Here is something for nostalgia: I just put together a Game Boy Color made of completely new parts for a friend: here is the FPGBC.
The FP part of the name comes from FPGA, because instead of software emulation this device use FPGA to reproduce the device. While I am not convinced that FPGA is necessary more accurate than a good software emulator, one advantage of FPGA is the (possible) lower input latency thanks to the avoidance of complexity to handle the user input (e.g.: the Operational System). A quick playthrough against Motocross Maniacs seems to be fine, but I can't see much difference from my Miyoo Mini+ (I will do more comparisons between the two devices later), that is a software emulation device.
But I think focusing in accuracy is wrong, the main reason of getting a device like this one is for nostalgia, and this definitely hit the mark. The quality of the case is as good as I remember the original, and most of the details are replicate perfectly, including reproduction stickers in the back of the device. The only differences that I can find is the usage of USB-C port for charging in place of the barrel jack power adapter (thanks!), and the fact that the screen bezels are smaller compared to the original (because the screen is bigger) and doesn't include the Game Boy Color logo (that is fine in my opinion, since it would look weird in the fine bezels). It even has a supposedly working Link Cable (I don't have another Game Boy to test). Sadly it is missing the infrared sensor, but the usage of that was pretty limited anyway.
So how well does it work? I can't say for sure. I don't have any original games with me, so I am relying in backups and a flashcard for now. Many games that I tested works fine, a few of them have graphical issues that can be fixed in the menu (more about it later), and some of them doesn't boot. But I don't know if the issue with the games not booting are because of the roms, the flashcard or the device itself.
By the way, the flashcard I am using is a cheap knockoff of an Everdrive GB. This FPGBC came with firmware v1.09, while there is an update available for v1.10 in the website. I had an weird issue in the new firmware where no games would boot with this knockoff Everdrive so I had to go back to v1.09, but again, I am not sure if the issue was fact that I am using a knockoff device or this would happen with an original Everdrive GB. If you are going to buy a proper Everdrive, you probably wouldn't get a Everdrive GB anyway since it is discontinued, and it seems the newer versions have better compatibility with FPGBC.
Sadly that the update didn't work, since there is this repository that patches the firmware to boot the original logo instead of the ugly FPGBC one. And yes, for some reason the v1.09 firmware from this repository still doesn't work with my knockoff Everdrive.
By the way, it seems the device is not easy to brick: I borked the firmware update process once while trying to downgrade back to v1.09, resulting in a black screen when I turned on the console. But just connecting the device to the computer and powering on, I could flash the firmware again and the device came back to life.
About the features of the device: if you press the volume button (yes, you can press it now), it opens the following menu:
The first 2 options are the LCD backlight (BKLT) and volume (VOL). I didn't talk about
those, but the LCD screen seems to be IPS, and the quality is really good, and
also looks bright enough to play even under bad lightining conditions. And the
speaker has good quality, the sound is better than I remember, but sadly the
maximum volume is kind low. Still should be enough for playing in a quiet room.
DISPMOD is probably the most controversial option: it allow you to set which
scale you want. Anything with EMU at the end means emulating the original
colors, and as far I remember it gets really close. You can also chose betwen
X4, X4P and FUL, the last one is the one shown in the photos where the
image fills the whole screen at the cost of non-integer scaling. X4 is
integer scaling, however the image doesn't fill the whole screen. The X4P
also includes a pixel effect that makes the image closer than the original
screen. It actually looks good, but the fact that I chose a white border for
this FPGBC makes the border really distracting. Maybe the black one is a better
choice if you want integer scale.
CORE is simple: you can choose between GB (Game Boy) or GBC (Game Boy
Color). For those who don't know, you can run Game Boy games in Game Boy Color
and they will be automatically colorised. Some people don't like this and
prefer the colors of GB, so you have this option. The GB_PALETTE allows you
to chose the color in GB mode, for example, the green-ish colors from the
original Game Boy or the blue-ish colors from Game Boy
Light. And yes, you can
choose the color palette for Game Boy games running in GBC mode by pressing a
button combination at
the boot screen, but it seems not working in my unit and again, not sure if the
fault is my knockoff Everdrive.
FRAME_MIX basically is an option that makes some effects, like transparency
in Wave Race, to work at the cost of
introducing blurriness. The reason for this is that those effects depends in
the fact that the Game Boy screen was slow refresh, so you could rely on it by
rapidly changing pixels to create some interesting effects, but sadly those
effects doesn't work well in modern displays.
GB_CLRFIX is the option I mentioned before, where some Game Boy games just
get completely wrong colors for some reason, e.g.: The Addams
Family. Turning
on fixes those games, but I am not sure if this option breaks other games.
Finally, SPD allows you to increase or decrease the CPU clock, slowing or
speeding up the games (including the sound). The result can be hilarious, so I
think this is a nice addition to the features. Sadly you can't know what the
default speed is, so you need to rely on sound to adjust back to the default.
So in the end, can I recommend a FPGBC? I am not sure. If you want a device to play games, I still think something like a Miyoo Mini+ is a better choice. Not only you will have access to more games from different platforms, you also don't need to rely on flashcards or cartridges. Also it has way more features than FPGBC, like wireless multiplayer, RetroArchivements and save states.
But the actual reason to get a FPGBC is nostalgia, and for that I think the FPGBC is difficult to beat. The price of the kit to assemble ($69.90) is cheaper than most Game Boy's in good condition you can find in eBay, and you get for that price a rechargable battery, an amazing quality screen, the PCB and the speaker. You need to buy separately the case and the buttons, but in total you will still end up paying less, and allows you to fully customise your build. And the result device is not only in mint condition, it is really convenient too: recharging batteries (via USB-C even) is much more convenient than buying AA batteries, and the screen not only is better but it even has backlight. You can also buy a fully built console for $99.00, but you have less options of customisation.
This is the classic case of do what I say, don't do what I do. This FPGBC is a gift, and I will buy another one soon. Can't wait to play Pokémon Gold in (almost) original hardware again.
