List of best-selling Game Boy video games explained
This is a list of video games for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color video game consoles that have sold or shipped at least one million copies, including games whose sales figures were published, and games which received the Player's Choice label for selling a million units. The best-selling game on the Game Boy and Game Boy Color is Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow, which released in 1996 and sold over units worldwide.[1] [2] The second best-selling title is Tetris; first released in Japan on June 14, 1989, Tetris was often bundled with the original Game Boy and went on to sell in excess of 35million units worldwide.[3] It is followed by the best-selling Game Boy Color game, Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal, which sold over units in total. The top five is rounded out by the platform's first Super Mario game, Super Mario Land, which sold over 18million units worldwide,[4] and Dr. Mario with over units sold.
There are a total of 67 Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the list which are confirmed to have sold or shipped at least one million units. Of these, 20 were developed by internal Nintendo development divisions. Other developers with the most million-selling games include Capcom with seven games, as well as Game Freak, Rare, and Tose with five games each in the list of 66. Of the 66 games on this list, 48 were published in one or more regions by Nintendo. Other publishers with multiple million-selling games include Konami with three games and Bandai and Enix with two games each. The most popular franchises on Game Boy and Game Boy Color include Pokémon (84.54million combined units), Tetris (38.12million combined units), Super Mario (34.39million combined units), Donkey Kong (12.55million combined units), and Kirby (10.91million combined units).
List
| Game | Developer(s) | Publisher | Platform | Release date | Sales | |
|---|
| Pokémon Red / Green / Blue / Yellow | Game Freak | Nintendo | GB | | 46,020,000 | |
| Tetris † | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 35,000,000 | |
| Pokémon Gold / Silver / Crystal | Game Freak | Nintendo | GBC | | 29,490,000 | |
| Super Mario Land | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 18,140,000 | |
| Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 11,180,000 | |
| Dr. Mario | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 5,340,000 | [5] |
| Pokémon Pinball | Jupiter | Nintendo | GBC | | 5,310,000 | [6] |
| Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 5,190,000 | |
| Kirby's Dream Land | HAL Laboratory | Nintendo | GB | | 5,130,000 | |
| Super Mario Bros. Deluxe | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | GBC | | 5,070,000 | |
| The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages | Flagship | Nintendo | GBC | | 3,990,000 | |
| Donkey Kong Land | Rare | Nintendo | GB | | 3,910,000 | |
| † | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | GB | | 3,830,000 | [7] |
| Pokémon Trading Card Game | | Nintendo | GBC | | 3,720,000 | |
| F1 Race | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 3,410,000 | |
| Yoshi | Game Freak | Nintendo | GB | | 3,120,000 | |
| Donkey Kong | | Nintendo | GB | | 3,070,000 | |
| Bandai | Bandai | GB | | 3,000,000 | [8] |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists | Konami | Konami | GBC | | 2,500,000 | [9] |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories | Konami | Konami | GBC | | 2,396,518 | |
| Kirby's Dream Land 2 | HAL Laboratory | Nintendo | GB | | 2,360,000 | |
| Donkey Kong Land 2 | Rare | Nintendo | GB | | 2,350,000 | |
| Dragon Warrior Monsters | Tose | Enix | GBC | | 2,350,000 | [10] |
| Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | GBC | | 2,220,000 | |
| Wario Land 3 | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GBC | | 2,200,000 | |
| Kirby's Pinball Land | HAL Laboratory | Nintendo | GB | | 2,190,000 | |
| Donkey Kong Country | Rare | Nintendo | GBC | | 2,190,000 | |
| Golf | Nintendo | Nintendo | GB | | 2,120,000 | |
| Tennis | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 1,990,000 | |
| Alleyway | | Nintendo | GB | | 1,940,000 | |
| Tetris DX | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GBC | | 1,880,000 | |
| Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 1,720,000 | |
| Baseball | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 1,610,000 | |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters | Konami | Konami | GB | | 1,610,000 | [11] |
| Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 | Tose | Enix | GBC | | 1,570,000 | |
| Yoshi's Cookie | Bullet-Proof Software | Nintendo | GB | | 1,530,000 | |
| Wario Land II | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | GB | | 1,480,000 | |
| Game de Hakken! | Tamagotchi 2 | Bandai | Bandai | GB | | 1,450,000 | |
|---|
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories | Konami | Konami | GBC | | 1,450,000 | |
| DuckTales | Capcom | Capcom | GB | | 1,430,000 | [12] |
| The Final Fantasy Legend | Square | Square | GB | | 1,370,000 | |
| Yakuman | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | GB | | 1,280,000 | |
| Tetris 2 | | Nintendo | GB | | 1,240,000 | |
| Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble | Nintendo R&D2 | Nintendo | GBC | | 1,230,000 | |
| Game & Watch Gallery 2 | Tose | Nintendo | GBC | | 1,220,000 | |
| Game & Watch Gallery 3 | Tose | Nintendo | GBC | | 1,220,000 | |
| Solar Striker | Minakuchi Engineering | Nintendo | GB | | 1,200,000 | |
| Mario Tennis | Camelot Software Planning | Nintendo | GBC | | 1,180,000 | |
| Qix | Minakuchi Engineering | Nintendo | GB | | 1,150,000 | |
| Super R.C. Pro-Am | Rare | Nintendo | GB | | 1,140,000 | |
| Donkey Kong Land III | Rare | Nintendo | GB | | 1,030,000 | |
| The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle | Kemco | Kemco | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 | Kemco | Kemco | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Mickey's Dangerous Chase | Now Production | Capcom | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| The Little Mermaid | Capcom | Capcom | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Minakuchi Engineering | Capcom | GB | | 1,000,000 | [13] |
| Mega Man II | Japan System House | Capcom | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Wave Race | | Nintendo | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Star Wars | NMS Software | Capcom | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| DuckTales 2 | Make Software | Capcom | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Mortal Kombat | Probe Software | Acclaim | GB | | 1,000,000 | [14] |
| Kemco | Kemco | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Space Invaders | Taito | Nintendo | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| The Smurfs | Bit Managers | Infogrames | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Street Fighter II | Sun L | Nintendo | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| Game & Watch Gallery | Tose | Nintendo | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
| James Bond 007 | Saffire | Nintendo | GB | | 1,000,000 | |
|
External links
Notes and References
- News: DePietro . Andrew . 'Pokken Tournament' and Pokemon's $1.5 Billion Brand . . . March 19, 2017 . April 25, 2017 . February 18, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200218180223/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pokken-tournament-and-pok_b_9501260 . live .
- Book: Terry, Paul . October 6, 2016 . Top 10 of Everything 2017 . London, England . . 115 . 978-0600633747 . April 25, 2017 . Google Books.
- News: Computer Game Tetris Celebrates 25 Years . Wynne-Jones . Jonathan . . June 5, 2009 . April 25, 2017 . May 31, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190531005027/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/5460283/Computer-game-Tetris-celebrates-25-years.html . live .
- Web site: 30 Best-Selling Super Mario Games of All Time on the Plumber's 30th Birthday . O'Malley . James . . . September 11, 2015 . April 25, 2017 . September 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200908004707/http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/09/30-best-selling-super-mario-games-of-all-time-on-the-plumbers-30th-birthday/ . live .
- Book: Terry, Paul . October 6, 2016 . Top 10 of Everything 2017 . London, England . . 118 . 978-0600633747 . April 25, 2017 . February 7, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230207161811/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vu-pCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT118 . live . Google Books.
- Book: 2021CESAゲーム白書 (2021 CESA Games White Papers). Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. 2021. 978-4-902346-43-5.
- Web site: March 25, 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051126100623/http://www.the-magicbox.com/game032504.shtml . November 26, 2005 . April 25, 2017 . The Magic Box.
- Book: Allison, Anne. Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. 2006-06-30. University of California Press. 978-0-520-24565-5. 292. 2021-12-25. 2023-02-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20230207161814/https://books.google.com/books?id=mbkwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA292. live. Google Books.
- Web site: Japan Platinum Game Chart . The Magic Box . April 25, 2017 . August 1, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190801030711/http://www.the-magicbox.com/Chart-JPPlatinum.shtml . live .
- Web site: February 2, 2004 - February 4, 2004 . . February 9, 2004 . April 25, 2017 . January 20, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130120084840/http://www.jp.square-enix.com/ir/e/explanatory/download/0404-200402090000-01.pdf#page=27 . live .
- News: Million-Seller Genealogy . 11 September 2021 . Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (KCEJ) . . December 31, 2004 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050315004002/www.konamijpn.com/corporate/million_e.html . 2005-03-15.
- Web site: Platinum Titles . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080116224723/http://ir.capcom.co.jp/english/data/million.html . January 16, 2008 . April 25, 2017 .
- Web site: 31 Player's Choice Gb Games (jpeg) 14%. Internet Archive. January 22, 2018. March 17, 2021.
- Book: Kent . Steven L. . The Ultimate History of Video Games . 2001 . Three Rivers Press . 0-7615-3643-4 . 465 . Acclaim also released Game Gear and Game Boy versions of Mortal Kombat. Amazingly, Acclaim sold 1 million copies of the Game Boy cartridge. . 2024-04-09.
