Part 1 Can Be Found Here
#20: Super Mario Bros. DX
Year: 1999
System: Game Boy Color
Everyone knows Super Mario Bros. changed the face of gaming and entertainment history, yadda yadda yadda. What people don’t tend to remember was the spectacular remake the Game Boy Color received over a decade later. Take the original classic, add a challenge mode, add a slew of extra goodies, some printable material, and an entire extra video game secretly hidden (The Lost Levels), and you have yourself hands-down one of the best remakes of any video game of all-time. It is very hard to improve on near-perfection, but Deluxe accomplishes just that.
#19: Donkey Kong Land
Year: 1995
System: Game Boy
Donkey Kong Country was a massive smash hit that ended the Genesis/SNES console wars by easily giving the edge to Nintendo. So of course Nintendo wanted to duplicate the mammoth success to the handheld. The question was if they could imitate the then-state-of-the-art graphics in a system with much less capabilities. The end result was that although it lacked the colors, it definitely had the look, the style, the attitude, and the addicting gameplay of the SNES version—-and with a slew of original levels too. The originality and creativity of the original was never duplicated in the sequels, and that’s why DKL1 has a spot on this list.
#18: Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Year: 2001
System: Game Boy Advance
One of the best franchises out there has got to be the addicting and usually-unfair Mario Kart. It is simplified, arcade-style racing that is easy to learn, fun to master, and much more fun when challenging others. Super Circuit is no different, by offering 20 original courses and then upping the value factor by adding the entire SNES Mario Kart catalog. That alone makes it a worthy purchase, but now add the multi-player mode, very slick graphics, and superb racing gameplay that none of the consoles have been able to duplicate ever since its release. If you like racing games, this is an absolute must-own.
#17: Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel
Year: 2000
System: Game Boy Color
Take the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear II and improve upon them in every single possible way, shape, form. You have Metal Gear Solid, but not the PSX version, but the totally neglected and forgotten Game Boy Color version. Picture this: 13 stages, over 150+ extra missions, many different ways to beat the game, a great storyline, and a fun multi-player mode to boot. This wasn’t just a shameless ploy to make money after the surprise-surprise Playstation smash hit: this was a legitimate new and original Metal Gear quest with a lot of great gameplay and wonderful moments. And none of the overlong and drawn-out cinematic sequences seen in the recent Metal Gear Solid titles.
#16: Advance Wars
Year: 2001
System: Game Boy Advance
The only reason this game didn’t hit magnificent sales wasn’t because of quality, but timing. This game came out right before 9/11, which really hindered its sales. Unfortunately, the franchise never reached the peaks of Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon. However, this game was so addicting, clever, and fun, it deserves such fame. It is a mix of RPG, strategy, and turn-based tactics that not only ushered in a wave of similar video games, but set the benchmark for all strategy games. The mix of replayability, addictiveness, and easiness to pick up and play doesn’t happen often, especially with this genre. But Advance Wars is a definite exception, as it is the strategy game chess wishes it was.
#15: Golden Sun
Year: 2001
System: Game Boy Advance
After the Super Nintendo, (excluding Pokemon) Nintendo is severely lacking in RPGs. With Chrono, Final Fantasy, and others moving to Sony, Nintendo was left with very, very little. Then came Golden Sun. This RPG was fresh, exciting, and very original. The gameplay tread on new role-playing gameplay waters, as the storyline delivered something fresh to the Game Boy table. Golden Sun would also test the graphical and audio capabilities of the GBA by delivering a beautiful-looking game with many amazing-looking attacks and a beautiful and varied musical score. It was one of the first epic experiences in any Nintendo system in the new millennium.
#14: Wario Land III
Year: 1998
System: Game Boy Color
The Wario Land franchise was well-known for turning all cliches of platform games into a thing of the past with fresh new styles of gameplay. First off Wario can't die, second off the levels become vastly different depending on whether its day or night, and sometimes entire levels cannot be fully explored until much later in the game. Wario Land III was an incredible mesh of great level design, great replay value, and so much backtracking you'll spend weeks playing the same levels you experienced in the very beginning. And it never becomes old, and never becomes tedious. Add a fun sense of humor and great exploration and you have yourself a true platform gem, among the best within the last 15 years.
#13: Metroid II: Return of Samus
Year: 1991
System: Game Boy
The most misunderstood of all the video games on this list, Metroid II's shortcomings occurred because of its limitations in the Game Boy. Similar to Perfect Dark and the N64, Metroid II was an extremely ambitious game that was so massive, they had to scale back on the graphics to fit it all. So the game doesn't look that great. Nonetheless, we have a very creepy video game with a massive overworld full of obstacles, sinister villians, and metroids to kill. The game was extremely non-linear, as there are many ways to go about your quest. Its not only a grand-scale adventure, but also a very vital chapter in the Metroid timeline. The final plot twist was a nice bonus too.
#12: Mario Tennis
Year: 2001
System: Game Boy Color
Mario Tennis for the N64 was a surprise success story that developed a nice relationship between Nintendo and Camelot. Quickly following the console version was the handheld port. Most people dismissed it as being just a port. Fortunately for all of us that got to play it though, it was a totally different (and to an extent..superior) experience. Not only do you get the fast-paced, arcade-style gameplay of the N64 version, but there is also an extensive RPG-like quest in which you take the role of a tennis player and have him/her rise up to the top in singles---AND doubles in an alternate quest. This excellent mix of RPG and sports does not happen enough, I must repeat that, and its time that Camelot and Nintendo bring this beautiful idea into consoles sometime soon. In the meantime, this is hands-down one of the most overlooked handheld games ever.
#11: New Super Mario Bros.
Year: 2006
System: Nintendo DS
It is very hard to believe, but there was a 14-year gap between side-scrolling Super Mario games. This game finally broke the unfortunate curse, and a brand new generation of gamers were treated to a new Mario adventure. This game wasn't just a knockaround remake, there were 80 levels across 8 worlds in this gem. While the art style isn't as whimsical as the Mario World duo in the SNES, the gameplay was just as fun, and just as addicting. Then add the multiplayer mode and all the mini-games intact. This was Super Mario reborn for a new decade, a new generation, a new millennium. And while it doesn't reach the classic/masterpiece status of the 90s Mario games, its darn-near close.
The Top 10 games will be revealed by the end of this weekend, with the release of the 3DS. Anyone know what the #1 game might be? Start guessing!
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