Pixels on a Peridot Screen Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1989

The original Nintendo Game Boy was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989. It was released in North America on July 31, 1989. Europe would not see the Game Boy arrive until September 28, 1990. Upon its release only six games were available, though a lot more would be made later as the popularity of the Game Boy increased.

The original Game Boy would continue to see production until 2003, even after the release of more powerful successors, such as the Game Boy Color (1998) and Game Boy Advance (2001).

Answer: Four

The original Nintendo Game Boy was primarily powered by four AA batteries. This provided the user of up to 15 continuous hours of gameplay, depending on the battery brand. In addition to the batteries, the original Game Boy had a port where you could attach either an AC adapter or an external battery source.

In 1996, the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller version of the original Game Boy was released which only required two AAA batteries to operate. The Game Boy Pocket's screen was changed to light grey with greyscale pixels.

Answer: Link cable

In order to play head to head with other Game Boy users, the machines needed to both be physically connected to each other via a link cable which was included with the system. Also each player must have owned the same game for them to interact with one another.

The use of the link cable dramatically increased when the "Pokemon" games were released in 1996 as it required the machines to be linked in order to trade the little monsters with your friends. An infrared sensor was installed in the Game Boy Color which was released in 1998.

Answer: Tetris

"Tetris" was created by Russian computer programmer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. Following legal battles between Nintendo and various game companies, including Atari and Sega, as well as the Soviet government itself, Nintendo eventually obtained the rights to "Tetris".

It was ported to the Nintendo Game Boy and was bundled with the system in North America. The popularity of "Tetris" led to the increased popularity of the Game Boy as players of all ages looked to obtain one. Due to its status as a bundled game, Tetris became the best selling game of the original Game Boy era with over 35 million copies sold.

Answer: Baseball

Nintendo's "Baseball" was first released in 1983 for the Famicom, the Japanese predecessor to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which debuted in 1985, where it was one of the system's launch titles. "Baseball" was ported to the Nintendo Game Boy becoming a launch title for another of Nintendo's consoles. Nintendo also released a port of the NES game "Tennis" as a launch title for the Game Boy.

Answer: Tatanga

"Super Mario Land" was another of the original Game Boy's six launch titles. The story of "Super Mario Land" is different from the original "Super Mario Bros" released for the NES in 1985. Instead of being set in the Mushroom Kingdom, "Super Mario Land" takes place in a world named Sarasaland, which is ruled by Princess Daisy. Mario is tasked with rescuing the princess from an evil alien named Tatanga. Tatanga showed up again as the Space Zone boss in the sequel "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" (1992), where Mario must liberate his castle from his evil doppelganger Wario.

Answer: at night during a camping trip

One of the weaknesses of the original Game Boy was that players would have difficulty playing it in areas with little to no light as the machine did not have a backlight installed. However, the advantage to this was that the original Game Boy lasted longer on its four AA batteries, than the Sega Game Gear, its main competitor, which required six AA batteries to function.

The Game Gear was installed with a backlight on the screen, however this only allowed up to five hours of continuous gameplay before the batteries were drained.

Answer: Kirby

Kirby made his debut on the game "Kirby's Dream Land", which was released for the original Game Boy in 1992. Kirby is depicted as a cute pink balloon creature (at least on the box he is) with the ability to defeat enemies by inhaling them and either eating them or spitting them out.

He can also inhale a large amount of air that allows him to float certain distances. Samus Aran debuted in the NES game "Metroid" in 1986. The sequel "Metroid II: Return of Samus" was released exclusively for the Game Boy in 1991. Yoshi debuted in "Super Mario World" and Captain Falcon debuted in "F-Zero", which both debuted with the Super Nintendo game console.

Answer: Link's Awakening

"The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" was released for the original Game Boy in 1993. It was re-released as "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX" to coincide with the release of the Game Boy Color in 1998. "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" was given a modern makeover and was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2019. "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons" and "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages" were released simultaneously for the Game Boy Color in 2001. "Zelda II: The Adventures of Link" was released for the NES. "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" was released for the Super Nintendo.

Answer: Green

"Pokemon" is considered to be one of the most successful video games ever released for the Nintendo Game Boy. The franchise originated in Japan where the games were known as "Pocket Monsters". The two original games were released on February 27, 1996 and were designated as "Pocket Monsters Red" and "Pocket Monsters Green". "Pocket Monsters Blue" was released several months later.

The "Pocket Monsters" games were brought to North America, where they were renamed "Pokemon". "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Blue" were the first two versions released in North America in 1998.

A special edition "Pokemon Yellow" was released a year later. Each "Pokemon" game cartridge was released in its respective color. A green version of "Pokemon" was not released in North America.