The 25 best Game Boy games to play on your iPhone

Nintendo's Game Boy turns 25 today, making it legally old enough to start worrying about retirement. In honor of its epic achievement as a pioneer of mobile gaming, here are the 25 best Game Boy games that you can play on iOS. Don't have your phone set up for emulation? No worries — check out our handy emulation guide to get up and running in just a few minutes.

1. Pokemon (Red/Blue) – The games that sparked a multimedia franchise. Fantastic stories and laid back RPG gameplay.

2. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins – One of the best platformers on Game Boy, with legendary levels that demand to be played.

3. WarioLand: Super Mario Land 3 – This Mario title doesn't star Mario, but that doesn't stop it from being charming and epic.

4. Kirby's Dream Land – Dream Land is everything you love about Kirby in a compact form.

5. Mega Man V – If you're a Mega Man fan, this is the Game Boy version you need to play. The rest are good, but this one is great.

6. Metroid II: Return of Samus – Not quite as mind-blowing as the SNES darling Super Metroid, this sci-fi adventure is still a treat on mobile.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening – You've already beaten it a dozen times, but one more playthrough wouldn't hurt.

8. Dr. Mario – Remember when Nintendo made amazing puzzle games? This one will remind you.

9. Yoshi's Cookie – Remember what I said in #8? That goes double for this one.

10. Donkey Kong Land – Nintendo's Game Boy translation of its then-new Donkey Kong platformer franchise was surprisingly great on the small screen, and still is.

11. Final Fantasy Legend III - By the third game, this franchise really started to take off with a great story and engaging combat.

12. Contra: The Alien Wars – All the fast-paced action of the original in a stunning two-color format. Also, super difficult.

13. Tetris – The game that made the Game Boy a must-have.

14. Adventure Island II – The classic side-scroller puts your wobbly-legged adventurer on a tiny screen with big goals.

15. R-Type – Futuristic space shooting was never so much fun.

16. Mystical Ninja – A top-down action game with large environments and lots to explore.

17. Golf - Ignore the simple name — this was one of the best time wasters of the early 90s and it still holds up today.

18. Samurai Shodown – A great fighting game with adorable characters who can kick some serious ass.

19. Bomberman GB – Bomberman looks amazing in his Game Boy debut, and the graphics are still pretty impressive today, not to mention how great the gameplay is.

20. Harvest Moon GB – A relaxing farming RPG that will charm the pants right off of you.

21. Super Mario Land – It's not as pretty as the later Mario titles on Game Boy, but it's one that you absolutely need to play at least once.

22. Kid Dracula – One of the first Game Boy action games to really nail the "big character on a tiny screen" style that later became the norm.

23. Dragon Warrior Monsters – A charming RPG that will challenge both your skills and your ingenuity. You can even capture, train, and breed different monsters for added replay value.

24. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters – Lots of childhood memories with this one, and a great action game to revisit.

25. Micro Machines – Everyone had Micro Machines as a kid, so racing tiny cars and boats around household items was a blast on the Game Boy.