Gameboy Color games on an original Gameboy

[davidbrit2]

Are there any GBC-only games (translucent cartridge) that do anything interesting if you put them in an original monochrome Gameboy? I know there were some TG-16 CD games that would do weird stuff if you used an older CD system card, Castlevania in particular.

[SparTonberry]

It would be a little surprising, as the design of the GBC-only (clear) carts blocked the power switch on an original Game Boy (but not a Pocket).

Then again, I've heard Robopon is mono compatible but it doesn't look the cart contains the notch to allow the power switch to be pressed on an original GB. :P

[Sysop]

The only thing that springs to mind is the message screen which appears when you try and put Pokémon Crystal into a Game Boy.

[davidbrit2]

All of the ones I've tried in my Pocket just display some kind of static "Gameboy Color only" image. It makes me wonder if any of them do anything interactive, or at least somewhat interesting.

[wingzrow]

You get a special screen with meiling when you try and play metal gear solid on a gameboy.

[theclaw]

Kirby Tilt N Tumble for some reason had a clear cart with notch. Yet was GBC-only.

A few GBC-only games have an SGB border graphic unused:
Wetrix PAL (Japan version supports SGB)
Pokemon Gold/Silver Korean (supports SGB in all other languages)
Pokemon Crystal (leftover from Gold)


It would be a little surprising, as the design of the GBC-only (clear) carts blocked the power switch on an original Game Boy (but not a Pocket).

Then again, I've heard Robopon is mono compatible but it doesn't look the cart contains the notch to allow the power switch to be pressed on an original GB. :P

Apparently it's only visible from the back.

http://www.gameboycarts.com/carts/gameboycarts_robopon_2.jpg

[A Black Falcon]

Each game has its own custom "This game will only work on a Game Boy Color" error message. The graphics of the "GBC only" screen are different for each game, generally; though many just use basic text, some have a picture. I guess it could be moderately interesting to look at the various error messages by using the carts on something like a SGB or GB Pocket that doesn't have that cartridge lock the original GB has.

[jb143]

If there is not "Game Boy Color Only" message, or if you bypass it somehow, then what will likely happen is that the game will still try to play as normal but the graphics will be all screwed up.

The original Game Boy has a "color" pallet that consists of shades of green. If I remember correctly, the Game Boy Color has 16 pallets of 4 colors each. These will still map to an original pallet but obviously display wrong. Some games were made to look good on both and were generally the black cartridges with the notch in them for the switch.

But I suppose you're looking for something along the lines of the programmers putting something special instead of just a "Game Boy Color Only" message.

[TonyTheTiger]

If there is not "Game Boy Color Only" message, or if you bypass it somehow, then what will likely happen is that the game will still try to play as normal but the graphics will be all screwed up.

I dunno. The GBC is actually a better machine than the original GB which makes me think most games would probably just plain not work.

[jb143]

I dunno. The GBC is actually a better machine than the original GB which makes me think most games would probably just plain not work.

It's better in that it's improved upon, but the basic functionality is exactly the same.

I'm going off personal experience with GB/GBC development. It has been a while since I read through the specs though, there may be some cases where it wouldn't work at all but I think for the most part it would just not display correctly.

[TonyTheTiger]

If so then what was the benefit of the GBC exclusive games as opposed to the black carts?

[jb143]

If so then what was the benefit of the GBC exclusive games as opposed to the black carts?

You are locked to a huge constraint if you want to make it look right on the original as well. There is more tile memory on the GBC so you wouldn't be able to utilize that. Again, the original would try to make use of the data, it just wouldn't be able to display it correctly. Also, GBC has a faster processor so the games would run faster on the original, though you could take that into account. I doubt there's anything that could the original to crash but I could be wrong about that. There could be some fancy techniques that some GBC games might be using (like the high color mode or something) that could cause the original GB to actually crash.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

There are four types of GB games:


http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1103089982-00.jpg
Gray DMG - These are the oldest, and intended for the original GB hardware. Everything will run these.
Examples: Super Mario Land, Megaman IV, Metroid II, Tetris, etc.

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/16/165930/2300176-donkeykong_gameboy_usa_cart.jpeg
Gray DMG with SGB logo - These are just like the gray DMG, but also offer special 8-color modes when played on a Super GameBoy, but keep in mind the GameBoy Player for GameCube does not support this.
Examples: Donkey Kong '94, Megaman V, Donkey Kong Land 2, King of Fighters '95, etc.

http://superflyku.com/2012X/games/IMG_4571.jpg
Black GBC - These are early GBC games that offer compatibility with the original GB and GB Pocket (and Light) as well as 8-color modes for Super GameBoy.
Examples: Pokemon Gold & Silver, Zelda Link's Awakening DX, Wario Land 2, Survival Kids, etc.

http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_Game_Boy_Color/Cart/big/Shantae_-_2002_-_Capcom_Co.,_Ltd..jpg
Clear cased GBC - These are ones that fully use the enhanced GBC hardware and are incompatible with all prior GB hardware including the Super GameBoy. No clear cased GBC game will play on older GB hardware whatsoever except to give an error message telling you that you're an idiot for even trying.
Examples: Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel, Pokemon Crystal, Megaman Xtreme 2, Shantae, Zelda Oracle Duo, etc.

[SparTonberry]

The Game Boy Color also had more RAM than the original Game Boy. Obviously any game that tried to use the extra RAM would not work on an original Game Boy.

[davidbrit2]

There are four types of GB games:

Gray DMG - These are the oldest, and intended for the original GB hardware. Everything will run these.
Examples: Super Mario Land, Megaman IV, Metroid II, Tetris, etc.

Gray DMG with SGB logo - These are just like the gray DMG, but also offer special 8-color modes when played on a Super GameBoy, but keep in mind the GameBoy Player for GameCube does not support this.
Examples: Donkey Kong '94, Megaman V, Donkey Kong Land 2, King of Fighters '95, etc.

Black GBC - These are early GBC games that offer compatibility with the original GB and GB Pocket (and Light) as well as 8-color modes for Super GameBoy.
Examples: Pokemon Gold & Silver, Zelda Link's Awakening DX, Wario Land 2, Survival Kids, etc.

Clear cased GBC - These are ones that fully use the enhanced GBC hardware and are incompatible with all prior GB hardware including the Super GameBoy. No clear cased GBC game will play on older GB hardware whatsoever except to give an error message telling you that you're an idiot for even trying.
Examples: Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel, Pokemon Crystal, Megaman Xtreme 2, Shantae, Zelda Oracle Duo, etc.

Yeah, we know all that already. What I want to know is if any GBC-only games have interesting Easter eggs if you put them in a GB Pocket/SGB.

All I've found so far are some amusing images in Yu-Gi-Oh and Monster Rancher Explorer. Nothing super exciting though.

[jb143]

Trying to access memory that isn't there could cause a crash but it also depends on what it's trying to do with it. If it's graphics, then it will more than likely just display garbage.

Here's an example from a game I was working on several years ago. (10 points if you can guess where I borrowed the images for the last 2)

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii12/jeremy_burk/Capture3.jpg
Here the pallets just don't match but it's probably playable. If you were making a game playable on both systems, you would have to pay special attention to the colors are arranged. The black outlines around the characters for example are lighter colored on the GB. I'm also not accessing any of the additional ram so the tiles are all correct...just the wrong colors.


http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii12/jeremy_burk/Capture4.jpg
The same goes for my "select" screen. I'm not matching colors between pallets so the backgrounds behind some objects appear as squares.


http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii12/jeremy_burk/Capture1.jpg
This was part of the Start screen. Same as before, the colors in the pallets don't match so you see squares. This could be taken into account to look correctly on both, it's just a lot more work.


http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii12/jeremy_burk/Capture2.jpg
Here's where things get interesting. In this one, I'm accessing memory that the the original Game Boy doesn't have. The bottom half looks almost OK, but the top appears to be trying to pull from the same tileset instead of what's in the extra ram.


What actually happens would depend completely on the game. Game data is stored on the cartridge in the same way regardless of the system so it would depend on what it does with it in the system ram.

It would pretty easy to program an Easter egg in though but I don't know of any game that has ever done it.

[A Black Falcon]

Interesting pictures there, though of course no released game would allow you to see that kind of thing; games are either dual-mode, or GBC only, you obviously can't see development stuff like that on actual cartridges.


There are four types of GB games:


http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1103089982-00.jpg
Gray DMG - These are the oldest, and intended for the original GB hardware. Everything will run these.
Examples: Super Mario Land, Megaman IV, Metroid II, Tetris, etc.

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/16/165930/2300176-donkeykong_gameboy_usa_cart.jpeg
Gray DMG with SGB logo - These are just like the gray DMG, but also offer special 8-color modes when played on a Super GameBoy, but keep in mind the GameBoy Player for GameCube does not support this.
Examples: Donkey Kong '94, Megaman V, Donkey Kong Land 2, King of Fighters '95, etc.

http://superflyku.com/2012X/games/IMG_4571.jpg
Black GBC - These are early GBC games that offer compatibility with the original GB and GB Pocket (and Light) as well as 8-color modes for Super GameBoy.
Examples: Pokemon Gold & Silver, Zelda Link's Awakening DX, Wario Land 2, Survival Kids, etc.

http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_Game_Boy_Color/Cart/big/Shantae_-_2002_-_Capcom_Co.,_Ltd..jpg
Clear cased GBC - These are ones that fully use the enhanced GBC hardware and are incompatible with all prior GB hardware including the Super GameBoy. No clear cased GBC game will play on older GB hardware whatsoever except to give an error message telling you that you're an idiot for even trying.
Examples: Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel, Pokemon Crystal, Megaman Xtreme 2, Shantae, Zelda Oracle Duo, etc.
There are actually five types of GB/GBC games -- there are also black-cart games with Super Game Boy enhancements. Unfortunately, they do not mark this on the cart, so you have to either have the box (the SGB enhancements are usually listed there; only the US/EU Pokemon games omit the SGB logo, though the support is still there), or look up online/test the games yourself to see which ones have SGB support.

Also, you didn't mention that some early GB games have only the "Game Boy Game Pak" logo in that box, while others, like Tetris there, have a "Game Link" or "Video Link" logo on them. The former is for games which don't support link cable multiplayer; that Game Link, or Video Link for early releases, logo is only on games that support link-cable multiplayer. For SGB-enhanced games, dual-mode games, or color-only, however, you have to look at the box to see if there is link cable support. The four player adapter (it's for the original GB only, there's no GBC 4-player adapter) is only ever listed on the box, not the carts themselves.

[jb143]

Interesting pictures there, though of course no released game would allow you to see that kind of thing; games are either dual-mode, or GBC only, you obviously can't see development stuff like that on actual cartridges.


Yeah, I never got around to adding the GBC only screen...or finishing the game for that matter. Maybe if I ever do I'll add an easter egg for davidbrit2 ;-)

It should be possible to test on actual GBC carts by using a Game Genie but I don't have one for Game Boy.

If anyone else wants to try, the memory address which says which device it's running on is 0143
$80 = is GBC
$00 = GB

By changing the $00 to $80 with a Game Genie, you should be able to trick the program into thinking that the original GB is a GBC.

[Camp]

Lukemorse1 made a video a long time ago that shows a few examples of what happens when you try to run GBC carts in a DMG:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBekkn9QYFo

[joshnickerson]

Here's an example from a game I was working on several years ago. (10 points if you can guess where I borrowed the images for the last 2)


Careful, Bill Watterson's gonna come out of hiding and go after you now.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

What I want to know is if any GBC-only games have interesting Easter eggs if you put them in a GB Pocket/SGB.

Oh, you mean the error messages themselves. Here's a gallery I've prepared just for you and this thread. Of a bunch of them.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/ad328ee955aa7bb032cd7c6fbc3399a1/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo1_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/2b5e5bacaacc0dab85eef50ee2c055c1/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo2_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/4f2244b528b147fe816d0bd2874285af/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo3_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/d38bf13bb7af3d8c550274b5666567f2/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo4_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/b93b010c8a9c76f01d2b07d758639bd6/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo5_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/e391b91426cc8bba270aa1d9e7b04f0c/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo6_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/d73d96a1820ee003c0bc5aed4fe9a8e4/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo7_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/162f4036b4956c39e024ce3d9b1465fd/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo8_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/d40a7544396c550e95a5c7504f66ffb1/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo9_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/cfcd3935fdfb5b854922b50010795be5/tumblr_mjmmpdJ0qE1rc7qlzo10_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/4ec0b31df066f751cc8b43e406f43039/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo1_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/da3abddc064573685a20cddc88e2389c/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo2_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/a4cabd58e069d98db09c44bd323d56f8/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo3_250.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/f134c3f70225fc79073246758e171280/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo4_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/e31bf5989e15be15d196980fc6f196cd/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo5_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/16550b84fb3d6736ab0d3dc309ad0296/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo6_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/c1a6b453a8dd5b354ded776dca3cef9e/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo7_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/f858fbc943251173ad0150fdb83aef23/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo8_250.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/63d187d6db0e2496277d3a34919d6a67/tumblr_mjmmt3wC9V1rc7qlzo9_250.png

[SparTonberry]

Yeah, I never got around to adding the GBC only screen...or finishing the game for that matter. Maybe if I ever do I'll add an easter egg for davidbrit2 ;-)

It should be possible to test on actual GBC carts by using a Game Genie but I don't have one for Game Boy.

If anyone else wants to try, the memory address which says which device it's running on is 0143
$80 = is GBC
$00 = GB

By changing the $00 to $80 with a Game Genie, you should be able to trick the program into thinking that the original GB is a GBC.

I thought the GB model you are playing on was set by the value in A as the boot ROM transfers control to the cart ROM (presumably GB games would store this to RAM later to access it when it needs to check the console used).
Also, 0143 is a ROM address, so I'm fairly sure it can only specify which hardware it was MEANT to run on, not what it is CURRENTLY running on.
Maybe an Action Replay/GameShark (RAM patcher) could be used if you knew which address was used.

[TonyTheTiger]

Yeah, I never got around to adding the GBC only screen...or finishing the game for that matter. Maybe if I ever do I'll add an easter egg for davidbrit2 ;-)

It should be possible to test on actual GBC carts by using a Game Genie but I don't have one for Game Boy.

If anyone else wants to try, the memory address which says which device it's running on is 0143
$80 = is GBC
$00 = GB

By changing the $00 to $80 with a Game Genie, you should be able to trick the program into thinking that the original GB is a GBC.

801-43F-E6A seems to be the Game Genie code for that but it doesn't work. Still getting the warning screen.

[Leo_A]

There are some variants as far as shape goes for those four general categories. The GBC saw several rumble cartridges for instance although they follow the clear plastic rule.


Yeah, we know all that already.

Someone earlier in the thread was puzzled why their clear cartridge was GBC only. So I suppose it didn't hurt to go over the different types.


There are four types of GB games:

Black GBC - These are early GBC games that offer compatibility with the original GB and GB Pocket (and Light) as well as 8-color modes for Super GameBoy.
Examples: Pokemon Gold & Silver, Zelda Link's Awakening DX, Wario Land 2, Survival Kids, etc.

All black GB/GBC cross compatible cartridges had Super Game Boy modes?

[A Black Falcon]

All black GB/GBC cross compatible cartridges had Super Game Boy modes?

No. As I said in my last post, some black cart games do have SGB support, and others don't. The only way to know which ones do and which don't is either to look at the back of the game boxes, where the SGB logo appears (except in the US/EU Pokemon game releases, where the logo was removed, but the SGB support IS there in all of them anyway), or otherwise to just test the games yourself or look them up in a list online of games that support the SGB. The carts don't say whether they have SGB support or not.

Basically, Japanese dual-mode games are much more likely to have SGB support than Western ones, because the SGB was more successful there than here. Some Western games do have it, but a lot of the ones without SGB support are Western. Examples of some dual-mode GB/C games which have SGB support include Dragon Warrior 1 + 2, both Dragon Warrior Monsters games, Power Quest, Tetris DX, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Survival Kids, Quest for Camelot, Bomberman Pocket, Pokemon Red/Blue/Pinball/Gold/Silver, and others. Many more, particularly from Western third parties, don't, including some that you might think might like R-Type DX, and lots of stuff like Roadsters, Oddworld Adventures 2, etc etc etc.


There are some variants as far as shape goes for those four general categories. The GBC saw several rumble cartridges for instance although they follow the clear plastic rule.
The black/clear plastic rule, you mean. Remember that there are a few black-cart rumble games like Pokemon Pinball. Oddly enough there's only one rumble cart shape, so all rumble carts, black or clear, have the notch for the original GB... so they're the easiest color-only carts to test (and see the error messages of) on an original GB.

[JSoup]

Yeah, we know all that already. What I want to know is if any GBC-only games have interesting Easter eggs if you put them in a GB Pocket/SGB.

All I've found so far are some amusing images in Yu-Gi-Oh and Monster Rancher Explorer. Nothing super exciting though.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages each have shops that are only accessible when the game is put in a GBA and one collectible ring per just for playing the games on a GBA.


The black/clear plastic rule, you mean. Remember that there are a few black-cart rumble games like Pokemon Pinball. Oddly enough there's only one rumble cart shape, so all rumble carts, black or clear, have the notch for the original GB... so they're the easiest color-only carts to test (and see the error messages of) on an original GB.

There is also one nonstandard black plastic game that has an infrared port (complete with it's own watch battery case, because the damn thing required an extra battery to run the game) built into it. There are only two games that have it, to the best of my knowledge: Robopon: Sun Version and Robopon: Moon Version (which was never released in the USA).

[theclaw]

There also were also black carts released before the GBC. Japanese Pocket Bomberman was 1997.

[SparTonberry]

There are only two games that have it, to the best of my knowledge: Robopon: Sun Version and Robopon: Moon Version (which was never released in the USA).

Japan got three versions of Robopon (while the US got just one). The last was Star version.

[jb143]

801-43F-E6A seems to be the Game Genie code for that but it doesn't work. Still getting the warning screen.

I'd have to look into it a bit more, like I said earlier, it's been several years since I really messed with this stuff. I do remember that there's a register you poll to get what device it's running on, and you use that do decide if you're going to show a "GBC Only" screen, have special shops, or whatever. Another option would be to hack the rom to bypass the startup screen and try it on an emulator.

- Edit
OK, so I found some more tech docs and it looks like SparTonberry was right, 0x143 is programmed on the ROM cart itself to identify what the system it's mean for is. $80 is GBC and $00 is GB.

As for where info is stored that the game uses to tell which system it's running on, that's going to be a bit trickier. That data is stored in the A-register on startup(I'm not sure a game genie can "alter" this and you wouldn't want to anyways).
0x01 = Original GB or Super GB
0xFF = Pocket GB or Super GB 2
0x11 = Color GB
(Also, bit 0 of the B-Register determines if it's a GBC or GBA)

The first thing a program is likely to do is store the value in the A-register in some RAM location, at which point a Game Genie can easily be used...the problem is that each and every game will likely store it in a different location so you would have to look at a ROM dump of the game to figure it out. Not impossible but a bit harder than I was hoping for.

[A Black Falcon]

There also were also black carts released before the GBC. Japanese Pocket Bomberman was 1997.

No, the Japanese Pocket Bomberman release is a grey-cart, original GB version of the game.


The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages each have shops that are only accessible when the game is put in a GBA and one collectible ring per just for playing the games on a GBA.
Does that Advanced ring actually do anything?


There is also one nonstandard black plastic game that has an infrared port (complete with it's own watch battery case, because the damn thing required an extra battery to run the game) built into it. There are only two games that have it, to the best of my knowledge: Robopon: Sun Version and Robopon: Moon Version (which was never released in the USA).
Huh, Robopon has a custom cart, with battery compartment? How odd, I never knew that... why does the game need a battery compartment in the cart? And why does it have an IR sensor in the cart? Just make it a GBC game and use the GBC's built in IR sensor...

[TonyTheTiger]

I've been messing around with it using both Mega Man Xtreme 2 and Crystalis as a test. I've been tracing the games under both Game Boy Color mode and regular Game Boy and then comparing the instruction logs to see where they divert. I used a hex editor to make whatever changes were necessary to force the games back on track and successfully bypassed the warning screen. Problem is that it doesn't help much since both games just lock up. At some point they just stop cold with no indication in the logs for why.

If anyone wants to check it out, Crystalis is easy. Change 28 to 20 at memory address 0158, or Game Genie code 201-58F-4CA.

[JSoup]

Does that Advanced ring actually do anything?

Last I checked, I don't think so. At least, the kids over at GFAQs hadn't found that it did anything yet, but that was when the GBA was new. Something might have been discovered by now.

Edit: Seems that it does nothing and I was wrong about the availability. The special shop and ring are only in Ages.


Huh, Robopon has a custom cart, with battery compartment? How odd, I never knew that... why does the game need a battery compartment in the cart? And why does it have an IR sensor in the cart? Just make it a GBC game and use the GBC's built in IR sensor...

The infrared port sensor on the GBC can only talk to other GBC units, that something the programmers couldn't get around. So, for the specific thing they were trying to do, they had to build in a second one (I remain that this was the entire reason for Robopon existing. Wanna show off some new tech and make sure everyone sees it? Make a Pokemon ripoff.). The extra piece of equipment required an extra battery to work. Both the game and the manual warns that a loss of power in that battery will erase the save file and make the game unplayable.

The function of the unit was so that the game could pick up random signals from most types of TV remotes. No, seriously. Chests are opened by aiming the game at a TV remote (or pretty much any type of remote, I've read that the Wiimote sort of works). The game decodes the signal from the remote and that determines what's in the chest. It's also how some Robopon evolve and a way to jumble stats.

Cartridge for the interested:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/jelly_soup/timthumb_zps885aef36.png

[theclaw]

No, the Japanese Pocket Bomberman release is a grey-cart, original GB version of the game.

Sort of. It's only internally a grey-cart original GB version.

The exterior is in fact black.

http://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.jp/@0_gold/gamepara/product/0500502005060.jpg

[SparTonberry]

Strange. Maybe it was one of those special color games before black was given a specific purpose.
I mean like how the Donkey Kong Land games are yellow and the original Tamagotchi is white (well, at least the Japanese version. I got a cart in a lot of random games.)

[TonyTheTiger]

Moderate success with Dragon Warrior III.

Game Genie: 281-54F-6EA

The game technically works. Music, sound effects, the controls seem to function, etc. Of course this is what you're looking at the whole time:

http://oi45.tinypic.com/10qza8o.jpg
http://oi50.tinypic.com/2mi3jv7.jpg
http://oi48.tinypic.com/28vwpok.jpg
http://oi45.tinypic.com/35n5xlj.jpg

Not exactly what I'd call playable. But it's progress.

[jb143]

That's pretty cool that you were able to get it to work. That's more or less what I was expecting to happen. Does the music sound off pitch at all? or does the game seem to run any slower that you can tell?

I'd be interested in seeing what happens on games that use high color modes. I'm pretty sure the Tomb Raider games do for the cut scenes.

[A Black Falcon]

Sort of. It's only internally a grey-cart original GB version.

The exterior is in fact black.

http://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.jp/@0_gold/gamepara/product/0500502005060.jpg

How weird... it's not a GB/GBC game in Japan though, it's B&W only (with Super Game Boy support of course).


Strange. Maybe it was one of those special color games before black was given a specific purpose.
I mean like how the Donkey Kong Land games are yellow and the original Tamagotchi is white (well, at least the Japanese version. I got a cart in a lot of random games.)
I'm pretty sure that the US release of Tamagochi is on a standard grey cart... but yeah, it has to be something like that, for the Japanese version of Pocket Bomberman. The game released in Japan a while before the GBC, so they wouldn't have had that black = GBC rule yet, I assume.

[theclaw]

Yeah I believe the US Pocket Bomberman is GBC only.

PAL for sure had both the B&W release, and GBC.

[Gameguy]

Yeah I believe the US Pocket Bomberman is GBC only.
It's a GBC game but it's not GBC only.


http://i50.tinypic.com/317bdk6.jpg


It came out in Japan in 1997 for the original Gameboy and was later a launch title for the GBC in North America for 1998. I suspect the Japanese cart is black because it supports the GB KISS peripheral. There aren't many GB KISS compatible games but the ones I know about are all in black cases, like Nectaris GB and Robopon. Robopon also had built-in speaker and battery-powered clock which is why the cart is bigger than the other GB KISS games. These games all had built-in IR ports, Robopon is the only GB KISS game to be released in North America.

[TonyTheTiger]

That's pretty cool that you were able to get it to work. That's more or less what I was expecting to happen. Does the music sound off pitch at all? or does the game seem to run any slower that you can tell?

I'd be interested in seeing what happens on games that use high color modes. I'm pretty sure the Tomb Raider games do for the cut scenes.

Some games definitely slow down. When they do it usually means a crash is imminent. Some games work better than others but none of them seem fully stable. I tried Donkey Kong Country and all I could get was the Rare logo music which then trailed off into a sound that I can only describe as Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff. Then it completely locks up and I can't force it past that point.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is probably the biggest success so far. It does eventually slow to a crawl and brings forth the inevitable crash but I can actually play the game for a bit and it's pretty interesting, mostly because the stage is messed up in ways that aren't just visual. Everyone knows how stage 1-1 starts off, right? Well, apparently under these conditions jumping straight up at the outset causes Mario to bang against a block that by all accounts shouldn't be there. And I'm pretty sure I'm getting killed by things that aren't the first goomba.

Game Genie: 281-52F-6EA
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http://i47.tinypic.com/289vs6x.jpghttp://i50.tinypic.com/vyuohh.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/312k750.jpghttp://i45.tinypic.com/141779x.jpg

Mega Man Xtreme 2 works perfectly fine up until you actually try to play. The second "Ready" appears the game crashes. Oddly enough, this Game Genie code doubles as an unlock for the hidden modes which are perfectly accessible although suffer from the aforementioned "crashes like a bitch" issue.

Game Genie: 201-57F-4CA
http://i49.tinypic.com/33pexdu.jpghttp://i50.tinypic.com/2zyvo0j.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/f8gsk.jpghttp://i47.tinypic.com/1fuzjt.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/33xvul0.jpghttp://i45.tinypic.com/2z4ebdy.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/rkqzh0.jpghttp://i45.tinypic.com/2sblgl3.jpg

Tomb Raider, same deal. It's suuuuper garbled and the music sounds like Satan's chalkboard but it works right up until the game actually starts. Then nada.

Game Genie: 900-8EF-083 + 000-8FF-91E
http://i47.tinypic.com/47py.jpghttp://i48.tinypic.com/34doll4.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/1kpyb.jpghttp://i46.tinypic.com/a0ffjs.jpg
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I tried a few other games like Street Fighter Alpha and Zelda: Oracle of Ages. Nothing especially unique. Alpha reliably crashes at the character select screen and Zelda has slowdown + crashing issues. I'm noticing enough of a pattern to feel confident that I can get any game in the library to actually start. But it's a crapshoot how far in you can go before it inevitably kicks it. If it doesn't crash right away it probably will by the time you navigate the menus and actually start playing. I've tried to dig deeper to ward off the more consistent crashes but to no avail. If I find what looks like the problem and fix it the same issue just pops up again. Maybe they're happening because I'm not making the codes right. I'm open to suggestions. But it doesn't really matter much. Even without the crashes not a single game was remotely playable. Some fare better than others but it's the difference between a fucking mess and a complete fucking mess.

I think this is the extent to which "playing a Game Boy Color game on a regular Game Boy" will take us. Any greater attempt to make these games work is venturing into outright romhacking territory, which isn't in the scope of the question at hand and certainly not something that we're going to do with a Game Genie. If there are any games that people are dying to see or think might fare better I'll give them a shot.

[wiggyx]

Fun stuff going on in here...

[jb143]

The infrared port sensor on the GBC can only talk to other GBC units, that something the programmers couldn't get around. So, for the specific thing they were trying to do, they had to build in a second one

It's just sending bytes to a port. The hardware doesn't know or care what's on the other end. I'm pretty sure I've seen homebrew projects for using the GBC as a universal remote, interfacing it to IR keyboards, and the like... all done in code.



The function of the unit was so that the game could pick up random signals from most types of TV remotes. No, seriously. Chests are opened by aiming the game at a TV remote (or pretty much any type of remote, I've read that the Wiimote sort of works). The game decodes the signal from the remote and that determines what's in the chest. It's also how some Robopon evolve and a way to jumble stats.


A Wii remote wouldn't work for that. It's an IR camera, not an emitter. There are IR-LED's are on the "sensor" bar though, which is probably why it sort of works...If you are in range of the Sensor bar, then you might occasionally pick it up while trying to point a Wii Remote into the GBC.

[SparTonberry]

I'm pretty sure I've seen homebrew projects for using the GBC as a universal remote,

I thought one licensed game had that as a bonus feature.
Mission: Impossible, maybe?
(next most likely suspect would be the Austin Powers "games")

[BlastProcessing402]

Last I checked, I don't think so. At least, the kids over at GFAQs hadn't found that it did anything yet, but that was when the GBA was new. Something might have been discovered by now.

Edit: Seems that it does nothing and I was wrong about the availability. The special shop and ring are only in Ages.

No, you were right the first time, there's one in each Oracle.


The Advance Shop, also referred to the 100 Rupee Advance Shop, is a location found in both Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. It is a unique store because of the fact that it can only be accessed when the game is played on a Game Boy Advance,[1] hence the name of the shop. The shop is adjacent to the Lynna Village Shooting Gallery in Oracle of Ages,[2] and adjacent to the Know-It-All Birds' Hut in Oracle of Seasons.[3]

http://zeldawiki.org/Advance_Shop

[TonyTheTiger]

I started messing around with some black carts to see what would happen if I did the reverse. Instead of tricking the game into thinking an original Game Boy was a Game Boy Color I tricked them into thinking the Game Boy Color was an original Game Boy. The results were not what I expected. I had assumed that they would display on the Game Boy Color like an ordinary gray cart does. But that's not what happened. What I got was a weird color scheme that was, depending on the game, either a somewhat odd looking tint that was otherwise perfectly playable or a nearly blank solid white screen that was not.

Furthermore, when the code remained active while playing on an original Game Boy, there were different results. The previous codes for the clear carts (meant to trick the game into thinking an original Game Boy is a GBC) prevent the game from even starting when used on a Game Boy Color. But with the black carts the codes either don't have any effect or muck things up rather than outright crash when used on an original Game Boy.

Mega Man Xtreme works pretty well. The few colors that remain actually change when the screen changes, either to a cutscene or a menu. So Mega Man X may start blue but could change to red at some point.

Game Genie: 209-A0F-4CA
http://i45.tinypic.com/73nmzl.png

Zelda and Dragon Warrior are just plain unplayable. It's like nearly every color defaults to white. I'm not sure what would happen if I tried to enter the GBC exclusive dungeon in Zelda under these conditions. I was hoping for something more fun than this. :puppydogeyes:

Game Genie: 281-52F-6EA
http://i45.tinypic.com/z2vqo.png

Game Genie: 281-54F-6EA
http://i49.tinypic.com/xofm1k.png

[okame]

Many more, particularly from Western third parties, don't, including some that you might think might like R-Type DX, and lots of stuff like Roadsters, Oddworld Adventures 2, etc etc etc.

I've been playing Roadsters on my SupaBoy & Super Gameboy combo for about a week now. I got some free Gameboy multicarts a few days ago, and one of them, the Hits 2000 Color 12 in 1, with a Pokemon Yellow ROM that I'm trying to get working, has Roadsters. http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/okame333/media/GB%20Multicarts_zpsy1wlxofc.jpg.html I checked online, and Wikipedia has it listed as a Super Gameboy game. It's a DMG cart, according to a PAL version I saw online. It's listed as Roadsters '98, but mine is just called Roasters. I just put it in my Gameboy Light, which is just a back lit Gameboy Pocket. That's the closest I can come to a DMG right now. Here's proof. I don't know what's wrong with your copy, but my BOOTLEG copy works. http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/okame333/media/Pokwmon%20Yellow%20Multicart_zpsm1zvlg3y.jpg.html Oddworld Adventures 2 works on everything, from my Gameboy Light to my GBA SP, where it almost looks like a GBA game. I've been playing that one for over a month, and it's fine on my Super Gameboy. I found a You Tube video, in French, with R-Type DX, running on a Super Gameboy. None of your examples have any problems working on any Gameboy. If you tested them yourself, there's something wrong with either your Gameboy DMG or your carts. If not, check your facts. Not trying to be mean, just to educate. No insults, no trolling, just facts.

[Jorpho]

This is interesting stuff.

There were a couple of GBC games that had completely different code for executing on a GB, weren't there? The most famous example I'm reasonably certain of is Blaster Master: Enemy Below.

[A Black Falcon]

I've been playing Roadsters on my SupaBoy & Super Gameboy combo for about a week now. I got some free Gameboy multicarts a few days ago, and one of them, the Hits 2000 Color 12 in 1, with a Pokemon Yellow ROM that I'm trying to get working, has Roadsters. http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/okame333/media/GB%20Multicarts_zpsy1wlxofc.jpg.html I checked online, and Wikipedia has it listed as a Super Gameboy game. It's a DMG cart, according to a PAL version I saw online. It's listed as Roadsters '98, but mine is just called Roasters. I just put it in my Gameboy Light, which is just a back lit Gameboy Pocket. That's the closest I can come to a DMG right now. Here's proof. I don't know what's wrong with your copy, but my BOOTLEG copy works. http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/okame333/media/Pokwmon%20Yellow%20Multicart_zpsm1zvlg3y.jpg.html Oddworld Adventures 2 works on everything, from my Gameboy Light to my GBA SP, where it almost looks like a GBA game. I've been playing that one for over a month, and it's fine on my Super Gameboy. I found a You Tube video, in French, with R-Type DX, running on a Super Gameboy. None of your examples have any problems working on any Gameboy. If you tested them yourself, there's something wrong with either your Gameboy DMG or your carts. If not, check your facts. Not trying to be mean, just to educate. No insults, no trolling, just facts.

My post was about whether GB/GBC dual-mode games have Super Game Boy enhancements or not when played in a SGB, not about whether the games work in an original Game Boy. Sorry if you misunderstood.

[davidbrit2]

This is interesting stuff.

There were a couple of GBC games that had completely different code for executing on a GB, weren't there? The most famous example I'm reasonably certain of is Blaster Master: Enemy Below.

That sounds interesing. Like the game engine is totally different? I'll have to pull out the SGB and see what it does.

[okame]

My post was about whether GB/GBC dual-mode games have Super Game Boy enhancements or not when played in a SGB, not about whether the games work in an original Game Boy. Sorry if you misunderstood.

S'aright. I was half asleep when I wrote that. Lack of sleep makes me a bit off. I've got more DMG games than Color, especially with the multicarts, so I'm good either way. I wish there was another way besides the RetroN 5 and Game Cube Gameboy Player to play Color games on as TV. A Gamecube is hard to find in the wild for me, and the eBay prices are over my current budget. I don't like the RetroN 5, on the sole basis that it doesn't play bootleg carts, and right now, that's half my Gameboy collection!

[Jorpho]

That sounds interesing. Like the game engine is totally different? I'll have to pull out the SGB and see what it does.Turns out TCRF has more info.
https://tcrf.net/Blaster_Master:_Enemy_Below

In brief, apparently the original Japanese version was GBC-only, but actually works fine if you enter a Game Genie code; the US and EP versions work as-is. It's not clear from the article if there's actual different code being executed.

[MetalFRO]

This is fascinating information. I knew the GBC had improved hardware over the original Game Boy, in terms of a faster processor and updated sound hardware, but it's interesting to see the results of trying to force a GBC-only game to work in a GB-like environment. A technological square peg, round hole scenario, if you will. If the underlying code in a GBC-only game didn't truly make use of the power that the GBC had to offer, and was GBC-only simply due to the fact that the original GB models had been phased out, it stands to reason that, aside from some optimization issues, slowdown, or minor sound/graphical corruption, theoretically, it could work. The question is, are there any GBC-only games that were in development as a GB/GBC title and the GB side of it was shelved in favor of GBC-only because the GBC was far enough along in its life cycle that the developer felt they could scrap the GB side of things. Were that the case, it would seem logical that such a game could still run on a GB, perhaps with some issues. Does anyone know of any titles that fit that description?