I have decided before I write my game boy advance review I better go rewrite by gameboy color review and make it a little bit better.

Now you’re wondering why I called it the first successful color system. While there has been several color portable systems, like the game gear, none of them have been able to last for more then a year against Nintendo’s game boy. Now Nintendo do that people wanted a color portable system, and in 1998 it released the game boy color.

The Screen.
The screen on the GBC is a little smaller then it’s previous incarnation the game boy pocket. However the pictures on the screen appear a lot clear on the GBC, with little to no blur. The screen is non-backlit so you won’t be playing in the dark, but you won’t be going broke buying batteries either. To help with the lighting Nintendo made a super reflective screen for it. While you’ll need good light to play it in, you won’t need a extremely bright light either.

The only bad thing about the screen is that it is super fragile compared to the rest of the game, and can get scratch very easily.

Do I need to sell my old games.
Both the GBC and the GBA will let you play old gameboy games on there system. Before you start a game you can select your color by pressing the directional pad and the A and B buttons. The colors aren’t customizable like they are on the super gameboy, but they work. Oh yeah speaking of the super game boy games, the GBC won’t do the super gameboy color enhancements. While you still get to play these games, you won’t always get the great color platelets like you did with the super gameboy.

Battery life.
While it depends on what games you play the battery life on the gameboy color is 10 hours for 2 double A batteries, that’s not bad, compared to the game gears 3 and half hours for 6 double A’s. However if you really want to conserve battery life I would suggest getting a gameboy pocket adapter. Just stick it in the slot at the bottom of the game boy and plug the other side in to a wall outlet, and your good to go for hours of fun without wasting your batteries. If you need to go someplace just unplug the thing from the bottom of the gameboy and just take off.

Durability.
With the exception of the screen the gameboy color is extremely durable. It can be kick, thrown, step on, drop on cement, and still come out kicking. Nintendo knows how to make their gameboy systems, durable so you shouldn’t have to much problem with them breaking in half.

What games would I recommend.
The good news about the game boy color is there are hundreds of games to pick from, the bad news this is the platform a lot of lazy game designers like to release bad games for to make a quick buck. However there a lot of great gameboy games out their here are a few I highly recommend.

Pokemon gold and silver
While I will also recommend the red,blue, and yellow versions of this great game, if you only have enough money to buy one of them I would suggest buying a gold and silver version. In the game you have up to 250 of the little guys to catch and train. On top of that there is a clock that keeps time and regulates things in the game. Can it get any better yeah you can battle the monsters you train against a friends monsters. You can even trade Pokemon and items, this is without a doubt the best games you can own on GBC

Zelda Oracle series
There are two legend of Zelda oracle games, Season and Ages both of them rock and I suggest getting both of them. In the games you explore either Holodrum or Labrnya looking for the one of the two oracles, who can set things right. There are 8 dungeons in each game, and each one of them requires a lot of thought to get thorough. After you are done with one game you can use a password you get, and start a new linked game with the other. If you’re a Zelda fan you can’t miss these two games.

Zelda link’s awaking DX.
Another Zelda game for the gameboy color. This is a rehash of the original Link’s awaking for the old gameboy, but now it comes in full color. They also included an exclusive color dungeon and many other special features to this already great game. Explore the mysterious islands of Kholint while battling monsters, and finding musical instruments, which will get Link off the island. However things aren’t has simple has they appear Kholint has a very troubling secret to it.

Super Mario Bros DX.
Everybody who has played an NES has probably play super Mario bros. at one point or another. Now Nintendo brings the great game down to the game boy. They also manage to pack in the Japanese version of Super Mario bros. 2 into this little gamepack.

These are 6 gameboy games I never get tired of playing, and are a must check out if your planing on getting a color or an advance.

Do I recommend the color.
Yes and No, I do my recommendation whether or not I liked the product or not. While the GBC is great, but with the new advance out and only 20 dollars more. You’d probably be better off spending a little bit more money on the advance then you would the color, however for those of you who still have gameboy colors don’t throw them away when you get the advance. The color has a few things the advance doesn’t have and I’ll explain them all in my next review.


Recommended: Yes