The 40 Greatest Nintendo Handheld Games (The Top 10)

Part 2 is here

Part 1 is here

And now, the Top 10 best handheld games Nintendo has ever released--up to this point.



10) Tetris
Year: 1989
System: Game Boy

When the Game Boy was first announced, there was speculation as to whether or not people are willing to fork over good money to play video games on a much smaller screen. You needed specific types of games to truly push the machine to good sales. Tetris became that game. It was extremely easy to learn, and extremely difficult to put down. There were no levels, no quests, just a simple puzzle game that becomes extremely addicting no matter how many times you have played this before. And to add to that, this Tetris was the closest to the original design invented earlier that decade—far more accurate than the Atari and NES versions.

The Nintendo Game Boy’s mammoth success in the early 90s was because of Tetris: it was the perfect pick-up-and-go video game that compliments the handheld better than any other game. If you are a gamer, you have played this game at one point or another—whether it’s the Game Boy version, the console version, the computer version, or the cell phone version. But in most gamers’ hearts, it’s the original Game Boy version that excels the best, no question about it.


9) Pokemon Red/Blue
Year: 1998
System: Game Boy

The original Game Boy was already a great success story and affirmed Nintendo’s stranglehold in the industry. But there was no denying that the Game Boy was aging quite a bit in the later 90s when systems like the N64 and Playstation were cranking out incredible games with incredible graphics. The black-and-white can only work for so long. And then came Pokemon. This game breathed so much life into the Game Boy; it’s arguably the reason why the inferior Game Boy Color didn’t flop. Pokemon was a new type of RPG, a new type of video game, and a new franchise that turned into an utter phenomenon that could have lasted longer if not for overexposure.

Pokemon Red and Blue threw gamers into a totally new and massive world full of monsters to collect, trainers to fight, side-quests to complete, and ultimately, a couple cities to save. It may seem trivial now, but back in 1998, a handheld game with 8 badges, over a dozen cities to visit, 150 monsters to catch, and a plethora of small adventures to complete (ranging from entering a haunted house to fighting an evil organization inside a mysterious building) was extremely impressive to a point of nearly overwhelming. And while many sequels have been made, it has still been impossible to top the magic and wonder of the original.

And then there’s the multi-player……………


8) Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Year: 1992
System: Game Boy

Super Mario Land was one of the launch titles of the Game Boy, and became an instant hit. That being said, it really did not feel like a Mario game. It was lacking the Mario look, and the Mario feel. Super Mario even fought in submarines and airplanes for crying out loud. It was fun, but quite bizarre. Super Mario Land 2 however would improve upon all these things, and still maintain its extensive variety that made it not just a knockaround from the consoles. 6 Golden Coins was our first experience dealing with Wario, Mario’s first array into outer space, and Mario’s first time battling inside a house. Check that: Mario travels into space, into an abandoned submarine, inside a robotic Mario, into a haunted pumpkin, and so much more.

30+ stages, many great power-ups, plenty of grand variety, two different difficulties, and so much more, Mario Land 2 is arguably the Game Boy’s first epic quest. This would be the last side-scrolling Mario game for over a decade, but its hard to understand why, because we appreciated and praised this gem with open arms. Just wait until this comes out on the 3DS so you can relive its awesomeness.


7) Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages
Year: 2001
System: Game Boy Color

This type of insanity is never tested out in the consoles, and that’s a pure shame. Take a celebrated franchise, split a massive adventure into two, have them connected in multiple ways, and offer two styles of gameplay within the two titles. Oracle of Seasons was more action, while Oracle of Ages was more exploration. So depending on what type of Zelda you prefer, the game was available. You can play the games in whatever order you desire, as the mix of a game link cable and a password system created different gameplay experiences.

We can never get enough Zelda, and these two handheld games perfectly borrowed from Link’s Awakening and gave us a reason to buy the inferior Game Boy Color at that time. A lot to see, a lot to explore, and a lot of quests to fulfill, Oracle of Seasons/Ages are the most overlooked Zelda games when we are discussing adventure classics.


6) Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Year: 2002
System: Game Boy Advance

Yoshi’s Island wasn’t just another game: this is easily, no-question-about-it one of the 10 greatest video games of all-time. It was so graphically and artistically ahead of the curve that the Game Boy Advance has trouble porting some of the cooler effects seen in the SNES version. This is the Mario game with the strongest cult following, as its uniqueness and purely innovative gameplay has created a fanbase that has asked for more of this style of gameplay (Which to this day has just resulted in disappointments: Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s Island DS).

So why is this game so high on the list? Because it not only replicated the original game with almost everything intact, but also added some sound effects, and added six extra levels. Then there’s the hidden ending. Then there’s the multi-player mode with the original Mario Bros. appearing in the pack. While Mario World and Mario 64 were superior games, Yoshi’s Island received the best treatment in terms of making a handheld sequel.


5) Wario Ware Twisted
Year: 2005
System: Game Boy Advance

If you want examples of Nintendo slowly incorporating motion-sensor gameplay to its video games, look no further than the vastly underrated and purely addicting Wario Ware Twisted. They took the concept of the original insanity that is Wario Ware, and expanded upon it in so many ways you can’t help but become impressed. Becoming one of the few games in history with arguably more hidden goodies and games than actual gameplay, Wario Ware Twisted contains dozens of little microgames you must complete by moving the Game Boy around, taking advantage of the motion-sensor technology. What starts out as a little gimmick turns into a fantastically fun game that results in many multi-player matches, nearly a dozen mini-games to discover, and so much hidden material it will take months to discover it all.

While the lack of success makes it hard to link this game to the eventual Nintendo Wii, the folks at Nintendo clearly knew they were in the right track, as this game quietly received universal acclaim from critics, bloggers, and even some competitors. Creativity should be rewarded, and it’s safe to say that Wario Ware Twisted was the first game of its kind: crazy, unpredictable, and just balls-out fun. Try to put this game down after five minutes, I dare you. What other game allowed you to play Super Mario Bros. without a control pad?


4) Mario Kart DS
Year: 2005
System: Nintendo DS

After the very disappointing Double Dash, we were ready to welcome single-kart racing with open arms. Now add the fact that it has over 30 courses, multiple multi-player modes, many courses from the previous Mario Karts, an improved A.I., less cheapness, more skill required, an online mode, and a much deeper vehicle system, and we have ourselves one of the greatest racing games of all-time. It fired on nearly all cylinders and delivered beautifully. The graphics were excellent, the musical score was an improvement over Double Dash, and the game was the toughest since the original Mario Kart. So why is this not higher?

The coulda woulda shoulda rule. Mario Kart DS already had the capability to re-create Double Dash courses, but yet failed to duplicate all the courses of an entire game----like Super Circuit did with Super Mario Kart. Now, while the level design was by no means wrong, Mario Kart 64 still gets no love even though it remains the racer with the best level design in Nintendo racing history. All Mario Kart DS had to do was pull a Super Circuit and bring in all the Mario Kart 64 tracks (and maybe more, it had the memory capabilities), and it would have definitely been Top 3, maybe even closer to #1. Despite that, Mario Kart DS was an incredible new chapter in racing game history by finally allowing Mario Kart to go one place it should have gone to years before: online.


3) Wario Land II
Year: 1998
System: Game Boy

If you are shocked by how high this game is on the list, it’s only because you forgot about how good it is, and you forgot how I like my video games. This game is so innovative; it’s hard to believe that more platformers (more games for that matter) don’t copy the same strategy. Actually, this game was so overlooked I say it was underrated by the critics. Get this: a handheld game with 52 levels, multiple ways to beat the game, several mini-games, multiple endings, and the inability to die. That’s right, you can’t die. But, the game ups the challenge by offering frustrating platform moments, many puzzles, and multiple annoying obstacles that result in you having to start a level all over again. And just because you beat the game once doesn’t mean you’ve played all the levels. It takes about a half-dozen playthroughs to get everything.

The inability to die made this game quite creative, as it found multiple ways to force you to re-do certain levels. Now add the multiple storyline syndrome: for example if in the very first level you do not wake up, then you start off in a totally different quest as opposed to if you wake up and try to shut off the alarm clock. The game is clever, fast-paced, funny, quite difficult, and just the pinnacle in simplistic platform gaming. It created the ultimate strategy to creating the flawless platformer; which has resulted in few followers—and I am including the exact same franchise after Wario Land 3. This game is pure mayhem, and pure fun.


2) The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Year: 1993
System: Game Boy

I’m pretty sure back then they said it couldn’t be done. After the masterpiece that was Link to the Past, we had a lot of skeptics saying that you could not transform such an epic display of gaming into a small portable device. Link’s Awakening proved the entire world dead wrong by proving one of the biggest and best adventures from any game in any system at any given moment. Link is away from his usual battlegrounds of Hyrule into a very unique world full of lovable people, fun little areas, and of course, dungeons. This game has all the fantastic gameplay of the Zelda series that we have grown to love. To add to that, there are cameo appearances of other Nintendo characters, side-scrolling Mario Bros.-like gameplay, mini-games, and plenty of side-quests to keep you occupied. Topping it all is a beautiful story that although has a minor cop-out ending, still had its majestic moments.

Link’s Awakening became the big sales-booster of the Game Boy in 1993, and it would be years before a game did such help for the Game Boy (See: Pokemon). There honestly is nothing wrong with this game, as it is a must-play for all gamers young and old. If developers would but more effort into their games, pushing the graphical, audio, and memory capabilities of the consoles and handheld systems, the current state of gaming would be much better. In the meantime though, we have Link’s Awakening to remember and hope to see on a re-release in the near future.









1) Pokemon Gold/Silver

Year: 2000

System: Game Boy



Repeat after me, and very slowly: Pokemon Silver is arguably and perhaps the greatest role-playing game of all-time, not just within Nintendo. Now, that previous statement may sound blasphemous to those that are fans of Final Fantasy VI, VII, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, etc. But just hear me out: Pokemon Silver expanded the franchise into new heights, broke so much new ground that it makes the latter versions seem weak and miniscule. This game wore out the battery of your Game Boy as there was so much to do, see, and explore, your real life was slowly being lived only to continue playing this. The amount of ways you can beat this game is endless, and the amount of hidden fun embedded in this RPG is nothing short of impressive.

The original Pokemon was great, but this game improved upon everything: the weaknesses AND strengths. This game took the original length of the game and practically doubled it. Here is what you see in Gold/Silver: Hundreds of new Pokemon appeared (as well as nearly all the originals), backwards-compatibility with the original game to complete your collection, Pokemon breeding and babies (resulting in some potentially sinister Pokemon raised from level 5), 16 badges instead of 8, two massive overworlds, twice as many encounters against Team Rocket and your rival, a clock system, a day/night system, a days-of-the-week system (resulting in different events occurring on different days), the ability to exchange numbers with other trainers (for rematches or discoveries of new Pokemon), an expansion of stats and Pokemon types, Pokemon genders resulting in different stats, and finally, a showdown against Ash himself. We literally could not ask for anymore, as I am sure the Game Boy would explode if they had tried to fit anything else.

The Pokemon franchise like I have said a million times before can go places, can truly go the distance, can truly push the envelope, and Pokemon Gold/Silver became the very first (and to this date ONLY) game in the franchise to truly attempt something big, different, and improved. All other variations of Pokemon after this one cut back on things, failed to improve on others, and just screwed up all the potential. How on earth can Pokemon Black and White NOT have more badges and gameplay hours than Gold/Silver (On much superior hardware I must add)? Rudy, Sapphire, Dianomd, Pearl, Black, and White aren’t bad games, but they look pathetic for as long as we still remember the existence of Pokemon Gold/Silver: the greatest handheld game of all-time.

.............and let's not forget that awesome multi-player...................





Here’s to hoping the 3DS delivers more epic games from the crazy world of Nintendo.

Cheers.