Photo: Evan-Amos / Gunnar.offel · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Nintendo Game Boy Color
Nintendo · Released Oct 1998 · GBC (CGB-001)
Nintendo's colour upgrade to the Game Boy — smaller, lighter, and backward compatible, bridging the gap to the Advance era.
Pros
- +Added colour while staying pocketable
- +Fully backward compatible with Game Boy games
- +Smaller and lighter than the original
- +Infrared port for link features
Cons
- −Still no backlight
- −Short-lived before the Game Boy Advance
- −Limited colour palette
What can it play?
Emulation performance by platform, based on real-world testing.
Full specifications
Hardware
- Chipset (SoC)
- Sharp LR35902 (custom, dual-speed)
- CPU
- 8-bit @ up to 8.39 MHz
- GPU
- Integrated colour PPU
- RAM
- 32 KB work + 16 KB video
- Storage
- Cartridge Game Pak ROM
- Weight
- 138 g
- Dimensions
- 75 x 133 x 27 mm
- Cooling
- Passive
Display
- Size
- 2.3″
- Resolution
- 160x144
- Panel
- Reflective TFT colour LCD
- Refresh rate
- 60 Hz
- Touchscreen
- No
Battery & Connectivity
- Battery
- 1000 mAh
- Real-world life
- ~10 hours
- Wi-Fi
- None
- Bluetooth
- None
- Ports
- Link Cable, Infrared, 3.5mm headphone
- Expandable storage
- No
Controls
- Analog sticks
- 0
- D-pad
- Yes
- Face buttons
- Yes
- Analog triggers
- No
- Gyroscope
- No
- Hall effect sticks
- No
Software & custom firmware
Ships with: None (cartridge-booted)
Also plays natively: Game Boy Color cartridges, Game Boy cartridges
No third-party custom firmware tracked for this device.
Our verdict
The Game Boy Color finally brought colour to Nintendo's handheld line in a more compact shell, while remaining fully backward compatible with the huge Game Boy library. It was a transitional device — supplanted by the Game Boy Advance just three years later — but it hosted classics like Pokémon Gold/Silver and remains a collector favourite.