Best Mario Games on GB and GBC, Ranked

The Nintendo Game Boy was a green, dim, blurry screen that nonetheless captivated Nintendo’s growing success in the late 20th century. Nintendo would rectify the Game Boy’s problems over several years, with the Game Boy Color marking a stark improvement.

The Game Boy Color is seen by some as just another model (albeit with color, per the name), but there is more credence to it being its own handheld game system with a library of its own. The Mario franchise did not have much in the way of breakthroughs during the Game Boy era, but the games did help add more to the plumber’s world. The games introduced more characters and concepts that would help define the Mario franchise.

10 Golf Is Golf on the Go

Release Date – Nov. 28, 1989

Golf is the remake of a similarly-named golfing game on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike Golf on the NES, Golf on the Game Boy does make sure to indicate that the playable golfer is truly Mario. He does appear on the game’s box, and the in-game graphics do show a Mario-like figure. Golf has the Mario thing going for it, but it still ranks among the lowest of great Mario games on Game Boy as not everyone will enjoy golfing, even digitally.

Golf on the Game Boy is not as intuitive as Golf on the NES, with there being fewer statistics involved. Ironically, however, it’s a far more presentable golfing game, accounting for the original Game Boy’s literal green screen. It is, therefore, a pretty accurate game of golf on Game Boy.

9 Mario Golf Has Mario Golfing on the Go

Release Date – Aug. 10, 1999

• GameRankings score: 87.65% (Metacritic N/A)

Mario Golf on Game Boy Color is a companion to the Nintendo 64 golf game of the same name. The Game Boy Color version could be inserted into a Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak that would unlock features on both consoles. For the Nintendo 64, players could unlock characters from the Game Boy Color’s Mario Golf (Kid, Sherry, Azalea and Joe). For the Game Boy Color, players could view scores from the Nintendo 64 version.

Mario Golf on Game Boy Color has a very vibrant presentation compared to previous golf games on any Game Boy system. It does help that the game is in color, but Mario Golf appears to be very fast for any sports game on such a handheld. It makes Mario Golf an endearing game for even non-fans of golf.

8 Mario Tennis Makes a Big Racket

Release Date – Nov. 1, 2000

• GameRankings score: 91% (Metacritic N/A)

Mario Tennis on Game Boy Color is a companion to the Nintendo 64 tennis game of the same name. Like Mario Golf on Game Boy Color, Mario Tennis can be inserted into a Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak to unlock extra features. Certain characters can be transferred to the Game Boy Color version from the Nintendo 64 version (Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi and Bowser). Other information, including scores, is also transferable between the Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64.

Mario Tennis on Nintendo 64 is nothing more than a sports title with Mario characters playing tennis. On the other hand, Mario Tennis on Game Boy Color presents itself as a role-playing game,basically like Pokémon but with tennis. The player needs to be the best and become the top tennis player in the Mario world. Mario Tennis on Game Boy Color is a fun sports title that puts its already good Nintendo 64 counterpart to shame.

7 Mario’s Picross Is Challenging Yet Fun

Release Date – March 14, 1995

• GameRankings score: 75.30% (Metacritic N/A)

Mario’s Picross is a Mario puzzle game for the Game Boy that isn’t easy to pick up and play. Picross, otherwise known as monograms, involves scanning numbers and determining if spaces should be left blank or colored. It’s a tough game to get into at first, but once it is hammered in, Mario’s Picross can turn itself into both an intellectually stimulating and fun puzzle game.

The puzzles in Mario’s Picross that can be revealed include objects like flasks or symbols like question marks. Other puzzles reflect objects and symbols from the Mario franchise, including bullet bills or star power. Mario’s Picross allots thirty minutes for each puzzle, which will allow players to take their time to solve them. It’s a great puzzle game that spawned a series of Picross-related games in the Mario franchise.

6 Dr. Mario Is a Cure for Boredom

Release Date – July 27, 1990

• GameRankings score: 67% (Metacritic N/A)

Dr. Mario is like Tetris but at the doctor’s. The eponymous Dr. Mario is Mario himself—a platformer by day, and doctor by night. He throws his megavitamins at bacteria, to clear out all diseases shown on the screen. Each Dr. Mario has their strengths, with the character doing a great job at treating patients, while the video game Dr. Mario does a great job at being a fun time-killer.

Dr. Mario was also released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The differences between that version and the Game Boy iteration all come down to color; the Game Boy does not have a color screen. This means Dr. Mario on Game Boy is not the most presentable version of the puzzle game, but it doesn’t ruin the fun of it either.

5 Super Mario Bros Deluxe Is a Classic Handheld Port

Release Date – May 10, 1999

• GameRankings score: 92% (Metacritic N/A)

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is a fitting halfway mark of the greatest Mario games on Game Boy or Game Boy Color. The Mario franchise has always been known for its platformers, and Super Mario Bros Deluxe is a remake of one of the defining NES games of the 1980s. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe also remakes the elusive sequel to that NES game as well. Both Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels have been given a glorious Game Boy Color treatment.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe—other than remaking both Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels—also adds additional features. Among these is a challenge mode that has the player collect red coins and Yoshi eggs. Another is “You Vs. Boo,” where Mario needs to outrun Boo in Super Mario Bros. levels. This adds a lot to these great old games; Super Mario Bros. Deluxe would be a precursor to the Super Mario Advance games.

4 Super Mario Land Is a Great Handheld Mario Debut

Release Date – April 21, 1989

• GameRankings score: 78% (Metacritic N/A)

Nintendo designed the original Game Boy as a portable Nintendo Entertainment System. Nothing of that caliber would be complete without a Mario platform game, and Super Mario Land would meet that criteria. It’s like Super Mario Bros. but cut down to just four worlds with three levels (two in World 4) each. This does not make Super Mario Land a bad platformer, just a really short one. If it wasn’t for Super Mario Land, the Game Boy experiment would otherwise have faltered.

Super Mario Land is the first in the Mario franchise to star not Princess Peach, but Princess Daisy. She is being held in the captivity of not Bowser, but Tatanga. He is in the process of invading not the Mushroom Kingdom, but Sarasaland. Mario must cross through the four kingdoms in Sarasaland, all the while avoiding Goombos and Bombshell Koopas. Super Mario Land is a strange game, but it’s wildly entertaining nonetheless.

3 Donkey Kong Is More Than an Arcade Port

Release Date – June 14, 1994

• GameRankings score: 85% (Metacritic N/A)

Donkey Kong for the Game Boy is one of two things: the first is a remake of a similarly-named 1981 arcade game that defined the 1980s, and the second is not exactly that. After completing the traditional fourth level (100m) of Donkey Kong, Mario is forced to trek through 97 stages of precision platforming and obstacle dodging. It’s a fine twist to the Donkey Kong arcade from decades ago.

As good as Donkey Kong for the Game Boy is, it could be even better. It was one of the first games to support the Super Game Boy, an add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that could play Game Boy (and select Game Boy Color) games. Playing Donkey Kong on Super Game Boy not only presents a suitable border that surrounds the game, but it also adds clear sound effects and better music. Donkey Kong on the Game Boy is great and is even better if played on the Super Game Boy.

2 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Obeys Wario

Release Date – Oct. 21, 1992

• GameRankings score: 80% (Metacritic N/A)

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is most notable for introducing Mario’s evil counterpart, Wario. Wario has taken over Mario’s kingdom and put its inhabitants under his spell. Even worse, Wario dared to take all of Mario’s six golden coins and throw them all over Mario’s kingdom. It’s up to Mario to retrieve his six golden coins and take back his throne from Wario.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins benefits from improved graphics over the first Super Mario Land game. It’s also a much larger game than Super Mario Land, featuring a world map, checkpoints and save files. The game’s soundtrack also has more variety, making Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins a superior sequel to what can now be seen as a more primitive game.

1 Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 Destroys Mario

Release Date – Jan. 21, 1994

• GameRankings score: 81.00% (Metacritic N/A)

Ironically, what’s perhaps the best Mario game on either Game Boy or Game Boy Color doesn’t even star Mario, no matter what the title of the game itself says. It’s a testament to how underrated Wario is that no one would expect him to get a game for himself. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 proved to the world that even villains deserve to be the protagonists of their own games.

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 takes place following the events of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Wario is seeking out a golden statue of Princess Peach to have it auctioned off. He’s beaten to the punch by the horrid Captain Syrup and later loses the statue to Mario, who has it returned to the Mushroom Kingdom. This series of inventive platformer series features an unconventional gameplay loop compared to the flagship series. The game was praised for the unique challenge, faster pace and new power-up abilities it brought to the handheld franchise.