ModRetro Chromatic review: an arms dealers Game Boy is among the best ever made
If Lockheed Martin made a Game Boy, would you buy one?In the 1990s, I was among the kids who thought military aircraft were devastatingly cool. By then, Tom Cruise and Top Gun had long established the F-14 Tomcat and a pair of aviator shades as a fantasy for young men; I personally preferred the Lockheed F-117A, the high-tech angular Stealth Fighter that could invisibly sneak past enemy radar, and was partial to the legendary Lockheed SR-71 that flew so fast it could outrun missiles.At the time, I probably would have snapped up a jet-black Lockheed Game Boy without a second thought. But Im old enough now to realize that cool aerodynamics are just the tip of a deadlier geopolitical iceberg. Lockheed makes weapons, and I dont have a say in who gets to buy them or who theyre used against. I dont have a say in whether that tech should exist at all.Link (cable) to the past.Ive been thinking about Lockheed Martin as I review a much simpler gadget: the ModRetro Chromatic. The Chromatic is a high-end remake of Nintendos Game Boy, and it might be the best version of a Game Boy ever made. But its connected to a company much like Lockheed:Anduril, the defense contractor that makes weaponized drones, networked surveillance systems, and other military tech.Both Anduril and ModRetro are founded by Palmer Luckey,the creator of the Oculus Rift VR headset.almost unbelievable character, a devout anime and video game lover who reportedly stores his vast collection of games in a decommissioned US nuclear missile silo one of several silos he says he owns.Luckey, playing a Chromatic and surrounded by anime figurines, from his marketing video. Image: ModRetroHe plays with a lavish collection of military hardware including helicopters and a Mark V Special Operations Craft used by Navy SEALs. He once made the cover of Time Magazine as a floating barefoot visionary with an Oculus headset atop his head, though these days hes more likely to make headlines propagandizing for his version of the defense industry. He was the face of VR before Facebook kicked him out. (Luckey was an early Trump boostersince apologized for his ouster.)Many tech companies are involved with military projects in some shape or form. Google and Amazon have a contract with Israel for a Project Nimbus that Google knew could have enabled human rights violations against Palestinians, and Google has fired many workers for protesting that deal. Microsoft is currently working towards outfitting over 100,000 soldiers with a militarized version of its HoloLens headset. Meta is now letting defense contractors use its Llama AI model. I think its fair to say few of us boycott these companies or even think about these things when we use their products.But where each of these companies can plausibly say Its just business as they defend their cloud serverwhen their CEOs kiss the ring, and its very hard to escape Big Techs orbit, this is a fun but unnecessary product from a man with a specific point of view on weapons, war, and politics. Luckey has twice hosted fundraisers for Donald Trump (in 2020 and 2024) at his own house. He publicly expresses the fervent (and self-serving) belief that tech companies should get in bed with the military.For Luckey, its not just business, its personal. And weve heard loud and clear that its personal for many of our readers, too. Ive been testing the ModRetro Chromatic for over a month, and its very good. I believe its the best, most luxurious way to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. But if the goal is to restore and preserve our childhood nostalgia, the Luckey connection throws a wrench in the works. What youre about to read is a real review of an excellent product, one I genuinely enjoyed using but one that left me feeling somewhat tortured in the process.ModRetro Chromatic$199The GoodIncredible build qualityAuthentic Game Boy feel, right down to the screenGood battery lifeGood speakerUSB-C power tricksThe BadPalmer Luckey baggageA little cramped for big handsNo save states makes classic games less accessibleHeadphone jack needs more volumeDoesnt play GBA games$199 at ModRetro$199 at GameStopHow we rate and review productsFor Luckey, the Game Boy itself is personal. Its how he got his start. Before Anduril, before Facebook, before Oculus, Palmer Luckey was a teen who modded Nintendo Game Boys. ModRetro was the name of the very first thing he founded: an online forum for gaming hardware modders like himself.So as youd expect, his company has some strong ideas about what a modern Game Boy should look like.Where the $220 Analogue Pocket seeks to update the Game Boy experience for the present day with support for other handheld cartridges, ROMs, save states, a TV dock, and so on the Chromatic stays squarely rooted in the handhelds past. There are few modern amenities here. Its designed to feel like a vintage Game Boy, only now with the rough edges sanded off.Nintendos easy-to-scratch casings, screen lenses, and buttons? Theyre made of metal, sapphire, and PBT plastic now. Those hard-to-see screens? You now get a custom IPS display at the same size, resolution, and pixel structure as the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color, one so bright you can play in direct sunlight like we did back in the day. It does come, however, with a brand-new copy of Tetris that optionally adds T-Spins, instant drops, and the ability to hold pieces for later, modernizing the classic game that famously came bundled with the original.Direct sunlight on the Chromatics screen.At its heart, the Chromatic is an attempt to faithfully cross the original 1989 Game Boy with the 1998 Game Boy Color. Theres no SD card reader, no user-accessible operating system, no ability to add or play ROMs: when you slide the top-mounted power switch, it instantly boots your Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridge using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip that emulates an actual Game Boys processors. Like with the Analogue Pocket, the upshot is more responsive, quirk-free gameplay than software emulators allow.Im a parent, and I dont have time for this shit comes with the territory, so I immediately assumed I would miss save states, the feature that lets practically every video game emulator and retro handheld pause and resume your game at literally any moment.1/10Hardware comparison gallery: Chromatic next to the originals. (3D-printed stand designs by Joshnoodles.)1/10Hardware comparison gallery: Chromatic next to the originals. (3D-printed stand designs by Joshnoodles.)Then I fired up Pokmon Pinball on an Analogue Pocket, and found I was wrong. I was on a pokmon-catching roll like never before. I caught Charmander, my daughters favorite pokmon, and for the first time in Pinball, I evolved it into a Charmeleon, then a Charizard, all without losing my ball. The stakes were high, so I reflexively tapped the Save State shortcut so I could retry if I failed.Immediately, the pressure was off but I felt a chunk of my excitement vanish along with it. I caught those Pokemon fair and square without loading the save, but Id cheated myself of a pure victory, even if I didnt wind up cheating the game. When I stuck that same game back into the Chromatic, a handheld without save states, the excitement came back. This is the way the game is meant to be played, and those stakes are there by design. Thats the experience ModRetro wants you to have,and the only one youll get. Ditching that modern amenity is a choice, and it isnt for everyone.Chromatic vs. Analogue.Its just one of many ways the Chromatic feels more authentic. Even though its a mash-up of two different Game Boy models, it instantly feels familiar in ways the Analogue doesnt, from the sliding power switch and volume dial (the Analogue has you hold down closely spaced digital buttons and takes longer to start a game) to the button layout and feel.The Chromatic is basically the size of a Game Boy Color, with the same bulging battery compartment curve providing a rounded perch for your fingers to rest. But its clearly been designed for those who appreciate the original 1989 model too. Its got the originals iconic slanted, cake-sprinkle Start and Select buttons, its glossy domed A and B buttons, its larger D-pad, its more protected cartridge slot, and the rounded lower-right corners of its flat-faced chassis and cover glass. All of them bring me back to the handheld that made me a gamer.The D-pad and start/select have a very different texture, but they feel great.I wonder if they bring Luckey back to his early days, too. Because while ModRetro appears to have made a remarkably repairable handheld and is currently open-sourcing its CAD files and firmware, this bespoke device is not exactly what ModRetro was originally created to make.Luckey cut his teeth turning existing Game Boys and GameCubes into arguably better, more portable versions of themselves by reusing bits of old and new electronics. Its a lot of fun because its about taking old technology and then cutting out the old parts, replacing them with new parts and making it into something that was never possible before, he told Voices of VR in 2014. The ModRetro Chromatic is all custom, though, right down to its in-house screen.Palmer Luckey, age 16, with modded GB Pocket.Still, ModRetros original approach to development has been on display throughout Luckeys professional history. Luckeys key insight with the Oculus Rift was that low-cost smartphone components could finally make VR accessible, a belief he shared with researchers at the lab where he worked, too. Repurposed commercial supply chains are also Andurils pitch to become the worlds most efficient weapons manufacturer, so that the same processes used to build fiberglass bathtubs can just as easily be reconfigured to build missile airframes, as Tablet Magazine described it in August.With that approach, Anduril has rapidly built out an arsenal in just seven years, including multiple drones that can kill one is a loitering munition that remotely dive-bombs a target, another effectively a recoverable ground-to-air missile.When I look at the Chromatic and its prominent MODRETRO logo right above the screen, often I just see an excellent Game Boy. But sometimes I see the latest high-tech product from a man who makes high-tech missiles.At this point, you might be wondering: just how excellent is this hardware to justify all this soul-searching? Lets start with build quality:Its made of metal, not plastic, which can seem a little cold at first touch, but I cant overstate how solid and premium this gadget feels. The build is incredible.I even intentionally dropped a Chromatic twice onto concrete, from 4.5 feet, without destroying it. More on that in a sec.The battery latch is a physical spring-loaded lever, which takes a little getting used to, but has such a satisfying snap.Unlike every official Game Boy, theres no front speaker grille. But unlike all my official Game Boys, the bottom-facing speaker is loud, crisp, and clear.The Start/Select buttons are no longer pliable mushy rubber, but rather PBT plastic with the same firm clicky presses as A and B.The volume dial is big and easy to find and use by feel alone.The battery compartment is nearly the same thickness as the original Game Boys, giving it a beefier grip than any Game Boy since (though not quite enough for my friends with big hands).The D-pad, a bit of a sore spot for some Analogue Pocket enthusiasts because it can sometimes allow accidental inputs, feels tight and responsive almost too firm, mine wore in after many hours of play.When I tested it against an Analogue Pocket at the same brightness, using rechargeable AAs, the Chromatic lasted three entire hours longer. (You can watch a sped-up timelapse in my Today Im Toying With video.)I simply plug the Chromatic into USB if Im ever running low on charge at under three watts of power draw, any old port will do! I powered it from my phone.I could even hotswap AA batteries that way. Plug it in, swap AAs, unplug, all without losing my game.The Chromatics pixel-perfect screen isnt strictly necessary: I generally had just as good a time on the Analogue Pockets bigger, higher resolution display if I enabled the right filters and color palettes, though I did appreciate that the Chromatic got the Game Boy Color feel just right out of the box. The Chromatic even lets you summon green-tinted original Game Boy palettes by holding down buttons at boot.1/10Screen comparison gallery time! The Chromatics subpixels are visible in this macro image (though the yellows are a little yellower in real life). Tap this link for a larger image.1/10Screen comparison gallery time! The Chromatics subpixels are visible in this macro image (though the yellows are a little yellower in real life). Tap this link for a larger image.There are also some ways its not completely faithful to the original Game Boys, just FYI:Theres no longer a visible gap between the screen crystal and the LCD, and the screen is no longer a blank green or grey when powered off. Its a laminated black mirror like modern phones.While its largely the size of a Game Boy Color, its nearly as heavy as a fully loaded original Game Boy at 10 ounces (285g). Compare to 7.5oz / 212g for the Game Boy Color.Theres an extra button beneath the volume dial that lets you change brightness, turn on frame blending and USB color correction and thats about it for now.You get a Game Boy Color-sized Link Cable connector, but with the extra notch of the Game Boy Advances connector for potentially more compatibility with other Game Boy gadgets.You get two lanyard/charm holes, one on each side of the system, unlike the Colors one on the left.The battery compartment takes three AAs, not four or two.Theres no longer a red power LED staring you in the face, but rather a multicolor LED on the bottom that only turns on for boot, low battery, and charging.The Game Boy Color infrared ports been slightly moved to accommodate the power switch.The handheld comes with three AAs and a battery door that uses flexible fins to keep them from getting dislodged.And there were a few minor disappointments too. Mostly, I wish it worked a little better in quiet bedrooms and loud airplanes. The buttons and even the D-pad click louder than any of my old Game Boys, yet the 3.5mm headphone jack volume is the quietest of the pack. I could barely hear its chiptunes over the din of the plane, and I couldnt compensate with my noise-canceling Bose QC25 since the Chromatic doesnt have a four-pole headset jack.ModRetro also advertises the Chromatic as indestructible, and if that sounds like marketing bluster, youre at least half right. I dropped the Chromatic twice onto concrete, from 4.5 feet, and it came away with only minor dents, and I was impressed. But ModRetro also has a picture of the thing getting run over by a car. When I ran it over with my car, the screen shattered. The frame is now badly bent.I was also a tad disappointed to find the Chromatics USB-C port isnt as potent as promised. While the company advertised USB-C video output and even told me you could charge rechargeable AAs using the do-it-all port, it turns out the Chromatic can only present itself as a webcam for desktop-style video recording, and NiMH AA charging didnt make the cut. ModRetro CEO Torin Herndon, who was an engineer at Anduril from 2017 to 2021, tells me the company is beginning production on an optional rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, but wont talk price, capacity, or runtime just yet.That said, I actually find I prefer AAs. At 50 percent brightness far higher than I needed on the plane I saw over eight hours from a set of Ikea-branded Panasonic Eneloop rechargeables, or closer to seven hours from Amazon Basics alkalines. That same brand of alkalines gave me over 12 hours at the second-lowest brightness setting, the dimmest Id want to use in the daytime, and just under five hours at max brightness and max volume. And again, you can simply plug the Chromatic into a USB port if youre ever running low on charge, then drop in new AAs without losing your game.Yes, Im really powering the entire handheld from my flip phone.Theres really no question in my mind that this handheld is the best retro Game Boy yet made, the one that best captures the physical feeling I had playing Game Boy as a kid. I love remasters because they can let you recapture that childhood joy, playing with the Lego starship orFinal Fantasy game you think you remember instead of the one that actually existed.But I dont remember my childhood nostalgia coming with a side of possible guilt and fear about putting money into the pocket of a weapons contractor. Feels weird!Even practically, I wonder who, outside of a handful of 1989 handheld lovers like me, would want a handheld that just plays Game Boy and Game Boy Color carts. Many of the best games are expensive and hard to find in physical form Metal Gear Solid and the best Pokmon titles can easily command $100 each and itd be a more compelling gadget if it could play the arguably better library of Game Boy Advance titles as well. The Analogue Pocket does.The only way GBA carts fit in the Chromatic: sideways. ModRetro has said it wants to tackle the GBA separately.Luckey has said he wants to expand that original Game Boy library. Game developers never quite stopped making homebrew games for the Game Boy, and ModRetro is one of the few now publishing them on actual carts. Every Chromatic comes with a new copy of Tetris,already order 10 more titles, including a new version of Toki Tori and Tales of Monsterland, sequels to Traumatarium and In the Dark, and my personal favorite, the grindy JRPG DragonyhmThis chiptune in particular, Dragonhyms Gonrad Forest, captivated me at once:If you feel weird about ModRetro, you should know these games arent exclusive to the Chromatic, either they played perfectly well plugged into an Analogue Pocket or a Game Boy Color, and some even worked on my 1989 original. Some may be available to purchase as ROMs. If you just want to try them, many have playable demos you can try in an emulator, or even a web browser, like this:On a desktop, tap to focus; press Enter to start; use Z, B, and arrow keys to play.Its not clear to me how serious Luckey is about funding a new era of Game Boy. For one thing, the Chromatic is already sold out at his website, and he says he isnt making any more, but will focus on releasing new games while it builds something more sustainable in terms of hardware instead. (A grey Chromatic is still available at GameStop, for now.)Second, as far as I can tell, all of ModRetros games beyond Tetris were already in development; some, like Dragonyhm, were already headed to cartridge elsewhere. Developing new games isnt currently a company goal: We are typically looking for games deep in development at this time, and try to push them across the finish line into being a full-on physical good, Herndon tells me. He says ModRetro largely pays to create cartridges, boxes, and manuals, and gives developers a pretty awesome percentage of sales. The cartridges I tested including 11 from ModRetro itself.The pre-release carts that ModRetro sent me also had a couple issues that are hopefully getting ironed out: I mysteriously lost my entire save in In The Dark 2, and Traumatarium Penitent was missing a key bugfix the developer made almost a year ago. Toki Tori also booted into a full screen glitch the first few times I started it up, but it seems to be working now. Even when people love the idea of revisiting the Game Boy and supporting retro game development, I suspect most will see a $200 handheld that makes you individually swap pricy cartridges as a luxury they cant afford not when every iPhone and a mountain of Chinese emulator handhelds can play the same games, ones they can (illicitly) download for free.And if you find the Analogue Pocket isnt vintage enough for your tastes, you could always do what I just did and add a modern backlit screen to your genuine Nintendo Game Boy. It wont be pixel-perfect, but it might be good enough for me:This is one of the more difficult reviews Ive ever had to write, because I have no qualms recommending the ModRetro Chromatic on the strength of its hardware, which justifies its $200 price. It feels more like the Game Boy I remember than many of Nintendos actual handhelds when I pick them up today.But like the Tesla Cybertruck, its also very much the product of one person in particular, a person who stands for other things that might clash with your ideals, and it could wind up being a symbol that you dont terribly mind any of that, even if you actually do.Luckey recently told a Pepperdine University audience that its not a bad thing to celebrate the power of weapons, saying that societies have always needed a warrior class that is enthused and excited about enacting violence on others in pursuit of good aims, and that you need people like me who are sick in that way and who dont lose any sleep making tools of violence. He explained that his company is named Anduril after Aragorns sword in The Lord of the Rings partly because that sword was inherentlyReal life contains no inherently good drones or inherently good missiles. And two major throughlines of Tolkiens work are that war is hideous and that power inevitably corrupts. The joy I find playing with fake swords in the ModRetro Chromatic is now weirdly intertwined with a general fear: that Andurils real weapons might be misused. I wont suggest that niche $200 Game Boys are actually funding those weapons in any meaningful way, but these still arent emotions I associate with my childhood Nintendo experience.That means the Chromatic isnt the ultimate Game Boy, even if it has the best build quality and the best screen. Theres still room for a better pair of rose-tinted glasses than the ones Luckey has paid to create.Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge
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