November 18, 1998 marks a historic day in the lives of gamers still alive to tell it. On that momentous day, Nintendo released an upgraded version of their mega-popular Game Boy handheld hardware. This successful successor introduced a full-color palette that made the visuals of its software library truly pop off the screen. What also made this “fit in your pocket” gaming device such a hit was its lineup of varied color models, a huge library of addictive games, and slimmer design in comparison to the original Game Boy.
We’re of course talking about the Game Boy Color. 90s babies who had one most likely remember taking their model to the playground to engage in some link cable battles with their friends. Or they regularly reminisce over sitting in the back of their parents’ car playing with it until it got dark during long road trips. Looking back now, it’s hard to fathom how Game Boy Color owners had to be content with its troublesome lighting issues. Young gamers (such as the writer of this article) went to great lengths to enjoy hours of Pokémon fun by sitting under a lamp until their AA batteries called it quits.
Speaking of Pokémon, the Game Boy Color played host to some of the best entries in the long-running series. But that’s not the only game that defined the device’s quality software library. The 15 titles we’ve included in this list make up the gamut of must-play games for the Game Boy Color. And to this day, they stand tall and proud as the very best that Nintendo and its 3rd-party partners had to offer.
