Game Boy vs Game Boy Color
The Game Boy and the Game Boy Color are two Nintendo handhelds nine years apart. Here is what changed from monochrome to colour — the screen, the speed, the memory — and why the Color plays the old library too.
Updated:
| Game Boy | Game Boy Color | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Nintendo | Nintendo |
| Released (Japan) | April 21, 1989 | October 21, 1998 |
| Display | Reflective monochrome LCD, 4 shades of grey-green, no backlight | Reflective colour TFT LCD, up to 56 colours on screen |
| CPU | Sharp LR35902, 8-bit @ 4.19 MHz | Sharp SM83, dual-speed up to 8.39 MHz |
| Work RAM | 8 KB | 32 KB |
| Video RAM | 8 KB | 16 KB |
| Plays original Game Boy games | — | Yes — the entire Game Boy library |
| Region | Region-free | Region-free |
Nine years, monochrome to colour
The Game Boy and the Game Boy Color are two Nintendo handhelds nearly a decade apart. The Game Boy launched in Japan on April 21, 1989 with a monochrome screen. The Game Boy Color followed on October 21, 1998, adding colour while keeping the same pocket format.
What colour brought with it
The Game Boy Color kept the entire original Game Boy library alive — it is backward compatible, so old cartridges still play. It also doubled the processor speed (a dual-speed mode up to 8.39 MHz) and carried four times the memory: 32 KB of work RAM and 16 KB of video RAM, against the original’s 8 KB and 8 KB.
For many original Game Boy titles, the Game Boy Color could even apply a colour palette, giving old monochrome games a tint they never had on the 1989 hardware.
The screen
The original Game Boy uses a reflective monochrome LCD with four shades of grey-green and no backlight — the reason it needed good light to read but sipped battery. The Game Boy Color swaps in a reflective colour TFT screen showing up to 56 colours at once.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a Game Boy Color play original Game Boy games?
- Yes. The Game Boy Color is backward compatible and plays the entire original Game Boy library. For many titles it can even add a colour palette to a game that was originally monochrome.
- What is the difference between the Game Boy and Game Boy Color?
- The Game Boy (1989) has a 4-shade monochrome screen and an 8-bit Sharp CPU at 4.19 MHz. The Game Boy Color (1998) adds a colour screen (up to 56 colours), a dual-speed CPU up to 8.39 MHz, four times the memory, and backward compatibility with the original library.
- Can the original Game Boy play Game Boy Color games?
- Cartridges made exclusively for the Game Boy Color will not run on the original Game Boy. Games designed to support both systems will run on the original Game Boy in monochrome.
- Are the Game Boy and Game Boy Color region-free?
- Yes. Both run on the same hardware family and are region-free, so games are not locked to a territory.