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Last year I talked at length about the Chromatic, a new Game Boy device developed by ModRetro. Back in September, in my extensive preview, I talked about several of the games that ModRetro is officially publishing alongside the launch of the device. Now, it is important to note that these titles are compatible with original Game Boy systems, including the original GBC, GBA and some even are playable on your favorite old brick, the original DMG Game Boy. As such, in this article I’ll be reviewing six of the launch titles that have been released and in particular considering them from the perspective of original hardware, since that is what the majority of players will be able to play these games on.

Each title is developed by a different studio, but all are published under the ModRetro label. The games come with a nice little manual with illustrations and tips for the game, as well as a bangle charm that you can attach to your system. There’s a lot of variety in these first releases, and the company is releasing at least four more games in 2025, so Game Boy fans definitely have some new things to look forward to this year.

Dragonyhm - Spacebot Interactive. Works on all Game Boy systems.

Dragonyhm is without a doubt the most ambitious out of these six games. It is a large-scale fantasy RPG set in a magical world where the protagonist’s father, Kurtis, is the protector of the Dragon’s Seal. As his son, Kris, awakes one day to find his father has disappeared, it is up to him to take up the sword and protect the citizens of Archend from monsters, fiends and the return of the dragons.

The game takes clear inspiration and cues from traditional turn-based RPGs. If you like Dragon Quest you’ll pretty much feel right at home. In its writing and world-design Dragonyhm better resembles something like Link’s Awakening, with a lot of optional side-quests that can get you additional upgrades and weapons. At its core, you’ll need to find a way to enter several dungeons, defeat powerful bosses and solve puzzles to follow the story. The visual design is especially striking, with clear sprites and proper color usages if you’re playing on a Game Boy Color or Advance. I also really liked the music, with quite a bit of variety through the regions and battle scenarios you will come across.

I think my biggest gripe is the way in which you perform combat in the game. In particular early on, you’ll often struggle against enemies that are at the same level as you are and will be non-stop chugging health potions to stay in the fight. Grinding is the name of the game here and while there is an elemental system at play here, it tended to boil down for me to hitting with my strongest move and hoping I would not run out of mana or special attacks. I did like the way in which the game encourages variety in your approach for building your stats. If you defeat an enemy with a normal attack and gain a level up, your strength will increase. But if you do the same with a magical attack, your mana will improve (think Final Fantasy II). It is something I only found while browsing the manual, but I do like that player growth isn’t limited to a set scale, but rather based upon your preferred moves and actions. It can build tension and release within a single fight if you tend to favor magic over strength and need to face an opponent stronger against those stats.

But I think Dragonyhm really nails the tone and style of ambitious Game Boy titles like Final Fantasy Adventure/Mystic Quest, where you can see that years of development experience allow it to fit as much content as possible into this cartridge. Almost like a lost Game Boy game, that you hear about from cult followings. A few puzzles even require translating a cipher that you can solve using the manual, but if you’re really dedicated (or stuck on a train without the manual) you can keep notes of important events, clues and secrets spread throughout the world. That balance between puzzle design and turn-based adventure gives it a fun flair all its own. I will say that this game currently lacks any guides or tips, so it can be a bit tricky at times to navigate the world and find out where you should go next. But for those willing to get lost in a simple, but engaging RPG, Dragonyhm is highly worth seeking out!

8/10

In The Dark 2, Pearacidic Games and Grumpy Function. Works on all Game Boy systems.

This is one for the die-hard puzzleheads. In The Dark 2 is a direct continuation of a standalone game, called In The Dark (released in 2022) which is a combination of a narrative adventure and a straightforward puzzle game. What sets it immediately apart from other puzzle games or high-score chasers is that the game is surprisingly story heavy. After the events of the first game, which saw a virus spreading throughout the galaxy only to be prevented by the brave sacrifice of one of Captain Penn’s friends, Captain Penn is sent out to find the designer of the virus. Told through vivid and gorgeous tableaus and with especially well written text, the game sees you traveling to several planets and systems in search of the creator of the virus.

With this as a backdrop it does feel out of place that the game is really nothing more than a collection of light-fipping puzzles. Each puzzle you are presented with a grid of 3x3, 4x4 or 5x5 lights. Each light can be turned off by selecting the light, but doing so will turn on all the surrounding lights. The objective is the same every time, turn off all the lights to solve the puzzle. There are additional challenges such as finding out what the fastest solution is, mostly designated as ‘par’. But beyond that, don’t expect many surprises when it comes to the gameplay.

Now on its face, that is a really hard sell. Even puzzle fans will tell you that variety and building upon your knowledge is what sets a good puzzle game apart. With In The Dark 2, it does take a bit of digging on the player’s part to get to this point. As you complete more and more grids, you start to get a sense for how to achieve the solution, but getting to that point involves quite a bit of trial and error. There are no hints, except the indication of what the fastest move can be, but the ramping up of difficulty feels surprisingly natural. I was truly in the dark (pun intended) at first, just flicking random lights on or off. But in time I got much more grip and sense with how the puzzles were designed and used my experience to solve puzzles in fewer moves.

I think the story bits are a brilliant way to keep the player engaged. In between puzzles you can walk around, talk to your crewmates and learn more about the planet you’re visiting. There is a surprising amount of world building and character to what could’ve been a simple menu puzzle game. I don’t think it will turn into a mainstay for me personally, but I’ve picked it up every now and then over the past few weeks and solved a few boards while commuting to work. The additional modes—like a free play mode that presents you with randomized puzzles and the challenge mode in which you have to clear multiple boards in a row—are good time wasters. Though I will say that with those modes I did feel the distinct lack of the story and world that tie In The Dark 2 together. A proper puzzler that has a flavor all its own, it might be worth the pickup if you want some crunchy brain teasers.

7/10

Patchy Matchy Puzzle Surfing, Tom Sutton. Works on all Game Boy systems.

I’ve raved at length about how much I enjoyed Patchy Matchy in both my Chromatic review and my preview last year. Suffice it to say that Patchy Matchy sits in that beautiful middle ground of understanding exactly what the Game Boy was all about. Short and simple, but highly engrossing gameplay sessions that keep the action going as you get better at the game.

Patchy Matchy is a tile-matching game where you need to connect objects in lines of four to remove them from the board. Think bejeweled or candy crush, but in a much more compact form. Without power-ups, you are simply relying on your ability to move the cursor as quickly as possible to swap around the shells, stars and totems on the field. Bubbles can get in your way as obstacles that block other objects, but clearing a line besides them removes them from the board as well.

The speed ramps up over time, but if you can score 999 points you clear the game. Clearing the game, however, isn’t just limited to getting to the end. The true replayability is in unlocking the seventeen achievements, which require you to extend enormous combos and keep your score rising as much as possible.

As a score chaser game it is really dangerous, because I kept getting sucked back into playing some more of Patchy Matchy. It feels like a quintessential Game Boy game at times. In all honesty, as much as I love the version of Tetris that is packed in with the Chromatic, I’d have chosen Patchy Matchy as the pack-in (Patch-in?) title. It just works so well for these devices if you sit down and play it for just a minute.

The biggest sleight against Patchy Matchy is that it is truly designed for an original Game Boy. I secretly wish that the game had support for Game Boy Color with a bit more style and flair to its visuals. It is perfectly functional and doesn’t have any distracting visuals, but it can become a bit boring to look at for a prolonged play session.

Still, the core of the design is what counts here and the game is just a ton of fun to play. I put this cartridge back in my Game Boy again and again and I don’t think I can give it much higher praise than that!

8.5/10

Tales of Monsterland DX, Joel J. Games. Works only on Game Boy Color or newer devices.

If you’re talking Game Boy, you’ve got to have a platformer, and while the upcoming Baby T-Rex and Hermano look amazing, Tales of Monsterland DX is the only platformer in the launch lineup. The game takes inspiration from games like Monster Boy and immediately stood out to me with its lovely aesthetic. The story sees a boy wake up in a mysterious town. He doesn’t know how he got there but goes on a quest to find a way back home. The town is threatened by an onslaught of monsters and an evil wizard. As you explore, you find mysterious potions that transform you into several forms, including a wolf that can move boulders and a mermaid that makes it possible to swim.

Insofar as platformers go, Tales of Monsterland DX feels pretty good to control. The jump is pretty tight, with platforms and coins guiding the way you want to explore the land. There is also an action button that you can assign to either your sword or the actions of your transformations. It doesn’t try anything that can be considered too challenging, although I will say that some bosses could get a tad frustrating at times. But too often the game is lacking challenge and the difficulty stems from navigating your way through its world. Some guideposts can be a bit obtuse; in particular, finding the first potion was a bit of a hassle since I didn’t realise that you can walk through certain pieces of terrain. Aside from that I got stuck once, where I had saved only with one heart and no continues before the final boss, meaning I had to backtrack all the way to the town to regain my hearts and collect an additional power-up to beat the game. At certain times it feels like there are too many quirks in the design of the world and pacing of the game that hinder it from becoming truly great. Small visual glitches and longer than average wait times between menus. As well as a game over booting you straight back into the main menu instead of giving you an option to immediately restart from your last save.

That being said the music is definitely a highlight, with some great tunes that immediately capture the vibe and feel of the locations you visit. Whether it is the upbeat music when setting out on your adventure, or the dark tones of the wizard’s tower, the accompanying tunes always hit the nail on the head. The game isn’t that long, only a little over two hours to see everything, but it doesn’t overstate its welcome. With a nice hot cup of tea and a blanket on the couch I played through the game in one sitting, and while I don’t think it’ll have that much of a lasting impact, it was a nice time. I am hopeful that Joel J Games learns from this experience and gets to build another game that can deliver on its ambition. Tales from Monsterland DX is a step in the right direction, but a few stumbles make it fall just short for my tastes.

7/10

Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition, Two Tribes. Works only on Game Boy Color Compatible Devices.

Disclaimer: For my day job I have worked with the team from Two Tribes on archiving their games at the Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision. I have no direct connection to the development or release of this version of the game on Chromatic, but keep this in mind with this particular review.

Let’s be frank, you’ve probably played Toki Tori in some way or another before. Though its original release was cut short by a late release on the Game Boy Color as the Game Boy Advance took the world by storm, Toki Tori lived on in its many re-releases on pretty much any device you can imagine. Even specialized limited re-releases of the original game for the Game Boy Color are available for those looking for the original experience.

So why go back? Why release yet another version of Toki Tori? Well, to hear the folks from Two Tribes talk about it: ‘How often do you get the chance to re-create your original work but in the way you’ve intended it for original hardware?’. It’s a fair point and by all means Two Tribes has definitely succeeded in putting the ‘ultimate’ in Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition. As stated through the disclaimer, I am intimately familiar with the original Toki Tori, so seeing a revved up version of the original was kind of exciting. You can notice the improvements almost immediately as Toki Tori runs faster, automatically climbs over ledges and the game’s presentation just feels that little bit more polished.

All that helps to re-establish and confirm why Toki Tori has remained such a staple for many lovers of the Game Boy Color. I think that few puzzle games do as good a job of teaching the player how to play as Toki Tori does. The levels are designed in such a way that you immediately get a sense of how to navigate its tricks and obstacles. I’ve played through Toki Tori so many times and there is this level in the first world that still tricks me up after all these years. The goal is simple, collect all the eggs that are spread out across the stage. Toki Tori can’t jump over enemies or gaps and only uses special power-ups a set number of times per stage. That one level in the first world always tricks me, with the layout guiding me a specific way to the eggs, but following that laid out route gets you stuck with a single egg missing. It teaches the player magnificently how to play the game and first plan out a route themselves rather than simply jumping every gap or climbing every ladder.

In that sense Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition is the final embodiment of Toki Tori’s original design. Playing the game like this felt like I could finally see all the intent and design that Two Tribes had in mind almost 25 years ago. Later stages in particular just flow so much better without the timer counting down and the large amount of backtracking you’re doing with this increased speed. It doesn’t get the honorific of being an ultimate edition as a way of marketing, but it earns this version. It makes one of the best puzzle-platformers even better and frankly, if you do not already own a version of Toki Tori for another device, this is without a doubt the best way of experiencing the game. The one caveat for returning players is to not expect any surprises, new levels or gameplay changes. This is still Toki Tori at heart.

9/10

Traumatarium Penitent, Eligos Games. Works on all Game Boy systems.

As popular as the Game Boy was, it was surprisingly lacking in a couple of genres. Aside from the Wizardry series, there weren’t that many dungeon crawlers on the original handheld. Traumatarium Penitent (try saying that five times fast), seeks to remedy this with its striking visuals and world design. You play as a knight making your way to a major castle while purifying the lands of evil monsters and other foul creatures. The game takes place in first person, with each screen showing your surroundings, the directions you can walk to and possible interactions such as townsfolk, boxes and carriages.

At its core, you’ll be handling your stats throughout the game as you explore. Your vitality meter decreases with each screen you explore, meaning you’re always on the lookout for food or inns where you can rest up. All the while you run into monsters and creatures blocking your way. Battling these takes the form of a static turn-based combat scene where you can defend, attack, consume an item or flee. Battles often boil down to figuring out the patterns to the attacks, as certain enemies may have a third attack that deals the highest damage which you might want to block. Dying resets the game, so be sure to keep a note nearby to track your passwords that record your progress.

Let’s get that out of the way first. Yes, this game uses a good ol’ password system. While these cartridges support FRAM saves, Traumatrium has chosen to rely upon passwords consisting of ten characters. I am still baffled by this decision. On the one hand, there is a certain charm and tension to seeing your vitality stat drop with no food and realizing your last password sets you back about fifteen minutes. But on the other hand, passwords were done away with for a very good reason as they take time, effort and above all are pretty inconsistent in keeping track of your progression. As a wink and nod to the struggle many players have had with the original Game Boy, it is cute, but in actuality it makes an already challenging game feel even more stacked against the player.

And challenging it certainly is. The only way to stay alive in this world is to resort to consuming your potions and food whenever you have them available to you. The game communicates these stats in a very obtuse manner. It took me quite some time to notice that when your vitality drops, your health points start to decrease after. Meaning at times I could easily explore another five screens, but other times I dropped dead after the second one. It all boils down to managing stats, pushing as far as your meters are letting you go and then rushing back to your inn to get a password and repeat the process.

The visual style is what truly sets the game apart. It genuinely has some of the most gorgeous backgrounds I’ve ever seen on a Game Boy screen. The game uses the original green and black palette to its fullest extent. Characters may lack animations but their designs are striking against the locations they inhabit. I also like how you are relying on the map to plan out your route through the world and avoid getting stuck on dead ends. At its heart it is a pretty simple game of exploration and inventory management. That is usually a plus when it comes to Game Boy titles, but the theming is pretty dour. Characters have little to say to the protagonist and following the story is quite difficult as it establishes its own world of orders and rulers that requires reading the accompanying manual to make sense about.

I don’t think that Traumatarium is a bad game per se. Its visual style and gameplay is very inventive. But it makes some baffling choices in both its save system and battle mechanics that make it difficult to recommend. For those who are persistent and stick through the game's quirks, you’ll find a true throwback to the old days of the Game Boy. Before save batteries and online guides. Relying on getting by in battles and exploration by the skin of your teeth. Personally I find the games’ flaws to be too much to bear alongside its dark setting. But there is an argument to be made that there is really nothing like this game on Game Boy. For better or worse…

5/10

And that wraps up these reviews, I hope you enjoyed them and might’ve learned a thing or two about new games on Game Boy. Are you considering picking up any of these titles? And which one looks the most appealing to you? Let us know in the comments!