ModRetro Chromatic Review
How is this so dang good?
Retail Price: $199.99
I did not expect that in a market full of attractive retro emulation consoles, that I would be applauding a cartridge loading Game Boy as one of my favorite devices to use. And yet that’s exactly how I feel about the ModRetro Chromatic. I have a drawer full of devices to review like the TrimUI Brick, yet I can’t stop myself from pulling the Chromatic back out and logging another few hours into it. So why does this pink Game Boy have such a strong hold over me? Let’s look into it.
A Dedicated Game Boy
I’ll be honest, I originally purchased the Chromatic specifically for the new version of Tetris made by ModRetro. That means I was essentially willing to pay $199 for a new Game Boy Tetris game and the console it came with was just a bonus. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense to a majority of people, but as a huge Tetris player, I really wanted what actually turned out to be what I think is the best version of mobile Tetris ever made. I just couldn’t stop playing it.
It didn’t take long at all before I found myself unable to set the Chromatic down either. It feels so good to hold in the hand that everything else I’ve gripped since pales in comparison. It all comes down to proportions. ModRetro deviates from a lot of retro emulation consoles that are basically flat backs and flat surfaces all around. The Chromatic takes a page out of the classic handhelds and bulks up the device in certain spots, specifically in the battery compartment area where the hands rest. The smooth curved compartment bulges out in an accommodating manner that allows for the user’s fingers to comfortably wrap around the portable console. I’m not exaggerating when I say I can hold this thing for hours without feeling discomfort. It makes the Analogue Pocket feel like a stiff wash rack by comparison.
Physically, the Chromatic is made from a magnesium alloy shell that seems durable for the long run. The paint coating gives off a matte sheen that doesn’t retain grimy fingerprints on the surface. The company leaned in heavily on playful colorways and my Bubblegum pink with Japanese markings is a clear illustration of that. When purchasing every Chromatic, you are offered an option to choose English or Japanese markings on the buttons. There are literally only 4 buttons, with the A and B being pretty self explanatory, and the Select and Start locations in their standard positions. If you choose Japanese like me, there really isn’t much translation needed to operate the Chromatic.
Those PBT buttons have the right amount of clickiness under them to feel satisfying to play on. I like the glossy finish on the A and B buttons as they add a different texture that stands out from the rest of the device. The volume scroll wheel on the side of the frame as well as the on and off toggle at top both feel like proper manual switches that used to appear on classic devices. Power buttons and volume toggles nowadays are an after thought in design language for mobile consoles. The speaker module is a single channel but does get relatively loud while maintaining a solid wholesome filling sound.
Every Chromatic comes with the new Tetris game
So You Don’t Have To
One of the big marketing sells for the Chromatic is that the 2.56”, 160 x 144p IPS display is made from sapphire crystal which helps with resisting scratches. That along with the magnesium alloy shell body makes the Chromatic a rather premium offering in the Game Boy space. This nifty little handheld isn’t emulating Game Boy or Game Boy Color roms, it actually uses FPGA architecture to legitimately play those cartridges. It’s essentially a brand new Game Boy, but not made by Nintendo. FPGA retro gaming has gathered quite a following in recent years as purists enjoy reliving their childhood classic games as accurately as possible.
This is further excelled with backwards compatible link cable and IR link support. That means the Chromatic will play nicely with actual Nintendo Game Boy Colors and other link support compatible consoles. That’s awesome and opens up a wide world of possibilities for mixing and matching player bases and their classic devices.
Large Community
Game Boy Color modders commonly add a backlit display and rechargeable battery
The Chromatic’s backlit display is a step way above a vanilla Game Boy Color, but is far from the crisp displays of a lot of emulation handhelds. Still, it does retain the proper sharpness and clarity to give players a genuine upgrade over a vanilla Game Boy experience. This console doesn’t actually have much in terms of customization that can be done to the playing experience. For the display, we are given the option to use frame blending that is a 3:1 ratio, adjust the display’s brightness, and a toggle for turning color correction on or off. That’s really all there is to it in terms of options. Regardless of the lack of screen alteration, I find the colors to be crisp and vibrant and it really gives old games a bit of new life. It’s basically a high quality modded Game Boy Color that you can purchase without needing to mod yourself.
Batteries Galore
Another interesting classic touch to the Chromatic is that it uses three AA batteries to operate. There’s something oddly satisfying and nostalgic about popping in batteries to play a Game Boy. The problem with that is that you’re going to be tossing out batteries pretty quickly as the console drains really quickly. For some reason, fresh batteries don’t appear to be full when they’re inserted into the Chromatic. I averaged around 4 to 5 hours of gameplay on a set of batteries during my review period with the console on lower brightness settings. I was hoping for a bit longer battery life especially since these are disposable batteries.
ModRetro will eventually sell a rechargeable lithium ion battery pack that can be inserted into the Chromatic’s battery compartment, but as of publishing of this review, it still remains nowhere to be found with no updates from the company. I’ve gone through a few cycles of AA batteries already and while it was initially refreshing to use batteries again, it’s way more convenient to charge via USB-C (when available).
You can also play the console tethered to a USB-C cable if you don’t have spare batteries with you. Keep in mind that the rechargeable battery will be an added cost for potential buyers whereas other emulation consoles have that ability built in. Even many Game Boy Color modders have opted to transition from disposable batteries to rechargeable builds. A bit of an odd choice by ModRetro here.
So while the Chromatic may feel and operate like an original Game Boy Color with a backlit display, it’s so much more than that. This is a modern piece of technology with a lot of performance power. Since it isn’t an emulation console, you can expect the cartridges to play exactly as they were intended to. There’s no frame drops or concerns about aspect ratio adjustments. This is a Game Boy through and through. There’s something extremely satisfying about just having a traditional handheld experience that we were accustomed to in the 1990’s without the need for setup or menu navigation that we’ve become so reliant on. There’s no frontend interface. There’s no backend option menus. It’s a pop-a-cartridge in and play kind of time with the Chromatic.
ModRetro Chromatic on the left and Analogue Pocket on the right
An Enthusiast Masterpiece
But because it is 2025 and we have a wide range of products on the market to enhance our classic games, the ModRetro Chromatic has a lot of added benefits when paired with other products on the market. The Epilogue GB Operator is an almost perfect companion to the Chromatic. I’ve been using this to save and backup cartridge rom saves onto my PC. The Chromatic can also transmit lagless video output through the USB-C port to a PC. That’s something that needs additional tweaking if modding a Game Boy Color.
So who exactly is the ModRetro Chromatic for? Unlike an emulation device where gamers dump their library of roms into a microSD card, the Chromatic only plays cartridges and there are no additional storage slots. Flash cartridges are an option, but I surmise a majority of casual gamers looking to experience their childhood favorite games would just go with an emulation console route.
The emulation experience for GB and GBC are so good now that I would say it rivals a legitimate cartridge play-through. For the purists out there, a modded Game Boy Color with a backlit display and a lithium ion battery aren’t too expensive to acquire, but they do require a little DIY touch. On the other hand, the other big FPGA cartridge name on the market is the Analogue Pocket, which is more expensive, but does allow users to upload roms onto a microSD card for expanded use.
What I do know is that the ModRetro Chromatic is the most comfortable Game Boy form factor I have held in my hands. I enjoy the playful aesthetics of the design language, but the build quality and the comfortability are what sold me. There’s certainly a competitive market for modded Game Boy consoles, but I think the Chromatic still fits well into that segment. Ultimately, it’s still a niche space and I don’t foresee ModRetro becoming a mass market name like what Analogue has somewhat garnered in reputation to gamers. Still, the Chromatic definitely deserves respect for throwing out a spectacular first hardware product.
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