Posted by SignOfZeta on October 05, 2016 at 02:08:01 EST.
Lets talk about the two official ways to play Game Boy games on a TV.
The Super Game Boy:
Plays all GB games up through the advent of B/W compatible mode GBC games. Has special Super Game Boy functions, mostly just boarders but in the case of Donkey Kong '94 nearly full color graphics.
A special controller exists which mimics the OG GB control surface. Because of the unexpected popularity of the Game Boy Camera in Japan the Super Game Boy 2 was released which is identical except its blue and has a link port, this making it possible for you to hook up your Game Boy Printer just like you would to an actual Game Boy. Its a regular link port like any Gameboy though so that makes doing things like trading Pokemon with yourself a bit easier in some cases. Now that selfies have become an multi-billion dollar industry it seems obvious in hindsight that people, probably the same girls that powered the Neo Print fad, would set up their Super Famicom and Super Game Boy 2 with it pointed right at their face while they posed on the TV and then printed a sticker. Duh. I guess I didn't want to feel like I was trivializing whoever was buying these things but...yeah, they probably weren't used for insect photography or whatever.
The Game Boy Player:
This plays all Gameboy games EVER, except, like the SGB, ones which are physically incompatible with being stuck in a console like Wario Ware Twisted, Game Boy Camera, etc. The GBP does NOT however reproduce any Super Game Boy effects. With most games you won't notice but the previously mentioned Donkey Kong '94 *really* takes a visual hit being reduced to pure monochrome. You won't notice it if you've never seen it running on the Super Game Boy but I sure do.
Some GBA games have a special logo on the box which states that they are Game Boy Player...enhanced...or something. As far as I know this function only exists to transfer Rumble. I don't know if the GBA actually has to be a rumble game like Drill Dozer or whatever, I forgot. I know I have something for GBA that makes the GC pad rumble but I can't remember what, probably because I almost always use a Waveband and those don't have rumble.
Also, any functions that games have that need a legacy link port are fucked as far as I know. It has a GBA link port, but I'm not sure there's any way to adapt it. I can't remember, probably not. However it does do GBA era shit pretty well including the pretty much totally forgotten E Reader. Now you're playing an arcade game ported to NES then converted to a bit strip printed on a card which is scanned by a sensor in a Gameboy Advance cartridge running in a GBA merged with a Gamecube. Guess what, its great. Now scanning Excite Bike for five minutes somehow seems more worth it. One practical (ha!) use for this is a game I bought on clearance and never played until just a few days ago: Mario Party E Reader. Fuck yes. OK, so this is a version of MP which is half video game and half actual tabletop board game with a map and whatever. So you play mini games on your GBA in the same sort of way you'd draw a card in Monopoly. On a GBA, especially the actual GBA...you can't see shit on that thing. Its hard for one person to even read the text in an RPG on one of those dumb things so obviously having a half dozen people crowded around the screen would just suck. With a GBA SP, much better, but with a GB Player you can make it the size of your way too stupid big TV and everyone can easily see it. Its also handy, just like with the SGB, for just being an extra GBA to link to for the usual purposes. This could just mean trading Pokemon but, depending on how far you want to go, it could be the hardware basis for a bank of four versus Mario Kart Super Circuit arcade machines, its up to you.
In both adaptor thingies compatibility is flawless except, like I said, where things are physically difficult to pull off. If the GBP did Super GB stuff I'd say that was the only one you needed but that's a big deal for me personally. If you are thinking "Well, I only want to play old time Game Boy, none of this Crazy Taxi, Super Mario Kart, bullshit. Just give me the Super Game Boy." I'd say then think about how much you might want Game Boy Color support because the SGB doesn't have it and GBC games actually look great on the GBP, much better than they do on an actual GBC, that's for sure. If you don't care about GBC-only games (clear cart) and don't mind playing B/W compatible GBC games (black cart) only in their B/W mode then fine, but personally I'd think you'd want GBC era since it bridges the B/W to GBA era mostly on the B/W side, if you know what I mean. Another thing about the GB Player is that the Gamecube itself will output progressive component which makes for a pretty great image even from a GB game even when put on a huge screen. So can you skip the Super Game Boy? Well, for most people, sure, but I really fucking like Donkey King '94. There is also one other game (I think just one) a Space Invaders game, where it basically as an entire Super Famicom ROM on it so that when you put the crappy b/w GB game in your Super Game Boy in your Super Famicom it becomes a Super Famicom game. You know, that sort of console to handheld link bullshit that's forever to be poorly realized? It worked pretty well for this one game at least. So if that matters, if DK '94 matters, or if you need a link port for old GB games then you'll want a Super Game Boy to go with your Game Boy Player.
So here's a question...I don't have a lot of GBC games. I was all about NGP, of course. I sold my GBC pretty early on. I have Tetris DX and something else, and man, they look great on the GB Player. Does anyone have any suggestions for other GBC games because of how they look on the GBP?
Follow Ups:
First, if you still have a CRT lying around, download Gameboy Interface (link inside). This allows you to play GB games in low res on the GBP, at a slightly more accurate refesh rate. Second, funnily enough I popped in Link's Awakening DX in the GBP two days ago. I don't think it looks particularly good on a television. But then I feel that a lot of GBC games use a muddled color palette. As for suggestions... maybe Wario Land 3? I find it a chore to play, but it looks the part. (Rockman Pocket) (06:27:13 10/05/16 EST)
one thing you didn't mention is that the SNES and super game boy can be modified to do RGB, and the gameboy player is *forced* into a crap resolution, so you'll never get it sharp no matter what you do. but maybe that thing rockman pocket posted will eventually get the thing to run at 240p like it should! I have no suggestions for GBC games because of how they look on the gameboy player, I'm afraid! but anything that had ghosting on a gameboy is a good candidate. (n/t) (exodus) (15:42:30 10/05/16 EST)
I just happened to be reading a bit about the N64 Transfer Pak the other day. It is also an official way to play GB games on the TV, but I think it's limited to Pokemon games using Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2. I guess you can go to the Game Boy Tower and actually play the games. In theory, you can also play other games if you hack them in a way that Stadium thinks they're a Pokemon game. Also, I guess there's some homebrew software that will let you play any GB/GBC game on N64 using the Transfer Pak. (Flavor) (13:54:43 10/06/16 EST)
Mario Golf is the only GBC suggestion that springs to mind, I can't remember if I played it much on the Player, though. (n/t) (Paleface) (18:50:09 10/27/16 EST)
