Gaming Bits: Game Boy Color, A handheld blinded in nostalgia or a gemof our childhoods? (56k Warning)

This Gaming Bits Segment is brought to you by the A. Yoshi Patreon...

They say a lot of people are too tied to nostalgia, what I mean by that a lot of the stuff we like as kids aren't as good as adults, sure there's exceptions, but think about it Beast Wars > G1 Transformers, A lot of post 1987 TMNT Cartoons > The 1987 Original, 2011 Thundercats >1985 Thundercats, 2002 He-Man > 1983 He-Man, Future Power Rangers Seasons > MMPR, and and the most controversial one, Sailor Moon Crystal > Sailor Moon Classic. The Game Boy was the portable NES, it was in Black and Spinach Green, but It lived a good long life. The Game Boy Color didn't nearly live as long of a life, mainly due to the Game Boy Advance, But was it any good? Kind of...






In the mid 90s games were getting bigger, and even portable games were getting bigger, the Game Boy needed something a little more to survive for the next decade, so Nintendo was working on Project Atlantis (which would turn into the GBA), Nintendo need something a bit smaller to keep the Game Boy line relevant for bit longer. So Nintendo released the GBC... That's all the history, It relies o much on the Game Boy's rich history to keep it interesting...

The Game Boy Color (released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 18 of that same year in America, and the next few days in Europe and Australia) had the same basic specs as the original (WHICH WERE 2 FACE BUTTONS, A D-PAD, A START BUTTON, A SELECT BUTTON, A 8-BIT 4.19 MHz PROCESSOR BY SHARP, 8KB S-RAM, 8KB VIDEO RAM, 256KB ROM, 2 PULSE Wave GENERATORS, 160x144 PIXEL RESOLUTION, AROUND 59.7 FRAMES PER SECOND, AND 15-30 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) but improved, 4.338-8.338 MHz 8 Bit CPU, 32,768 colors (with up to 56 or 2,500 being displayable at one time) 40 sprites on screen at at time (with them being as big as) either 8x8 or 8x16 Pixels, 512 Tiles on Screen, 2 SQUARE wave generators, 8MB ROM, 32KB RAM, 16KB VRAM, and an infrared connector. It was slimmer, and had a better refresh rate.










It had a lot of the same peripherals as the Gameboy (Link Cables, Lights, etc.) but one peripheral stood out, and it was only released in Japan...

The Mobile Adapter GB Connected to a cell phone, and connected to the internet (To send and read emails & Text messages, play against other players, etc), This was years before cell phones took off in America, so there's a reason it wasn't released in America (even though at one point it was planned to), and it wasn't because Nintendo. It could also connect with the GBA, and by the time cell phones caught on in the US, all interest was dead.












What about games?

Yeah... This is where the GBC Dwindles a bit (other than games from the original GB), most of them were color versions of Game Boy games, Kiddie games, and that's pretty much it, so here's some games that stood out...

Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the perfections of Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugomori's baby. With better combat, more vibrant Pokemon, and the ability to play as a girl.

Legend of Zelda, Oracle of Ages/Seasons. Great for Zelda fans who want either more action, or more puzzle solving...

Super Mario Bros Deluxe, a modern spin on the classic Super Mario Bros. complete with the proper edition of Super Mario: The Lost Levels.

Metal Gear Solid. The Metal Gear Experience on the go, a decade before Portable Ops...

Shantae, The rarity of the console, and a personal fave of mine. It had so much color, good animation and graphics, and a babe of a hero. Sadly this game's going to cost an arm and a leg, so just by the 3DS Virtual console version.



HOW CAN I EXPERIENCE IT FOR MYSELF?

As always you could start a collection for it (which while you can get the console no real problem, nowadays most of the good games have risen in price, which is to be expected out of consoles like this), or get an emulator (which there's plenty of options, but look up visualboyadvance-m, even then nothing can replace play the actual system). I admit I mostly played Pokemon on this thing, but as an adult, this hasn't aged well. I still like it, but it's not my favorite console of the era. We'll be getting to this Christmas...



BUT THE NEXT GAMING BITS IS...

^The most successful console of it's time...^

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