A monochrome screen barely larger than a matchbox, no backlight, just 8 kilobytes of memory and a 4.19 megahertz processor: By today's standards, the Game Boy's technical data sounds ridiculous. However, when Nintendo launched its first module-based handheld in Japan on April 21, 1989, it hardly bothered anyone. On the contrary, the portable game console was in great demand, selling almost 300,000 units by the end of the year.

The fans of that time already knew about mobile gaming from Nintendo's popular "Game & Watch" devices and comparable LCD games. However, they also longed for more complex gaming experiences with a higher degree of interaction on the move. Such an experience then offered "Super Mario Land".

In the Jump 'n' Run developed especially for the Game Boy, Nintendo icon Mario had to defy ever new dangers in four different worlds. The game, developed with the help of game boy inventor Gunpei Yokoi, demonstrated the benefits of the 220-gram handheld and aroused worldwide cravings.

Even in South Korea, where products from Japan were banned in the early 1990s, the Game Boy could be bought: Hyundai bypassed the import stop by entering into a license agreement with Nintendo and offering the device under the name "Comboy Mini".

Efficient target group expansion

But Nintendo not only wanted to delight its regular customers, but also to open up new target groups. To implement this project, the company bundled the hardware for launch in the US (July 31, 1989) and Europe (September 28, 1990) with "Tetris" from the pen of Russian engineer Alexei Paschitnow. A clever move, because the block-pile game spoke to different types and also offered a great two-player mode via the so-called link cable.

The Russian cosmonaut Alexander Serebrov also loved his Game Boy and his "Tetris" - so much so that he took both in 1993 to the space station Mir, where the handheld spent a total of 196 days and more than 3000 times orbited the earth. On May 5, 2011, Serebrov's space game boy and "Tetris" module changed hands at British auction house Bonhams for $ 1,220.

The triumph of the pocket monsters

Other titles such as "Dr. Mario" or the "F-1 Race", which can be played with four adapters thanks to the special adapter, also use the link cable in the multiplayer mode, consolidating the reputation of the Game Boy as a source of fun for young and old alike.

And then came the role-playing duo "Pokémon Red" and "Pokémon Blue", which first appeared in the West in the fall of 1998 and was available in Germany from 1999 onwards. The trick here: Each edition contained creatures that were missing in the other version. If you wanted to capture all 151 Pokémon, you had to meet like-minded people to trade the pocket monsters you needed via link cables.

A brilliant game design idea - and another reason why the at that time technically long outdated Game Boy continued to find rousing sales.

Continuous hardware evolution

However, not only the wealth of innovative games was decisive for the long-term success of the Game Boy brand. Nintendo also repeatedly released reprints of the original hardware, placing emphasis on backwards compatibility with the previous devices. Thus, users could always reuse their old modules.

30 years Game Boy

On the left a directional pad, on the right the action buttons B and A, in addition the selection buttons "Select" and "Start": The controller layout of the classical Game Boys was consciously based on the successful 8-bit home console Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

The Game Boy Pocket came on the market in July 1996. He weighed only 125 instead of 220 grams and offered a real black and white display, which greatly reduced the smearing of the image during fast movements.

Daddeln in the dark: The only available in Japan Game Boy Light had a backlight. With two AA batteries you could play with the lights on for about twelve hours.

The TFT screen of the Game Boy Color could represent 32,000 different colors, 56 of them parallel. With technical tricks, some developers even managed to display more than 2000 colors simultaneously. This presentation mode is supported by "Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare".

At the start of Game Boy Color appeared in five different color variants. Nintendo also released two versions with a transparent case, including the "Atomic Purple" edition pictured here.

When Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance on March 21, 2001, it thrilled with powerful 2D hardware and full backward compatibility with previous Game Boy models. Many criticized the lack of display lighting.

Foldable, about half the size of the original Game Boy Advance, backlight, rechargeable battery: These features have made the Game Boy Advance SP a crowd pleaser.

Despite interchangeable front cover and ultra-compact dimensions, the Game Boy Micro released in 2005 never prevailed. Big drawback: The device could not play Game Boy and Game Boy Color modules.

The Super Game Boy adapter for the 16-bit home console Super Nintendo appeared in June 1994 and allowed playing Game Boy modules on the TV.

Another unusual accessory: the Game Boy camera. It took place in the modular slot of the device, shot photos with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels and was in 1999 according to the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest camera in the world - for a short time at least. The photos could be printed with the same time available Game Boy Printer.

The Game Boy Player for Nintendo's Gamecube console, released in this country on June 20, 2003, is the big brother of the Super Game Boy, so to speak. Just put a Game Boy, Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance game into the module bay on the front, insert the included boot disc, and you could play your module collection on TV.

The legendary puzzle game "Tetris" is about stacking "falling" blocks in the screen so that gap-free horizontal lines form. With "Tetris 99" Nintendo released on February 14, 2019 a Battle Royale version for the Nintendo Switch. Prerequisite for playing, however, is a membership in the service Nintendo Switch Online.

The Jump'n'Run "Super Mario Land" was one of the starting titles for the Game Boy. It ranks fourth among the best-selling Game Boy games, 18 million modules changed hands. By the way, Nintendo's developer icon Shigeru Miyamoto ("Super Mario", "The Legend of Zelda") was not involved in the development of this hit by way of exception.

A boy sets off to catch bizarre creatures and become the best Pokémon trainer in the world: with this game concept developers Game Freak and Publisher Nintendo laid the foundation for the multi-million dollar brand "Pokémon" on the Game Boy enjoys great popularity to this day.

With "Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3" donated Nintendo Mario's arch rival Wario 1994 for the first time a completely separate game. Fans loved the platformer, which sold just under 5.19 million copies.

The puzzle hit "Dr. Mario" appeared in 1990 in Japan at the same time for NES and Game Boy. Task of the player: To arrange dropping pills so that at least four blocks of the same color stand side by side. The screenshot shows the presentation on the Game Boy Color.

Some Game Boy games made an even better figure with a Super Game Boy adapter. "Kirby's Dream Land 2", for example, offered advanced sound effects, a colorful frame and its own color scheme.

"The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" (1993) is considered one of the best Game Boy adventures ever. In 1998, a version optimized for the Game Boy Color with the suffix "DX" was published.

And this is the remake of "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" announced in February 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. It will be released later this year.

It started with the Game Boy Pocket in 1996. It was smaller, 95 grams lighter and offered a new black and white display, which visibly reduced streaks while playing. However, there was no integrated backlight on the Game Boy Pocket either. This was only introduced in April 1998 with the only available in Japan Game Boy Light.

In the fall of the same year, Nintendo released the Game Boy Color, bringing color into the game for the first time. Practical: If a game was not designed specifically for the Game Boy Color, the system automatically converted the gray tones into a given color palette, which the user could also adjust.

In addition, the new color wonder came with an infrared port therefore. This was ideal for a stress-free exchange in the "Pokémon" series, which once again achieved great sales successes with the Golden and Silver Edition.

The Game Boy Advance: 32-bit power

For too long, the predominance of the Game Boy Color, however, nothing, because already in 2001, the successor generation was ready. The Gameboy Advance (GBA) was powered by a 16.77 megahertz 32-bit RISC processor capable of delivering home-style Super Nintendo games.

Ordinary 3D optics dominated the GBA not many fans disturbed but only partially. They loved 2D hits like "The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap", the "Castlevania" vampire hunter series or the advance strategy game "Advance Wars".

In retrospect, however, the GBA only went through the roof with the introduction of the "SP" model. This could be folded: Thanks to the beer cover-sized floor plan, it fits into every vest pocket, and scores with switchable screen lighting and rechargeable battery.

Still the Game Boy Micro from the year 2005, the last model of the Game Boy product range would remain. With dimensions of 10 by 5 by 1.8 centimeters he was a real little thing - and a bit too small for many fans. He was barely suitable for long game sessions.

Because Nintendo also brought the first devices of the Nintendo DS (short for dual screen) on the market almost at the same time, the Micro ranks at the bottom of the otherwise impressive sales statistics of the Game Boys. To date, the entire Game Boy family has sold over 200 million copies.