Chromatic review: The best new way to play Game Boy games

digitaltrends.com:

Chromatic MSRP $199.00 Score Details Pros

• Excellent build quality
• Backlit screen
• Extremely faithful to Game Boy
• Plays exclusive games

• Expensive
• Lacks features of similarly priced retro handhelds

We’ve seen plenty of gaming handhelds that are meant to be the new portable vessel through which you play your Game Boy cartridges, but none have attempted to replicate the look and feel of the Game Boy as much as ModRetro’s Chromatic.

This device is squarely aimed at those nostalgic for Nintendo’s iconic 1990s gaming handhelds, which helped define mobile gaming for the entire industry. The Game Boy Advance was my first handheld, but I always enjoyed using it to play games for the original Game Boy or Game Boy Color, such as the first two generations of Pokémon and Paperboy. The Game Boy app is the Nintendo Switch Online bonus I use the most; I find myself particularly drawn to the more arcade-centric puzzle games like Tetris or Alleyway. Looking back, the Game Boy might have the greatest game catalog of any handheld system, so there’s reason to still want to play those games today.

While Nintendo Switch Online is handy for that, its catalog of games is at Nintendo’s whim. Nintendo is also cracking down on players who emulate its games, which creates a market for handhelds like the Chromatic that can play original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges. ModRetro’s Chromatic succeeds at that role with flying colors, all while being able to play original game cartridges of its own, even if it does trade some of the broader functionality of similar handhelds, like the Analogue Pocket.

• Green Day’s ‘demastered’ Dookie is coming to Game Boy and more ’90s toys
• This new Analogue Pocket looks just like my actual Game Boy Color
• Chantey is a new pirate metal rhythm game — and it’s launching on Game Boy and Chromatic

Just like Game Boy

The Chromatic is built to replicate a classic Game Boy’s look and form factor. It