Game Boy Color
- Manufacturer
- Nintendo
- Released
- 1998
- Generation
- Gen 5
- Type
- Handheld
- Launch price
- $79
- Media
- Cartridge
About Game Boy Color
The Game Boy Color is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and in international markets the following month. Compared with the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT screen instead of monochrome, a CPU running at up to twice the speed, and four times as much memory. It is backward compatible with games developed for its predecessor. The Game Boy Color was released during the fifth generation of video game consoles and competed with Bandai's Japan-only WonderSwan, SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color, and Sega's North America-only Genesis Nomad.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Library & collector facts
576licensed games
- North America: 576
- Japan: 576
- PAL: 576
Lineage
Release timeline
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- October 21, 1998
- 🇺🇸 North America
- November 18, 1998
- 🇪🇺 Europe / PAL
- November 23, 1998
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- November 27, 1998
Pricing
Launch price (1998)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $79
Launch titles & exclusives
Pokemon Yellow · Tetris DX · Wario Land II · The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX · Game & Watch Gallery 2 · Centipede · Mortal Kombat 4 · NBA In The Zone
None (handheld sold standalone)
Pokemon Gold / Silver / Crystal · The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages & Seasons · Wario Land 3 · Shantae (original 2002 release) · Survival Kids · Dragon Warrior Monsters · Metal Gear Solid (Ghost Babel, EU/JP only as 'Konami GB Collection' aside) · Dragon Warrior III · Lufia: The Legend Returns
Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! (2003, NA) was among the last NA releases
Shantae CIB (~$500–$2000+); Pokemon Crystal CIB (~$200+); Mr. Driller boxed (~$150); Daikatana GBC unreleased prototype highly sought
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- Sharp SM83
- Ram
- 32 KB RAM, 16 KB Video RAM
- Weight
- 138 g
- Dimensions
- 78 × 133.5 × 27.4 mm
- Display Output
- Reflective TFT LCD 160 × 144 px
Hardware revisions
- Original Game Boy Color CGB-001(1998)
reflective (non-backlit) color TFT, ~10–15 hour battery on 2 AAs
⚠ only revision Nintendo shipped — the platform never received a hardware refresh
Launch colorways & special editions
- Pokemon Yellow Special Pikachu Edition (Yellow GBC, JP)
- Tezuka Osamu World Edition (JP)
- various JP store-exclusive colorways
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- soft-mod
- Custom firmware
- N/A; flashcarts: EZ-Flash Junior, Everdrive GB X5/X7
Reception & legacy
Strong — added color to the Game Boy library while remaining backward-compatible; Pokemon Gold/Silver became the system-seller
Mostly free of major controversy; some criticized the lack of a backlight (still relying on ambient light like the original DMG)
Bridged the original Game Boy and GBA eras; Pokemon Gold/Silver remains a high watermark for the franchise; backward compatibility preserved hundreds of mono Game Boy titles for a new generation
References
More from Nintendo
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Game Boy Color in the news
Recent coverage mentioning the Game Boy Color, gathered from 80+ gaming-news sources.
"An Ambitious Technical Showcase" - The Game Boy Color Just Got A New Wolfenstein-Esque FPS
Wolf is out now on itch.io! The Game Boy Color was never meant to be a playground for fans of 3D shooters, but that hasn't stopped people from trying to turn it into one over the past couple of decades The most notable example is Xanth and Bullet Proof Software's 1991 Game Boy port of Faceball...
Unofficial PC Port of Pokemon Gold Released With 3D Voxel Support
Developer bryanthaboi has released a new version of gen1recomp that adds support for Pokemon Gold. This means that we now have an unofficial PC port of this Game Boy Color Pokemon game. Not only that, but it also has 3D voxel support. Right now, gen1recomp has support for four Pokemon games. These...
Random: Modder Turns Fisher-Price Children's Toy Into A Functional Game Boy Color
The chaotic new build is the work of the modder KOUZEX. If you have children or friends with kids, there's a chance you might have seen the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Lil' Gamer before. Designed to look like a baby-ified version of Nintendo's classic Game Boy handheld, it is a sensory toy that...
A New Pinball Game For GBC Is Coming & We've Got A First Hands-On
🤝 Don't want to see ads? Become a premium member for $3 a month and support an independent publication today! Let's be real, the GAME BOY Color had just one great pinball game. We all know exactly what it is without me even mentioning it. There
A mad gaming genius managed to recreate Minecraft on the Game Boy Color and even the original Game Boy — because why not?
Game of Tobi, a YouTuber who has specialized in getting modern games to work on old gaming handhelds like the Game Boy Advance, has released a video detailing his latest project: a playable version of Minecraft on the original Game Boy
This Is Probably The Closest You're Going To Get To Playing A "Real 3D Minecraft On The Game Boy"
Minicraft is available to download now. Minecraft has been ported to a ton of platforms, both officially and unofficially, over the years, but one platform I think most never expected it to come to was the Nintendo Game Boy/Game Boy Color. These systems, after all, weren't designed with 3D graphics...