Why is GBC underappreciated?

[cartman | 195]

GBC doesn't seem to have made a big impact on the gaming landscape. Not many people know about any platform-defining games on it and when reviewers have made a "top X" or "gems" list it tends to be for something else instead like the GBA. Nobody seems to have picked up any GBC either on their gamehunting trip etc.

It's like one of these weird transitional periods towards something else.

[Sumez | 2,969]

59 minutes ago, cartman said:

GBC doesn't seem to have made a big impact on the gaming landscape. Not many people know about any platform-defining games on it and when reviewers have made a "top X" or "gems" list it tends to be for something else instead like the GBA. Nobody seems to have picked up any GBC either on their gamehunting trip etc.

It's like one of these weird transitional periods towards something else.

I'd say because it didn't even manage to exist for three years before it was replaced entirely by the GBA. I'm not sure I have ever even seen a GBC myself.
The most notable games for the platform even have GBA-exclusive features, so I'm sure most people just played GBC games on that.

In general I'd say the GBC was too little, too late. Everyone were shouting for a color screen version of the Game Boy in the early 90s when all its competitors had it, and even when the GB was new, the monochrome screen felt like a massive restriction for the platform, despite allowing more generous battery life.
When the GBC finally did come in late 1998, consoles were already in the late stage fifth generation, and a modified version of the original GB hardware seemed kinda low effort.

I think it's interesting though, due to how different the release landscape was for the GB school of handhelds in the end of the 90s compared to the threshold of the decade, where it was primarily the dumping ground for low-budget lesser versions of NES games. Releasing a Game Boy game between 1999 and 2001 sure demanded some amount of creativity and embrace of the severely limited hardware, and if it weren't for Pokemon, the GB brand would probably never have been revived in the first place. There's a bunch of really interesting titles on the GBC, but also a ton of shovelware you gotta wonder why exists.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Sumez

[Ankos | 452]

Depending on what you call a GBC game also affects this. Being able to play stuff like Pokemon Gold on a DMG makes it arguable that the game is an original Gameboy game, not a GBC one. I think that if you only count stuff that just works on GBC and not on the DMG the library is a bit on the weak side

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

4 hours ago, cartman said:

It's like one of these weird transitional periods towards something else.

That's exactly what it was.  People even argue to this day about what game was the first one released for the system--was it Pokemon Yellow or something else?  During its lifetime, the GBC frequently offered games that would play on both itself as well as the original GBC (although Nintendo was marketing it as the Game Boy Pocket by that point), leaving confusion for many where GB ended and GBC began.  Then, it was relatively quickly replaced entirely by GBA, less than 2.5 years after it launched.  The only games that most would really consider to be "true" GBC games were those released on the clear/smoke cartridges, and how many of those were truly memorable?  Due to how it shared a ton of its library with its immediate predecessor, as well as its form factor, accessories, etc., most consider GBC to really be more of a "GB-enhanced" than a separate system, and thus it tends to get left out in the cold.

[Sumez | 2,969]

54 minutes ago, Ankos said:

I think that if you only count stuff that just works on GBC and not on the DMG the library is a bit on the weak side

It's not for a lack of trying though. Compared to how short lived the GBC was, it did manage to get quite a few interesting things. MGS Ghost Babel, Zelda Oracle games, G&W Gallery, Dragon Quest 3 remake, Wario Land 3, Mario Golf, Mega Man Xtreme 2. There's some really cool stuff, honestly.

[cartman | 195]

4 hours ago, Sumez said:

I'd say because it didn't even manage to exist for three years before it was replaced entirely by the GBA. I'm not sure I have ever even seen a GBC myself.
The most notable games for the platform even have GBA-exclusive features, so I'm sure most people just played GBC games on that.

In general I'd say the GBC was too little, too late. Everyone were shouting for a color screen version of the Game Boy in the early 90s when all its competitors had it, and even when the GB was new, the monochrome screen felt like a massive restriction for the platform, despite allowing more generous battery life.
When the GBC finally did come in late 1998, consoles were already in the late stage fifth generation, and a modified version of the original GB hardware seemed kinda low effort.

I think it's interesting though, due to how different the release landscape was for the GB school of handhelds in the end of the 90s compared to the threshold of the decade, where it was primarily the dumping ground for low-budget lesser versions of NES games. Releasing a Game Boy game between 1999 and 2001 sure demanded some amount of creativity and embrace of the severely limited hardware, and if it weren't for Pokemon, the GB brand would probably never have been revived in the first place. There's a bunch of really interesting titles on the GBC, but also a ton of shovelware you gotta wonder why exists.

That might've been what sacked it's potential: the fact that it came too late for the stage technology was at. They probably concluded that they're losing out on larger profits by not releasing the GBA.

Judging it on it's own i think the system does have it's merits just like both NES and SNES do even though one performs much better. There is a place for simple games in color - with the GBA the games would already be more advanced on top of that.

 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I think a lot of people just group it with the original Gameboy since it didn't add a ton of extra features beyond color.

[fox | 1,668]

Too many nes ports and technicolorized game boy enhanced titles.  Kind of hard for it to carve out its own identity.

[Gentlegamer | 174]

AKA The Link's Awakening DX Machine

[MegaMan52 | 2,452]

I like the Game Boy Color, but it's my least favorite Game Boy system because of its library. Not that its library is bad, but as others have said it has a lot of ports like Wario Land 2, Link's Awakening DX, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, and Donkey Kong Country.

It also has some games that aren't really ports, but are a little too similar to other games. Like Mega Man Xtreme and Mega Man Xtreme 2. Both are good games and technically aren't ports (Xtreme takes place between X2 and X3, and Xtreme 2 takes place between X3 and X4), but they're so similar to the Mega Man X games on the SNES that they might as well be downgraded ports. Many of the stages in both games have almost identical layouts as the SNES games. They do have some added features, stages, and characters, though, and are still worth playing.

But the GBC does have some great exclusives, like Wario Land 3. Deja Vu 1 & 2, Elevator Action EX, and Wendy: Every Witch Way are pretty good too. EX might even be my favorite Elevator Action game. So while I don't like the Game Boy Color as much as original Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, I still like it a lot.

The GBA, of course, has lots of ports too. I don't like it quite as much as the original Game Boy, but would still rank it above the GBC because of games like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Sonic Advance, Kuru Kuru Kururin, and Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

Edited March 7, 2023 by MegaMan52

[Splain | 2,572]

In the Game Boy modding community, the GBC is possibly the most popular machine to refurbish and pimp out. But that's just the hardware, the general consensus is that the library is weak, with only a few "good" games. On original GB and GBA, there's a lot more well-known titles that make the library strong (according to popular opinion.) Really there's plenty of very solid titles on GBC, they just aren't must-plays for people who don't already like the GBC. Even the Zelda Oracle games aren't regarded very highly, which I don't agree with.

[RH | 4,928]

1 hour ago, fox said:

Too many nes Wii-U ports and technicolorized game boy enhanced Xbox 360/PS3 remastered titles.  Kind of hard for it to carve out its own identity.

I wonder if this will be said about the Switch in 25 years?

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

17 minutes ago, RH said:

I wonder if this will be said about the Switch in 25 years?

I think it will go down as the last system that didn't have The Last of Us on it

[DarkTone | 987]

Love it personally, but some think it was too late. Despite not needing color to beat the game gear or Lynx, a lot of people saw it as a handheld Nes.

[Ankos | 452]

18 minutes ago, DarkTone said:

Love it personally, but some think it was too late. Despite not needing color to beat the game gear or Lynx, a lot of people saw it as a handheld Nes.

There is an NES emulator for GBC. It does not work particularly well (very low speed and compatibility), but it is cool it exists

[Tulpa | 3,525]

Back in the day, the GBC didn't seem like a new console. Everyone I knew saw it as "they added color to the Game Boy" and just carried on. It didn't even look all that different from the later DGBs.

At least the GBA looked different (and even changed within that model), and I think that's a big part of how consumers view new consoles. Gotta change it up to get noticed.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Tulpa

[phart010 | 1,708]

It seems low effort because it was. Nintendo would have went straight to GBA from GB. They specifically made the GBC to kill the Neo Geo Pocket which had recently made a colorized system. It wasnt made for our enjoyment, it was made to keep Neo Geo out of the handheld market

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

To answer the OP, because the killer apps on the system are _____________.

[Aguy | 773]

15 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

To answer the OP, because the killer apps on the system are _____________.

Pokemon Crystal, Zelda Oracles, and Warlocked.

I'm an RPG fan and was 13 when the GBC came out so I love it. Unfortunately my hands can't handle it for more than 20 minutes now.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Aguy

[Brickman | 4,000]

The general public probably thought of it like the Wii U. Why buy it when my kid has a perfectly fine Gameboy that is good enough? Most people just waited and went from Gameboy to GBA and played the GBC games on that.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

24 minutes ago, phart010 said:

It seems low effort because it was. Nintendo would have went straight to GBA from GB. They specifically made the GBC to kill the Neo Geo Pocket which had recently made a colorized system. It wasnt made for our enjoyment, it was made to keep Neo Geo out of the handheld market

The GBC released about a year before the NGPC did, so it's hard to call it a follow up to kill that system when it didn't exist when the GBC came out.  It really came down to Nintendo having brand recognition, backwards compatibility, and a year-long head start that killed the NGPC.  Maybe you're thinking about the original NGP that launched at nearly the same time that the GBC did?

[Sumez | 2,969]

3 hours ago, Splain said:

Even the Zelda Oracle games aren't regarded very highly

This is new to me 

[Renmauzo | 1,203]

The GBC was my intro to owning/playing Game Boy. I'd tried the original when it came out, wasn't impressed, and left it at that. When Pokémon came out, that's when I decided to buy a Teal GBC to play those as I was loving the cartoon, and thought it would be great to play on campus between classes.

A short time later, Oracle of Ages / Seasons and the MMX games would make me feel like buying in was more than worth it, and in the years since, MGS, Survival Kids, Wario 3, and Harvest Moon 3 would only further that sentiment.

I really like the GBC unit itself, and while the dedicated library only had a couple dozen games of note, I feel the same is true of the N64. As an incremental upgrade as opposed to something wholly new with a limited library, I get why it doesn't get much love or attention, but it still holds a special place in my heart as my first Game Boy (with some real - albeit few - bangers). 

[Brickman | 4,000]

41 minutes ago, Renmauzo said:

I really like the GBC unit itself, and while the dedicated library only had a couple dozen games of note, I feel the same is true of the N64.

Oh no you didn't! @OptOut @Jeevan @PuppyWaffles let's get him!

[PuppyWaffles | 1,853]

48 minutes ago, Renmauzo said:

and while the dedicated library only had a couple dozen games of note, I feel the same is true of the N64.

Edited March 7, 2023 by PuppyWaffles