GB Color games with extra GBA features

[alexkidd401]

I need this Wendy: Every Witch Way game pronto. Boy does it look dope. Thanks for the info.

[Betagam7]

I need this Wendy: Every Witch Way game pronto. Boy does it look dope. Thanks for the info.

I'm saving it for my Halloween session because I hear it is very short but yes, it is one of those games you expect to be terrible because of the license, yet the developer took time to do something great with.

[Tanooki]

Terrible is relative. I never bought Shantae at retail but found it about 5 years back at a flea market for $5. I gave it a try as I remembered it and couldn't take more than two hours of it. Something about the gameplay style did not sit well with me particularly in the dungeons giving a general feeling of being lost or something. I was surprised to find out how much I could sell it for though.

Wendy maybe good, it may just be good because expectations are very low.

[MyNameIsVince]

Shantae, another WayForward game, added a new shop to the game if played on a GBA. Both of the Zelda "Oracle" games did the same thing.

Beat me to it. The Zelda games added the Advance Shop. I don't remember all of the items save for one item called the Advance Ring that did nothing at all. Oh well.

How did this work exactly?

Was it just a case that if you plugged your game into the GBA the shops/items appeared or did it require you to actually play the whole file on a GBA?

I really don't like playing the games on GBA as I don't like the way the screen looks, the way the cart sticks out or the washed out display from my front lit SP. I intend to get the Oracle games for my GB Boy but would rather play them on that system while still being able to 100% them if possible with the use of an SP.

If you would rather play the Oracle games on a Game Boy Color with no light and a muddy screen than on a GBA SP with light, you're insane.

I got a GBA SP model AGS#101 and I will never use anything else for Game Boy Color games. Ever. Any problem that you had with playing the game will be alleviated by the fact that you can actually SEE THE GAME YOU'RE PLAYING and well too.

[Betagam7]

I really don't like playing the games on GBA as I don't like the way the screen looks, the way the cart sticks out or the washed out display from my front lit SP. I intend to get the Oracle games for my GB Boy but would rather play them on that system while still being able to 100% them if possible with the use of an SP.

If you would rather play the Oracle games on a Game Boy Color with no light and a muddy screen than on a GBA SP with light, you're insane.

I got a GBA SP model AGS#101 and I will never use anything else for Game Boy Color games. Ever. Any problem that you had with playing the game will be alleviated by the fact that you can actually SEE THE GAME YOU'RE PLAYING and well too.

If you read my post more carefully then you will see that I did not mention wanting to play the games on a Game Boy Color system.

I talked about wanting to play them on my GB Boy, which is beautifully backlit Game Boy Color clone with the shape and aesthetic of an original GBC console: a far superior experience to playing on my frontlit GBA SP where colour washout a real issue.

However, to take your point up, I don't necessarily think there is anything "insane" about preferring to play games on the systems they were designed for. Contrary to what you have written, the GBC's screen is neither invisible or "muddy".

[Tanooki]

They're clearly not muddy, they're damn crisp, it's just that light grabbing TFT it has somewhat sucks so it is a bit dark without a direct light source. Sadly Nintendo used that same junky cost cutting tech on the original GBA and it made the GBC seem bright as it's like the more colors involved the more dark it got. I'm sure your GB Boy is just fine.

Personally I'm still fence sitting on a 101 style screen mod to an original GBA. You get the comfort, the quality, the great bright super sharp screen, and it uses normal batteries which isn't an OEM part.

[Betagam7]

They're clearly not muddy, they're damn crisp, it's just that light grabbing TFT it has somewhat sucks so it is a bit dark without a direct light source. Sadly Nintendo used that same junky cost cutting tech on the original GBA and it made the GBC seem bright as it's like the more colors involved the more dark it got. I'm sure your GB Boy is just fine.

Yes, I think the simpler design of most GB/GBC graphics also helps make them easier to see on a non lit unit than GBA titles.

The only GBC game I find hard to see is Donkey Kong Country and it's due to the use of complicated background and foreground graphics using only a limited colour palette. To be perfectly honest, it can be hard to see enemies coming even on a backlit screen with this game because the colours blend together too much.

The main advantage of the GB Boy is (aside from displaying colours more brightly and arguably beautifully) it can be played in a dark or low lit room. I've never found it particularly troubling to play my GBC games on an original GBC though. It's really not that difficult to find a place that has a light source behind you. I've done this for years prior to getting the GB Boy despite an SP being an alternative option.

Personally I'm still fence sitting on a 101 style screen mod to an original GBA. You get the comfort, the quality, the great bright super sharp screen, and it uses normal batteries which isn't an OEM part.

Rose Coloured Gaming posted something on facebook the other day saying that screens for the backlit GBA have now dried up and are becoming almost impossible to find. It's looking like less and less GBA mods will be available in future so now might be the time to act.

[Tanooki]

All the respect to wiggy (rose colored gaming) but that's just not true. There's aftermarket screens, harvested from dead 101s too, and afterburner(or the like) kits out there. You can often find for $100~ without waiting for like some $80 deal on ebay for a 101(or like) modded GBA system and they're up there all the time. I think they said that as a marketing slant since they charge like $150-200 for their modded GBAs depending on the work that goes into it. It's smart to scare people into your hands especially when your quality work causes the price to be a lot higher.

I've been on the fence for awhile with aftermarket or harvesting a screen and getting a GBA but I find buying the parts to do it along with a system would set me back around $80 when all is said and done so I really don't feel the pain in the ass (for me, I rarely solder) work isn't worth the $20 savings. I just haven't prioritized it.

[Betagam7]

All the respect to wiggy (rose colored gaming) but that's just not true.

It seem an odd thing to announce when you have guys like the dude who sells the GB Boys talking about actively wanting to go into production with Kong Feng of backlit GBA clones...although I guess that, as with the GB Boy, he may be looking at using slightly different ratio screens.

[Tanooki]

Well they'd know best what knockoffs would sell for the most money out and the least going into it or it wouldn't be so successful.