It went up against all odds and was unstoppable. It was surrounded by color and yet the "Pea Green" wins without breaking a sweat.
 Nintendo slims down the Original and makes it into a Pocket!




I Released in Japan by Nintendo 1996.
Game Boy Pocket Review
       There was an outcry from gamers everywhere and Nintendo listened, sort-of. The cry for color and backlighting seemed to fall on deaf ears. Out came the successor to the Original Game Boy, the Game Boy Pocket. The internal hardware was slimmed, trimmed and shrunk to make an even smaller Game Boy. This is still the same old "Original Game Boy" technology, prehistoric technology that still sold like crazy.


        There were only some minor changes, like the screen and size of the overall system. One noticeable change was that they omitted the battery light that rested beside the viewing screen. That was quickly restored after some outcry. So you will only find that on the first version of the system. It was somewhere at this point that you could have a choice of system colors. There was even some limit editions, with some of them having popular characters on the unit.  Some of those special editions had the Pokemon characters, of course. You could say that this model was only an extension of the lifespan of the Original Game Boy for an extra two years. Nine years is pretty good for a gaming system. Hey, I ran out and got one and so did a lot of other people.
      The Pocket feels more solid in its compact size. The change is good. The old games seem new in the nice new clear screen size. And the introductory price was smaller, $59 USD. My daughter and I linked together and played Pokemon with the Pocket for hours on end. There has been a lot of fun on this one. Sneaky Snakes is another good game for linking.  So many treasured family memories.








Pros:
 The LCD is clearer, bigger, and easier to see.
 Large deep game library, same as Original GB.
 Old School Gameplay.
 Pokemon.
Sleeker looking Gameboy.
 
 Cons:
 Still blurring on screen graphics.
 Need an adapter to link up with the Original.
 Diminished playing time.
 No backlight.


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The Game Boy Pocket took the same games as the Original Game Boy as represented by the Warioland cart in the bottom right hand corner. Four shades of gray among color competitors.


     The game series that help push the Game Boy line into bigger and more phenomenal sales than ever. That game series, as you can see, was Pokemon. This system probably received the biggest push in sells from this game series alone.

In 1997 a Gameboy Pocket was released in Japan that had a backlight and it was called Game Boy Light. It was only available in Japan.
 Games:
     Being that this is the same internal technology as the "Original Game Boy," all of the previous releases of Game Boy games are fully compatible. Instant game library. I think that it was about this time that the Pokemon craze started. Yeah, I got caught up in it too. It has a solid game library of over 400 games that make it an excellent choice for anyone that has that retro gaming urge. The games are still fun, having an enduring quality about them that, to me, stand the test of time and has aged very well. I am still playing the games. Many are very addictive. Many are what we now refer to as "Old School." Really one could say that the games are an extention of the NES fun of the old days that we enjoyed.
     If you was a part of that, all of your old “time wasting buddies” are still here. Anyone can find something within his or her interest on the Game Boy. Shooting, racing, puzzle, arcade, RPG, sports, platformer, you name it. Third party support continued to be very heavy for it. From Tetris to Donkey Kong Land, this little system has it all. It was about this time, as the Original Game Boy was fading and right before the Pocket was introduced, that the Donkey Kong games began hitting the Game Boy library. There are a lot of ports from the NES, so you might even find an old favorite here. Many of the games, though most are simple in graphics, have that addicting quality of game play design.
    The graphics and sounds are still typical of NES 8 bit gaming of that period.  Odd, after seven years, how this was still the reigning king of handhelds. Great game design dominated the primitive 4 shades of gray. But the games did not have to be simple in their graphics, as an example Donkey Kong Land looks great, better than most games on the system. With simple hardware, the focus was game play and the game library shows it. The games are still great fun to play even though they are not up to the present generation standards in graphics and sound.


     There was a camera and printer that came out at this time period for the GB. The B&W camera went into the cart slot. You could take pictures and do some crazy things with them. I have one where I put my head on one of my daughter's stuffed things. You could print the pictures out on the small printer and uniquely they were stickers. The printer used heat to print on chemically treated paper. You could even put your head in a few of the included mini games. This is great fun to play around with and have some laughs. Even though the camera is poor, grainy, and doesn't even come close to being as good as a cheap web cam. It was a hit in our family. You could even merge a couple of pictures and make it look like you're with some movie star. The quality was so poor that even a cardboard standup looked real.

Controls:
      The buttons are the same as on the "Original Game Boy" only smaller. The analog volume control is now on the left side along with the link port. The link port has been redesigned and is smaller in size. In order to link with the "Original Game Boy" you now need an adapter or a new cord to enable both to be linked for any two player games. The power switch no longer locks in your game cart when switched in the on position. The headphone jack still remains at the bottom.
 
 Power:
  Smaller size means smaller and less batteries. The unit uses 2 AAA batteries giving you a 10 to 14 hour play time. The power consumption depends on the game being played. The AC adapter jack has moved to the bottom of the unit. The battery light has been renamed as "power." Light now diminishes as the battery power diminishes.


     Everytime I look at one of these Donkey Kong GB carts it reminds me of that banana flavored taffy that I used to get when I was a kid. This series is impressive and showed that the Game Boy could dish out some serious graphics and gameplay. You was able to have your Donkey Kong fix on the go giving the same experience as you had on the SNES. Its that good.


    Go ahead and try it again. I guarantee that it is still just as addictive as it ever was. For me, Yoshi's Cookie falls into second place.





  I must make mention of a few of the available shooters like, two from the Gradius series, Nemesis & Interstellar Assault. Then there is R-Type, Operation C, or Battle Unit Zeoth. Just honorable mentions.





Bigger and better screen, but it still had the ghosting and blur. And we bought it anyway.
 Screen:
      The "Pea Green" transparent overlay is gone. Instead of the 2.5" screen that was on the "Original Game Boy" we now have a larger 2.6." Even though the size different doesn't seem that much, it is very noticeable. The LCD is much clearer and a lot easier on the eyes. The 4 shades of gray give better contrast, but still gives you a blur or ghosting on screen with any fast action. The analog contrast control has now been moved to the right side. No backlight.


      I must make mention of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. This game is still impressive to me. At the time of its release, it was the largest game cart for the Game Boy, weighting in at 4 megabits. It is one of those Classic must play titles. the graphics and game design stand out on this system.
Final Thoughts: It was the start of different colors for the outward shell here in the US instead of the drab gray. One feels that it is a bit more personal when you can choose a color that you want, or like. I just recently picked up a yellow one as backup. I do prefer the Pocket to the Original, I think because the redesigned improvements make it just so much more enjoyable and nicer to hold and play. If one really wanted to go back and smell the roses, I would recommend the Pocket over the Original. It still makes a good little system to carry with you for that Tetris urge. I still pull mine out, even though you can play the games on the well-lit GBA SP. I just like the feel of original hardware. I still purchase games for the system. And if you grab one up for playing, remember to make sure you are in a well-lit situation. A “big thumbs up” to something great made better!

 


Redesigned by Retro Junkie