Game Boy Vs. DS: Best Portable Games Ever - One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall

BlueSwim

BlueSwim

CAGiversary!
I have wondered this question for over a year. The Game Boy series or the DS? Which one has the best games? Which is the flat-out best gaming portable?


Think of the match-ups that covers, Links Awakening vs. Phantom Hourglass, Super Mario Land 2 vs. New Super Mario Bros, Pokemon Red, Blue & Yellow vs. Pokemon Diamond, Pearl & Platinum. Mario Kart: Super Circuit vs. Mario Kart DS. There are dozens of ways of looking at it.


The judging criteria is simple, strength of game library. If you think the games of the Game Boy line crush the DS, than vote accordingly. Simple, huh? Just one thing, keep your judging criteria to U.S. versions of games. This is to avoid a "Phoenix Wright was on the GBA in Japan so I should vote..." situation.


And since I'm sure this would come up, other systems are excluded from this poll for two reasons. Failing to reach the sales milestone of 100 million units shipped and for not being the portable sales leader of their respective generations. Only the Game Boy series and the DS have passed 100 million units shipped and the DS is the portable leader sales-wise for this generation of consoles, like the Game Boy series before it. Simply put, no "second-bests", no exceptions.


Keep the discussion friendly, lively, upbeat and focused on the subject matter.
 
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Gameboy!

DS has some phenomenal games, but I HATE being forced to use the touch screen in games that don't need it/use it well.

Point in case, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. If I could have used the D-pad to MOVE Link and just use the touch screen for items I would have LOVED it. Yet we had to put up with "tap-on-the-screen-and-wait-for-Link-to-trot-in-that-general-direction" BULLSHIT which was awful in my opinion. I know some people loved it, but I absolutely DESPISE indirect control in games.

Gameboy has an incredible gaming library and GBA is basically a portable SNES, AKA my favorite gaming console of all time. Gameboy forever! :D
 
the gba is lighter and doesn't have as much junk games as the DS. and i agree that the touch screen gimmicks of the DS don't always work.
 
I have wondered this question for over a year. The Game Boy series or the DS
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:)
 
Game Gear!!!

But since that's not an option, Gameboy line wins easily. As one of the above posters said, tacking on touch screen controls for no reason quickly ruins a game for me, since I don't like it for the most part. When done right and for a good reason it's fine though.
 
DS for the simple fact that you can still play GBA games on it. It's the best of both worlds.

And the DS simply has games that could never have been done on any Gameboy.
 
Have to go with the GB series. Lots of great 2d platformers.

DS has some, but very few post 2006 or 2007. Too many touch screen games, crappy looking 3D games, text adventures, JRPGs etc., which has had my DS largely gathering dust since 2007 or so.
 
Looking at games lineup alone, GBA wins hands-down. More quality games, without the horrendous faux-3d or the forced touchscreen control schemes on most games.

And fuck the vast amounts of shovelware for the DS. Do people actually need to fucking create a dozen Nintendogs clones? And fuck it, whenever I pick up a DS, I'm sure as hell not hoping to fucking play a CHORE SIMULATOR.

But I'll agree w/ Decaspal22 on the DS winning as an all-around choice, as long as we're not talking about the new DSi. Hell, most of the best games for the damn system tries to use the touchscreen as minimally as possible (like the Chrono Trigger port, Contra 4, or most of the Castlevania games), with a few good exceptions (I'm addicted to Brain Age 1/2 and I'm trying to get The World Ends With You on the cheap).
 
Game Boy for me, there was something special about the time I had my original GB. Not sure why, but I have very fond memories of it.
 
DS lite...GBA + DS ftw. I'm not so hot on earlier game boy iterations...though the first one was amazing when I was little, if only because it was the first good handheld (after years of Tiger handheld bullshit)
 
I don't think people should necessarily factor in the backwards compatibility.

I approached it more from which had the better software line up. And went with the GB series for the reason above.
 
[quote name='mooshie78']I don't think people should necessarily factor in the backwards compatibility.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. This poll is for the strength of said brand's games, not the strengths or advantages of the hardware.:cool::cool::cool:
 
But if the question is "Which is the flat-out best gaming portable?" or "Which one has the best games?", then shouldn't we consider that all GBA games can be played on the DS?

Otherwise, why consider the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance as part of the same category, since they each have different games.
 
Question was phrased to vaguely IMO.

Should have been something like "GB line or DS Line--Which has the better dedicated software library."

But that's a fair point on the GB line. IMO, the GBA is the only portable I've ever really be glad to have owned long term. All the others I had fun with for a couple years and then they gathered dust.

I won't buy another one as I just don't need a portable. Not even sure I'll by a next-gen console after I'm done with the 360.
 
Well assuming that the DS is going to be considered for its own library (ignoring all backwards compatibility/emulation) and all GameBoy games are going to be placed into the other library I would say that GameBoy wins.

I mean with just GBA vs DS I think it would be fairly close for me but you throw in GBC and GB games to the GameBoy category and it comes out on top with the addition of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons, Mario Land 2, the original Kirby, and Pokemon Red (still my favorite in the series mainly because of nostalgia).
 
I agree that you should've added more categories for the poll.

Original Gameboy games and GBA are so different, they're not really the same thing at all. Hell, GBA and DS games aren't that much different other than some of the touch screen additions and marginally better graphics.

Maybe it should've been:

OG Gameboy
GB Color
GB Advanced
DS
 
[quote name='depascal22']
Hell, GBA and DS games aren't that much different other than some of the touch screen additions and marginally better graphics.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, the difference is just in genre prevalence. 2D games (especially platformers) with traditional controls have fallen by the wayside on the DS.

And unfortunately I don't like the shitty 3D graphics, hate touch controls outside of puzzle games and a few other exceptions, and haven't been a fan of the most prevalent genres--JRPGs, text adventures, random touch screen games like Trauma Center etc.

So the GBA game library wins easily for me.
 
[quote name='mooshie78']Question was phrased to vaguely IMO.

Should have been something like "GB line or DS Line--Which has the better dedicated software library."[/QUOTE]
The question on the poll itself reads "What Gaming Portable Has The Best Games?" with the two choices being "Game Boy Series - GB, GB Color & GB Advance" and "DS Series - DS, DSi & DSiWare". It's pretty clear actually. I just grouped all of the unique releases of the brands together. Please forgive the bold, it won't shut off.:lol::lol::lol:
[quote name='depascal22']I agree that you should've added more categories for the poll.

Original Gameboy games and GBA are so different, they're not really the same thing at all. Hell, GBA and DS games aren't that much different other than some of the touch screen additions and marginally better graphics.

Maybe it should've been:

OG Gameboy
GB Color
GB Advanced
DS[/QUOTE]
I had considered doing it like that, but I chose not to as a way to keep things a simple "brand verses brand" style of poll.
 
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[quote name='BlueSwim']The question on the poll itself reads "What Gaming Portable Has The Best Games?" with the two choices being "Game Boy Series - GB, GB Color & GB Advance" and "DS Series - DS, DSi & DSiWare". It's pretty clear actually. I just grouped all of the unique releases of the brands together. Please forgive the bold, it won't shut off.:lol::lol::lol:
 [/QUOTE]

Ah, I missed. Which is why thread titles for polls need to be specific. I seldom read the poll question if the thread title is a question as they're generally the same. :D
 
[quote name='mooshie78']Ah, I missed. Which is why thread titles for polls need to be specific. I seldom read the poll question if the thread title is a question as they're generally the same. :D[/QUOTE]
Totally understand.:cool: I'll edit the title a bit after I'm done with dinner(it just got here).

EDIT: Or maybe it's not here yet. :/ WHERE'S MY PIZZA!?:lol:
 
Handsdown the GB series. The old grey GB brick is one of the most recognizable systems ever with some of the best portable games. Both series have a huge impact on the gaming industry but IMO the GB's acomplishments are just to staggering to top.
 
Hands down the DS series.

The GB series didn't start reaching its potential until GBA.

The DS series has been the first time that I've felt that the limitations of the system don't really matter. The DS has become the home for RPGs, music games, and for games that defy categorization.

Sure, there are games that are too ambitious for the hardware, and some that are just plain bad. But the DS to me has been an explosion of creativity and the best damn portable system ever.

The touchscreen has been abused, but it's also been a source of innovation. Henry Hatsworth, the game I'm working on now, is impossible on any other system, and it exemplifies everything that's good about the system: heir to the classic throne, yet challenging, fun, and off the wall.

The DS has been like playihg videogames again for the first time.
 
I love my DS but I will have to give my vote to the Gameboy. A lot of developers did not know what to do with the touch screen until many years later.
 
[quote name='Xevious']I love my DS but I will have to give my vote to the Gameboy. A lot of developers did not know what to do with the touch screen until many years later.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. I bought my DS on launch and there wasn't a single worthwhile game upon launch (Mario 64 was probably the best, but that was a port and it played a lot worse than the N64 version) and after that, there wasn't a steady steam of good games until the end of 2005. The GB had one of the most addicting games from the start: Tetris.

Plus, even though the old GB is old and clunky by today's standards, it's still an icon where as the original DS looks like a waffle iron. Granted, there are tons of great games on the DS but it's also the beginning of the casual bullshit Nintendo's been trying to shove down everyone's throats.

Even when you compare the real games in a series, the GB just has better games. Period.
Mario Lands > NSMB
2D Metroids > Prime Hunters
GB Zeldas > DS Zelda
GB Castlevanias > DS Castlevanias

I say the GB is the better handheld. There are very few DS games which make any innovative use of the touch screen/dual screen/mic... some games had some cleaver ideas (Canvas Curse, WarioWare, etc.) but most are a way around pressing buttons.
 
Well, even though two of my all-time favorite portable games(Pokemon Blue & Fire Pro Wrestling) are on the Game Boy, I have to cast my vote for the DS. I've enjoyed the games on the DS more as a whole than the Game Boy.


I can't tell you how many "phases" I've been through where I play a game until completion. I love the Game Boy, but the DS has nailed the portable gaming experience for me. Even when clunky touch screen controls get in the way of some games, the best of the DS is better than the best of the GB, in my opinion.
 
My mom purchased for me every Game Boy and I always had fun with them but there are very few games I thought would be memorable forever. The DS on the other hand has games I will remember and I spent nearly all of 2006-2007 playing the DS as my main console.
 
I loved my GBC and soon after my GBA. There were just so many classic games for both of them. It seems like for the DS, there aren't many games that I'd like, so that's another reason why I like the GB series better.
 
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