Latest Updates
December 15, 2016
2016 Dec. 15: Work has proceeded on pace despite the lack of update notes here. We’re now 15 updates into Game Boy World 1990 Vol. 2! The most recent posting is Power Missiøn. All updates now include complete manual scans, by the way.
Game Boy World 1990 Vol. 1: Now in print
May 2, 2016
The first chapter of Game Boy World 1990 is now available in book form!
Power Missiøn
August 24, 1990
Is it “Power Mission” or “Power Missiøn”? This forgotten release provided a pretty decent portable war gaming experience. It would be eclipsed by better-known games within a matter of months.
Dragon Slayer I
August 12, 1990
A seminal action RPG comes to Game Boy, despite some original design choices making it terribly ill-suited for the platform.
Bionic Battler
August 10, 1990
A clumsy, primitive, first-person maze shooter. It’s not very fun. But man, that box art is something else, huh?
Amazing Penguin
August 8, 1990
A charming little puzzler that stands out from the system’s glut of puzzlers thanks to its fast-paced, addictive gameplay.
Sakigake!! Otokojuku: Meioutou Kessen
August 4, 1990
Based on a thoroughly Japanese manga, this thoroughly mediocre fighting game remained stranded in its homeland.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
August 3, 1990
The inevitable arrival of the juggernaut Ninja Turtles franchise didn’t quite live up to Konami’s usual standards, with repetitive play and cheap enemies.
Ishidō: The Way of Stones
August 2, 1990
An adaptation of a Macintosh board game involving matching tiles, slightly compromised by Game Boy’s lack of color and overabundance of puzzlers.
Tasmania Story
July 27, 1990
Based on a Japan-only movie, with gameplay adapted from a Japan-only MSX game, this clunky and primitive creation is tough to love.
Double Dragon
July 20, 1990
A loose adaptation of the NES game, which in turn loosely adapted the arcade original. Nearly a brilliant rendition but for one critical flaw: Its absolutely wretched difficulty balancing.
Shisenshou: Match-Mania
July 13, 1990
Irem makes its Game Boy debut with this adaptation of Tamtex’s arcade Shaghai variant, losing the original version’s color (and its smut) in translation to the portable.
Pipe Dream
July 3, 1990
An interesting counterpoint to the remarkably similar Blodia from a few months prior. Where that game featured structured puzzles, Pipe Dream features a Tetris-like randomness… and an ease of use that makes it infinitely more fun than Blodia.
The Amazing Spider-Man
July 1, 1990
Lousy licensed Game Boy games are just as likely to come from western studios as Japanese! The Amazing Spider-Man is every bit as awful as Gundam or Zoids. Sorry, kids.
Volleyfire
June 29, 1990
A promising premise for a game — two players go head-to-head in a shooting match — crumbles beneath lousy programming. A throwback to an older time, in a bad way.
Burai Fighter Deluxe
June 22, 1990
The fast-paced NES shoot-em-up comes to Game Boy with most of its content and mechanics intact, almost day and date with its console sibling. Pretty impressive!
ZOIDS: ZOID Densetsu
June 15, 1990
Based on the toyline, Zoids Densetsu fails to live up the standard of even that middling property; it was, by far, the worst Game Boy release to that point.