Confused/intimidated by the sheer number of backlight kits now? I don’t blame you. I had to create an image based guide just to keep everything straight myself. There’s a new section of the wiki that has a more subjective look at all the different kits: Backlight Mods (please give feedback here)

This section has been merged with the “Consoles” pages for better organization. Please go there instead as this page will be deleted eventually.

Contents

• Games

• Common issues that affect multiple systems

• Original Game Boy (DMG)

• Game Boy Pocket (MGB)

• Game Boy Light (MGL)

• Game Boy Color (CGB)

• Game Boy Advance (AGB)

• Game Boy Advance SP (AGS)

• Game Boy Micro (OXY)

• Other Game Boy Consoles (Macro)

commonmods

Common Mods

The Game Boy community has one of the largest modding communities out of other retro gaming communities. Mods are simply any modifications to the Game Boy system to change it from stock. They can be simple or complex. The most popular modifications add light to the screens of the older Game Boy systems that relied on external light to be seen or even retrofit a newer screen into the console. Other popular mods include painting systems for a custom look, adding rechargeable batteries to systems that didn’t have it, clearing up the fuzzy sound, or even speeding up and slowing down games. Some modders want lots of mods in their systems, some only want one or two. Whatever your preference, there are a lot of experienced modders here on discord happy to help when you run into trouble. For some of the more popular system specific mods, see below. Not all consoles are listed because not all consoles have mod kits available. Not all mod kits are listed either but submit a pull request (here) to correct this. Some kits may have generic versions or may be acquired through less than legitimate channels. Where applicable, the legitimate source for these kits is what is listed.

Items in this section apply to all consoles or otherwise don’t fit into one of the sections this page is split in to.

• Backlighting the console. Early consoles are hard to see at night without a worm light. Now we have great backlight kits available for all consoles. But this needs its own section.

• Shell, button, and lens swaps. Want to completely change the look of your console? Theme your console to match your favorite show? Check the vendors section for all the current reputable sources.

• How to reverse shell discoloration (works also for clear consoles!) Retrobrite (retr0brite) is a solution you can make at home from easily sourced materials. There are tons of recipes and how-to videos on the internet about this stuff but if you want to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) Check out these videos and you should get good results. Guide Detailed information Instructables Works on carts too. Video

• Spray painting the console (there are many different ways of doing this, worth a quick google!) – Written guide/Step by step image guide/Video Guide

• Spray painting clear consoles from the inside. Here is the inspiration! (credit to /u/kemakill)

• LED in game cartridge – Video Guide

• Tetris logo lit up on cartridge – Step by step guide

• Batteryless saving for original Game Boy games (SRAM -> FRAM) - Thread with more info

• Batteryless saving for Game Boy Advance games (SRAM -> FRAM, does NOT apply to Pokemon) - Youtube video