Super Game Boy
| Super Game Boy | |
|---|---|
 Super Game Boy  Super Game Boy 2 | |
| Generation | Fourth generation |
| Release date | Super Game Boy June 14, 1994 June 20, 1994[1] June 1994[2] 1994Super Game Boy 2 January 30, 1998 |
| Discontinued | Unknown |
| Successor | Game Boy Player |
The Super Game Boy, released in South Korea as the Hyundai Super Mini Comboy,[3] is a special adapter cartridge designed for use with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that was released in 1994. It allows players to play Game Boy games on their television screen through their Super Nintendo. It can also play certain Game Boy Color games, but only ones that are compatible with the original Game Boy. As the dimensions of the Game Boy's screen are different from those of most televisions, a border is needed on the screen. Certain games, mostly ones that came out around or after the time the Super Game Boy was released, such as Donkey Kong, take advantage of the Super Game Boy, and display customized borders when played. Many games also allow for enhanced sound effects and music when played on the Super Game Boy. Certain games, such as Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!, take additional advantage of the Super Game Boy, and allow for multi-player with a second controller. It can even take advantage of Hudson Soft's Super Multitap but without support for any fifth player.
When the player presses the 
and 
buttons on the controller, the Super Game Boy menu can be brought up, allowing the player to alter the border or the controller's button mapping. The player can also assign a color palette to the game.
If the player were to leave a game on the Super Game Boy sitting for a few minutes, screensaver-like animation would come from the screen border. Notably, Mario, Princess Peach, and Luigi appear in one of these border animations. Mario comes spinning up from the lowest window and stands on top of it; if the player waits long enough, Mario falls asleep. While he is asleep, Peach appears from the window on the right. Mario wakes up but misses Peach, instead to have a racecar drive out and spin him around. After this, Mario falls asleep again. Eventually, a spaceship that looks almost identical to the ones in the background of the Muda Kingdom in Super Mario Land (only much smaller) circles Mario. He wakes up and then eventually falls asleep again. The animation ends with Luigi coming down on a rope from the top window and pulling Mario back up with him.
The Super Game Boy has a later revision model, the Super Game Boy 2, which released exclusively in Japan on January 30, 1998. It has a few enhancements, including additional border options and Game Link Cable support.
The Super Game Boy eventually received a proper successor, the Game Boy Player for the Nintendo GameCube, which also includes support for Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games.
Compatibility[edit]
Shown below is a compatibility chart. Any game only for Game Boy Color will boot but refuse to play further, just like the Game Boy.
| Example Cartridge | Usual Color | Game Boy mode | Super Game Boy mode | Compatible | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Game Boy cartridge | 
|
Grey | 
|
See below |
|
| Game Boy Color cartridge (Black) | 
|
Black |
|
See below |
|
| Game Boy Color cartridge (Clear) | 
|
Clear | 
|
|
|
Enhanced games[edit]
Games whose Super Game Boy enhancements go beyond custom borders:
- Picross 2: More available colors, 2-player support with two Super NES controllers
- Donkey Kong (Game Boy): More available colors
- Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!: 2-player support with two Super NES controllers (4-player support with the Super Multitap)
- Game & Watch Gallery: Shows control hints for the Super NES controller
- Game & Watch Gallery 2: Shows control hints for the Super NES controller
- Game & Watch Gallery 3: Shows control hints for the Super NES controller
- Game Boy Camera: Video recording
With the exception of Game Boy Camera, none of these enhancements are available when playing the games on the Game Boy Player nor when playing them with Virtual Console or Game Boy - Nintendo Switch Online.
Color palettes[edit]
The main feature of the Super Game Boy is to give the games color. While SGB Enhanced games come with their own special colors, players can assign their own colors in most games by accessing either the Color Palette Window or the Custom Color Window. The Color Palette Window allows the player choose one of 32 different system color palettes, while the Custom Color Window lets the player adjust the color palette available. A password system at the top of the Custom Color Window saves the changes to the color palette. Pressing 
during gameplay will switch between the game's default color palette and any other color palette the player has selected or created. Some of the Super Game Boy-enhanced games, including the extended Super Mario games Donkey Kong Land 2, Donkey Kong Land III, and Wario Land II, do not let the player modify the colors through either the Color Palette Window or the Custom Color Window.
In the case of Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III, if the player could override the colors, many of the system color palettes that appear normal in other games show up as inverted in these two games; this happens because both games invert the palettes to work around the Super Game Boy's palette limitations, and assign the colors in a way to hide the inversion. This is similar to a glitch that occurs in Donkey Kong Land's title screen -- this game does not block the player from changing the colors. In addition, in Donkey Kong Land 2, if the user could change the colors, part of the border ends up having palette glitches in the black parts of the bananas.
The following images showcase all 32 of the Super Game Boy's stored color palettes from the Color Palette Window on the Super Mario Land title screen, as well as the accompanying passwords as displayed in the Custom Color Window.
Color Palette 1-A
7047-0470-4704
Color Palette 1-B
7057-0570-5705
Color Palette 1-C
7067-0670-6706
Color Palette 1-D
7077-0770-7707
Color Palette 1-E
7087-0870-8708
Color Palette 1-F
7097-0970-9709
Color Palette 1-G
7107-1071-0710
Color Palette 1-H
7117-1171-1711
Color Palette 2-A
7127-1271-2712
Color Palette 2-B
7137-1371-3713
Color Palette 2-C
7147-1471-4714
Color Palette 2-D
7157-1571-5715
Color Palette 2-E
7167-1671-6716
Color Palette 2-F
7177-1771-7717
Color Palette 2-G
7187-1871-8718
Color Palette 2-H
7197-1971-9719
Color Palette 3-A
7207-2072-0720
Color Palette 3-B
7217-2172-1721
Color Palette 3-C
7227-2272-2722
Color Palette 3-D
7237-2372-3723
Color Palette 3-E
7247-2472-4724
Color Palette 3-F
7257-2572-5725
Color Palette 3-G
7267-2672-6726
Color Palette 3-H
7277-2772-7727
Color Palette 4-A
7287-2872-8728
Color Palette 4-B
7297-2972-9729
Color Palette 4-C
7307-3073-0730
Color Palette 4-D
7317-3173-1731
Color Palette 4-E
7327-3273-2732
Color Palette 4-F
7337-3373-3733
Color Palette 4-G
7347-3473-4734
Color Palette 4-H
7357-3573-5735
Nintendo-published games released prior to the Super Game Boy would automatically load one of the above palettes as opposed to the default 1-A palette. Below is a gallery of each game this applies to.
Gallery[edit]
North American box art
North American box art (bundle)
European box art
Japanese box art (Super Game Boy)
Japanese box art (Super Game Boy 2)
Box artwork (used on European cover)
North American Super Game Boy
Japanese/European Super Game Boy
Boot screen
Super Game Boy 2 boot screen
Super Game Boy enhanced games[edit]
Special borders[edit]
It has been requested that more images be uploaded for this section. Remove this notice only after the additional images have been added. Specific(s): Match the above supported games. Some games may have more than one
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Land
Donkey Kong Land 2
Donkey Kong Land III
Game & Watch Gallery (pink variant)
Game & Watch Gallery (purple variant)
Game & Watch Gallery (blue variant)
Game & Watch Gallery (lilac variant)
Game & Watch Gallery (Fire)
Game & Watch Gallery (Manhole)
Game & Watch Gallery (Octopus)
Game & Watch Gallery (Oil Panic)
Game & Watch Gallery 2
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Modern Parachute)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Modern Helmet)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Modern Donkey Kong)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Modern Ball)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Classic Parachute)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Classic Helmet)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Classic Chef)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Classic Vermin)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Classic Donkey Kong)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Classic Ball)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (beach variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (summer plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (spring plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (sunset plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (snowy plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (another summer plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (snowflaked plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (another snowy plains variant)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Egg)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Greenhouse)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Turtle Bridge)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Mario Bros.)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Donkey Kong Jr.)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Flagman)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Judge)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Lion)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Spitball Sparky)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Donkey Kong II)
Mario's Picross (title screen)
Mario's Picross (in-game)
Picross 2
Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack (hidden)
Tetris Attack (hidden)
Tetris Attack (hidden)
Tetris Attack (hidden)
Tetris Attack (hidden)
Tetris Attack (hidden)
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
Wario Land II
Game Boy Camera
Pocket Camera
.png)
Miscellaneous[edit]
Japanese print advertisement
International commercial
International commercial
International commercial
International commercial
References[edit]
- ^ Laptick (April 27, 2018). 닌텐도 슈퍼 게임보이 (Nintendo SUPER GAME BOY, スーパーゲームボーイ). NAVER (Korean). Retrieved August 29, 2024. (Archived August 29, 2024, 22:19:41 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Nintendo Products Second Half Source Book 94. Nintendo of America. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ Dentifritz (March 5, 2013). Hyundai Super Comboy: The Master List (in English). Scanlines16.com (English). Retrieved May 16, 2024.
External links[edit]
| Video game systems and add-ons | |
|---|---|
| Nintendo home consoles | Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System (Family BASIC, Family Computer Disk System) • Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Satellaview, Super Game Boy) • Nintendo 64 (Nintendo 64DD) • Nintendo GameCube (Game Boy Player) • Wii (Virtual Console, WiiWare) • Wii U (Virtual Console) • Nintendo Switch |
| Nintendo handhelds | Game & Watch • Game Boy • Virtual Boy • Game Boy Color • Game Boy Advance • Nintendo DS (Nintendo DSi, DSiWare) • Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console) • Nintendo Switch |
| Other | MS-DOS • VS. System • Nintendo PlayChoice-10 • Nintendo Super System • Nelsonic Game Watch • Super Mario Bros. Watch • Gamewatch Boy • Philips CD-i • Mini Classics • Triforce • Visteon Dockable Entertainment System • Classics • LodgeNet • Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo |
