List of NES games that were ported to original Gameboy/GBC?

[Gunstar Green]

The Crystalis port really isn't, it's a remix almost as they heavily changed certain things like the entire soundtrack for one.

Blaster Master: Enemy Below is also a completely new, harder game. Though the password system helps.

Not sure the arcade ones are all analogous to the NES versions. I know Spy Hunter isn't anyway. GBC port of that is pretty nice, better than the GBA one!

GBC is better? I had bought the Spy Hunter/Super Sprint GBA, CIB and sealed, and found out how terrible Spy Hunter was, and I ended up selling it

I like it quite a bit actually. It beats out the NES version as well in my opinion and most importantly the Peter Gunn theme is intact.

The GBA version truly is dire. Glad I only paid 75 cents for it when Game Stop was liquidating their GBA games.

[Tanooki]

Hey that post about Deja Vu reminded me of Shadowgate Classic, a really great conversion.

Anyone try that stand alone Paperboy cart as I'm not sure if that's more NES or arcade like.

I know this doesn't count in either case but I think they're worth just mentioning as they're GBC games. 1) Dragon's Lair, I knew one of the guys who worked on this one and it's a move for move (minus 8 in the smithy) conversion of the laserdisc/arcade! 2) Cannon Fodder, a solid recreation of the computer/console game within the GBC limits(team of 2 instead of 4.)

[Hobie-wan]

not sure if Tetris counts

Galaga was ported right?

Imho something that was a port of an arcade or otherwise ported to the NES in the first place doesn't count.

Blaster Master: Enemy Below is also a completely new, harder game. Though the password system helps.

Fair enough, I've really only done the 5 minute test with it and been a while since I played the NES version, so the seemingly identical graphics and start area threw me.

[ninjainspandex]

The Mega Man Xtreme games on the GBC are pretty much ports of the first 2 SNES MMX games right?

[Gunstar Green]

The Mega Man Xtreme games on the GBC are pretty much ports of the first 2 SNES MMX games right?

They're remixes like the other Game Boy games. The first game uses bosses from X and X2. The second game uses bosses from X2 and X3 (plus all the bosses from the first Xtreme return in teleporting hatches).

Unlike the other Game Boy games though the levels are pretty much the same with minor differences though there are unique fortress levels. Xtreme 2 also has unique end bosses and an item upgrade shot among other new mechanics. Zero is also a playable character and you can switch characters on the fly in Xtreme mode.

Both games also have original stories.

So no they're not really ports but they do recycle a lot from the old games. Xtreme 2 is especially unique and by far the better of the two.

[Betagam7]

I always wondered why the GBA NES classic series didn't have the extras that SMB deluxe had, Nintendo is so lazy sometimes

I think it came about due to Nintendo realising that there was no commercial value in its old games as they were. During the production of Super Mario Bros Deluxe it seems to have adopted the feeling that nobody would pay money for the bare bones original (this was also still in the times when ebay contained cheap retro bargains galore).

It's a similar thought process behind giving away NES games for free with stuff like the Metroid GBA games and, most memorably, GC Animal Crossing.

We were in an era where people were increasingly interested in graphics and there hadn't yet been a mass retro nostalgia boom.

Unfortunately people paying vastly over the market rates for cheap ROMS on the Wii (and the current price of old games on ebay) has opened up Nintendo's eyes.

Their laziness is really just a reaction to the market...but it enabled them to release a ROM dump on All Stars on a 99% empty physical disk and charge the same as a game that may have been in development for years.

It's depressing though, because you get the impression that someone at Nintendo once cared about more than just what people were willing to buy...

[retrosportsgamer]

Tecmo Bowl on the GB is a direct port of the NES game.

[nightrnr]

not sure if Tetris counts

Galaga was ported right?

Imho something that was a port of an arcade or otherwise ported to the NES in the first place doesn't count.

Okay, I'll buy that.
So I'll assume Rampart, Super Off Road do not count either.

I've always liked seeing games being ported to humble hardware though.
--within reason of course; Double Dragon on 2600 is not a pretty sight--
But then I also really enjoy when they alter it to fit the system, like Space Invaders for 2600 (it's not the arcade game, similar in design, but clearly its own thing).

I can't think of an equivalent situation on original Game Boy though. Games like Pac-Man are close enough really to their arcades.

[ninjainspandex]

Just beat Felix the Cat on the Game Boy, damn was that a short and easy game. I think I beat it in like 20 minutes. Is the NES version of that game just as short and easy?

[Gunstar Green]

New Ghostbusters 2 is one though there were some changes made. It came to the US as just Ghostbusters 2.