"Game Boy World 1989 XL Edition" by Jeremy Parish

A fan's must-have for all things Game Boy, its history and a sample of its amazing library.

This review was done in collaboration with VIDEOGAMESOTROS.

Finally, a book about the Game Boy and everything surrounding it—its history, accessories and a sample of games that popularized portable video gaming for Nintendo. Even if you already knew about the history of it, we're sure there are some things about the console that you may not have known about, and that's where this book comes in! If you're a video game fan interested in history, this is a great place to start.

Although printed like a coffee-table book, this title is packed with history and excellent pictures for illustration showcasing the points and information that author Jeremy Parish has presented. The writing is simple and easy to understand without getting too technical, though certain terms have been used in a way that doesn't throw off the reader. Pictures of the system, its accessories and its sample library of games are fantastic, sparking appeal to those who also collect video games (hooray to physical copies!). Most impressive one has to be the complete in box copy of Sword of Hope—one of the goldmines in Game Boy's library. Included in this book, you get information from other game titles released both in the US and Japan such as Super Mario Land. Parish even took time to talk about the differences in box art aesthetics. Yes, Game Boy box art for games in Japan was designed differently than ones released here in the US. (As we're writing this, in terms of value, Japanese games are definitely much cheaper than games sold in the US and Europe, depending on the title. It's usually because of language, despite some Japanese games being in English, and because its level of difficulty is much higher. You read that correctly: Games re-released here in the US were often times simplified compared to its Japanese counterpart. Is it about time we take up the challenge to play and review games released in Japan?) Heck, even if you're a casual video gamer, this book speaks all kinds of praise for the Game Boy and its development early on.

While you noticed this is the XL edition, the original edition was smaller in size and showcased black and white photos. If anything, we'd recommend this version of the book.

Besides the book not having an Index page, it's just a joy and comfort to read and own this. As we're slowly heading into the 2023 year, fans will still talk about and rave about the Game Boy, whether it's collecting them, playing the games on the original console itself or on a system produced by a third-party company. Either way, the Game Boy is Nintendo's most popular that will live on forever...literally forever.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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