The Game Boy was not an obvious home for adventure games. The famous point-and-click games of the day lived on computers with a mouse and a big hard drive, and a green screen with two buttons did not look like the place for them. Developers found their own way in. The designers of Head over Heels brought their isometric rooms over from home computers, and Capcom turned a movie into a whole town to walk around.
Most of these games were overlooked when they came out, and one of them arrived long after the Game Boy left the shops. Here are the 7 best Game Boy adventure games.
7. Dr. Franken (1992)
Dr. Franken came out in December 1992, made by Elite Systems and published by Kemco. You play Franky, a Frankenstein's monster on a mission to collect the scattered body parts of his girlfriend, Bitsy. That is the whole plot, and it is a very good one. The game is one big castle to explore, which is why it gets filed as a Metroidvania today, and a password system saves your progress.
The music is a surprise for a monster game. The title screen plays Bach's Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, and you explore to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, both arranged by Mark Cooksey. Players who grew up with it still name it among their Game Boy favourites. A sequel, Dr. Franken II, followed in 1997.
6. Mysterium (1991)
Mysterium is a first-person dungeon crawl developed by Maxis and published by Asmik Ace Entertainment. You are the new apprentice of the famous alchemist Hermetrix, and your test is the Mysterium itself, a 3D maze of hallways full of traps, rivals and monsters. Somewhere inside, a dastardly beast is holding Morda, the queen of the giant ants.
The alchemy is the fun part. You drop metals and minerals into pools of mercury, water, fire and acid to make what you need, and a piece of iron dropped in a pool of fire turns into a glass key. Some changes take several steps, and the mazes are easy to get lost in, so keep notes. Players who know the Game Boy's more obscure games keep pointing others to this one.
5. Altered Space (1991)
Altered Space was made by Software Creations and published in North America by Sony Imagesoft in September 1991. You play Humphrey, an astronaut trapped on a spaceship run by aliens called the Zaks. Humphrey cannot breathe the Zaks' air, so your oxygen is always running down, and getting caught costs you half of it. The goal is to reach your impounded spacecraft and fly home to Earth.
It is often called the first isometric game on the Game Boy. A reviewer at Games-X compared it to Knight Lore and found it as impressive as the old classics, while Famitsu's reviewers found the angled controls confusing at first. The music by Geoff Follin is a highlight. It still has fans who think it deserves far more attention.
4. Spud's Adventure (1991)
Spud's Adventure came out in North America in June 1991, published by Atlus. The cast is mostly vegetables. Spud, a cap-wearing potato, has to climb Far Tower and save Princess Mato from Devi, a demonic beetle. Each floor brings something different, and some of them reverse your controls or switch off the lights. Along the way you rescue Arnie Eggplant and Gerrit Carrot and can switch to them. Arnie's boomerang reaches further than Spud's own shot.
Spud earns experience as he fights, and every 100 points gives him a level and more health. With two copies and a link cable, a versus mode lets two friends race to rescue the princess. Players who loved Kwirk and Amazing Tater put this one right next to them.
3. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1991)
Capcom made this adventure from the 1988 film, and it is one of the earliest games designed by Shinji Mikami. It came out in North America in November 1991. Marvin Acme is shot and killed, Jessica is kidnapped by Judge Doom's weasels, and Roger has to save Toontown with help from Eddie Valiant. You walk Roger around town, go into the buildings and collect the items that open up new places.
You need to find a weapon before you can fight back, and carrots refill your health. The weasel called Smart Ass in the film had to become Smarty in the game. It is a game that takes a few sittings, and a password system holds your place. Players who had it remember it as a good one.
2. Monster Max (1994)
Monster Max is an isometric adventure developed by Rare and published by Titus Software. It was designed by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, and it is very similar to their 1987 computer game Head over Heels. You play the title character, an aspiring rock star who climbs nine floors of the Mega Hero Academy to beat King Krond, the tyrant who bans all music. David Wise wrote the music, which seems only fair.
Critics compared its quality to Link's Awakening. It still sold poorly, partly because Titus was so slow to ship it that copies could not be bought until December 1995. Players have been making up for that ever since, and the ones who found it call it one of the most underrated games on the system.
1. Deadeus (2019)
Deadeus is a horror game by -IZMA-, made with Chris Maltby's GB Studio engine and scored by Stuart Busby. A small boy has a prophetic nightmare telling him everyone will die in three days, and he has to investigate his village to see how he can save them, if at all. It looks like a cheerful little Game Boy RPG until the first body turns up. The game has 11 endings and no direct path, and the choices are yours.
Nintendo Force called it "a masterclass in efficiency" and gave it a 9.5. The download is name your own price, and Incube8 later put it out on a physical cartridge. Players recommend it more than any other Game Boy adventure, and the ones who played it keep calling it a must.
Which one to play
There you have it, the whole list of the best Game Boy adventure games. They are small cartridges, and most of them are smarter than they look.
If you are not sure where to start, play Deadeus. If you like isometric puzzle rooms, pick Monster Max and then Altered Space. For a cartoon adventure with a town to explore, try Who Framed Roger Rabbit. If you want a bit of fighting with your puzzles, Spud's Adventure fits. And for a hidden pick, take Mysterium and a notebook.
