Super Game Boy
The Super Game Boy is an adaptor cartridge for the Nintendo SNES (also called Super Famicom in Japan). The Super Game Boy allows you to play game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. In 1994 the Super Game Boy sold for under $60.
The Super Game Boy would only run cartridges that are compatible with the original monochrome Game Boy. The unit could map the four shades of grey to various colors on the TV. Later Game Boy games had additional color information and background borders. The adaptor could support up to 256 colors in static screens (i.e the title screen) and 12 colors in the normal game.
It was also possible for Super Game Boy games to make use of the SNES sound hardware for extra effects. For example, Astroids/Missle Commmand, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong all had expanded sound when used with the Super Game Boy.
The link port needed to connect two Game Boys together was not present on the Super Game Boy, although it was added to the Super Game Boy 2, which was sold in Japan and through mail-order in the US. Besides the link port the Super Game Boy 2 also added a green game link LED and a red power LED indicator.
The Super Game Boy was followed by the Transfer Pak for the Nintendo 64, which allowed one to play Game Boy Color Pokémon titles in Pokémon Stadium in a Super Game Boy fashion. No version of the Super Game Boy is capable of running games that are designed for the Game Boy Color, although they will run dual mode cartidges in Game Boy mode. The only official way to run Color Game Boy cartridges on a TV set is using the Game Boy Player on the Nintendo GameCube.
See also
- List of Super Game Boy games - a list of Game Boy games which make use of the enhancements the Super Game Boy has to offer.
External links
- The Super Game Boy Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/sgbfaq.txt)
fr:Super Game Boyja:スーパーゲームボーイ