A great system, even by today's standards

Introduction
Nintendo has the formula for handheld video games pretty much figured out. They realized, from their overwhelming success in the 80's, that the majority of their market don't care about the number of bits, processor speed, memory, polygon count, or resolution. In fact, if you were to ask an average Gameboy owner how many bits their Gameboy uses or how fast its processor is, they wouldn't have a clue. This would explain why, in 1998, many years after the supposed death of 8 bit consoles, and at a time when even 16 bit systems were considered obsolete in light of the 32 and 64 bit consoles of the day, the 8-bit processor based Gameboy Color enjoyed great success. You don't need a lot of processing power to make good games on a 2.6" square screen, and the Gameboy went on to become a pillar of modern pop culture.

Designing success
Designing a successful handheld video game console requires a number of compromises, starting with the price. Everything revolves around the price the market is willing to bear. This means that using exotic batteries (as used in cell phones) was out of the question; the whole thing had to run off of common AA batteries. This means no backlight and using an 8 bit processor with lower power requirements. A successful handheld video game console has to be very durable, and at this the Gameboy Color makes the grade. Drop it, toss it, sit on it while it's in your back pocket, it continues to work. A very important part of the success formula is a large library of games; some people love sports games, while others hate them and prefer RPG's. Yet others prefer puzzles, while children enjoy their character-themed games. A large videogame library is critical in capturing a market with ever-varying and sophisticated tastes, so Nintendo made the Gameboy Color backwards compatible with the original Gameboy. This also allowed the original Gameboy owners to upgrade without needing to replace their entire library of games. Yes, Nintendo knows what's important to keep their existing and new customers happy. You take care of your customers, and they'll take care of you.

What makes it tick
I'm sure you're probably interested in what makes this thing tick. It sports a Z80 processor as the original one does, but this one runs at twice the speed of the original Gameboy (8.4 Mhz), and has three times the memory (32k). This was necessary to support the colour display, as well as allowing for more sophisticated games. An IR link port was added to the top (for multi-player gaming), the entire unit has been shrunken from the original, and it retains the original 8 directional game pad, an A and B button, as well as a start and select button. 13 hours of gameplay can be expected from a standard set of AA batteries. The great 4 channel stereo sound of the original remained unchanged, except for the fact that it isn't as loud. What really impressed me about this Gameboy is its display.

The display
Many people have complained about the lack of a backlight. However, after playing with my Gameboy Colour extensively, I have to say it's not as bad as you'd think. There is a sweet spot; looking from the side or top, the screen does indeed look dark. Hold the Gameboy Color naturally in front of you where you view the screen at a 45 degree angle, and the colours jump off the screen in most lighting conditions. I've even been able to see the screen perfectly by the light of a 15 watt bedside lamp. The image is sharp, the animations are smooth without the trailing effect found on earlier Gameboy screens. While the resolution remained the same as earlier Gameboys at 160x144, 56 colours could be shown on-screen at one time from a pallette of 32,768.

Games
With the Gameboy Color, one has access to a very large library of games. Cartridges for the Gameboy can be identified by their colour. With the exception of the Pokemon series and Donkeykong Country, the original games are putty grey and, while not having any colour inherent to them, the Gameboy Color will display their shades of grey in different colours, depending on which combination of buttons and directional pad direction you hold during power-up. This makes the classics such as Tetris that much more enjoyable. Next, there are black cartridges, which are playable in the classic Gameboy, but take good advantage of the colour of the Gameboy Colour. Lastly, there are the Gameboy Color-only games, which cannot be played on the original Gameboy because it doesn't have the notch in the top corner, preventing the power from being turned on. These are easily identified as they're housed in a clear smoked plastic case and have a raised bump on their back.

Where and why to buy
Although not made anymore, the Gameboy Color is still widely available second-hand on e-bay, flea markets, yard sales, hock shops, and other such stores. The library of games is sufficiently broad to cater to the tastes of everyone. If you want to "Test the waters" of the handheld video game market, you can get a Gameboy Color and a few games for very little cash outlay, then when you're ready to move up, there's the Gameboy Advance and Advance SP that will play those same games. Likewise, if you're on a really tight budget, this is the unit to get; your dollar will go a long way in getting the games that you like. Perhaps you want something that's not as apt to get stolen, and if it does, you won't be out much. In a rough environment, it will hold up and if it does break, again, it's cheap to replace. I could go on and on...but this handheld unit really is for everyone, for a wide variety of reasons.

Conclusion
The Gameboy Color today represents exceptional value for your portable handheld videogame playing dollar, considering the low purchase price, the exceptionally large libarary of games, its durability, and its modest battery requirements. If you're put off by the lack of a backlight and want something more modern while still having access to this large library of games, then consider the Gameboy Advance SP.