Bubblegum Chromatic
Retro gaming is bigger than ever, and as old hardware has started to break down, modern recreations of (or direct modifications to) original systems have become increasingly popular.
The market for these future-ized consoles is absolutely alive and kicking, with the likes of, say, a discs-first machine like the Polymega, or Analogue’s line of high-end FPGA cartridge devices like the Super Nt and Mega Sg, and even software emulation-based offerings like the RetroPie and Hyperkin’s rather affordable—yet somewhat middling—RetroN boxes.
What to do with all those beautiful, tiny Game Boy titles in your dusty collection, though? Well, we’ve already got the expensive and top-tier Analogue Pocket to contend with, which I’m going to be reviewing very soon, actually. But are there any worthy competitors? It seems there is now. Sort of.
Spearheaded by annoyingly smart and productive Oculus VR creator Palmer Luckey, throwback company ModRetro is bringing out the very vaporwave Chromatic, an allegedly faithful yet upgraded portable ode to both the pioneering Game Boy and its slightly less green-screened successor, the Game Boy Color.
Like the Analogue Pocket, the Chromatic will use FPGA hardware emulation, which means a (possible) complete compatibility with all GB and GBC cartridges in those respective libraries. Trust me, that’s a lot of games. Probably close to 2,000 in total.
And yes, this little retro rascal plays legal, physical cartridge games only, no dirty ROMS. Although I’m sure that particular limitation will be cracked in no time, just like it was with the Analogue Pocket. I’m talking about morally sound, God-fearing cartridge back-ups of real cartridges you own, of course. Nothing you’d find sailing the high seas. No sir.
Also of note is the Chromatic’s purported 1:1 backlit 160×144 LCD panel that has an allegedly ‘identical pixel structure’ to the late-’90s Game Boy Color handheld. The screen is supposedly identical in structure, layout and size, too. Even the color temperature “perfectly reproduces the strange colors that came out of a Game Boy Color display all those decades ago” so says Palmer in the product’s promotional trailer.
Rounding out the package are a scratch-resistant sapphire screen overlay, a magnesium alloy shell, PBT buttons, and interestingly enough, a USB video out so gamers can share their crowning Game Boy achievements to social media, and maybe with Grandma, too? She loves to see you do well with your vidja gamez and your Sega PlayBoxes. She’s so proud.
Palmer seems to be positioning this device as less of a super modernized way to play old portable games, and more as a restored homage to the authentic Nintendo handheld experience, albeit spruced up with some much-needed quality-of-life improvements.
It’s because of this chosen heirloom tribute approach that we clearly see the Chromatic’s glaring omission: lack of Game Boy Advance compatibility, which its competitor, the Analogue Pocket, proudly touts. The Pocket will set you back $219, while the new Chromatic comes in at $199. So it is slightly cheaper, but $20 more can get you access to an entire additional library of Game Boy games.
First-edition Chromatics are set for a Christmas 2024 release, and you can pre-order the system in several different tubular colors on ModRetro’s website today. The box even comes packed with a special version of Tetris. It’ll be interesting to see how this stacks up against the obvious ruler of the modern handheld roost, and I already respect the attention to pure recreation that the ModRetro team has given this Game Boy Color reanimation.
Will it be enough to sway retro traditionalists away from Analogue’s popular Pocket? We’ll see come December.