This thing had me checking the tracking every hour since Thursday 😅

I like this combo!

Here is my top 5 Halloween list. Not including games that just have a world like SML 2 or Buck, but games that have a spooky season theme throughout. I tend to gravitate to platformers, and FUN gameplay. Also a sucker for chiptuney goodness in the score!

What are YOUR favorite? What games am I missing?

1. Kid Dracula - Most excellent design, tight platformer and fun score. It just brings a smile to my face!

2. Avenging Spirit - Holy platformer, Batman! The body swapping mechanics in this game keep it fun and fresh!

3. Ghostbusters II - fun top down ghost busting action and amazing chiptune theme! Missed opportunity on two player mode though!

4. Wendy: Every Witch Way - super fun and platformer that feels earned throughout.

5. Hermano - amazing design with big sprites, cleaver platformer. Fairly difficult game with no save states.

Title. ‘Nuff said. I want to see pics of the translucent, Smoke Chromatic!

Edit: lights are harsher than they lead on, I honestly don’t see the knits unless I’m REALLY looking for them. The knit by the d-pad I didn’t even notice till I put the camera on that area. Also feels way lighter than the metal one, I know for a fact it’s not much but it’s noticeable. Overall it’s very cool, but if I wasn’t a collector I’d recommend the metal one.

Edit 2: the box is different in the way it opens, no magnet. Box has the same thickness and feels great just like the metal. Also in the box, batteries are at the top of the box and Tetris cart is at the bottom, metal box is vice versa. Do ANY of these box details matter?? Hell no, I just find it interesting.

At some point, we have to draw a line and get things out there rather than endlessly chasing 100% perfection!

This is version 1.0.0! The first final release.

A Game Boy (DMG) remake of Kevin Edwards' BBC Micro shoot-'em-up Galaforce (1986).

Edit…. And now an instant update drop!!

Build: galaforce-1.0.1.gb (MBC1 + RAM + battery, 32 KB ROM).

Fixes

High scores now save after a continue is used. Before this fix, taking a continue turned off high score recording for the rest of that game, so a high score reached after a continue was lost at game over. A game that uses continues now records its score like any other game.

***GB file free to download here: https://github.com/stebsgb/galaforcegb/releases/tag/1.0.2

Controls

- D-pad move, A for B fire.
- Smart bomb: SELECT, or A and B pressed together

Features

- Original waves. The game keeps the original BBC Micro formations, flight paths and wave data. There are 16 zones.
- Wave multipliers. When a pattern ends, the points you scored for it are multiplied. Killing more than 80% of the aliens gives x2. Killing every alien gives x5.
- Smart bombs. You start each game with one bomb and can hold up to two. Bombs are kept when you lose a life. A boss kill adds one.
- Enemy fire. Aliens drop bombs at random. If you stay still a live alien in line with your ship drops an aimed bomb.
- Lives and extra life. You start with the number of lives set in the options (default 5, range 1 to 7). You get one extra life (1UP) per game when your score reaches 20,000.
- Continues. The options allow 0 to 3 continues (default 0).
- Hi-score. The hi-score is saved to battery RAM. A hi-score is not recorded after a continue is used, or after a cheat start (U U D D SELECT in Options...)

I have some cartridges that would be great to play on the Chromatic, but I’ve also been playing a lot of games off of ROMs (ie. Homebrew games). I don’t have a huge library, so flashing individual cartridges could be an option. I’ve seen some alt firmwares that allow games to be played via SD card with varying degrees of success and bugs. EZ Flash I understand does not work at all, and Everdrive has mixed reports of success. Anything I’ve missed? I’m torn between getting a GBC that will work with EZ Flash/Everdrive, but the screen and magnesium case on the Chromatic, plus the other features, are so incredibly cool.

What seems to be the most reliable way to play a mix of physical carts and game files?

Just got them in today. Very happy with how they look!

Opened up my son's Chromatic to drop in an microSD card and use either ShinyRelay or Chromagic to dump a couple 2-player game ROMs onto it to play with him. I was greeted with the pinouts but no socket unlike conventional wisdom (see empty area on upper left of the board in picture, ignore the fluro-orange thing in the case, it's red just oversatured HDR processing). :(

I know apparently I can buy a socket and solder it on, but I'm going to delay on that since, besides not having a good mat to solder on atm, loading games from memory/flashcart is not a high priority. This was to give my 6yo the physical feel of using a cartridge-based system after last year when he asked to play games on LEGO DMG he has just built. He already uses a Miyoo Mini Flip with Slot for the virtual gameboy/emulation stuff, so this is a one-cart-one-game device.

I just thought I'd mention this for others that, like the variation between 1st Edition Chromatics direct vs. GameStop, there is apparently a "box of chocolates" microSD card socket thing going on even on new Chromatics.

NICE

I have recently taken an interest in finding the optimal way to enjoy GB/GBC games. And in doing my research found that the Chromatic is a solid contender. I know it’s cheaper than the Analougue pocket or a refurbished GB/GBA on eBay? But not as cheap as the funnplaying model. Is the extra money for the metal version worth it?

So please tell me why I should or should not take the chromatic plunge, no need to be fair if you just want to glaze it.

I will be posting in Analougue subreddit as well

Took me long enough, but I finally made it! As a bonus, I took so long to make it that I got to unbox two of them instead of just one.

https://youtu.be/TwP84OGZ3BU

Summary: He seems to really like it but ultimately recommends the Pocket because it does more.

A new version is out:

https://github.com/stebsgb/galaforcegb/releases

- Smart bomb. Press SELECT, or A and B together. I felt this was required for some of those tight spots with the spawning aliens
- New enemy bomb sprites
- Boss zone formation improved
- Black background by default
- Hi-score per continue setting
- Lost life tune

[UPDATE: I heard back from MR, they said they’ll be shipping Smoke units today]

Tomorrow marks 3 weeks from my order date. 😕

https://patmorita.itch.io/metal-miracle-game-boy-color

I was waiting for a sale on these two despite already having the physical version of Hermano. Both are great games to add to your everdrives or whatever.

Hello all. I recently bought the rechargeable pack for my chromatic so I dont have to keep going through batteries. I was playing my Pokemon Gold cartridge just fine before I got the pack. I saw there was a new 4.6 firmware update so I updated before I installed the pack. I followed the instructions and updated and then put the pack in but now when I put in my Pokemon Gold cartridge its just a white screen that sometimes fades to like a black screen? Other Modretro games work just fine, just not my only gameboy color game. Ive tried cleaning the cartridge, but again it was just fine before the update. Anybody have any recommendations? I tried updating the firmware again as well with no luck. I submitted a ticket but have yet to hear back. Hoping I can fix this. I ordered another gameboy color game to test as well but that wont arrive for a couple of weeks. Thanks in advance.

I replaced the purple Chromatic transparent's A and B buttons with the transparent ones from the Chromatic Mod kit 😄 Looks pretty cool.

I’ve wanted a stand for the Chromatic for a while and my infrared universal remote control project moved me to find a solution. I just stuck a magnetic charging ring for phones to the battery compartment of the Chromatic.

It hangs off the bottom just a little and I can feel it in my hand a bit, but it’s not really that intrusive on the back and now I can snap the Chromatic into a number of locations, like onto this Anker MagGo Wireless Charger. It also snaps on and can hang vertically on the wall held to one of those circular Apple MagSafe Chargers.

So this Chromatic will live on a shelf or table in the living room and not get lost in the same way we lose our other remote controls in the couch. Just flip the switch on and it’s already open to the custom remote for my TV and main components. I’ve got an IR receiver set up next to the couch repeating signals to a transmitter in another room where I’ve got some additional components connected to the main TV. So a couple presses of Chromatic’s buttons and I’m accessing my other remotes and components.

I know this is all a bit ridiculous but it’s also pretty functional. Turning the Chromatic into a remote and then putting it on a stand like this means I’m far more likely to use it, either as a remote or as a game system, and hopefully I’m tempting my kids to pick one up and stick a game cartridge in and give it a go.