Editing Game Boy Color (section)

== Games ==
{{See also|List of Game Boy Color games|List of Game Boy games|List of cancelled Game Boy Color games}}

The Game Boy Color launched with an extensive game library, thanks to its ability to play original Game Boy titles. At launch, it featured three exclusive games: ''[[Pocket Bomberman]]'', ''[[Tetris DX]]'' and ''[[Wario Land II]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duncan |first=Andrew |date=April 21, 2019 |title=Game Boy Launch Titles |url=https://www.gamegrin.com/articles/game-boy-launch-titles/ |access-date=May 21, 2024 |website=GameGrin |language=en}}</ref> Over time, the system amassed more than 900 titles, in addition to the original Game Boy's catalog of over 1,000 games. While most Game Boy Color titles were exclusive to the platform, about 30% remained compatible with the original system. However, after 1999, the majority of new Game Boy Color releases no longer supported the original Game Boy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Game Boy (original) Games |url=http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/dmg_games.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402190758/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/dmg_games.pdf |archive-date=April 2, 2016 |access-date=April 13, 2023 |publisher=Nintendo of America}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Game Boy Color Games |url=http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/cgb_games.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040610021821/http://www.nintendo.com:80/consumer/downloads/cgb_games.pdf |archive-date=June 10, 2004 |access-date=April 13, 2023 |publisher=Nintendo of America}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 19, 2001 |title=Game List – Released Titles |url=http://www.gameboy.com:80/gamelist.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010119180900/http://www.gameboy.com/gamelist.html |archive-date=January 19, 2001 |access-date=August 20, 2018 |website=GameBoy.com |publisher=Nintendo of America}}</ref>

Nintendo prohibited simple "colorized" re-releases of monochrome Game Boy titles, requiring developers to implement meaningful gameplay enhancements. These additions included new levels, characters, items, or mechanics that leveraged the system's color capabilities. To ensure these enhancements were significant, Nintendo mandated that they be easily recognizable to players familiar with the monochrome version.<ref name="Game Boy Programming Manual" />{{Rp|page=6}} Many of these enhanced versions, often called "Deluxe" or "DX", became some of the Game Boy Color's most popular titles, including ''Tetris DX'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX]]''.

The Game Boy Color's improved display and enhanced processing power also enabled more faithful ports of NES games, in contrast to the heavily modified versions created for the original Game Boy due to its monochrome display limitations. One of the most notable examples is ''[[Super Mario Bros. Deluxe]]'', which showcased the Game Boy Color's ability to deliver an authentic port of the NES classic.<ref name="GSpot">{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Cameron |date=January 28, 2000 |title=Super Mario DX Review |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/super-mario-dx-review/1900-2536190/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118181620/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/super-mario-dx-review/1900-2536190/ |archive-date=January 18, 2024 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=GameSpot}}</ref>

''[[Tetris (Game Boy)|Tetris]]'' for the original Game Boy is the best-selling game compatible with Game Boy Color,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saltzman |first=Marc |date=June 12, 2009 |title='Tetris' by the numbers |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2009/06/68024593/1 |access-date=May 21, 2024 |website=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Takahashi |first=Dean |date=June 1, 2009 |title=After 25 years, Tetris has sold 125 million copies |url=https://venturebeat.com/entrepreneur/after-25-years-tetris-has-sold-125-million-copies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621144138/https://venturebeat.com/entrepreneur/after-25-years-tetris-has-sold-125-million-copies/ |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |access-date=June 21, 2023 |website=[[VentureBeat]]}}</ref> [[Pokémon Gold and Silver|''Pokémon Gold'' and ''Silver'']] are the best-selling games developed primarily for it, and  ''[[Pokémon Crystal]]'' was the best-selling Game Boy Color exclusive title.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 19, 2017 |title='Pokken Tournament' and Pokemon's $1.5 Billion Brand |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gobankingratebuls/pokken-tournament-and-pok_b_9501260.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218180223/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pokken-tournament-and-pok_b_9501260 |archive-date=February 18, 2020 |access-date=April 25, 2017 |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |publisher=[[AOL]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clement |first=Jessica |date=May 2024 |title=All-time best-selling Pokémon games 2024 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1072224/pokemon-unit-sales-worldwide/ |access-date=May 21, 2024 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref>

The last Game Boy Color game ever released is the Japanese exclusive ''[[List of Doraemon video games|Doraemon no Study Boy: Kanji Yomikaki Master]]'', on July 18, 2003. The last game released in North America is ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' on November 15, 2002,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buday |first=John |date=January 9, 2023 |title=The Last Game Boy Color Game Released In North America Was Tied To A Blockbuster Film |url=https://www.svg.com/1160776/the-last-game-boy-color-game-released-in-north-america-was-tied-to-a-blockbuster-film/ |access-date=May 27, 2024 |website=SVG |language=en-US}}</ref> while Europe's was ''[[Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!]]'' released on January 10, 2003.<ref name="Day 2016" />

Beyond the platform's official titles, {{As of|2025|lc=y}}, an active online community continues to create new titles for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color through tools like GB Studio, a free and user-friendly game-building engine that simplifies the process compared to manual coding.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGlynn |first=Anthony |date=May 2, 2021 |title=Why are game-makers creating new Game Boy games in 2021? |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/05/meet-the-developers-making-og-game-boy-games-in-2021/ |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=[[Ars Technica]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Cartridges ===
{{Multiple image
| direction         = horizontal
| total_width       = 300
| image1            = Nintendo-Game-Boy-Cartridge.jpg
| caption1          = Original Game Boy Game Pak
| image2            = Nintendo-Game-Boy-Cartridge-Black.jpg
| caption2          = Color enhanced Game Boy Game Pak
| image3            = Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-Cartridge.jpg
| caption3          = Game Boy Color Game Pak
}}
[[file:GBC keypad palettes.png|thumb|Samples of the color palettes and the key combinations to select them on an original Game Pak]]

Games are stored on cartridges called [[Game Boy Game Pak]]s, using [[read-only memory]] (ROM) chips. Due to the limitations of the 8-bit architecture of the device, the maximum ROM size the processor could access at any time was 32&nbsp;KB. Nintendo overcame this limitation with a ''Memory Bank Controller''&nbsp;(MBC) in the cartridge. This chip sits between the processor and the ROM and can [[Bank switching|switch between banks]] of 32&nbsp;KB ROM. Using this technology, Nintendo created Game Boy Color games up to 8&nbsp;[[megabyte]]s in size. Game Paks can also provide additional functionality to the Game Boy system. Some cartridges include up to 128&nbsp;KB of RAM to increase performance, which can be battery-backed to save progress when the handheld is off, [[real-time clock]] chips can keep track of time even when the device is off, and [[Rumble Pak]] cartridges added vibration feedback to enhance gameplay.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Byers |first=Brendan |title=Exploring the Gameboy Memory Bank Controller |url=https://b13rg.github.io/Gameboy-MBC-Analysis/ |access-date=April 29, 2024 |website=Brendan's Website |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="Game Boy Programming Manual" />{{rp|299}}

The Game Boy Color has backward compatibility with all original Game Boy games. Three main Game Pak cartridge types for the handheld were released:

* Original Game Boy Game Pak (gray case): The classic Game Boy cartridges. The Game Boy Color applies a limited color palette (often dark green) using four to ten colors to enhance games originally intended to be presented in four shades of gray.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Changing the Color Palette on Game Boy Advance Systems |url=https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/gameboyadvance/colorchange.jsp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113001631/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/gameboyadvance/colorchange.jsp |archive-date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=January 4, 2009 |website=Customer Service |publisher=Nintendo}}</ref> The Game Boy Color's "bootstrap" ROM was programmed with default color palettes for more than 90 titles, mainly first-party releases and popular games from other publishers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Martyn |title=The Handheld Gaming Collection |publisher=Future Publishing |year=2023 |edition=1 |location=Bath, UK |pages=83}}</ref> For games without a default, users can choose from 12 different palettes, including one which replicates the original Game Boy's grayscale experience, by pressing down a combination of buttons at startup.
* Color enhanced Game Boy Game Pak (black case): These cartridges can use the full-color capabilities of the console (56 colors simultaneously out of a palette of 32,768) while remaining compatible with the original Game Boy where they are presented in four shades of gray. This compatibility comes at the expense of not being able to utilize the Game Boy Color's increased processing speed and memory.<ref name="Day 2016" />
* Game Boy Color Game Pak (clear case): Designed specifically for the Game Boy Color, these cartridges feature the full-color range (56 colors simultaneously out of a palette of 32,768) and benefit from the increased processing speed and memory of the Game Boy Color.<ref name="Day 2016" /> Because of this reliance on newer hardware, these games are incompatible with the older monochrome Game Boy models.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Game Pak Troubleshooting – All Game Boy Systems |url=http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/gameboy/trouble_game.jsp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928055842/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/gameboy/trouble_game.jsp |archive-date=September 28, 2017 |access-date=September 27, 2017 |publisher=[[Nintendo of America]]}}</ref>