Super Game Boy

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    A Super Game Boy accessory.

    An add-on to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This was basically an SNES-cartridge-shaped object that plugged into the SNES, but was a little bigger so as to accommodate a slot for a Game Boy game.[1] Allowed gamers to play GB games on the SNES.

    Was released in 1994 in Japan, USA, and UK.

    This device had the following features:

    • Made Game Boy games playable on a TV set, obviously.
    • Added two-player modes to some GB fighting games, adding support for the SNES's second controller and using only one game cartridge.
    • Added extra sounds and game modes to some GB games to make use of the SNES's hardware.
    • Allowed players to change the color palette of a GB game.
      • Some games, such as the first generation of Pokémon games, had built-in color data for the SGB to use. Game Boy Color and Advance can't read it, unfortunately.
      • For ones that didn't, you can still apply a four-color palette of your choice. (There are a bunch of pre-gen palettes to choose from, and you can also make your own.)
    • Made space for a border around the main display, and gave players a choice of borders. There was a default set of borders, most notably the default border looking like a gigantic TV-size Game Boy itself, as well as one drawable border on which you could draw whatever you wished.
    • Allowed players to draw all over the screen if they wished.

    The device was sold for about 60 USD, and was packaged with a Players Guide—not so much a guide to a particular game (though it did have detailed information about some more popular Game Boy titles) as it was a bunch of suggested uses for the Super Game Boy and an extended manual for it. For example, it suggested palettes for use in various games, including some alternate palettes to get the effect of some scenery. It also talked about potentially amusing or challenging uses, such as palettes that cause Mario in Super Mario Land to be completely invisible, or the idea of drawing a big star on top of Mario.

    "This star doesn't make Mario invincible. Quite the opposite, actually."

    A Super Game Boy 2 was later released in 1998, but only in Japan. It had a different set of default borders, but mostly retained the same features. Some games such as Tetris DX had custom borders that were compatible only with SGB 2. It also fixed the clock speed; the original Super Game Boy ran slightly faster due to using a divided SNES clock, while the SGB 2 uses the same exact clock speed as the Game Boy. But most notably, the SGB 2 included Game Link cable functionality—if you couldn't trade Pokémon on the original SGB, now you can...though you'd need a second TV set, SNES, and SGB 2 sitting right next to you. Okay, or another Game Boy.

    Unfortunately, the SGB and SGB 2 can't play Game Boy Color only games.

    Later, Nintendo would release a Nintendo GameCube device called the "Game Boy Player", which would allow one to play any Game Boy game (up to Game Boy Advance) on the television, similarly to this. However, the Super Game Boy enhancements are unavailable on the Player.

    A retrospective titled "Fuck the Super Game Boy" goes over how games used its enhancements-or, more often, didn't use them well or at all, resulting in the SGB being a missed opportunity. Don't let the title fool you; it's actually a good read.

    List of games that had Super Game Boy functionality

    Note: This is not just all the games that worked on the SGB. (That would be all GB games, ever, plus some more.) This is ones that had special features for the SGB, such as custom borders, custom colors, etc..


    This list is incomplete; please help by adding appropriate entries to it.[3]

    1. ↑ The SNES hardware wasn't powerful enough for software Emulation, so the SGB had to include actual Game Boy circuitry inside.
    2. ↑ except the Japanese version of DKC 3, since it was GBC exclusive.
    3. ↑ The Other Wiki has a more complete list
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