Lost Classics: Super Game Boy (SNES)

Okay, so this isn’t so much a game as it is a peripheral which for a time at least, changed the way we played Game Boy games. Back in the mid 90s, the Nintendo Game Boy was tearing up the handheld competition, even though it had a monochrome black-and-greenish screen. Of course, everyone wondered what it would be like if the system were in color. That answer would come in 1998, but this little device for Super Nintendo could help gamers get halfway. Plug it into the top of the SNES, then stick a game cart in the slot on the top, and you could play your Game Boy games in 4-color goodness. You could even adjust the color palette, and it would generate a code which you could share with your friends or enter to instantly recall your palette. I created a palette for Castlevania II: Blemont’s Revenge that turned the crystal castle level into a night time skylight paradise. You can even design the border around the screen as well. After the release of the Super Game Boy, several games were produced that made use of Super Game Boy enhancements when played on the system. These enhancements include special borders, SNES effects, two-player modes using SNES controllers, and the Game Boy version of Space Invaders even unlocked the full SNES version (sans 2-player mode) when used with the Super Game Boy. Of course, the popularity of the unit saw an instant drop when the Game Boy Color was released. At the time however, the Super Game Boy did a good job of breathing new life into your old Game Boy games.