How Many Game Boy Games Can NA Beat in 2016?

Comments

• Brock Landers

  August 2016

  Third times the charm
• PekoponGB

  August 2016

  I've got a lot of games I know how to beat still on the unfinished list, so people better step it up before I catch up to you all. ; )
  
  I also wanted to mention that philosoraptor was a tad mixed up about something when he beat balloon kid. The hello kitty famicom game was actually based on balloon kid, rather than the other way around. For whatever reason, Balloon kid was not released in Japan, so they took Balloon kid and converted it into a hello kitty game for the famicom.
  
  Just thought I'd clear that up before misinformation gets spreading. Balloon kid is one of my favourite Game Boy games.  
• SoleGooseProductions

  August 2016

  Working on one of the unfinished ones, but wow, that's a long way to go toward completion. Has it ever been achieved?
• Ferret Oxide

  August 2016

  I am playing Road Rash at the moment, so I'll post when that's done.
  
  
  
  I can try to beat the hateful mess that is Lamborghini American Challenge, too, if nobody else wants to.
• Splain

  August 2016

  I was working on a handful of games that I've never beaten before, but I'm stuck on... all of them. I should slam out some more easy stuff to get my groove back. Game Boy games are typically short enough that we ought to be able to reach at least 200 by year's end.
• Splain

  August 2016

  Ok, broke thru Breakthru! I did this for SNES recently, and I found that the GB game is identical to the SNES one, just black and white. So I'm going by the completion criteria from the SNES thread, which is to finish the first 24 levels, at which point the levels loop around at a higher difficulty. If anyone has any beef, I can fire it back up.
  
  
  
  
• zombi

  August 2016

  Castlevania Legends: Complete.
  
  
  
  
• PekoponGB

  August 2016

  Originally posted by: zombi
  
  Castlevania Legends: Complete.
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Did you get the true ending? There are extra requirements to fight the true final boss and see the proper ending. Sonya will let her hair down, and there is more story. The final shot of the true ending has Sonya holding a baby Christopher Belmont, the protagonist of Castlevania Adventure.
  
  I will update the list shortly to include brrakthru's completion.
• PekoponGB

  August 2016

  Cosmotank complete!
  
  
  
  This is a game I discovered in a previous year's thread, and it continues to fascinate me. It has everything it needs to be the next big Diamond in the rough discovery, yet it fails to reach that level for some reason.
  
  
  
  I think it's main shortcoming is that it's just boring to play despite its polish and multi-genre gameplay. Maybe the manual has some really well written back story that could clear things up, but without the manual it just feels like nothing is that important in the game. I think a unique battle theme for bosses and the final boss would have really helped, as all the bosses feel kind of unremarkable when they use the regular battle music.
  
  
  
  I suggest Game Boy enthusiasts give this one a go and tell how they feel about it in the thread. It's interesting enough that you'll enjoy it, but don't be surprised if you find yourself underwhelmed.
• Splain

  August 2016

  Yeah I was actually surprised by CosmoTank when I first played it. All things considered, it's not that bad, it just lacks that mystery polish.
• Brock Landers

  August 2016

  Originally posted by: PekoTAS
  
   
  

  Originally posted by: zombi
  
  
  
  Castlevania Legends: Complete.
  
  
  
   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Did you get the true ending? There are extra requirements to fight the true final boss and see the proper ending. Sonya will let her hair down, and there is more story. The final shot of the true ending has Sonya holding a baby Christopher Belmont, the protagonist of Castlevania Adventure. I will update the list shortly to include brrakthru's completion.

  
  Stuff like that is why I spent the end of 2015 trying to figure out and document any special criteria for the games in my list so people knew what they were getting into ahead of time.  Obviously you just took this guy on, but if you're running things in 2017 it is something to consider doing.
  
  
  
   
• PekoponGB

  August 2016

  Originally posted by: Brock Landers
  
   
  

  Originally posted by: PekoTAS
  
   
  

  Originally posted by: zombi
  
  
  
  Castlevania Legends: Complete.
  
  
  
   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Did you get the true ending? There are extra requirements to fight the true final boss and see the proper ending. Sonya will let her hair down, and there is more story. The final shot of the true ending has Sonya holding a baby Christopher Belmont, the protagonist of Castlevania Adventure. I will update the list shortly to include brrakthru's completion.

  
  Stuff like that is why I spent the end of 2015 trying to figure out and document any special criteria for the games in my list so people knew what they were getting into ahead of time.  Obviously you just took this guy on, but if you're running things in 2017 it is something to consider doing.
  
  
  
   

  
  
  
  Believe me, I have been working on it as I progress through the GB library.   I was going to make a list of everything I'm aware of at some point, but something came up before I could get around to it. I had a list compiled of certain things back when I breifly ran the thread 2 years ago, but I've discovered other things since. I'm also trying to come up with goals for puzzle games that seem appropriate as opposed to just beating the high score. Stuff to make the game feel a little more like a complete victory as opposed to just playing a few minutes and winning.
  
  
  
  Obviously this is all going to take a while, but hopefully the GB fans of the thread can help compile a complete list of this sort of stuff. It's going to be a group effort. I'll see if I can put the current list together some time today, but I have a doctor appointment first. Don't you worry about the thread. I've been wanting to get back to running it for a couple years, so I'm not about to slack off.  
  
  
  
  It's worth pointing out that I have to rebuild my GB collection, so it may take until next year before I have most of my old cartridges back. I'm focusing on those before I start buying a bunch of new ones, since some of the ones I used to have are increasing in price and popularity. I'll be in full swing by the start of next year, since thankfully GB carts are fairly easy to purchase around here.
  
   
• zombi

  August 2016

  Originally posted by: PekoTAS
  
   
  

  Originally posted by: zombi
  
  
  
  Castlevania Legends: Complete.
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Did you get the true ending? There are extra requirements to fight the true final boss and see the proper ending. Sonya will let her hair down, and there is more story. The final shot of the true ending has Sonya holding a baby Christopher Belmont, the protagonist of Castlevania Adventure. I will update the list shortly to include brrakthru's completion.

  
  
  
  
  
  I had no idea.  
• PekoponGB

  August 2016

  Skate or die tour de thrash complete!
  
  It's a pretty fun game, and way better than the first one that konami made. Skate or die bad 'n' rad I still have unfinished business with, and I intend to beat it some day.
  
  At the moment I'm working on beating Wizards and Warriors X The Fortress of Fear. I was initially having a lot of trouble with it, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I can now pretty consistently get to what I believe is the final level, but I have been making fairly slow progress there. It seems that the final level is not only really tough, but also a maze that you can get sent backwards in. If you saw the version of this post Pre-edit, I'm actually having a lot of fun with this game now. I'd love to be able to knock this one off my personal GB completion list, let alone the thread's list.
  
  Also I want to make a special shout out. If anyone knows the requirements to obtaining the good ending in bubble bobble 2 for Game Boy, please let me know. I've heard it isn't similar to the NES version, though I'm not sure. I'm slowly compiling a list of GB completion requirements, and that would be a good one to know since I myself am not very good at bubble bobble games.
  
  On a similar note, in bubble bobble 1 for Gameboy, you obtain key items for defeating bosses which allow you to save your brother at the end of the game. For those who have played it, do you know if you retain the items if you turn the system off, and insert a password later? There may be a chance it doesn't give you back the item if you use a password past the first boss.
  
  I should be able to beat wizards and warriors fairly soon. Keep it up everyone! Also (sure to remind me if I miss a completion during an update. The thread is a group effort among GB fans.  
  
  EDIT: Wizards and Warriors X Fortress of Fear complete!
  
  As much trouble as I had with this game, it's overall quite good. It's fairly punishing, but it can be completed with enough repeated playthroughs. There's a sneaky trick in the last level that took me a while to figure out, and once I did that I was able to beat the final boss. There is a single congratulations screen where you rescue a damsel, which was apparently the plot.
  
  Overall a good GB game, just a little time consuming to learn. I'd recommend it.  
  
  Next I'll be working on Catrap. I've played 20 puzzles so far, and can honestly say this game is awesome. It's been a while since I've sat down with a GB game and been able to say without question that the game rules. Even if someone finishes it before me, I'll be playing this for my own personal completion list.
  
  Update! I'm at level 74 of Catrap, and still enjoying it. Taking a bit of a break and starting Wario land 2 which is a huge project. I've never fully finished Wario land 2, but I've always wanted to. The deal with this game is that you HAVE to 100% complete the game to do the REAL final chapter. The game is enormous for a game boy game, and will take quite some time to finish. Just calling it a head of time so people don't start it up and invest a ton of time into it.
• Splain

  August 2016

  I beat Pipe Dream. It gives you a password every 4 levels, until toward the end it just says "TRY NEXT 4STAGE" (sic) and you have to do the last 8 levels in a row without dying. Then you find out that all the pipes you built were to help fill a swimming tank for a penguin:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Then you add your name to the high score list, and instead of showing the level you died on, it shows a letter B. Beat?
  
  
  
  
• PekoponGB

  August 2016

  Thread updated.
  
  
  
  I'm taking a short break from my current projects to play through Pokemon Blue just for fun. I'm still working on Wario Land II and Catrap, but it will be a little slower than at first. I'm still re-building my GB cartridge collection, so I'm focusing more on games I used to own rather than new ones at this point. I'm going to be as ready as I can be for next year.  
• SoleGooseProductions

  August 2016

  I really wanted to add to the list, but after weeks of playing almost every night for a bit, Final Fantasy Legend II doesn't look like it is going to be beaten, at least by me anyways. I'm near the end, but I just don't have the drive to keep walking three steps, saving, resetting, and repeating all of the way through the last area or two. FFLIII was so good, and I had a great story to tell about finally beating FFLII 18 years after purchasing it, but wow, is that game frustrating. Maybe I'll finish it off, we'll see.
• PekoponGB

  September 2016

  I wouldn't feel too bad about it. Final Fantasy Legend II is a very hard game to finish. I grew up with it, and I still always have trouble late-game.
  
  
  
  A bit of an update on my projects, I'm about 43% finished Wario Land 2, and I'm on level 81 of Catrap. I've been doing a lot more shopping than playing lately, but I still intend to knock these two games off the list. Wario Land 2 is such a massive game. O__O
• PekoponGB

  September 2016

  It was a really long project, but WARIO LAND II COMPLETE!
  
  
  
  I'm really glad I finally 100% completed the game and played the super final level, but in doing so I discovered that there's absolutely no point at all. The ending is barely any different than the other endings, and doesn't really change the outcome of the story in any way. The boss of the stage is also a mini-boss that gets recycled many times throughout the game, and it's no different than any other time you fight it. It's an entirely useless effort to 100% the game, so I will be changing the completion requirements for this game.
  
  
  
  
  
  For Wario Land II to be considered completed next year, the player must complete any of the game's branching paths. This includes the one accessible right at the start of the game. It's the funniest and most satisfying conclusion anyways, so I'd encourage players to take it. 100% completion for the final level is not required, so feel free to skip all the collectables.
  
  
  
  Of course for your own personal completion lists, I wouldn't consider you to have finished the game unless you did everything, but for this thread it's kind of overkill. I'll scratch it off the list once and for all! (well, at least until next year)
• Lynda

  September 2016

  Final Fantasy Legend is finished!
  
  
  
  I always have to re-learn how to play this game, but it's always worth it. Despite being an early Gameboy RPG, it has a lot of really heavy moments in it. It's just a really amazing game that doesn't get nearly enough credit. The dead children with the mother's note is probably the most haunting thing you'll ever see on Gameboy, and it gives me goosebumps every time I replay it.
  
  
  
  It takes a lot of learning, and you'll probably have to start the entire game over a few times before you're able to finish it, but I feel it's really worth it.
• Splain

  September 2016

  Lol, that Wario II ending right at the beginning will count? I agree that 100% shouldn't be required for "beating" the game, but that first ending is basically 0%. It seems wrong that Kirby 2 got put back on the list, if that literally-zero-effort Wario 2 ending counts. (I don't mean to spoil it for anyone who hasn't played it yet. Sorry.) It's your call, but maybe require any ending aside from that one?
  
  
  
  On a related note, at what point is Game & Watch Gallery beaten? The game is made up of 4 games, each with a modern and classic variant, and each of THOSE with 2 or 3 different difficulty levels. So basically 20 different endless games. There are stars to be earned by getting high enough scores, but getting all the stars is definitely the same thing as 100%ing the game. Apparently you can't see the credits more than once on a single cart without wiping your progress, so I've been emulating it to preserve the save file on my cart.  
  
  
  
  I got this credit roll, but I'm nowhere near having all the stars. I have around 45 across all the games. I'm trying to figure out what triggered it. It says "you did it" but I don't know what I did. Then it gives a basic explanation of the stars, which should be obvious by now to anyone who already has 45 of them. Anyone have any insight?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• PekoponGB

  September 2016

  Originally posted by: Splain
  
  Lol, that Wario II ending right at the beginning will count? I agree that 100% shouldn't be required for "beating" the game, but that first ending is basically 0%. It seems wrong that Kirby 2 got put back on the list, if that literally-zero-effort Wario 2 ending counts. (I don't mean to spoil it for anyone who hasn't played it yet. Sorry.) It's your call, but maybe require any ending aside from that one?
  
  
  
  On a related note, at what point is Game & Watch Gallery beaten? The game is made up of 4 games, each with a modern and classic variant, and each of THOSE with 2 or 3 different difficulty levels. So basically 20 different endless games. There are stars to be earned by getting high enough scores, but getting all the stars is definitely the same thing as 100%ing the game. Apparently you can't see the credits more than once on a single cart without wiping your progress, so I've been emulating it to preserve the save file on my cart.  
  
  
  
  I got this credit roll, but I'm nowhere near having all the stars. I have around 45 across all the games. I'm trying to figure out what triggered it. It says "you did it" but I don't know what I did. Then it gives a basic explanation of the stars, which should be obvious by now to anyone who already has 45 of them. Anyone have any insight?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Having played the GBC Game and Watch games, I'd agree that the game is over at the first credits roll. The credits in these games are activated at certain star quotas. 45 must be the requirement for the first game. I'll knock it off the list.
  
  As for Wario land 2, what makes it different from Kirby's Dream Land 2 is that without the Rainbow Drops, Dark Matter is still inside of King Dedede, and nothing is resolved. By getting all the Rainbow drops you fight an exclusive boss, save the day, and get the proper ending.
  
  In Wario land 2 you get the good ending no matter which story you complete, and if you do the final level all that you get is to fight a recycled mini-boss and to hold something different during the end credits.
  
  In a multi-story game like Chrono Trigger I know there's a similar style short ending, and in that case you're cutting out most of the game. In Wario Land 2 you're really not cutting out anything of actual worth by doing the early ending, since most of the "story" is just traveling to different locations. In the main stories of Wario Land 2 you're just trying to get your three bags of money back, but the early story line involves you taking your entire castle back. I know it seems a little odd, but the shortest storyline has the most at stake, and is actually a compact story without filler.
  
  I feel in this particular case, playing the shorter storyline has no negative impact on the game's experience. That's why I'm allowing it for completion. People who want to go the extra mile can feel free, but considering nobody has ever completed Wario land 2 for the game boy threads in the past, I feel like most people won't make the extra effort.  
• Splain

  September 2016

  I suppose the story of a game is a strong determinant of whether or not the game was beaten. And you're right, we don't need to be making it harder to complete the list.  
  
  
  
  It'll just be one of those things for future threads. A race to see who gets credit for the game that requires literally no gameplay to get marked off the list. And that's fine.
• Seppatoni

  September 2016

  Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge ist listed as unbeaten, but Mega Man as completed. As far as I know these games are the same.  
• PekoponGB

  September 2016

  Originally posted by: Seppatoni
  
  
  
  Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge ist listed as unbeaten, but Mega Man as completed. As far as I know these games are the same.  

  
  I must have missed that one. I think I'm going to have to check the entire completion list and point totals at some point to make sure everything is correct, since I feel it may be slightly innacurate. It's a little tricky looking through two previous versions of the thread and keeping it all straight. O_o
  
  
  
  I'll update the list now.  
  
  
  
   
• Splain

  September 2016

  Anyone familiar with Quarth? There's no save battery, and when you boot the game up, there's 3 selectable levels, and 9 stages in each level. When you beat stage 3-9, it shows a brief cut scene, no credits:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (I thought I had beaten it, so I took a picture.)
  
  
  
  And then it starts you on stage 4-1. If you die in any stage after that, level 4 is now selectable, as well as whatever stage you reached but didn't beat yet. So the question is, if I beat 4-9, will it end or will it start me on 5-1? Then what?
  
  
  
  If nobody's familiar with it, I'm ok trying to find out for myself. I think this game exists on Famicom but not NES, so I can't go to the NES board to borrow their criteria...
• Brock Landers

  September 2016

  Looks like there is a longplay on YT. I'd look into that.
• bronzeshield

  September 2016

  After checking the longplay of Quarth, it looks like you can unlock 4-1 and then 5-1. Completing 5-9 gives a long version of the cutscene, then a credit sequence, and thus beats the game. Longer than it looks, that one!
• Splain

  September 2016

  Agreed, "Finish level 5-9" is definitely when the game is beaten. Guess I better hop to it!
• PekoponGB

  September 2016

  Somehow I had forgotten to post that I finished Kirby's Block Ball. O_o
  
  
  
  It's a game I obsessively played as a kid for top scores, so I tend to find it a bit of a chore these days. Still a great game, I'm just a tad weary of it. XD
  
  
  
  For the record, in order for Kirby's Block Ball to be considered completed, the borderline score on all ten levels must be met so you can access the final level, fight King Dedede, and get the proper ending. I keep putting it off, but very soon I will post the current list of Game completion requirements that we know of. Feel free to contribute in the mean time.  
  
  
  
  It also looks like there are unlicenced games on this list, and I will be removing them at some point since they aren't really official Gameboy games. Unlike the NES where there were a number of good ones, none of the unlicenced Gameboy games are any good, so they won't be missed I'm sure.