size, not so pocket size, sometimes dodgy sounds and graphics(but that's the game developers mna ! )

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have owned an original gameboy now for ten, nearly eleven, whopping years. And althoug I play it a lot less than I used to, it's the best buddy a gal(or guy) can have on long, or even short twenty minute, journeys, especially, when like me, you get a little bit green from reading in the car.

If Sony is the dominant one among the big boys, Ninty is definitely the dominant one among the little boys. The lynx was the first to fall, then the game gear(ironically, the Gb's successor appears to be a souped up game gear) and more recently, it smashed the neo geo into practical oblivion.

But why? Someone (no names) commented on the game boy original as 'being a waste of money' with crap graphics. I challenge them to play tiny toons, or any of the wario lands, or mario land 2 and more recently games like pokemon(the last game I bought - no jokes, how could I not, with Bulbasaur looking so cute?). The graphics on all of these games are clear and considerably good, considering the screen we have. And how many of us play on amstrad and spectrum emulators. Do we play them because of the outstanding graphics...no(unless some of us are seriously deprived...oh and excluding knightlore, that had fab graphics, along with batman!), we play them for the excellent game play.

Tetris, mario land, wario land, pokemon,(drags gameboy from under bed), robin hood prince of theives(a criminally overlooked game I felt), harvest moon, tiny toons, dragons lair, bart simpsons escape from camp deadly all of these games gave me endless hours of gameplay and replayability because of their fantastic gameplay and often addictiveness. God, even my own mother managed to play dragon's lair for half an hour once, and she liked it! How could I not love this hand held hero or, for those who bought the pink game girl, heroine.

For those who have never seen this piece of genius(which like mobile phones gets better looking with every design), think rectangular piece of plastic, screen the size of minidisc box, a crosspad on your righthand side, two buttons on the left hand(a and b) and a start and select button in the middle(all underneath the screen) and bob's yer uncle...maybe.

The only gripe I'd have with Mr. original is his bulky size(compared to todays incarnations) but compared to the brick that was the game gear(which required you to have hands the size of large pans) you'd have understood why it was hailed as portable. Handy extras such as the light up thingy(you can get one for about 3 quid these days) the enlarger screen(makes screen clearer) and so on are all welcome, but by all mean you can live without them(I certainly managed). But apart from that, this was the guy that started them all and he demands respect.

All hail gameboy original! Wah-ahha-er...