Nintendo Game Boy Color
Shares rank 13 of 18 handheld game consoles by recommenders
People recommend it for durability and cheap used prices; the original display's narrow color gamut is the main caveat.
People recommend it for durability and cheap used prices; the original display's narrow color gamut is the main caveat.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Durable, still works after decades
“dirty but sturdy as heck despite my carelessness through 28 plus years”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “I put a real-time 3D shader on the Game Boy Color” “otherwise still working perfectly fine”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “GBC Boot Animation 88×31 Web Button” “My gameboy color still works”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Narrow color gamut on original display
“the original display had such an extremely narrow color gamut”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026”
Other handheld game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other handheld game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch | 143 | 103 | 58% | 12 | 8 yrs12 owners | — |
| Playdate handheld console | 43 | 15 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Sony PlayStation Portable | 24 | 4 | 86% | 5 | 21 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Nintendo 3DS | 21 | 6 | 78% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Nintendo Game Boy ColorThis page | 7 | 1 | 88% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the original display had such an extremely narrow color gamut”
“My gameboy color still works”
“On a device that apparently doesn't even support floating point operations and doesn't support multiplication.”
“dirty but sturdy as heck despite my carelessness through 28 plus years”
“You can pick a used one up for pretty cheap.”
“make it 100% worth the buy too”
“otherwise still working perfectly fine”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.