Collecting for GB vs NES.

[8bit]

I am too busy playing Tetris on my gameboy to answer this question right now....

[oxymoron]

Money is more my problem as I'm only 17 and don't have you a disposable income. I wish I did. Space isn't an issue either. Plus, I kinda feel more of connection with the GB than the NES cause I grew up with it. Also by GB I mean the OG game boy, Game Boy Color, and Game boy SP.

[GSZX1337]

By collecting for all three Game Boys, you can get a decent chunk of the NES library through conversions and remakes. Titles such as BattleToads, Super Mario Bros. 2 (as Super Mario Advance), and Crystalis can be played on the Game Boy. Of course, there are some worthwhile exclusive titles on the GBs like Astro Boy, Aero Star, and Shantae.

[BurningDoom]

Both systems are pretty cheap to collect for the most part (barring some rare, expensive exceptions). But the Game Boy is cheaper to collect for. There's a reason for that, though. All you get is black and white graphics, worse sound, and the games aren't as big or long as NES games (generally).

Personally I think the NES is much more fun to collect for just for 1 simple reason: Better games.

[cyclone5uk]

I've been collecting NES titles for a couple of years now, and I'm now at the point where I own a lot of the games I want.

So I recently decided to branch out into collecting Game Boy titles.

A few observations:

- On the whole, GB games are cheaper than NES games

- It's much harder to find boxed GB games, most are loose or in plastic cases

- If you invest in a Super Gameboy you can play your GB games on your TV using your SNES, which I have found to be a very enjoyable way to play these games.

- It's well worth buying a Gamebit screwdiver to open your games up so they can be cleaned. Many of the second-hand GB games I've bought didn't work at first. After opening them up and cleaning the contacts with an eraser, I found they work perfectly.

I'd disagree with the comment that NES games are simply better games though. In fact, many of the skills that game developers gained from programming for the NES allowed them to make even better 8-bit games on the Game Boy.

For example - Metroid II and Link's Awakening on the GB are much more fully-realised and engaging games than their somewhat primitive NES predecessors.

[Gunstar Green]

Link's Awakening is a masterpiece but I feel like Metroid 2 was kind of a misstep that was limited by the hardware. Some things were improved certainly, but others were worsened. It's my least favorite Metroid game, personally.

On the topic of Metroid, one that people don't talk about often is "Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters." I prefer it to the NES title as it's far less frustrating and funner to play.

Mega Man IV and V are also two of the best in the entire original series in my opinion though they have their own hardware specific problems, particularly slow-down.

Bionic Commando is another good one. It trades the WWII-like setting for a sci-fi one but it's got really great detailed graphics to make up for the lack of color and is just as good as the NES game. In fact most Capcom conversions of their NES titles were pretty impressive.

Konami's attempts to bring their NES successes to the Game Boy is a little more hit and miss. Operation C is good but feels watered down and even the best Castlevania isn't stupendous, though Belmont's Revenge is certainly a worthy game in its own right.

Another NES to Game Boy title that comes to mind is Ninja Gaiden Shadow which is a really fun, short game that's amazing to blast through on long road trips but it's not quite Ninja Gaiden or Shadow of the Ninja.

A lot of problems with some Game Boy games come from the size of the screen. The best Game Boy games were the ones that took the sprite to screen ratio into account in their level design. There's nothing more frustrating than jumping into a pit or an enemy that you didn't know was there because of the screen not being able to accommodate NES or later SNES (with Mega Man Extreme especially) sized levels.

In any case the Game Boy is a great system and it's hard to call a winner if you're going to compare it to the NES because it had different goals, different strengths and different weaknesses. You won't really get the NES experience from collecting Game Boy and you won't really get the Game Boy experience from collecting NES.

[fastbilly1]

Who says they are not the same thing:


And before you ask, there is a long waiting list to get one, since they are custom made by Retrousb. They are really just Gameboys hacked up to interface with the NES.

[FerretGamer]

Who says they are not the same thing:


And before you ask, there is a long waiting list to get one, since they are custom made by Retrousb. They are really just Gameboys hacked up to interface with the NES.

Seeing that makes the wait for the Retron5 is even more painful!

[muhanad]

Who says they are not the same thing:


And before you ask, there is a long waiting list to get one, since they are custom made by Retrousb. They are really just Gameboys hacked up to interface with the NES.

Really? Is there something I'm missing here? Why would you go through the trouble when you can just pick up a super gameboy, which is official and has extra features

[GSZX1337]

Really? Is there something I'm missing here? Why would you go through the trouble when you can just pick up a super gameboy, which is official and has extra features

The same reason why people get portable NESes instead of a PSP with a NES emulator. IT'S COOLER!