Gameboy Color Cartridge Collection

The Gameboy Color launched in 1998 in a wide range of shell colors: clear (transparent), red, blue, yellow, green, black, purple, and many limited editions. Unlike previous Game Boys, the GBC was only available in translucent shells. The console doubled the original Game Boy's processing power and was the first Game Boy with a color screen.

GBC cartridges use CR2025 batteries for saves — these are now 20+ years old and most need replacement. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal have a real-time clock that also depends on the save battery; when it dies, time-based events stop working. The GBC screen has no backlight, making it difficult to play in low light. Battery death causes total save loss (not gradual corruption).

The Gameboy Color is region-free — any GBC cartridge works on any GBC console worldwide. The GBC is also backward compatible with all original Game Boy games, adding one of 12 preset color palettes to monochrome titles. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal cartridges have an IR window on the top for the Mystery Gift and Time Capsule features — low-quality copies often omit this.