Games better on the Game Boy than NES

[o.pwuaioc]

Per the title, I'm wondering which games are supposed to be better on the Game Boy (despite the small screen and resolution) than Nintendo. I recently saw a video of Jurassic Park for the Game Boy, and had totally forgotten just how good the music was, far better than the Nintendo version. I don't know if it's overall a better game (I actually never played the NES version, and haven't played the Game Boy version since I was a kid), but it made me think of the topic.

For this thread, I'm excluding the Game Boy Color (and obviously Advance) games, as the eras just don't overlap anymore. I also don't particularly mind games that were originally ported from an arcade or are remixes of the original, so I devised a system below:

Type 1: Games originally for the NES but ported to the Game Boy mostly intact, perhaps with some enhancements, like an extra bonus level.
Type 2: Games originally for the NES but ported to the Game Boy with significant rearrangement in levels ("remixes".) Think Mega Man.
Type 3: Games originally on a different system/arcade but were ported to the NES and Game Boy.

Are there many games that were originally on the Game Boy ported to the NES? I can think of Balloon Kid, which was ported later as a Hello Kitty skin (Hello Kitty World).

[prfsnl_gmr]

Adventure Island and Adventure Island II are the Gameboy ports of Adventure Island 2 and Adventure Island 3 for the NES. Both are better than their more colorful NES counterparts. First, the level design is improved slightly and the difficulty is toned down significantly. More importantly, they have password features; so, unlike their NES counterparts, you don’t have to beat them in a single sitting.

[o.pwuaioc]

Adventure Island and Adventure Island II are the Gameboy ports of Adventure Island 2 and Adventure Island 3 for the NES. Both are better than their more colorful NES counterparts. First, the level design is improved slightly and the difficulty is toned down significantly. More importantly, they have password features; so, unlike their NES counterparts, you don’t have to beat them in a single sitting.

I have seen Adventure Island mentioned a few times, and I almost mentioned it in the OP except that I haven't actually played them. So I'm not surprised to see them mentioned again.

You know, I never actually played Adventure Island 3. Is it actually a good game (either it or the the Game Boy port)?

[prfsnl_gmr]

You know, I never actually played Adventure Island 3. Is it actually a good game (either it or the the Game Boy port)?

Adventure Island 3 looks spectacular and has some really cool mechanics (i.e., riding around in dinosaurs). The level design is pretty bad, though, leading to a lot of cheap deaths, and the game is waaaaaaaaaaay too long. The GB port doesn’t look as good, obviously, but it plays much better, and it is a much more manageable length. They’re both worth checking out, but I enjoyed the GB game much more.

[Ziggy]

Tetris had a 2-player mode on the GameBoy while the NES version was only single player.

[marurun]

Tetris had a 2-player mode on the GameBoy while the NES version was only single player.

Unless you opt for the Tengen version. Assuming you can find a copy.

[Ziggy]

I had Tengen Tetris for a while. The 2-player mode is cool, but for single player I much prefer the Nintendo version. I like the way the Nintendo version feels compared to the Tengen version, and I'm also nostalgic for the looks and sounds of the Nintendo version (who isn't?).

[opa]

Anyone have thoughts on the Super Mario Bros. port?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Anyone have thoughts on the Super Mario Bros. port?

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe? The stage select, additional content, and inclusion of SMB2 (a/k/a The Lost Levels) makes it better than SMB even with a slightly reduced field of view.

It was only released for the GBC, however, and I’m not sure it’s fair to compare NES games to GBC games.

[opa]

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe? The stage select, additional content, and inclusion of SMB2 (a/k/a The Lost Levels) makes it better than SMB even with a slightly reduced field of view.

It was only released for the GBC, however, and I’m not sure it’s fair to compare NES games to GBC games.

Oh yeah. Forgot it's Gbc. Sounds cool though. Didn't know it had extras.