Naruto Ninja Council 2

• Naruto: Ninja Council 2
Release Date: 2006
Genre: Action Platformer / Beat ’em Up
Players: 1–2 (Link Cable)

• Description - Naruto: Ninja Council 2 is a side-scrolling action game based on the Naruto anime. Players battle through stages inspired by the Chunin Exam and early story arcs while using melee attacks, ninja tools, chakra-based abilities, and character-specific special moves. Multiple playable characters can be unlocked, each with their own strengths and techniques.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play simultaneously using a Game Boy Advance Link Cable. Each player needs their own Game Boy Advance, a link cable, and a copy of the game. Players work through dedicated multiplayer stages together, fighting enemies and bosses while combining character abilities. The main story mode remains single-player, with co-op focused on the game's multiplayer missions.

Shining Soul

• Shining Soul
Release Date: 2002
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1–4 (Link Cable)

• Description - Shining Soul is a top-down action RPG set in the Shining series universe. Players choose from a variety of character classes, including warriors, archers, mages, and dragonutes, then battle through dungeons filled with monsters, traps, equipment, and loot. The game focuses on real-time combat, character progression, and item collection.

• Co-op Experience - Up to four players can play simultaneously using a Game Boy Advance Link Cable. Each player needs their own Game Boy Advance, a link cable setup, and a copy of the game. Players form a party and work together through the game's dungeons, fighting enemies, collecting equipment, leveling up their characters, and completing quests cooperatively. Different character classes complement each other well, encouraging teamwork and party-based strategies.

Shining Soul II

• Shining Soul II
Release Date: 2004
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1–4 (Link cable)

• Description - Shining Soul II is a top-down action RPG and one of the best on the system. It improves on the first game in basically every way, from the visuals and combat to the classes and overall feel. It is straightforward enough to be easy to get into, but still deep enough to be really satisfying.

• Co-op Experience - Up to four players can team up and play through the game together. Each player chooses a class and fights cooperatively through the stages and dungeons.

Sonic Advance 3

• Sonic Advance 3
Release Date: 2004
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Sonic Advance 3 is easily the most co-op-friendly of the Sonic Advance games. It keeps the fast 2D Sonic gameplay, but updates the formula in a way that works much better for multiplayer than the old Genesis games ever did.

• Co-op Experience - Two players each control a character on separate screens and move through the stages independently. Players can split up during the levels and reunite during boss encounters.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Release Date: 2005
Genre: Beat ’em Up / Action
Players: 1–2 (Link cable)

• Description - Revenge of the Sith is a really solid Star Wars beat ’em up where you play as Anakin and Obi-Wan through stages based on the movie. The combat feels good, the sprite work is colorful, and it does a nice job mixing lightsaber combat with Force powers.

• Co-op Experience - Two players control Anakin and Obi-Wan together through the campaign. Both players fight enemies at the same time and progress through the levels cooperatively.

Sword of Mana (hack)

• • Sword of Mana (Co-op Restoration Hack)
  Release Date: 2024 (Hack) / 2003 (Original Game)
  Genre: Action RPG
  Players: 1–2 (Link Cable)

  • Description - Sword of Mana is a Game Boy Advance action RPG and remake of Final Fantasy Adventure. This fan-made hack restores a hidden multiplayer mode left unused in the original game, allowing the entire adventure to be played cooperatively.

  • Co-op Experience - Two players can play simultaneously using a Game Boy Advance Link Cable. Each player needs their own Game Boy Advance, a link cable, and a patched copy of the game. Player 1 controls the main hero while Player 2 directly controls the current companion character. Both players can explore, fight enemies, use weapons, cast magic, manage equipment, and progress through the story together. As companions change throughout the adventure, Player 2 automatically takes control of the new story character.

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.

007: Everything or Nothing

• 007: Everything or Nothing
Release Date: 2004
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Players: 1–2

• Description - Everything or Nothing is a third-person James Bond adventure featuring an original story, vehicle sequences, gadgets, and voice acting from the film cast. Unlike previous Bond games, the action is viewed from a third-person perspective and emphasizes cinematic set pieces.

• Co-op Experience - Two players can play simultaneously through a dedicated cooperative campaign separate from the main story. Players work together through exclusive missions designed specifically for co-op play, using weapons, gadgets, and coordinated tactics to complete objectives and defeat enemies.