Nintendo Game Boy Color

In late 1998, the Nintendo Game Boy Color was released in Japan and North America as the successor to the highly popular Game Boy. Released in Europe the following year, the handheld console was smaller than the original Game Boy, but slightly thicker and taller than the Game Boy Pocket. The unit featured a colour screen and was backward compatible with the previous Game Boy version, giving users an instant access to the huge library of games of the predecessor system. This was a major advantage for Nintendo, as it gave the system a head start against all its competitors.

The handheld console sold extremely well, selling nearly 50 million units across the world by the end of 2004.

Games

The games for Game Boy Color came in a clear plastic cartridge with a raised bump. A number of special black cartridges were also released by Nintendo that were compatible with the Game Boy Colour, the older Super Game Boy and the original Game Boy. These cartridges had notches in the corner like old Game Boy cartridges, allowing them to be used in the original unit. Special Game Boy Color palettes were built into the black carts, making it impossible to change their colours.

There were hundreds of games released for the Game Boy Color, many of them highly critically acclaimed. Some of the most highly acclaimed include:

• Alice in Wonderland (Action)
• Bionic Commando: Elite Forces (Action)
• Blaster Master: Enemy Below (Action)
• Bomberman MAX Blue: Champion (Action)
• Donkey Kong Country (2D Platformer)
• Dragon Warrior I & II (Role-Playing)
• Dragon Warrior Monsters (Role-Playing)
• Magical Tetris Challenge (Puzzle)
• Metal Gear Solid (Modern Action Adventure)
• Mickey's Racing Adventure (Kart Racing)
• Mickey's Speedway USA (Kart Racing)
• Micro Machines 1 and 2: Twin Turbo (Racing)
• Pokemon (Role-Playing)
  • Crystal (Top-selling game for the system)
  • Gold
  • Silver
• Pokemon Pinball (Pinball)
• Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (Puzzle)
• R-Type DX (Shoot-'Em-Up)
• Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (2D Platformer)
• Tetris DX (Puzzle)
• The Legend of Zelda: (Fantasy Action Adventure)
  • Link's Awakening DX
  • Oracle of Ages
  • Oracle of Seasons
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Skateboarding)
• Wacky Races (Kart Racing)
• Wario Land II (Action)
• Wario Land 3 (Action)
• Woody Woodpecker Racing (Kart Racing)

Technical Details

The Game Boy Color used a Zilog Z80 workalike processor made by Sharp, which had a clock speed twice as fast as that of the original Game Boy. The system also featured three times as much memory as the original, and an infrared communications port for wireless linking. However, this IR port was used for only a few titles, and was removed for the Game Boy Advance and later releases.

The GBC was able to show up to 56 different colours simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and could also add basic four-colour shading to games that had been developed for the original monochrome Game Boy. In addition, the GBC could give the backgrounds and sprites separate colours, for an on-screen total of more than four colours. However, in certain games, this technique resulted in graphic artifacts - where a sprite that was supposed to blend into the background was now coloured separately, thus exposing the hidden enemies or opportunities. These spoilers could only be avoided by using the monochromatic colour palette by pressing certain button combinations whilst the Game Boy logo was displayed on the screen.

The palettes available for use when an original Game Boy game was played on later Game Boy systems are as follows:

• Blue: Left
• Blue (Dark): Left + A
• Brown: Up
• Brown (Dark): Up + B
• Green: Right
• Green (Dark) - Default Palette: Right + A
• Monochrome (Inverted): Right + B
• Monochrome (Original Colours): Left + B
• Orange: Down + A
• Pastel Mix: Down
• Red: Up + A
• Yellow: Down + B