Game Boy Color imports guide: the best Japan-only GB and GBC games

The Game Boy Color is a great little system with a ton of choice imports! Its focus on gameplay ages well, and its simplicity means a lot of the best games don’t have too much of a language barrier. There are also many fan translations! We’ve examined the system’s entire library, and here are the best games to try for the budding importer.

Before we continue, here’s what you need to know about Game Boy Color importing:

It’s region-free! No worries there, which is refreshing.

Cartridges are small and cheap! For those who have mostly imported other systems, Game Boy titles are a holiday of sorts, with neither purchases and shipping breaking the bank.

All Game Boy games are considered. The original Game Boy is a different console, but with hybrid releases and full backward compatibility, it’s a disservice to exclude the monochrome games from this list.

Now, to the games!

Game Boy Wars 3

Game Boy Color Only
Translation patch? Yes!
This predecessor to Advance Wars is a packed, feature-rich release that uses a hex-like grid and modified capture mechanics to make its maps feel very different from what you may know. The last of three Japan-only games in the series for the Game Boy, it was an opportunity for Hudson Soft, a developer with some strategy game chops making Nectaris, to leave its mark on Wars. Check out our video for a better look!

For the Frog the Bell Tolls

Game Boy
Translation patch? Yes!
Available on Japanese 3DS Virtual Console
Developed by much of the same team responsible for Zelda, this game was a training project of sorts, letting the developers become familiar with making a game for the Game Boy. It’s notable for being largely the basis for Link’s Awakening, but on its own, it’s still a charming, engaging adventure of a little prince. The protagonist has made a few cameos over the years, including in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so you may have seen him there!

Chee-Chai Alien

Game Boy Color Only
Translation patch? No, unfortunately.
For this one, you’re going to need an actual Game Boy Color — sorry, but it requires the infrared port — but you’ll be rewarded with a game with tons of quirk. Creatures, Inc., one of the teams behind Pokemon, developed and published this solo effort about collecting weird aliens. Which are, well, creatures! The company specializes in those. The gameplay is really off-the-wall and takes some adjustment to understand, but it’s entertaining to learn.

Command Master

Game Boy Color Only
Translation patch? No, unfortunately.
The tilt sensor widely seen in Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble wasn’t exclusive to that game, though it certainly could have seemed like it. No, Enix also got in on the action, developing this one-on-one battling game that sees you executing button presses and system swings to input special attacks. It’s Enix, so there’s the role-playing and character-collecting you might expect, but it’s definitely a lot about flailing around with your system in these battles.

Keitai Denju Telefang

Game Boy / Game Boy Color
Translation patch? Yes!
If you’ve played Telefang, chances are that you didn’t even know it. The game had a pirated, rough translation released at the time as Pokemon Jade, and that counterfeit cart made the rounds a lot more than a little Japanese game about phone creatures. These days, there’s a much nicer fan patch for the original release, and it’s a great way to experience a different sort of take on the monster-raising genre. It leans into the era’s phone culture, making some interesting interfaces and creature designs.

Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito

Game Boy Color Only
Translation patch? No, unfortunately.
Available on Japanese 3DS Virtual Console
If you’re a fan of developer AlphaDream’s work on the Mario & Luigi series, you may want to check out their debut release! It’s a card-based, creature-battling RPG with themes based on Japanese concepts of spirits, and it’s definitely inspired by Pokemon but brings with it some of its own ideas as well. For example: stronger is better? Maybe not! Weaker units attack more frequently, so balance depends on the opponent and the circumstance.

Mobile Golf

Game Boy Color Only
Translation patch? No, unfortunately.
The RPG elements in portable editions of Mario Golf just make playing more compelling, and the games themselves hold up astoundingly well. Mobile Golf is essentially Mario Golf GBC 2, and two factors kept this one from the West: the end of the GBC’s lifespan and the game’s support for the Japan-only Mobile Adapter. You could play with friends through phone networks using the peripheral, and Mobile Golf was a pack-in of sorts. Still, even without that feature, there’s a lot in the game to enjoy. (See it in action here.)

Pokemon Trading Card Game GB2

Game Boy Color Only
Translation patch? Yes!
While a video game version of a card game version of a video game sounds a bit wild, the Game Boy Color version of Pokemon Trading Card Game was a cool battling experience that replicated the fun of collecting and deck-building without the pesky money drain or constant need for other people. Developer Hudson Soft continued its efforts with a direct sequel, adding more recent sets and a second area of opponents to take on. And that’s just what the first game needed: more things to do and cards to use! Check out our video for more about it.

Trade & Battle: Card Hero

Game Boy / Game Boy Color
Translation patch? No, unfortunately.
Available on Japanese 3DS Virtual Console
Intelligent Systems is known for Fire Emblem, Advance Wars and Paper Mario, but there’s one of its franchises that never made it out of Japan: Card Hero. The card-battle series hit Game Boy Color and DS, and both entries have a lot to offer. It’s probably also great evidence that the company knew how to design card games, leading to their work on real-life CCG Fire Emblem Cipher!

X

Game Boy
Translation patch? None needed!
Essentially the predecessor to Star Fox, X is a tunnel-based first-person shooter for the Game Boy from the tech wizzes at Argonaut. Most games that stress the hardware’s limits don’t age particularly well (like, for example, maybe Star Fox), but X keeps things simple in ways that do it many favors. If you want some aiming fun on your Game Boy, X is going to give it to you.

Available in Europe

Adventures of Lolo

Game Boy
Translation patch? None needed!
Lolo is a great series from HAL, and anyone who has played the NES releases can certainly attest. This Game Boy release has a load of new puzzles, and it’s a shame its release was limited to other regions. So many Game Boy versions of console games had to be simplified, but this one is intact and in a nice portable form that works to the genre’s benefit!

Trip World

Game Boy
Translation patch? None needed!
Available on Japanese 3DS Virtual Console
Know how the Kirby games feel so colorful, even in black and white? Trip World does this possibly even better, creating environments and characters so immediately full of charm. It’s a simple enough platformer, but each level is carefully crafted and the result is a very smooth-feeling experience. It’s a shame that this one’s a bit rare, but hey, if you got that Japanese 3DS we told you to get, it’s really cheap and accessible on that! Want to know more about Trip World? Read this!

Monkey Puncher

Game Boy / Game Boy Color
Translation patch? None needed (if playing European version)
You probably don’t need any further words to sell you on this premise than the title itself, but Monkey Puncher has some fascinating aspects. You train a monkey at boxing and get better and better, essentially combining the basic menu-based maintenance tasks of a Tamagotchi release with a specific goal to chase.

For more helpful information for importers, check out our Guides section!