by There are so many great games in the Game Boy library, but sometimes the small screen doesn’t do them justice. It’s nice to sit back and relax while you play games instead of being hunched over on a handheld.
There are a lot of options to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on modern LCD and LED TVs, but the options are less clear when it comes to old-school CRT TVs. And that’s a shame because Game Boy games actually look terrific when they are displayed on a CRT TV in 240p.
That’s why we put together a list of three different ways that you can play Game Boy games on a CRT TV.
The Best Option: Playing Game Boy Games on an N64
If you don’t have a physical collection of Game Boy cartridges and only want to play roms of Game Boy games on your CRT TV, then the best option is undoubtedly the Nintendo 64. The requirements for this option are an N64 and an Everdrive.
All you need to do is use a simple online tool to convert Game Boy or Game Boy Color roms into N64 roms. After that, you can just plop the files into your Everdrive and play them. The games look absolutely gorgeous if you use this method because the N64 will display the games in a 240p resolution without any additional modifications (unlike with the GameCube’s Game Boy player).
This method is fast, cheap, easy, and easily displays the best results. But if you want to enhance your experience even more, you might consider RGB modding your N64, which would allow you to use HD Retrovision SNES component cables. The end result would make your games look gorgeous on a CRT TV.
The Collector’s Option: Playing Game Boy Games With the GameCube Game Boy Player
If you have a huge collection of physical Game Boy cartridges, you’ll likely be more inclined to use the GameCube Game Boy Player. With the Game Boy Player disc and attachment, you can easily use your Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games with your GameCube. However, there are a few things to note.
By default, the GameCube will only output 480i or 480p to a CRT TV via the Game Boy player. If you’re not sure what that means, don’t worry; the main point is that it’s not the ideal experience and your games will end up looking blurrier than you’d prefer. For the best possible experience with the Game Boy player, you’ll want it to output 240p.
So then, what are the options for those seeking the best possible experience with the GameCube Game Boy Player? The most popular option would be to use the Game Boy Interface. However, most installation methods require either an SD Media Launcher or an SD Card Adapter, which might be too involved for some users. If you want to dive into it further, here are some installation methods.
The Economic Option: Playing Game Boy Games With a Modded Wii
The Wii can be a nice emulation device with no additional hardware needed. You can easily load up emulators on your Wii after going through the process of installing the Homebrew Channel (there are a million YouTube videos going over this process if you need help).
The Wii also has the added bonus of supporting component video natively, which means that your games will look pretty good on a CRT with a component cable. While it’s not necessary to use component cables, you might as well pick them up for relatively cheap on Amazon if your particular TV supports it.
So what’s the catch then? The only catch is that you will have to load up your Game Boy games through an emulator like Visual Boy Advance or Enchanced mGBA, which might have some stability or compatibility issues with certain games. Additionally, the Wii will not output 240p by default, so you may need to adjust some settings in your emulator to get it looking as best as possible.
