When we talk about the most versatile handhelds in gaming history, it has to be the Nintendo Game Boy. Why? Because most of their games were compatible with either Game Boy consoles.
This feature made the Game Boy consoles not only backward compatible. But also, forward compatible with most of the games developed for their family line. But how can you play colored games on other Game Boy consoles? And how to check for the compatibility of their games?
Let us talk about it all here.
How To Play Colored Games On Game Boy?
The Game Boy line has been the most intriguing console due to the compatibility of their games with each other. Games released for later consoles of the Game Boy line were also compatible with the Nintendo DMG Game Boy console – excluding Micro Game Boy from the list. And the same thing goes the other way around.
Nintendo made this possible by creating cartridges with readable styles for most Game Boy consoles. For instance, the smoky transparent game cartridge had a non-cut top, making it unable to read in the DMG Game Boy. It was exclusively readable in the Game Boy Color or for later consoles only.
On the other hand, Nintendo used the cut top for the game cartridges to make it readable for most Game Boy consoles. Such game cartridges were compatible with Game Boy Color and later released consoles of this family.
So to play colored games on the Game Boy consoles, you’ll have to check out the game’s cartridge design. If it has a cut-style design, it is playable with most Game Boy consoles. Otherwise, it’ll be only compatible with specific Game Boy consoles.
So, What’s The Best Way To Check Game Boy Color Games Compatibility For Other Game Boy Consoles?
Nintendo has also used alternative colors for the Game Boy cartridges. This lets the gamers know which Game Boy console the colored games are compatible with.
Following is the quick guide to playing colored games on your Game Boy console:
Gray DMG Game Boy Cartridge (Class A Cartridges)
Gray DMG game cartridges are the oldest and designed for the original DMG Game Boy console. They will run on every Game Boy console with four shades of gray and green colors.
You’ll also find some of these game cartridges with SGB Logo. It offers the 8-color modes when played on a Super Game Boy console. However, this variation is supported by only specific Game Boy consoles.
Black Game Boy Color Cartridge (Class B Cartridges / Dual Mode)
Game Boy Color games on the black color cartridges offer compatibility with the DMG Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and Game Boy Light. These games can also be played on the Super Game Boy with 8-color modes for display.
So, you can play color games on almost any of the Game Boy consoles. However, the game will display in either gray or green shades.
Clear Cased Game Boy Color Cartridge (Class C Cartridges)
The smoky or clear-cased game cartridges are the ones that fully use the enhanced Game Boy Color hardware. This makes these games incompatible with all prior Game Boy consoles. So, none of the clear-cased Game Boy Color games are playable on any older Game Boy consoles except for the Game Boy Color console.
In short, class A cartridges are forward compatible. While the class B cartridges support dual-mode, making them compatible with any of Game Boy consoles with graphics differences. And lastly, the class C cartridges are only playable on the Game Boy Color console.
What Colored Games Can You Play On Game Boy?
Many popular games were released with dual-mode support. They are compatible with non-colored Game Boy consoles. For instance, Pokemon Gold is playable on a DMG Game Boy console. However, Pokemon Crystal is for only Game Boy Color.
There are a variety of colored games that might interest you. Some of them are:
- Asteroids – Space shooting and destroying every obstacle coming on your way.
- Battleship – Command your navy fleet to tackle the enemies in the deep sea.
- FIFA 2000 – Enjoy the football match in the FIFA retro style.
- Survival Kids – Join the kid’s journey to survive on a deserted island.
- Puzzle Master – Solve tons of challenging puzzles with fanatic characters.
- Wario Land II – Help Warios to get back the stolen treasure from captain syrup.
- Azure Dreams – Fight every monster and get stronger to reach the top of the tower.
- Bomberman Quest – Defeat the furious enemies and conquer the four regions.
- Daffy Duck Fowl Play – Travel with Daffy in search of gold in exciting places.
- The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening DX – enjoy the all-time Zelda fantasy quests.
All of these games are playable on the DMG Game Boy console. But if you want more colored games to play on your Game Boy console? Then you can have a look at our online store.
FAQs About Playing Colored Games On Game Boy
You might have some questions in your mind regarding Game Boy games. So, let us answer some of them here:
Nintendo has been considering capitalizing on the remakes and remastered versions of their old and famous games. So, they have brought some of Game Boy’s best classics to the Switch console virtually. But, they do not intend to release any improved version of the Original Game Boy console in the future.
Game Boy has four shades of green for graphic display. While the backlight technology was not introduced for portable handhelds at the time of the Game Boy. That’s why no Game Boy consoles have a backlight feature. However, the gaming consoles that came after Game Boy had the backlight features as one of their basics. Such as DS, 2DS, 3DS, and other Nintendo handhelds up till now.
There were few variations of the Game Boy console released during the early years of the 2000s. It includes Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Light – redesigned and improved versions of the Original Game Boy console. However, Nintendo discontinued the production of the Original Game Boy and its variation consoles in 2003.
Nintendo DS was released as the Game Boy successor in early 2004. The DS consoles have an additional slot installed for Game Boy cartridges. Bringing Game Boy games to the newer console with the same old and classic graphics. Many Game Boy games are still available digitally in Nintendo’s online game shop.
The games in the clear case or the translucent cartridges use high graphic memory and more hardware resources. That’s why Nintendo designed these cartridges with a non-cut style to make them unreadable for any other Game Boy console. But even if you manage to load these games into the console using physical modification, it’ll crash or lag due to high memory and hardware consumption.
To Sum Up
With the release of Nintendo’s DMG Game Boy in 1989, it had prominently changed the landscape of the handheld gaming industry. It brought a variety of games into your palms. What made the Game Boy line even more interesting was the compatibility of their game cartridges with other Game Boy consoles.
And with the dual-mode game cartridges, you can play the colored games on the simple Game Boy consoles and have classic retro nostalgia fun.
