ModRetro Chromatic Review: Chic and Durable

A faithful recreation of the archetypal Game Boy. Solid physique quality. Highly repairable. Nigh unbreakable screen. Nostalgia!

A tad pricey for an aged crippled console. There are amended options for tinkerers. Buying it puts wealth successful the pouch of the slayer chatbots guy.

The happening I retrieve astir astir my puerility Nintendo Game Boy was however soiled the surface was. I managed to interruption it close away, popping the surface screen disconnected completely. I don't cognize if it was leftover glue oregon immoderate saccharine sugary substance I spilled connected it, but the edges of the framework remained weirdly sticky with immoderate gunk that liked to cod dirt. Gross arsenic it was, and adjacent without a surface cover, it inactive played games conscionable good for years.

While not ever the astir durable of devices, the OG handheld Nintendo consoles could withstand capable of a beating to firmly enmesh themselves into the halfway memories of millions of dweebs of each ages. That is what the ModRetro Chromatic wants to be: the ultimate, hardiest mentation of the Game Boy ever. The Game Boy sigma, if you will. A sturdy container of nostalgia that you tin instrumentality to your grave.

Behind the Name

ModRetro is simply a institution tally by Palmer Luckey, champion known arsenic the laminitis of the virtual world institution Oculus—now a Meta property. Nowadays, Luckey is simply a defence tech guy, engaged cozying up to the Trump medication and moving his institution Anduril, the subject contractor gathering AI-controlled weapons for the Pentagon, specified arsenic lethal drone swarms and slayer chatbots.

ModRetro shares its sanction with an aged online forum Luckey utilized to run, and it's much of a passionateness project. The extremity is to recreate aged schoolhouse gaming machines and bundle them successful the slickest, astir robust frames possible. With the Chromatic complete, helium institution plans to marque a robust mentation of the Nintendo 64 next. Luckey has called these devices “a portal into the past that is going to unrecorded connected forever.” Should you beryllium acrophobic if your wealth is going to an arms trader who besides thinks cigarettes were bully for society? Sure, probably. Are you going to fto that power what you buy? We'll spot astir that.

Sheer nostalgia is simply a almighty selling force, aft all. Devices similar the Analogue Pocket person already taken a high-tech attack to playing old-school Game Boy cartridges. The Chromatic does thing similar, and turns out, it's precise good. It launched precocious past year, past rapidly sold out. In July, ModRetro started selling units again, this clip with a fewer upgrades similar a snap-in artillery battalion and streaming support. Now it's yet staying successful stock, truthful it's overmuch easier to bargain than the archetypal spell around.

The handheld comes successful respective amusive colors and tin play immoderate aged Game Boy cartridge, assuming you instrumentality the clip to stroke the particulate retired of the connector slot. ModRetro besides sells astir a twelve archetypal games successful their cartridges. A fewer much are authoritative recreations of aged classics, similar Rayman and Toki Tori. Prices scope from $30 to $100, depending connected the game.

Blast From the Past

I've spent the bulk of my clip connected the Chromatic, plunging into the rabbit spread that is ModRetro’s recreation of Tetris. And yeah, the crippled inactive holds up. Especially successful specified a primo mode to play it. The Chromatic is lightweight, astir 6.2 ounces. The outer ammunition is made with a “cold-touch magnesium build” that keeps your palms from getting excessively sweaty portion playing. The 160 × 144 pixel surface is made of Corning's Gorilla Glass, but for a $100 upgrade, you tin get that made from sapphire crystal, the aforesaid worldly Rolex puts connected its watches.

Tapping buttons connected the Chromatic lets retired audible clicky-clackeys arsenic you play. Though my puerility memories of the OG Game Boy person gotten fuzzy, I decidedly don’t callback the buttons being arsenic large arsenic they are connected the Chromatic. That’s not meant to beryllium a dig, arsenic the clickability volition apt entreaty to anyone who enjoys banging distant connected a mechanical keyboard, everyone else's eardrums successful the blast radius beryllium damned. (I americium 1 of those people.)

The Chromatic is chiefly powered by 3 AA batteries. Another modern update is the USB-C larboard connected the bottom, which lets you powerfulness the instrumentality straight and besides link a mates of Chromatics to play multiplayer games. You tin besides link the cablegram to a machine to watercourse the video, which Luckey has said is simply a capableness meant for streamers and velocity runners.

As the sanction of the institution mightiness person tipped you off, ModRetro is besides pitching the Chromatic arsenic an easy repairable device. The institution sells a mod kit with tools that fto you swap retired parts and regenerate buttons. If you don’t privation to pony up for accessories, the Chromatic is modifiable capable to beryllium repairable with the tools you mightiness person lying around. The main happening that mightiness travel you up is that connected the back, the casing is held unneurotic with little communal tri-wing screws, conscionable similar the archetypal Game Boy.

The repairability origin is 1 of the champion things the Chromatic has going for it, and it seems to beryllium designed for the kinds of tinkerers who delight successful pulling isolated aged tech. The happening is, determination are tons of opportunities for that elsewhere, and OG Game Boy sickos volition astir apt hunger for thing that truly feels similar it scratches that itch. That’s wherefore determination are subreddits dedicated to modifying aged Game Boys and radical souping up 1 made retired of Lego bricks to really play aged cartridge games. And past determination are caller devices that instrumentality that retro sensibility and bundle it into thing caller and different, similar the miniature Arduboy.

If you privation to conscionable play your aged games, the Chromatic is the smoothest, chicest enactment for that. You’re not going to person to interest astir a breached screen, that’s for sure. It conscionable mightiness consciousness a small excessively sleek to conjure rather the dopamine deed of nostalgia that you yearn for.