Pang (Prototype)

• Pang (prototype)
Release Date: 1993
Genre: Arcade / Action
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Pang is a single-screen arcade action game where players use harpoons to pop bouncing balls that split into smaller and smaller pieces. It is simple, fast, and built around timing and positioning as the screen fills with hazards.

• Co-op Experience - The prototype version of this game allowed for two player co-op., which was ripped from the retail version. Two players can tackle the stages together using the link cable. Both players share the screen and work together to clear each room by breaking down every bouncing ball without getting hit.

Faceball 2000

• Faceball 2000
Release Date: 1991
Genre: First-Person Shooter / Maze Shooter
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Faceball 2000 is a first-person maze shooter built around navigating simple corridors and blasting floating smiley enemies. It is one of the more unusual games on the Game Boy and stands out for bringing an early FPS-style format to handheld.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can link up and move through the maze-based shooting action together. Both players explore and fight through the same first-person environments cooperatively.

Centipede

• Centipede
Release Date: 1992
Genre: Arcade Shooter
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Centipede on Game Boy is a handheld version of the arcade shooter where players blast away at descending bugs, spiders, and segmented centipedes while trying to keep the screen under control. It keeps the fast, score-driven gameplay intact in a much smaller format.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can team up and take on the arcade action together using the link cable. Both players work through the same waves cooperatively while trying to survive the growing chaos on screen.

Sneaky Snakes

• Sneaky Snakes
Release Date: 1990
Genre: Platformer / Action
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Sneaky Snakes is a side-scrolling action platformer that feels a bit like a simpler 2D take on Snake Rattle ’n Roll. Players move through colorful levels while collecting items and avoiding hazards in a slower-paced but still arcade-like structure.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play through the levels together using the link cable. Both players move through the same stages at the same time and work cooperatively to reach the end of each area.

Pipe Dream

• Pipe Dream
Release Date: 1991
Genre: Puzzle
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Pipe Dream is a puzzle game where players place pipe pieces to guide flowing liquid safely across the board before it spills out or reaches a dead end. It is a simple concept, but it quickly becomes more demanding as the speed picks up and the layouts get trickier.

• Co-op Experience - The game includes two multiplayer modes, and Type B is the co-op option. In this mode, both players take turns placing pipe pieces and have to work together to keep the flow going, which makes communication and planning the main challenge.

Asteroids

• Asteroids
Release Date: 1992
Genre: Shoot ’em Up / Arcade
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Asteroids on Game Boy is a straightforward portable version of the arcade classic where you rotate, thrust, and shoot your way through waves of drifting space rocks and enemy ships. It keeps the gameplay very simple and stripped down, with one button for firing and another for teleporting out of danger.

• Co-op Experience - Two players share a pool of lives and work together to clear each wave of asteroids and enemy ships. It is a very simple co-op mode, but it is still a neat multiplayer take on a classic arcade game.

Double Dragon II

• Double Dragon II
Release Date: 1991
Genre: Beat ’em Up
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Double Dragon II on Game Boy is a unique portable entry that plays differently from the NES version and was built with slower, more deliberate combat in mind. It removes the platforming focus and instead leans harder into close-range fighting, with extra moves performed through crouching attacks and timing.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play through the full game together from start to finish. Both players fight side by side through every stage, making it one of the more complete co-op beat ’em ups on the system.

Double Dragon III

• Double Dragon 3
Release Date: 1991
Genre: Beat ’em Up
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Double Dragon 3 on Game Boy is another original portable entry that keeps the side-scrolling beat ’em up structure while adding shops between stages where you can improve your character’s stats. It is a tougher and more demanding game than the previous portable entry, with a heavier focus on survival and upgrading.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play through the entire game together using the link cable. Co-op follows the full campaign and lets both players progress side by side through the game’s stages and shop system.

Fortified Zone

• Fortified Zone
Release Date: 1991
Genre: Run and Gun / Action
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Fortified Zone is a top-down action game that feels like a mix of Contra and Zelda, with players exploring enemy bases, clearing rooms, and fighting through short mission-based stages. It has only a handful of levels, but the structure gives it a more open feel than a typical linear shooter.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can move independently and split up to search different rooms or cover separate parts of the map. Since players are not locked to the same screen, co-op works especially well for dividing up objectives and pushing through stages more efficiently.

Gauntlet II

• Gauntlet II
Release Date: 1991
Genre: Dungeon Crawler / Arcade Action
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Gauntlet II on Game Boy is a portable take on the classic maze-based dungeon crawler, where players move through top-down stages filled with enemies, generators, and keys. It keeps the arcade-style structure intact, though in a much more stripped-down handheld form.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can team up and work through the dungeon stages together using the link cable. Both players explore the mazes, fight enemies, and manage survival as they move through each area side by side.

Heiankyo Alien

• Heiankyo Alien
Release Date: 1990
Genre: Puzzle / Arcade
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Heiankyo Alien is a portable version of one of the earliest co-op games ever made, originally released in 1979. On Game Boy it includes both a new version and an old version, with the classic mode keeping the original digging-and-trapping gameplay where you bury aliens by luring them into holes.

• Co-op Experience - Only the Old Mode supports co-op. Two players work together to dig holes, lure enemies into them, and seal them shut before getting overwhelmed. The newer updated mode does not include co-op, even though the core gameplay is very similar.

Ikari No Yosai 2 (Fortified Zone 2) (JP)

• Fortified Zone II (Ikari no Yousai 2)
Release Date: 1993
Genre: Run and Gun / Action
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Fortified Zone II builds on the first game with smoother controls, cleaner visuals, weapon switching, and more polish overall. It keeps the same top-down action style while making the combat feel faster and more flexible, with better movement and less visual flicker.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can once again play through the full game together while moving independently across the map. Each character has different strengths, with one being faster and the other more durable, which adds a little variety to how the two-player mode plays.

Ninja Boy 2

• Ninja Boy 2
Release Date: 1992
Genre: Action RPG / Beat ’em Up
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Ninja Boy 2 is an RPG that blends beat ’em up combat with towns, exploration, and character progression. It keeps the goofy martial arts style of the Super Chinese games while giving players a more structured adventure to work through.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can team up and play through the game together using the link cable. Both players fight through the action stages side by side while progressing through the game’s larger RPG-style adventure.

Pop'n Twin Bee

• Pop’n TwinBee
Release Date: 1994
Genre: Shoot ’em Up
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Pop’n TwinBee is a cute vertical shooter and one of the few co-op shoot ’em ups available on the Game Boy. Like the rest of the TwinBee series, it uses a cute visual style and revolves around collecting bells for power-ups while firing at airborne enemies and bombing targets on the ground.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can fly through the game together and tackle the stages cooperatively using the link cable. Both players control their own ship and work through the full shooter campaign side by side.

Rolan's Curse

• Rolan’s Curse
Release Date: 1990
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Rolan’s Curse is a top-down action RPG with exploration, dungeon crawling, and simple real-time combat. It has a light adventure structure with towns, enemies, and progression that gives it a Zelda-like feel on the Game Boy.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play through the adventure together using the link cable. Both players explore the world side by side and work together through the combat and dungeon areas.

Titus the Fox

• Titus the Fox
Release Date: 1992
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Titus the Fox is a side-scrolling platformer where players move through simple levels, avoid hazards, and defeat enemies by picking up objects and throwing them. The controls and movement are a bit awkward, but the game keeps its objective straightforward by simply asking players to reach the end of each stage.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play together without being locked to the same screen, which makes the co-op mode more flexible than expected. If one player reaches the end of the level, the stage is cleared for both players.

Ultima: Ruins of Virtue

• Ultima: Runes of Virtue
Release Date: 1992
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Ultima: Runes of Virtue is an action RPG set in the Ultima universe, with players choosing from classes like Mage, Bard, Knight, and Ranger before heading into a top-down fantasy adventure. It focuses on exploration, combat, and character growth, though the controls and combat are a bit rough.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can adventure together using the link cable. Each player controls their own character class and works through the game cooperatively while building up their stats and abilities.

Ultima: Runes of Virtue II

• Ultima: Runes of Virtue II
Release Date: 1993
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Ultima: Runes of Virtue II improves on the first game with better visuals, smoother controls, and stronger combat overall. It keeps the same top-down action RPG style while feeling more polished and easier to play.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can once again play through the adventure together using the link cable. Both players choose their own class and progress through the game cooperatively as a team.