The Game Boy Game That Was The Console's Best Seller
Unfortunately, Nintendo's ultra-successful Game Boy is now more than 30 years old. True, this means that time continues to march ever onward, but, on the bright side, it also means that there are interesting statistics to look over regarding the console's time on the market.
The Game Boy sold more than a whopping 118 million units, for example, and due to regional differences between North America, Europe, and Japan, the last official game to hit shelves for the Game Boy was different around the world. One of the best statistics to examine for any console, however, is what piece of software performed the best during said console's lifetime.
When it comes to Nintendo's Game Boy, the best-selling title it ever had won't come as a surprise to many as it's still a game worthy of pulling one's Game Boy out to play. In fact, it wasn't just the best-selling game on Game Boy, but one of the best-selling games of all time.
Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow reign supreme
As to be expected, the record for the biggest lifetime sales achieved on the Nintendo Game Boy belong to "Pokémon." Not a surprising result for the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. The game(s) in question are, "Pokémon Red," "Pokémon Blue," "Pokémon Green," and "Pokémon Yellow." Together, these titles managed to sell more than 47 million copies. An absolutely staggering number that gave the "Pokémon" franchise status as one of the best-selling games of all time from its beginning.
Of course, some may take issue with the fact that the record is applied to four differently named titles. However, with the exception of "Pokémon Yellow," the titles are functionally identical apart from different Pokémon being exclusive to one copy or the other. "Pokémon Yellow," of course, is almost exactly the same as well. The only difference? Updated colors for its visuals and an interactable Pikachu sprite that follows players.
It's because of these incredibly minute differences between the games that their total sales are combined, but for those that find this a bit unfair, the second best-selling game on the Game Boy was none other than "Tetris." It had an equally strong console debut exceeding 30 million units sold. Interestingly enough, "Tetris" is also one of the best-selling video games of all time, seeing more than 100 million(!) units sold over its lifetime. Based on the massive success of both "Pokémon" and "Tetris," it seems that each franchise can, to a fairly large degree, thank the Game Boy for where they are today.