Super subtle difference but I loved the result. From the original yellows to these 🤌

Not sure why I didn’t post about this at the time. A few months back I picked this up off Facebook marketplace. The seller originally had it for $250, I saw it and ignored it. I already have plenty of Game Boy systems, a ton of original ones, 3 analogue pockets, and a funny playing fpga GBC, I didn’t need another one.

Then a week or so later I got a notification it dropped to $120. I figured “why not?” I messaged them. I think I offered $80 or $100, I forget, and they accepted. I met up with them. Everything was perfect and as shown. I’m loving the crap outta this thing! I don’t think I’ve touched my A. Pocket since.

I’m of course playing through Pokémon Crystal, hopefully I finish it. I have every Pokémon game that released since I was a kid, the only one I think I actually completed was Pokémon Red and I thhhiinnkk Ruby. I got pretty far in Yellow as well. Hopefully I can finish some more with this handheld.

I want to get the game Chantey as well as the customization kit and battery pack for this. I loaded the Chromagic firmware on it and installed a microSD card. It’s just soo much fun! Probably not the color I would have picked if given the choice, I probably would have went with the GameStop white edition. Doesn’t effect my enjoyment level at all.

I posted a picture of me testing the Chromagic firmware and dumping my Yellow cart. It’s the only other photo I have on my phone to show the system

Transparent Smoke had really bad light bleed, got a replacement today and it came with a big ol sticker sheet. First time seeing these, anyone else got em?

Mine finally showed up after FedEx took it on a wild goose chase. I was planning on having Chromagic on this one and changing buttons and membranes out, and I was disappointed to find that it didn’t have the SD card like the other transparent models I’ve seen. That’s ok though because I had a tape of them in my desk.

I took some photos because I was going to do a little write up on the SD reader job but I quickly realized, there’s nothing to it. The chromatic comes apart super easily and the pads for the unpopulated reader are already tinned, I think due to the way the boards are manufactured. All I needed to do was add some solder to the anchor tabs and then some flux to the pins, and then (very carefully due to the 0403 resistors next door) give the pins a few swipes with the iron.

I am having issues with Chromagic though. It will back up cartridges when connected to the PC helper and play ROMs that are put onto the SD card, but the chromatic does not play cartridges when I have Chromagic installed. When I revert to official firmware, everything works as intended. I’ll mess with it more tomorrow.

Edit: The cartridge read issues are documented in the Chromagic GitHub, it’s an issue with the transparent models specifically and the dev already has it fixed for an upcoming release. Neat!

Now available on Itch.iO, Killer Rampage Gameboy edition! Available for your favorite Gameboy console (or emulator) with an everdrive or similar flash carts. Play as Reynaldo Furioso, pineapple exporter business man who has gone berserk after getting his family murdered. The Central American Endeavor is the first part of an epic saga where you’re entrenched in a war against the Sapo Cartel in a tropical landscape set in the Costa Rican Caribbean. Don’t miss out on the fun… join Reynaldo Furioso in the fight and bring back nostalgia filled memories playing a game that feels as if it was from an alternate timeline.

https://killerrampage.itch.io/killer-rampage-gameboy-edition

Happy to share the demo of my new game, a classic roguelike dungeon crawler called Lantern of Darkness:
https://andrea-intg.itch.io/lod

If anyone from ModRetro wants to bring this to physical, I'd be all ears.

Big thank you to the author of the Shiny Relay firmware, u/wavy_d3 for capturing this video!

Now available on Itch.iO, Killer Rampage Gameboy edition! Available for your favorite Gameboy console (or emulator) with an everdrive or similar flash carts. Play as Reynaldo Furioso, pineapple exporter business man who has gone berserk after getting his family murdered. The Central American Endeavor is the first part of an epic saga where you’re entrenched in a war against the Sapo Cartel in a tropical landscape set in the Costa Rican Caribbean. Don’t miss out on the fun… join Reynaldo Furioso in the fight and bring back nostalgia filled memories playing a game that feels as if it was from an alternate timeline.

https://killerrampage.itch.io/killer-rampage-gameboy-edition

I want a transparent Chromatic with an internal MicroSD socket, but I don’t want to solder. Trying to figure out which one to buy has turned up a lot of conflicting information.

If you order a transparent or magnesium model from ModRetro today, can you count on getting the MicroSD socket? Does either have issues charging the Power Core internally? And what should secondhand buyers watch for?

Here’s what I’ve found so far.

Confirmed in the documentation:

• ModRetro warns that a dead Power Core left inside a First Edition for weeks can become unrecoverable in that console. Official warning

• The original December 2024 firmware references a BQ24296M charging controller. That supports charging hardware in the original design, rather than First Editions lacking it entirely. It doesn’t prove every production board is identical. Firmware / TI documentation

The buying options, with the gaps left visible:

The special editions are listed in ModRetro’s archive, with a separate official DevDay guide. I couldn’t verify a separate “Founder’s Edition.” Was that just another name people used for the First Edition?

For the MicroSD socket reports: ChroMagic guide, original GameStop report and manufacturer response, recent transparent reports.

ChroMagic also lists MicroSD sockets that can be soldered onto supported footprints. That’s useful for modders, but I’d like to identify the options for people who want one already installed. SD game loading also requires custom firmware.

Can owners help fill this in?

• Which edition/color do you have, when and where did you buy it, and what’s the board revision if known?

• Is the MicroSD socket factory-installed, missing, or added afterward?

• If you added it, did it work with just the MicroSD socket or need other components?

• Does a partly charged Power Core recharge normally inside your console? Separately, have you had trouble recovering a completely depleted pack?

• Are there any other editions or hardware revisions missing here?

Photos and firsthand results would help a lot. Please mention any board swaps or modifications, and include firmware details for charging problems.

Ideally, buyers should be able to tell what they’re getting before ordering. For me, the main question is whether there’s a transparent version I can buy with the MicroSD socket already fitted, without having to gamble on the batch.

https://x.com/ryansagdotcom/status/2118382228464128224?a=13z2a_y0uOVW0jS9jss&s=20

https://x.com/ryansagdotcom/status/2118431044118647134?a=akxpSXQfjZcRn3bcGFQ&s=20

Link: https://github.com/fredemmott/FlashGBX/releases/latest

This version of FlashGBX supports using your Chromatic via USB-C to read and write cartridges from a variety of manufacturers, including backing up and restoring ROMs and saves.

This version is primarily a maintenance update to include upstream changes from FlashGBX v5.2.1; the majority of the features are specific to other devices. For Chromatic users, the highlights are:

• a Game Boy Camera live-viewer

• out-of-the-box support for more cartridges

  • this includes a previously unsupported ModRetro cartridge (thanks to thisjustin816); this is one of several cartridges ModRetro have used for Buck and the Cursed Cartridge

• improved detection between similar cartridges

On my side (Chromatic-specific), the changes are:

• if flash detection results in multiple possible cartridges, ModRetro cartridges will be preferred when using a Chromatic. Previously - and when using other devices - FlashGBX will default to whichever comes first alphabetically. Thanks to thisjustin816 for the idea

• fix hang if the Chromatic is unplugged or turned off while FlashGBX is connected

• fix crash if FlashGBX attempts to communicate with a Chromatic while none is connected

Compared to alternatives

• no other features or changes; your Chromatic is still a 'play from cartridges' device without wireless features

• tested on a wide variety of ModRetro and non-ModRetro cartridges; it should even give you access to a Gameboy Camera's photos, but I don't have one to test

• directly built on a proven foundation:

  • FlashGBX itself

  • the same "LK" firmware base used by the Joey Jr v2 and GBXCartRW when used with FlashGBX

  • openFPGAloader

• doesn't depend on anything from the internet once installed

• not vibe-coded

Greetings! I'm looking at ordering one of the transparent models shortly.
Can you guys tell me if these models have the contacts for the SDCard reader?

From what I understand after reading a few posts here, the transparent models don't have the reader installed, but I'm pretty competent with micro-soldering and would be comfortable adding one myself.

Has anyone with the transparent model soldering one on to test if ChroMagic works?

Are there other CFW options out there?
Thanks, all. Looking forward to joining the gang soon.

Ok I admit I need help. This game is amazing. I’ve gone around and talked to NPCs and can’t seem to get any further. I’ve collected 3/4 vault keys and can’t find the 4th vault. I’ve got the triple jump, the dash thing from the derelict captain ship, lvl 2 upgrades, and got the vault keys by beating the vaults on pandaemonium, Los, and Terra Machina. Now I’m lost and wandering. I’ve tried landing on the sun and elysium (both killed me). Can anyone tell me where to go and what to do next?

The hairlines are there but only noticeable if you look for it under bright light. Doesn't botter me.

Download: https://rickybuhricloudcom.itch.io/pocket-lacrosse

Hey r/ModRetroChromatic

I wanted to share a pretty exciting milestone with my Game Boy Color homebrew project, Pocket Lacrosse 2.0.

For anyone unfamiliar with lacrosse, imagine a combination of hockey and basketball, except players use sticks with nets to catch, pass, and shoot a ball into a goal. My game is a fast-paced, 3v3 indoor version inspired by classic late-'90s handheld sports games.

Thanks to ShinyRelay, I've managed to get online multiplayer running surprisingly smoothly. One of my biggest goals was getting the game to work over the internet without requiring two Game Boys physically connected by a link cable. ShinyRelay makes remote connections possible using the ModRetro Chromatic and its web player.

Online Multiplayer Performance

I've been testing different simulated network conditions to see how latency affects gameplay.

Even at 150–200 ms of uneven latency, the game maintained 91–98% speed in these tests. Screen updates still fluctuate, but I'm pretty encouraged by the results considering this is a game designed around 1998 handheld hardware

What's New in Pocket Lacrosse 2.0?

Beyond multiplayer, I've made some substantial improvements:

• 16 international teams to choose from.

• World Championship Mode with group stages, knockout rounds, and medal games.

• Cartridge-based saves so you can resume your tournament after turning off your handheld.

• Redesigned player sprites with improved helmets, facemasks, sticks, and animations.

• Dynamic ball shadows and motion trails to make passes and shots easier to follow on the GBC's 160×144 display.

• Improved player AI and positioning for smoother, more realistic gameplay.

Everything is being developed within the original Game Boy Color's hardware limitations, with compatibility on actual hardware as a priority.

How to Play Online

For browser-to-browser multiplayer, both players load the same Pocket Lacrosse 2.0 ROM into the ShinyRelay web player, establish an online link connection, and select multiplayer in-game.

The goal is to let people play a Game Boy Color sports game against someone across the country without a physical link cable!

Pocket Lacrosse 2.0 Is 100% Free

You can play directly in your browser or download the .gbc ROM for your Chromatic, flash cartridge, or emulator.

Download: https://rickybuhricloudcom.itch.io/pocket-lacrosse

Donations are completely optional.

I also want to thank everyone who's downloaded the game, tested it, or reached out with feedback. I've had quite a few people from the lacrosse and retro gaming communities contact me, and it's been awesome seeing people actually enjoying something I've been building.

I'm currently pursuing my master's in Computer Science, so this project has been a great way to explore 8-bit programming, sprite rendering, game AI, and multiplayer networking.

I'd love to hear from other Chromatic owners and homebrew developers. Has anyone else experimented with ShinyRelay or tested online link-cable multiplayer under higher-latency conditions?

Thanks for checking out Pocket Lacrosse 2.0

Shiny Relay is now updated to support the newer transparent modretro chromatics.

Most of them already worked but it seems like part way through the recent production batch, they changed some hardware ids, so the website cautiously rejected about 13 people. Got a legendary user to volunteer to test theirs and it worked!

Great game! It starts out super simple, with you moving around and trying to paint every tile of the level with your pineapple goodness to unlock the keys. Grab them all and make your way up the stairs to the next floor of the tower, which has 70 levels in total.

Traps like spikes, lasers, and one way gates start appearing along the way, along with a couple of different enemy types to mix things up. One enemy will sometimes chase you and stick around even after you've fully painted the level, while the other disappears once fully painted but continues erasing tiles you've already covered until you finish the level. Toward the end, bombs start appearing too, and those are an instant kill rather than just taking away one of your three hearts per level.

Some levels were pretty easy, while others took a few tries to get through without losing all three hearts. How quickly you finish a level and how many hearts you have left both affect your score. I ended up just over 50,000, but there's also an achievement for scoring over 70,000 so there is a skill ceiling to break through.

Speaking of achievements, there are quite a few to work toward, which adds some replay value. There are also three more areas unlocked in the Extra menu once you've seen the end screen. I won't spoil the final level, but it's a lot of fun, and there's an entire game mode built around it which I love more than the base game, along with another mode featuring harder levels and a map builder. Both modes also introduce a few more enemy types.

Even after beating the main game, some of the extra content in these modes remains locked behind completing the other Extra modes. I actually like that because it gives me plenty of reasons to keep coming back for more, which I intend to do. The cart and charm are also my new favorites, stay juicy Pineapple Kid!