Game Boy Color

"Hey, The Gameboy Has Color! Only Four, But They Still Count!"

Gameboy Color can barely be considered a seperate system. At best, it serves as one of the few ''update'' systems ever released, although it wasn't an ''update'' system on the level of the Sega CD, Nintendo 64 DD, or 32X. The Gameboy Color functioned as a seperate entity from the Gameboy or Gameboy Pocket, and even featured a large library of original titles, but it could never shake the monkey of Gameboy Advance off of its back.

The Gameboy Color was released to hold off consumers and developers until the releasal of Gameboy Advance, which Nintendo planned to heavily promote as the next step in the evolution of handhelds. To this date, they have succeeded wildly with Gameboy Advance, and likewise, Gameboy Color filled the void very nicely between the original and Advance.

The most important feature of Gameboy Color is not the color itself; it's the two significant hardware developments made with it. They are the ability to be backwards compatible, and the better usage of power saving options.

Backwards compatible is a must when trying to foist a new system on consumers. As it's been seen with the Gameboy Advance and the Playstation 2, backwards compatibilty (the ability to play games from a previous version of a system) it's infinitely valuable. It immediately establishes an immense library of games for the system. Even if people are reluctant to buy the system based on future games, the promise of always being able to play their favorite classics will lure them in. Gameboy Color was the system that tested the waters on this theory, and in turn proved that it was an outstanding idea.

Secondly, Gameboy Color featured better power methods than previous versions of the Gameboy, despite the fact that is was a much more powerful system. The number of batteries required went down from four to two, and they lasted roughly twice as long. More play time in the car means more happy customers for Nintendo.

The color was an important development, no doubt. It opened the door for development on the Game Boy. An influx of developers contributed; Gameboy versions of NFL Blitz, Goldeneye, and other new games were released, and older Gameboy and eight bit Nintendo games were re-released for a new generation. The library of games for the Gameboy Color is indeed impressive.

If it was released as Nintendo's next generation handheld console, then I could justify to myself the giving of a ten to the Gameboy Color. However, since it was mainly a minor bridge, I must downgrade the score to a nine. It's not really worth a purchase at present time; the Gameboy Advance is also backwards compatible, so I'd suggest that instead. However, with the proliferation of Gameboy Advances, the Gameboy Color might become a collector's item; therefore, it might be worth the investment to purchase it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/01, Updated 09/25/01