Hi! Maybe y’all can help me out.
I have a Miyoo mini plus and sometimes, I feel the itch to play something just to fiddle around a bit. I’m looking for something that’s easy to pick up and pla’ for a few minutes up to maybe half an hour.
Bonus points if I can play it without needing to use my speech recognizing brain functions. It would be ideal if I can just occupy my hands a pit while still listening to what my colleagues say in remote meetings (I used to use a rubik’s cube for that). ADD is a bitch.
I already got:
- Apotris (really awesome, but a bit stressful after a while)
- Wario Ware (can also get a bit stressful)
- Pokemon Pinball Saphire and ruby (great, but has gotten a bit repetitive now)
- … that’s it
It doesn’t have to be GB/GBA, but I recon that those systems have the biggest bounty of pick up and play games. The Miyoo Mini Plus can emulate everything up to PS1, so SNES and PS1 would be fine, too.
Great question, I’ve been looking for the same. Some of my go-tos are:
- Tetris (GB) (of course)
- Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (GBC)
- Balloon Kid (GB)
- Castlevania II (GB)
- DuckTales (GB)
- DK - King of Swing (GBA)
- Game & Watch Gallery (GB)
- Super Monkey ball
- Tekken 2
- One of the street fighters
- Chess
- Crazy taxi
- Any Megamen
- Uniracers
- Doom 2 or 64
- Most sonics
Super Monkey Ball is a fun suggestion! Plus it’s got an interesting GBA version with an untextured 3D engine for rendering courses that I found pretty impressive.
Shining Soul I & II is exactly what you are looking for
Thanks, I’ll check it oute
Metroid zero mission and Metroid fusion. Play zero mission first if unsure.
Already done. ;)
Bubble Bobble
Hi! I’m a Game Boy collector / enthusiast / reviewer. And this question has an easy answer in my opinion…
Catrap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfV4MnGfiA4&t=284
- It’s relaxing. It’s a turn based, pure puzzle game. Like, there’s literally no action. The enemies don’t even move!
- It’s big. 100 puzzles that slowly increase in difficulty. I was able to beat them all, over time.
- It’s non-punishing. No time limits. No lives.
- No stress. Catrap was the first(?) game to feature an undo button. Try something out. Didn’t work? Just hold B to undo. You can undo all the way back to the start of the stage, as many time as you want.
- It’s simple. Up, down, left, and right to move. B to undo. I think A is introduced later to swap between characters?
- IT’S FUN. It looks good, plays good, and just feels good to jump around the stage. And completing a stage is so satisfying.
I hope you like it! 🙂
Don’t know about gb/gba titles, but for PS1 there’s Devil Dice. Probably might get a little repetitive after a while, though.
Qix
I’m going to stay retro because I’m on a retro kick right now. I’m also a big fan of chunky old-school graphics, so most of these are available in some form or another on GB, GBC, GBA, GG, or my personal favorite, NGPC.
I stuck with mostly mindless action or traversal, leaving off things with complicated puzzle solving or exploration and what to do/where to go challenge, hence things like Sonic and Mario yes but Metroid and Zelda no. That said, there’s plenty more if you’re up for some light exploration thinking. Shantae for GBC is a delightful example.
Puzzle/Tetris-like:
- Puyo Puyo/Puyo Pop/Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
- Magical Drop (I played this so much my brain would zen out and I’d have crushed all of my friends in a row without breaking a sweat)
- Dr. Mario
- Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move
Mindless Action/Adventure:
- Metal Slug series
- Contra series
- Gunstar Heroes (IYKYK - if you haven’t played this before but you like Contra-type games, play the Genesis version, be blown away, then try the GG version and be impressed as hell with that too)
- Streets of Rage series (The GG ports are pretty incredible for the platform)
- Smash TV (SNES or Arcade version probably though, since retro handhelds never had the controls for it)
- T2: The Arcade Game is on Game Gear and it’s an impressive port to dink around with.
- Like, the entire shmup genre, but if you want retro portable, there are some Gradius and R-Type ports, GG Aleste/Power Strike 2 on GG, and probably a ton more on GBA.
Pure Platformer:
- Any early Mario mainline game
- Any Sonic mainline game
- Lion King or Aladdin, but these are so difficult you might want to save scum them just to brainlessly get past the brutal challenge
Sports:
- NBA Jam (I loved my dinky little GG version)
Other:
- Ms. Pac-Man and other retro arcade games/collections
- More Pinball! I don’t know any actual “normal” pinball games for retro systems that were all that great, but Sonic Spinball is awesome, plus there’s Kirby Pinball, Metroid Prime Pinball (DS), and even Pinball of the Dead.
Drill dozer is a fun one that i don’t see get a ton of love.
There’s an overarching story iirc but it’s not terribly intense or anything.
If you like adventure, then the oracle zelda games are fun. Definitely pushing that 30 minute boundary on this one, though. There’s also a bit of dialogue between dungeons, but otherwise, Seasons is definitely more wanderable since there’s not as many direct puzzles.
I remember having Joust on the Gameboy color or advance when I was younger. Always good fun to ride some birds into battle.
Pokémon Romhacks are the way to go. You can find so many with different gameplay hacks. I liked Unbound a lot personally
Pokemon Prism is just about the best Pokemon experience I’ve had in the last decade
I haven’t seen any of the Golden Suns mentioned. Fun games.
I have seen the Zelda games mentioned and advocate for them. Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Link’s Awakening DX, could also play Link to the past since you mention SNES.
Any of the Mario and Luigi GBA RPG’s. Mario in general. Could have a lot of fun with the All-Star collection. I’ve got a real soft spot for Dr.Mario. Probably my favorite music track in classic games with “Fever”.
Great games, but sadly, not really what I’m looking for.
Story heavy games like JRPGs is a bit stretching the definition of “pick up and play”. ;)
I don’t have the time to get into these involved games (and if I do, I’d rather play on the Steam Deck).
I have played and r"ally digged the GB/SNES Zeldas. Haven’t mentioned these, since they’re not really pick up and play, either.
Thanks for your contribution, though. (:
Any of the Game & Watch Gallery games for GBC should be perfect, my favorite is 2
- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
- Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Seconding the Castlevania recommendations, and adding Chu Chu Rocket. Technically a Dreamcast game, but the GBA port added thousands of user created levels for an extensive amount of added gameplay.
Wow! I need to check that out myself!
It was a release game! It’s amazing to me how many people don’t know about it.
I’m a fan of the other two GB Zelda games, too. Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons. When I learned there was supposed to be a 3rd one, I always hoped it would come out some day. Alas, no. A lot of gameplay, especially for a GB game.
Great question OP.
My favorite games ever are Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 for the GBA. They are turn based strategy games so you can easily pick up, save, restore and play as needed. The entire series is great in my experience, up to the DS iterations.
I have spent a lot of time playing GB/GBA games and Advance Wars is among my favorites. I love the “hot potato” mode for playing with a friend with just one device.