Fun fact: Another Wayforward GBC game, Wendy Every Witch Way, also got a GBA enhanced mode. With it, you get access to an exclusive set of Advanced Levels where the gimmick is the level fades in and out as you navigate through.
The real reason for the palette change is that the GBA screen is much darker than the GBC screen was. Nintendo, in all their wisdom, put the burden on the game to check if it was running on GBA and correct the palette instead of correcting it in hardware. You're not supposed to view them side by side like that. Rather, the aim was to match the color palette so it looked the same on both systems even though their LCD screens were different. Doing it this way instead of in hardware also did mean that only games released after the GBA had an opportunity to apply this correction. Of course, being able to detect that the game was running on GBA also meant that you could add easter eggs and other bonuses for GBA as well, which some GBC games released after the GBA did.
Actually, the DS has a solid piece of plastic where that switch would be, so pre-GBA games literally can't fit in the slot. (The GBA Micro has it too.)
@@m2pt5 kinda like how NA snes n64 has tab to prevent playing imports but if you remove the tabs you can play Japanese imports. hearing mvg explain that it literally has gbc hardware in a gba to switch it back and fourth was cool to hear
@@kickflipdemon I guess in this case is different as the NDS probably pumps always 3.3v so even after removing that plastic rail it wouldn't boot the cartridge
@@m2pt5 Correct and you could actually play gb games on the ds after filling down that piece of plastic. However due to software limitations on the ds most gb games would throw a cartridge read error on the ds.
"How the Game Boy Advance knew it was running a Game Boy Game" -Ooh! I wonder what technical trick they used to pull this off! "It was shaped different" -oh
I never realized that a simple switch in the GBA cartridge slot did so much to allow the system to switch between GBA and the GBC hardware. Shows how simple yet complex Nintendo was with their systems.
I knew this switch. I played around with it a bit. I was young. I somewhat understood it but I don't exactly remember what I expected it to do when I modified the cartridge of a duplicate GB game to not push it.
I mean you can see some of that thinking in the Switch. The Joycons are a complex feat of design, but the key of the conversion into a home console is a simple box of plastic with a few ports.
In all honesty I didn't know there were and GBC games that were enhanced in this way. It certainly wasn't advertised in any magazines that I am aware of here in the UK at the time.
@@David-nd4to I would not be suprised, if even creators didn't know about them. I clearly see test reports "wierd icon is showing on menu when plugged in GBA"
yeah i played Ages and Seasons for the first time couple months ago and was like wth when I went to a shop called the gba shop and the npc telling me it only exists when played on a GBA.
I had the Zelda Oracle games as a kid as well as a GBC and GBA so I knew about these games having GBA-enhanced features. Speaking of them, I'm currently replaying Oracle of Ages.
Like I have commented before. I simply love that you go into deep hardware and software dives. This is the way my brain works too and always have to know why and you give me that. Thanks for the videos. Keep them coming
I'm very similar, I'm the type who always wonders these things yet I don't have the ability to understand them myself. I appreciate MVG explaining things in a way my little brain can understand.
Expanding the team... This video made me feel more complete and happier. It's incredible the big amount of work and creativity the engineers and programmers put into the games we enjoyed to play.
MVG, I've been following for a couple of years now. I tune in for videos like these. You go far beyond what most people are capable of, because of your dev background. Seeing your unique perspective is really cool. Your production quality and professionalism is also second to none. Love your content. Keep rocking!
I'm far from an electronics expert but let's suppose that switch gets stuck or damaged and it delivers 5 volts to a 3.3v GBA cartridge - did they have some over voltage protection on those carts or is it not enough of a difference to damage them?
A lot of 3.3v electronics like microcontrollers tolerate 5v as Ryan said. Even if not, any damage would need time to build heat, which wouldn't happen since you can't play the game that way.
@@wistals3deniks I believe some later GBA games let you pick between a brighter or dimmer palette, after the GBA SP was released. The brighter colors in, say, the GBA port of Super Mario World were indeed a way to make the games more visible on the dark screen.
The change is specifically to make it look good on the GBA screen. GBA backwards compatibility with GBC has somewhat notoriously bad conversion of colors, often looking muddy.
So if I understand this correctly, the "GBA Enhancements" aren't actually giving you anything more in terms of system features/performance - the game is still running on a GameBoy Color, no extra access to the GBA's RAM or CPU, and so it's only really useful to adjust for the two different screens? Does that mean that Shantae's Tinkerbat transformation could have worked on the GBC perfectly fine? (Not criticizing, just wondering why it was GBA-only if the GBA-Enhanced mode doesn't give any extra horsepower)
You're understanding it right, yeah. The transformation would've and has worked on gbc just fine, there's patches for it too. It was probably just something extra as an incentive to upgrade or something.
FYI, there's actually rom hacks for Zelda, Shantae, and Wendy on GBC, that add the GBA enhancements (and light color palette) into the GBC games. It essentially just enables GBA mode, but it's still a GBC game and can be played on a real GBC using a flash cart or reproduction cartridge. There's also rom hacks for those games to re-do the palette back to default while keeping the GBA features. So yeah, those GBA enhanced GBC games work fine on a real GBC.
I think part of it is also that, on the non-backlit screen of the original GBA, a brighter color palette made it easier to see things. As to why that wasn't just the default version on GBC as well (since it also does not have a backlit screen) and why it has exclusive content on GBA, they probably wanted them to look differently to more easily be able to say that playing on GBA has advantages.
I would love to see a dive in the strangeness that is the 3DS GBA support as how it's done catches a lot of people off guard when they look into it. Really wish Nintendo would of made more use of the feature.
Isn't it just using the gba processor on the 3ds? IIRC they had to keep that processor on so that the DS games worked, so they used it for native GBA support
@@ssg-eggunner actually the GBA wasn't actually built on top of the gameboy color while the DS was built on top of the GBA and the 3DS was built on top of the DS
Actually this is probably why they didn’t include backwards compatibility in the Game Boy Micro because it would take up a lot of space even though Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges fit in there
While the Micro doesn't have the cartridge switch or other 5v hardware needed to use a GBC cartridge its CPU actually still has the GBC compatibility mode. I've seen a demo online where somebody was able to create a homebrew program which switched the CPU mode. It's interesting from a technical standpoint but practically useless because without the extra hardware you can only get the GBC's startup screen.
When sitting my ass down for the night to watch some vids I was presented with about 8 new notifications for new vids from people I really like. MVG wasn’t even considered anything but first. Really look forward to these, you’re doing a fantastic job, and all the work is greatly appreciated. Thanks man.
To this day, the gameboy colour had two technical advancements which never saw the light of day. 1) resident evil port (unreleased) 2) metal slug clone called 'terrifying 9/11' The metal slug clone had outrageous content, but the gameplay was just too good and easily maxed the gameboy colour performance
@@martinantelo7086 you can get the rom. Apologies got the name wrong it's called 'terrifying 9/11'. Definitely worth a watch on TH-cam. Of course ignore the cut scenes
It has been speculated that "terrifying 9/11" was actually an unreleased port of metal slug that had its code sold off and then modified with that strange 9/11 theme after the fact, rather than just being a clone with bizarre theme
Has anyone else noticed very specific recurring awkward phrasing in these videos? It's very common for MVG to say the redundant set of phrases "By doing x, means y", instead of "By doing x, y" or "Doing x means y". For example, at 10:07, you hear "By taking advantage of different initialized registers when the Game Boy Color is powered on in GBA mode, means that it is possible to check and apply enhancements to the game for the Game Boy Advance only," when one of the following would be more correct: - "Taking advantage of different initialized registers [....] means that it is possible to apply enhancements..." - "By taking advantage of different initialized registers[,] [...] it is possible to check and apply enhancements..." The content is always great though, thank you.
Fascinating. Always wondered how the Advance recognized GB cartridges, or Color as well. The library, and accessibility was amazing. Also it's awesome to know the same hardware was built into the GB Player (which you covered several videos ago) I'm curious, if every game is ported to the Switch. Using this system. It is possible for the entire library to be playable. Btw your work with Shantae, the Switch port was fantastic.
Killer Instinct was one of the best and most heavily underrated titles ever. What a shame though, I prefer KI to MK and SF. That combo and breaker system 👌
@@PinkBunnyCorporation nothing to stop them adding a single feature for egba , just to achieve sticker on box and actually just have the same game underneath it for the same cost. That would be the best of both worlds. Many games did do this probably most of the better ones.
Getting both types of catrtidges to run reliably without a physical switch would have required one more voltage regulator or some high-side switches, and a new 3V3 pin in the socket, and i'm not sure there was a robust way to accomplish that. The fundamental problem why you can't just probe both cartridge types only digitally is that they need different voltages, 5V supply for GB/GBC and 3V3 for GBA. Manufacture of higher voltage ROM chips and other chips was becoming no longer viable.
It's trivial to let a CPU control a regulated voltage. Just connect a digital output to the gate of a small MOSFET which then switches a resistor in parallel with the voltage setting resistor. But I guess it's cheaper and smaller to use the physical switch.
@@nicholasvinen you can control the voltage with the CPU, but how do you decide which voltage you need beforehand? Startup of a 5V cartridge on 3V3 can be unreliable and 5V to 3V3 cartridge is rude, especially EEPROM chips don't really like that, it's not instant death but it's out of spec enough that you shouldn't be doing that in a shipped product, it could lead to data loss.
the Oracle series keeps blowing my mind, at first I thought it was just 2 separate games, then I learned they were each other's sequel, then I learned they were the prequel to Link's Awakening, then I discovered all the rings and secrets, and now I hear they work differently on the GBA. Insane.
It's because the GBA had a darker screen. Make the palette lighter and it looks the same between GBA and GBC (assuming you were to look at then using real hardware)
Nah, it also gives you small little gameplay enhancements. Shantae gives you an extra dance and the two Zelda games give you an extra shop. But it _mostly_ means "terrible screen mitigation mode"
@MHzBurglar I do the same. I have Shantae and Oracle of Ages/Seasons patched for both GBA Enhanced and original color palettes for use with Backlit GBC, IPS GBA, and AGS101 systems. I also patched the 3DS virtual console version the same way so I have the “enhancements” on 3DS.
II love how simple and elegant the solution was. As a kid, I never gave a second thought to the GBA being able to play GB games, after all it was also a gambeboy.
wouldn't be surprised if they originally wanted to use the vcc as a way to tell the carts apart. attempt to read cart at 3.3V. if success must be gba if not gbc, but i'd guess that some gbc carts would work with only 3.3V so a different method was needed
Or if a GBA game has dirty contacts initially. The GBA tried to read, fails, switches to 5v and now has better contact for some reason and then slowly toasts the cartridge with 5V VCC. The higher the voltage, the "better" it can" travel" bad contacts (lower efficiency though). It might not die instantly in most cases, but the heat could cause damage over time. Some people here reported playing GBA Games at 5V in i.e Retrode consoles by accident, without problems gameplay-wise. Original Hardware wouldn't be able to boot the game when set to wrong voltage, due to CPU checking the register, and switching to Sharp CPU. This results in the Gameboy most likely being switched off after few seconds, so no harm to the cartridge. This is clearly an edge case, but Nintendo planned to ship Millions of Millions of these to the hands of kids, so they should be as robust as possible
@@SRC267 Greggs sausage rolls non soggy for £1 yes please 👍 Tell you what England is the best country on Earth, we have tea we have pork based snacks. Oh yeah baby we got Dem good goods 😎
I love your channel. These detailed overviews you give really crank up my strong desire to learn programming and coding. But I always get stuck and can't figure out solutions, so I set it aside and give up.
Probably the developers didn't bother. When the GBA was released, many just moved on to the new portable and didn't release a lot of games for the old GB/GBC.
These 'GBA Enhanced' features are just a gimmick, it's an example of developers artificially limiting games when run on the older platform. There isn't any additional hardware functionality accessible to GBC games when run on the GBA. This is in contrast to DMG games which can and often do take advantage of the upgraded hardware when running on a GBC.
It does, and intentionally so. The original GBA had the same sort of screen as the GBC, but the GBC was washed out in comparison and the GBA was harder to see well without great lighting. Using a washed out color palette made it look more how it did on a GBC. Of course this backfired with the GBA SP and especially the "brighter screen" AGS-101 revision of it, which make GBC games look superb but these ones now look washed out.
It's the front light modification he has on his unit, the white light reflects off the screen since it was originally designed to be somewhat reflective to catch the surrounding light because the original unit didn't have a lit up screen. A backlit screen like an AGS-101 or an IPS wouldn't have the same issues.
GBA was my first handheld and it Was amazing so much great memories. Even now from time to time i get back to Megaman battle network series and Pokemon. I remember that i use backwards compatybility alot with GB/GBC Pokemon games. Because of it discover Pokemon Trading Card game (hidden gem in my opinion) and my favorite Pokemon game to this day - Pokemon Crystal version.
Should explain how you patch code to work on these types of systems or "rom hack" or how to look at code, video memory and so on. And how to look at memory in the game.
I like to watch these videos with friends around and every so often nod my head and let out little "hmm"s. Maybe even sometimes exclaiming "Oh! Thats how they did it. I understand." I don't understand. But still, I love to try and learn.
DS Download Play uses RSA to make sure the downloaded game is licensed by Nintendo. For some reason DS cartridges weren't RSA verified until the DSi, which allowed for the R4 epidemic
It's a physical switch inside the cartridge slot that the GBC cartridges push and the GBA cartridges don't. I'm interested to see how the GBA tells GBC games that "hey, I'm a GBA, unlocked the 'advanced' content" though because I don't have a clue how that works.
Hmm, okay. I think I get it. Also I never knew that the Oracle games got a new palette, I thought it was just the Advanced Shop. I had no idea I was looking at stupidly bright colors all those times I played those games on my GBA SP.
I see that lovely backlit screen. I also did this to my GBA. Such an improvement. Anyway it was extremely interesting to see how the console detected how it knew what games it was playing.
I realized the switch when I was younger. Fun fact, you can trip the switch without connecting the pins and make the Nintendo logo black like it was a gameboy color.
One of my favourite bits of trivia for the GB/A. I knew about the hardware switch before because of how the gba micro couldn't play original gameboy games, but I didn't know it went this deep
What was the idea behind the alternate color palettes for GBA-mode games? Were those colors just better suited for the GBA's vs GBC's screen hardware? Or was there an artistic element to it?
That's because the enhanced mode is merely a palette swap, it makes everything look brighter on the GBA's dim screen. Shantae's skin tone looks way off if played on an emulator because it's not meant to be played that way. The only reason that makes it worth it to play the enhanced mode is the additional transformation, which... isn't even hardware related actually. It was just a marketing scheme to make people buy a GBA.
So the "GBA Enhancements" were really just a colour palette to better suit the GBA's new screen and unlocking some extras in the game which could have run on the original hardware. Probably at least sold a few extra copies to folk who just bought a GBA though I guess...
This was probably the most awkward description I've heard you give in one of your videos. From the comments, it looks like it left plenty of people confused as to what "enhancement" actually meant. Shantae's code doing math on the value of B is irrelevant to the flag itself, you can simply check for B=1. You over-complicated the description with extraneous info. Here's a clearer description: "The Gameboy game code can detect it's running on a GBA because the Gameboy boot ROM leaves the registers in a specific state. The game code can do whatever it wants with that information. In most cases, palettes used for games are adjusted to match the color response curves of the GBA LCD. In some instances, it's used as a GBA sales promotion tool: get exclusive features unlocked if you buy a GBA! It does not, however, give the Gameboy program access to any useful GBA hardware features. Also, various Gameboy models have differing initial data in their registers to such a degree that the code can tell if it's on an original Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, Super Gameboy 1, Super Gameboy 2, Gameboy Color, and GBA. This is how dual-mode mono/color games in the black cartridges tell which version of the code to run. Fun fact: the color-only games don't have a power-switch notch like the mono/dual-mode games did, but if you defeat that notch and run a color-only game on a mono Gameboy, the games are supposed to display a message stating they can only be played on a Gameboy Color."
All of those palette brightening “enhancements” are redundant with the sp and now the ips screen. Someone should make patches that add the extras but ignore the color changes
@@pacomatic9833 From experience, the AGS-101 can't turn off the backlight completely, it only cycles between two brightness levels. Can't say if the AGS-001 (the frontlit model) works the same, though.
20 years later and the GBA still kicks ass. Feel old anyone? I love the original GBA though. Because when you have a good light source, is actually fun to play. And the original design though is so comfortable.
Correct. The GBA will boot up in GBC mode, acting as a GBC with no cartridge inserted. I know this because I tried this when I was younger. My GBA game wasn't damaged but I was probably just lucky.
@@savok_diky that is correct, this actually happened with one of my cartridges, it was Metroid prime fusion. I put the cartridge in to play the game, but instead of booting up normally it booted into game boy color mode. I was able to unstick the switch and get it working but my Metroid cartridge doesn't work anymore ☹️.
The only problem there is that it assumes tolerances on the hardware in the cart that might not be accurate. Newer hardware could plausibly function at lower voltages, and that would be bad. A physical switch is a more reliable solution. The alternative is to start up in a legacy mode and negotiate with the cart to figure out what mode it should run in, but that assumes that Nintendo built such a mechanism into the OG Gameboy, and is also a vector for exploitation.
I remember a few years back the gameboy switch on my GBA SP from my childhood was somehow flipped to on constantly, and I had to look up a fix for it, and saw youtube videos saying "flip this switch and it's fixed." Anyways, great video as always MVG.
Nah. There's a few other small changes. The Zelda Oracle games adds a GBA-exclusive shop. Shantae gets an exclusive GBA transformation. And Wendy Every Witch Way gets a few extra levels. Mind you though, the GBA isn't adding any of it. It's all in the GBC game by default. It's just disabled until it's plugged into a GBA. It's like, a single line of code that tells the game whether it's on a GBC or GBA. There's rom hacks that force GBA mode, and they play just fine on a real GBC.
@@axelprino Yeah pretty much. At least for Game Boy, I don't think it was intended to be douche-y. I think it was just meant to be an incentive to buy a GBA. Except they didn't really advertise the feature anywhere, so it didn't work. People bought the GBA anyway, but still.
that was mostly to make it look better on the screen of GBA that was different from the screen of GBC, looks washed up on an emulator, but not on the actual physical screen
The development team was instructed by Satoru Okada to get the system to boot in GBC mode simply using software, but when this wasn't possible, he instructed them to use a switch instead. I don't remember the source of this, but I think it was in an Iwata Asks interview.
Aww, I was hoping you'd cover the Super Gameboy borders & enhancements some games got, too, and if there was any possible way to hack in something like DK'94's SGB color mode when using a GBC or GBA. Maybe an idea for a future video?
TL;DR on booting up in GB mode, the GBA sets the B register to 1 instead of 0, and a game checks that, and that's it. I mean I like these videos, normally, but god he dragged it out a bit.
@Nobody comments are not funny you troglodyte that's the thing - they do not! Merch is a HUGE part of their revenue. If they continue to coast on making good original games and treat their fans like shit, that is gonna decline. I love them and that's why I hold them to fucking standards. Compared to the 3DS/Wii U and early switch era, what we're seeing now is unacceptable. I appreciate they're huge which is why I've put a timescale on their decline. They're not gonna go bankrupt or anything but nobody is immune to a fall from grace.
That's because you're looking at it on an emulator. The palette changes were meant to adjust for the different color gamuts of the two consoles' displays.
Fun fact: Another Wayforward GBC game, Wendy Every Witch Way, also got a GBA enhanced mode. With it, you get access to an exclusive set of Advanced Levels where the gimmick is the level fades in and out as you navigate through.
The real reason for the palette change is that the GBA screen is much darker than the GBC screen was. Nintendo, in all their wisdom, put the burden on the game to check if it was running on GBA and correct the palette instead of correcting it in hardware. You're not supposed to view them side by side like that. Rather, the aim was to match the color palette so it looked the same on both systems even though their LCD screens were different. Doing it this way instead of in hardware also did mean that only games released after the GBA had an opportunity to apply this correction.
Of course, being able to detect that the game was running on GBA also meant that you could add easter eggs and other bonuses for GBA as well, which some GBC games released after the GBA did.
No
@@Einar730 yes
@@Gameboygenius No
@@MN12BIRD No
@@Einar730 Then what's the reason for the palette change, then?
love how this answers why the ds couldn't play gb games on the gba slot and why you need separate ever drive for gbc and gba
Actually, the DS has a solid piece of plastic where that switch would be, so pre-GBA games literally can't fit in the slot. (The GBA Micro has it too.)
@@m2pt5 kinda like how NA snes n64 has tab to prevent playing imports but if you remove the tabs you can play Japanese imports. hearing mvg explain that it literally has gbc hardware in a gba to switch it back and fourth was cool to hear
@@kickflipdemon I guess in this case is different as the NDS probably pumps always 3.3v so even after removing that plastic rail it wouldn't boot the cartridge
@@kickflipdemon that’s also true of the SNES. didn’t know the N64 did the same thing.
@@m2pt5 Correct and you could actually play gb games on the ds after filling down that piece of plastic. However due to software limitations on the ds most gb games would throw a cartridge read error on the ds.
How does Shantae know? She's a genie, that's how.
Shantae: RISCy's revenge
And the oracles are well oracles
So I guess if they made a Baby Shark game for GBC... They could use a GAME SHARK ;) LOL
Only half genie though
Or maybe if they make sports games on GBC.. you know how there's instant replay features with sports? What if... You used an ACTION Replay instead ;)
"How the Game Boy Advance knew it was running a Game Boy Game"
-Ooh! I wonder what technical trick they used to pull this off!
"It was shaped different"
-oh
I never realized that a simple switch in the GBA cartridge slot did so much to allow the system to switch between GBA and the GBC hardware. Shows how simple yet complex Nintendo was with their systems.
I knew this switch. I played around with it a bit. I was young. I somewhat understood it but I don't exactly remember what I expected it to do when I modified the cartridge of a duplicate GB game to not push it.
I mean you can see some of that thinking in the Switch. The Joycons are a complex feat of design, but the key of the conversion into a home console is a simple box of plastic with a few ports.
In all honesty I didn't know there were and GBC games that were enhanced in this way. It certainly wasn't advertised in any magazines that I am aware of here in the UK at the time.
They probably didn’t know this either haha
@@David-nd4to I would not be suprised, if even creators didn't know about them. I clearly see test reports "wierd icon is showing on menu when plugged in GBA"
yeah i played Ages and Seasons for the first time couple months ago and was like wth when I went to a shop called the gba shop and the npc telling me it only exists when played on a GBA.
I remember GBX Magazine saying that the Zelda Oracles contain GBA only content
I had the Zelda Oracle games as a kid as well as a GBC and GBA so I knew about these games having GBA-enhanced features. Speaking of them, I'm currently replaying Oracle of Ages.
Like I have commented before. I simply love that you go into deep hardware and software dives. This is the way my brain works too and always have to know why and you give me that. Thanks for the videos. Keep them coming
I'm very similar, I'm the type who always wonders these things yet I don't have the ability to understand them myself. I appreciate MVG explaining things in a way my little brain can understand.
Expanding the team... This video made me feel more complete and happier. It's incredible the big amount of work and creativity the engineers and programmers put into the games we enjoyed to play.
Mind you, the Wii is just two Gamecubes held together with some gaffer tape...
The Wii wishes it was that powerful!
*duct tape
@@megamix5403 gaffer is more heat resistant and doesn't damage when removed.
And motion controls, and wi-fi, and more memory.
Still not that much compared to the jump from PS2 to 3.
@@WillParker322 Exactly!
MVG, I've been following for a couple of years now. I tune in for videos like these. You go far beyond what most people are capable of, because of your dev background. Seeing your unique perspective is really cool. Your production quality and professionalism is also second to none. Love your content. Keep rocking!
I'm far from an electronics expert but let's suppose that switch gets stuck or damaged and it delivers 5 volts to a 3.3v GBA cartridge - did they have some over voltage protection on those carts or is it not enough of a difference to damage them?
I’ve never damaged a cartridge with my Retrode when I forget to change the voltage switch to 3.3V.
Generally speaking, running 5v through 3.3v logic is ok as many 3.3v devices are designed to be 5v tolerant.
Probably not needed, it's very low voltage anyway. Wouldn't recommend you try regardless.
A lot of 3.3v electronics like microcontrollers tolerate 5v as Ryan said. Even if not, any damage would need time to build heat, which wouldn't happen since you can't play the game that way.
I ran some 3.3v ATMega chips at 5v for months in an electronics project before realising there was 2 versions. They got a bit warm iirc
Interesting about Oracle of Ages! But the color palette just seems brighter... I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the change.
The original GBA has no backlight, the brightness change is to make the game more visible on the actual screen.
The original gba screen was dimmer then the GBC one I believe. So maybe they made it brighter to compensate for that?
@@wistals3deniks A lot of early GBA games did that so it would make sense
@@wistals3deniks I believe some later GBA games let you pick between a brighter or dimmer palette, after the GBA SP was released. The brighter colors in, say, the GBA port of Super Mario World were indeed a way to make the games more visible on the dark screen.
The change is specifically to make it look good on the GBA screen. GBA backwards compatibility with GBC has somewhat notoriously bad conversion of colors, often looking muddy.
So if I understand this correctly, the "GBA Enhancements" aren't actually giving you anything more in terms of system features/performance - the game is still running on a GameBoy Color, no extra access to the GBA's RAM or CPU, and so it's only really useful to adjust for the two different screens? Does that mean that Shantae's Tinkerbat transformation could have worked on the GBC perfectly fine? (Not criticizing, just wondering why it was GBA-only if the GBA-Enhanced mode doesn't give any extra horsepower)
Probably more of an incentive to "upgrade" 🤔
You're understanding it right, yeah. The transformation would've and has worked on gbc just fine, there's patches for it too. It was probably just something extra as an incentive to upgrade or something.
@@MLWJ1993 Or to still buy the game, given its release was for the previous system
FYI, there's actually rom hacks for Zelda, Shantae, and Wendy on GBC, that add the GBA enhancements (and light color palette) into the GBC games. It essentially just enables GBA mode, but it's still a GBC game and can be played on a real GBC using a flash cart or reproduction cartridge.
There's also rom hacks for those games to re-do the palette back to default while keeping the GBA features.
So yeah, those GBA enhanced GBC games work fine on a real GBC.
I think part of it is also that, on the non-backlit screen of the original GBA, a brighter color palette made it easier to see things. As to why that wasn't just the default version on GBC as well (since it also does not have a backlit screen) and why it has exclusive content on GBA, they probably wanted them to look differently to more easily be able to say that playing on GBA has advantages.
I would love to see a dive in the strangeness that is the 3DS GBA support as how it's done catches a lot of people off guard when they look into it. Really wish Nintendo would of made more use of the feature.
Isn't it just using the gba processor on the 3ds? IIRC they had to keep that processor on so that the DS games worked, so they used it for native GBA support
Should've supported GB & GBC too smh
@@ssg-eggunner actually the GBA wasn't actually built on top of the gameboy color while the DS was built on top of the GBA and the 3DS was built on top of the DS
Actually this is probably why they didn’t include backwards compatibility in the Game Boy Micro because it would take up a lot of space even though Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges fit in there
But if you use a flash cart you CAN play GB/GBC games on the GBMicro
@@rynomclaughlin1595 Not natively, it uses an emulator called goomba
@@elsorino Right, still very useful to "restore" the backwards compatibility
Ohhh I'd been wondering about that since I bought mine. I kind of assumed that it was ergonomics, but that also makes a lot of sense.
While the Micro doesn't have the cartridge switch or other 5v hardware needed to use a GBC cartridge its CPU actually still has the GBC compatibility mode. I've seen a demo online where somebody was able to create a homebrew program which switched the CPU mode. It's interesting from a technical standpoint but practically useless because without the extra hardware you can only get the GBC's startup screen.
The amount of investigation, detail and technical description seen in this channel is almost unmatched. Congrats on the great content!
Wayfoward's GBC game Wendy: Every Witch Way is GBA Enhanced too...
When sitting my ass down for the night to watch some vids I was presented with about 8 new notifications for new vids from people I really like. MVG wasn’t even considered anything but first. Really look forward to these, you’re doing a fantastic job, and all the work is greatly appreciated. Thanks man.
To this day, the gameboy colour had two technical advancements which never saw the light of day.
1) resident evil port (unreleased)
2) metal slug clone called 'terrifying 9/11'
The metal slug clone had outrageous content, but the gameplay was just too good and easily maxed the gameboy colour performance
I take that 9/11 game isn't dumped/preserved?
@@martinantelo7086 you can get the rom. Apologies got the name wrong it's called 'terrifying 9/11'. Definitely worth a watch on TH-cam. Of course ignore the cut scenes
It has been speculated that "terrifying 9/11" was actually an unreleased port of metal slug that had its code sold off and then modified with that strange 9/11 theme after the fact, rather than just being a clone with bizarre theme
@@thecryingsoul I can totally believe that. Shame snk didn't release it. It even looked better than the neo geo pocket versions
@@jajabinx35 I doubt they even planned making a Gameboy Color port.
0:14 You had me at Golden Sun. One of my all time fav rpgs!
I’ve always been intrigued by coding and hardwire modifications etc but never had the confidence to try it.
This channel is amazing to me.
Thanks for this! I was hoping to see a video on this topic after we talked about your work on Shantae!
-Steve
Has anyone else noticed very specific recurring awkward phrasing in these videos? It's very common for MVG to say the redundant set of phrases "By doing x, means y", instead of "By doing x, y" or "Doing x means y".
For example, at 10:07, you hear "By taking advantage of different initialized registers when the Game Boy Color is powered on in GBA mode, means that it is possible to check and apply enhancements to the game for the Game Boy Advance only," when one of the following would be more correct:
- "Taking advantage of different initialized registers [....] means that it is possible to apply enhancements..."
- "By taking advantage of different initialized registers[,] [...] it is possible to check and apply enhancements..."
The content is always great though, thank you.
Hope we see MVG cover the EA hack from last week.
"EA mistakes where made"
EA help we've been hacked!
Gamers burst out laughing
EA surprised Pikachu face
EA fucking got theirs for gouging gamers with DLCs.
Wait, what happened? I must've missed that!
@@MrJJandJim 700tb of source code was stolen.
Not really worth a video. An employee gave away their 2FA token to some random on slack.
GREAT! It would be interesting to know how the Genesis/Mega Drive did backwards compatibility as well
Fascinating. Always wondered how the Advance recognized GB cartridges, or Color as well. The library, and accessibility was amazing.
Also it's awesome to know the same hardware was built into the GB Player (which you covered several videos ago)
I'm curious, if every game is ported to the Switch. Using this system. It is possible for the entire library to be playable.
Btw your work with Shantae, the Switch port was fantastic.
IKR! The port Shantae was actually pretty damn good!
I NEVER noticed that switch in my GBA cartridge slot!
Unbelievably informative and helpful. Truly greatful for this kind of video.
Loved the time when handheld batteries lasted +24 hours, and that still seemed somehow low...
thanks for the videos!
They could have just used a menu, killer instinct gave you a brightness option in the menu.
Killer Instinct was one of the best and most heavily underrated titles ever.
What a shame though, I prefer KI to MK and SF. That combo and breaker system 👌
But that doesn't sell games. "GBA Enhanced" does.
@@PinkBunnyCorporation nothing to stop them adding a single feature for egba , just to achieve sticker on box and actually just have the same game underneath it for the same cost.
That would be the best of both worlds. Many games did do this probably most of the better ones.
Getting both types of catrtidges to run reliably without a physical switch would have required one more voltage regulator or some high-side switches, and a new 3V3 pin in the socket, and i'm not sure there was a robust way to accomplish that. The fundamental problem why you can't just probe both cartridge types only digitally is that they need different voltages, 5V supply for GB/GBC and 3V3 for GBA. Manufacture of higher voltage ROM chips and other chips was becoming no longer viable.
No
It's trivial to let a CPU control a regulated voltage. Just connect a digital output to the gate of a small MOSFET which then switches a resistor in parallel with the voltage setting resistor. But I guess it's cheaper and smaller to use the physical switch.
mixing 5v and 3.3v is usually fine as long as the 3.3v parts are 5v tolerant. Gotta pay attention to those tolerances, maybe run 5v stuff at 4.9v
Most 3.3V parts are not designed to run from 5V though. They might have I/O pins that are 5V tolerant but it isn't especially common.
@@nicholasvinen you can control the voltage with the CPU, but how do you decide which voltage you need beforehand? Startup of a 5V cartridge on 3V3 can be unreliable and 5V to 3V3 cartridge is rude, especially EEPROM chips don't really like that, it's not instant death but it's out of spec enough that you shouldn't be doing that in a shipped product, it could lead to data loss.
the Oracle series keeps blowing my mind, at first I thought it was just 2 separate games, then I learned they were each other's sequel, then I learned they were the prequel to Link's Awakening, then I discovered all the rings and secrets, and now I hear they work differently on the GBA. Insane.
‘GBA enhanced mode’ just means ‘terrible screen mitigation mode’
True
GBA enhanced means *eyeball searing brightness*
It's because the GBA had a darker screen.
Make the palette lighter and it looks the same between GBA and GBC (assuming you were to look at then using real hardware)
Nah, it also gives you small little gameplay enhancements. Shantae gives you an extra dance and the two Zelda games give you an extra shop.
But it _mostly_ means "terrible screen mitigation mode"
@MHzBurglar I do the same. I have Shantae and Oracle of Ages/Seasons patched for both GBA Enhanced and original color palettes for use with Backlit GBC, IPS GBA, and AGS101 systems. I also patched the 3DS virtual console version the same way so I have the “enhancements” on 3DS.
II love how simple and elegant the solution was. As a kid, I never gave a second thought to the GBA being able to play GB games, after all it was also a gambeboy.
This channel is an absolute jewel. I've learned so much.
wouldn't be surprised if they originally wanted to use the vcc as a way to tell the carts apart. attempt to read cart at 3.3V. if success must be gba if not gbc, but i'd guess that some gbc carts would work with only 3.3V so a different method was needed
Or if a GBA game has dirty contacts initially. The GBA tried to read, fails, switches to 5v and now has better contact for some reason and then slowly toasts the cartridge with 5V VCC. The higher the voltage, the "better" it can" travel" bad contacts (lower efficiency though). It might not die instantly in most cases, but the heat could cause damage over time. Some people here reported playing GBA Games at 5V in i.e Retrode consoles by accident, without problems gameplay-wise. Original Hardware wouldn't be able to boot the game when set to wrong voltage, due to CPU checking the register, and switching to Sharp CPU. This results in the Gameboy most likely being switched off after few seconds, so no harm to the cartridge. This is clearly an edge case, but Nintendo planned to ship Millions of Millions of these to the hands of kids, so they should be as robust as possible
Awesome mate, as always.
Very intriguing
The only console I own is SNES but I am watching your every video they are just so good and informative. Keep up the good work!
Nothing quite like a MVG video on Monday morning to go along with my cup of English Breakfast Tea. Part of a complete balanced breakfast.
Breakfast tea the legendary megabeverage ... I see you are a man of taste 😎👍
It's lunch time m8 get to Gregg's.
@@SRC267 Greggs sausage rolls non soggy for £1 yes please 👍
Tell you what England is the best country on Earth, we have tea we have pork based snacks.
Oh yeah baby we got Dem good goods 😎
where are you from in England is 1:45 pm
@@juansalas2882 If you know Reading or Oxford it's close to there. 13:51 😎👍
I love your channel. These detailed overviews you give really crank up my strong desire to learn programming and coding. But I always get stuck and can't figure out solutions, so I set it aside and give up.
This is super interesting! I always wondered how this worked. Odd that there are so few GBC color games which take advantage of this!
Probably the developers didn't bother. When the GBA was released, many just moved on to the new portable and didn't release a lot of games for the old GB/GBC.
These 'GBA Enhanced' features are just a gimmick, it's an example of developers artificially limiting games when run on the older platform. There isn't any additional hardware functionality accessible to GBC games when run on the GBA. This is in contrast to DMG games which can and often do take advantage of the upgraded hardware when running on a GBC.
An answer to a question no one ever asked, yet still entertaining to watch. Thanks for the fun content
After witnessing that T block placement in Tetris I immediately hated the video.
I can't believe you.
Before watching the video I saw this comment and thought "How bad could it be"...........Yeah, turns out it's pretty bad!
Lol this also made me uncomfortable
This is actually quite a good placement
Mind blowing, for all these years i didn’t know about the Gameboy Switch in the GBA
this reminds me of pokemon gold/silver on gbc, and the colour palette
Such a simple little handheld with so much power and potential. Love these small vids.
Well, Shantae GBC game can be enhanced with GBA and it really helps! Cheers to Limited Run Games and WayForward!
Your explanations are always so concise and thorough, even to the layman. Thank you!
Is it just me or does the GBA enhanced color palette look washed out?
It does, and intentionally so. The original GBA had the same sort of screen as the GBC, but the GBC was washed out in comparison and the GBA was harder to see well without great lighting. Using a washed out color palette made it look more how it did on a GBC.
Of course this backfired with the GBA SP and especially the "brighter screen" AGS-101 revision of it, which make GBC games look superb but these ones now look washed out.
@@joemck85Superb answer.
Just you
They are using color trickery to make things look brighter in other words. Hell shantae looks white in GBA mode
It's the front light modification he has on his unit, the white light reflects off the screen since it was originally designed to be somewhat reflective to catch the surrounding light because the original unit didn't have a lit up screen. A backlit screen like an AGS-101 or an IPS wouldn't have the same issues.
GBA was my first handheld and it Was amazing so much great memories. Even now from time to time i get back to Megaman battle network series and Pokemon. I remember that i use backwards compatybility alot with GB/GBC Pokemon games. Because of it discover Pokemon Trading Card game (hidden gem in my opinion) and my favorite Pokemon game to this day - Pokemon Crystal version.
Should explain how you patch code to work on these types of systems or "rom hack" or how to look at code, video memory and so on. And how to look at memory in the game.
I like to watch these videos with friends around and every so often nod my head and let out little "hmm"s. Maybe even sometimes exclaiming "Oh! Thats how they did it. I understand."
I don't understand. But still, I love to try and learn.
Meaning to ask "RSA Secured" at the back of Nintendo DS
It’ll be related to the Wi-Fi of the system
DS Download Play uses RSA to make sure the downloaded game is licensed by Nintendo.
For some reason DS cartridges weren't RSA verified until the DSi, which allowed for the R4 epidemic
Thank You so much for making this! Your explanation of the B function was easy to follow and the video was very informative.
The Game Boy Advance is still one hell of a machine..."
Love me some MVG on a Monday morning. The into music is always a bonus!
The GBA really was a powerful little system for it's time. 32 bits might not sound like much, until you realize windows 98 ran on a 32 bit processor.
So does the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox
Not just windows 98. Back in the day, I ran windows xp and even windows 7 on a 32 bit processor. x86-64 was such a big deal.
It's not the same CISC vs RISC, but agree that the GB Advance was pretty powerful
The Gamecube/PS2/Xbox are also 32 bit
It's a physical switch inside the cartridge slot that the GBC cartridges push and the GBA cartridges don't.
I'm interested to see how the GBA tells GBC games that "hey, I'm a GBA, unlocked the 'advanced' content" though because I don't have a clue how that works.
Hmm, okay. I think I get it.
Also I never knew that the Oracle games got a new palette, I thought it was just the Advanced Shop. I had no idea I was looking at stupidly bright colors all those times I played those games on my GBA SP.
Console: We can't run earlier versions of our own games due to incompatibilities
PC: I can run everything from every console ever! \o/
I see that lovely backlit screen. I also did this to my GBA. Such an improvement.
Anyway it was extremely interesting to see how the console detected how it knew what games it was playing.
"press +" I see you're using your own ROM of Shantae ;)
I realized the switch when I was younger. Fun fact, you can trip the switch without connecting the pins and make the Nintendo logo black like it was a gameboy color.
When I try to use Shantae on emulator in GBA Mode, I put the emulator to run in GBA Mode... when the emulator have such option.
One of my favourite bits of trivia for the GB/A. I knew about the hardware switch before because of how the gba micro couldn't play original gameboy games, but I didn't know it went this deep
Honestly, it does look like quite an elegant solution though.
i'm starting as a TA for a GBA dev class in the fall, i love watching these videos they are all super interesting :D
What was the idea behind the alternate color palettes for GBA-mode games? Were those colors just better suited for the GBA's vs GBC's screen hardware? Or was there an artistic element to it?
I'm actually learning about assambly language at school and this video just got me more interested into learning more. Keep the good work man!
Somehow the standard version looks better to me.
That's because the enhanced mode is merely a palette swap, it makes everything look brighter on the GBA's dim screen. Shantae's skin tone looks way off if played on an emulator because it's not meant to be played that way. The only reason that makes it worth it to play the enhanced mode is the additional transformation, which... isn't even hardware related actually. It was just a marketing scheme to make people buy a GBA.
@@ArpeggioPegasus this would explain it pretty good. Thx
Props on using a game you worked on porting to switch and a all time favorite Metroid fusion!
So the "GBA Enhancements" were really just a colour palette to better suit the GBA's new screen and unlocking some extras in the game which could have run on the original hardware. Probably at least sold a few extra copies to folk who just bought a GBA though I guess...
Watching that pearl blue GBA having a GBC cartridge sticking out of it brought me a lot of memories of me playing Pokemon Gold!
What else could it let you do besides palette changes? Can you access the audio DAC and utilitise the scaling and rotation etc..?
No. Every GBA feature is locked away in GBC mode. It was only useful for changing the palette to compensate for the GBA's shitty screen.
@@Nikku4211 very sad
Thank you, not only was this interesting, it was helpful for emulator configuration
This was probably the most awkward description I've heard you give in one of your videos. From the comments, it looks like it left plenty of people confused as to what "enhancement" actually meant. Shantae's code doing math on the value of B is irrelevant to the flag itself, you can simply check for B=1. You over-complicated the description with extraneous info. Here's a clearer description: "The Gameboy game code can detect it's running on a GBA because the Gameboy boot ROM leaves the registers in a specific state. The game code can do whatever it wants with that information. In most cases, palettes used for games are adjusted to match the color response curves of the GBA LCD. In some instances, it's used as a GBA sales promotion tool: get exclusive features unlocked if you buy a GBA! It does not, however, give the Gameboy program access to any useful GBA hardware features. Also, various Gameboy models have differing initial data in their registers to such a degree that the code can tell if it's on an original Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, Super Gameboy 1, Super Gameboy 2, Gameboy Color, and GBA. This is how dual-mode mono/color games in the black cartridges tell which version of the code to run. Fun fact: the color-only games don't have a power-switch notch like the mono/dual-mode games did, but if you defeat that notch and run a color-only game on a mono Gameboy, the games are supposed to display a message stating they can only be played on a Gameboy Color."
oh wow, thanks, i've always wondered about this weirdness in gba cartridges' design
All of those palette brightening “enhancements” are redundant with the sp and now the ips screen. Someone should make patches that add the extras but ignore the color changes
there are a few! Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Shantae, and Wendy Every Witch Way all have fan patches to keep the GBC pallets.
@@That_Lady_Charlie awesome! I gotta add those to my flash cart
Can't the SP just turn off the backlight?
@@pacomatic9833 From experience, the AGS-101 can't turn off the backlight completely, it only cycles between two brightness levels. Can't say if the AGS-001 (the frontlit model) works the same, though.
@@pacomatic9833 not if you have an ags-101
20 years later and the GBA still kicks ass. Feel old anyone? I love the original GBA though. Because when you have a good light source, is actually fun to play. And the original design though is so comfortable.
So if that switch breaks & is stuck in the ‘down’ position, will GBA games not work at all?
I think you could fry game cart in that case, because 5v will be provided to the card instead of 3.3v
Correct. The GBA will boot up in GBC mode, acting as a GBC with no cartridge inserted. I know this because I tried this when I was younger. My GBA game wasn't damaged but I was probably just lucky.
Thanks for the question! I also asked today, but saw your comment afterwards, so I deleted mine.
@@savok_diky that is correct, this actually happened with one of my cartridges, it was Metroid prime fusion. I put the cartridge in to play the game, but instead of booting up normally it booted into game boy color mode. I was able to unstick the switch and get it working but my Metroid cartridge doesn't work anymore ☹️.
Wow. I had no idea. I remember the notch but it never crossed my mind that it had a particular purpose.
That's great design.
I saw the different voltages and thought it was going to be easy. Run 3.3v. Is it on? GBA. Else: GB/C
The only problem there is that it assumes tolerances on the hardware in the cart that might not be accurate. Newer hardware could plausibly function at lower voltages, and that would be bad. A physical switch is a more reliable solution. The alternative is to start up in a legacy mode and negotiate with the cart to figure out what mode it should run in, but that assumes that Nintendo built such a mechanism into the OG Gameboy, and is also a vector for exploitation.
Missed opportunity to make a collaboration video with @stacksmashing
Would have been perfect!
I admire your ability to pull content out of nothingness
True that's the sign of a true quality content creator if they can make good vids out of it like MVG
Honestly I don’t care what mvg puts out, as long as I hear that sweet voice, I’m in...
He really is an absolute *artist* at it.
Well I assume he noticed this entire situation about GBA enhanced while working on the port of Shantae...
@@turolretar You mean his "West Sydney ethnic" Australian accent? For most Australians when we hear that voice we think of a mechanic.
I remember a few years back the gameboy switch on my GBA SP from my childhood was somehow flipped to on constantly, and I had to look up a fix for it, and saw youtube videos saying "flip this switch and it's fixed." Anyways, great video as always MVG.
It seems like the "enhancements" are nothing more than using a much brighter color palette so the game looks decent on an original GBA screen
Nah. There's a few other small changes. The Zelda Oracle games adds a GBA-exclusive shop. Shantae gets an exclusive GBA transformation. And Wendy Every Witch Way gets a few extra levels.
Mind you though, the GBA isn't adding any of it. It's all in the GBC game by default. It's just disabled until it's plugged into a GBA. It's like, a single line of code that tells the game whether it's on a GBC or GBA. There's rom hacks that force GBA mode, and they play just fine on a real GBC.
@@TXFDA so platform exclusive content, but implemented in an a**hole way 🤣
Reminds me of on-disk DLC.
@@axelprino Yeah pretty much. At least for Game Boy, I don't think it was intended to be douche-y. I think it was just meant to be an incentive to buy a GBA. Except they didn't really advertise the feature anywhere, so it didn't work. People bought the GBA anyway, but still.
Thanks for another great video! I always love waking up to find another excellent video from MVG. It really makes my day!
I don't think GBA Enhanced colors looks better in any of those examples (Zelda/Shantae). Just looks washed out.
that was mostly to make it look better on the screen of GBA that was different from the screen of GBC, looks washed up on an emulator, but not on the actual physical screen
shantae is an improvement, Zelda is meh
Great video! Very informative!
"Limited Run GBC cart"
Wait, they made a new cart for the GBC? Damn, I had no idea that was even a thing.
Amazing how much effort was put into making all these cartridges.. now it's all digital. I'll never get rid of my handhelds!
The development team was instructed by Satoru Okada to get the system to boot in GBC mode simply using software, but when this wasn't possible, he instructed them to use a switch instead. I don't remember the source of this, but I think it was in an Iwata Asks interview.
Aww, I was hoping you'd cover the Super Gameboy borders & enhancements some games got, too, and if there was any possible way to hack in something like DK'94's SGB color mode when using a GBC or GBA. Maybe an idea for a future video?
TL;DR on booting up in GB mode, the GBA sets the B register to 1 instead of 0, and a game checks that, and that's it. I mean I like these videos, normally, but god he dragged it out a bit.
Thanks for not making this one a clickbait title.
In short:
Back then nintendo actually knew what they´re doing.
Yeah man, it’s not like the switch is selling well or anything. Clearly they’re idiots now
@@johnandrews9433 If they don't change real soon I give it 7-10 years before their legacy and brand is basically meaningless.
@@ChrisStoneinator ok bro
@Nobody comments are not funny you troglodyte that's the thing - they do not! Merch is a HUGE part of their revenue. If they continue to coast on making good original games and treat their fans like shit, that is gonna decline. I love them and that's why I hold them to fucking standards. Compared to the 3DS/Wii U and early switch era, what we're seeing now is unacceptable. I appreciate they're huge which is why I've put a timescale on their decline. They're not gonna go bankrupt or anything but nobody is immune to a fall from grace.
Congratulations to 600k subscribers!
I personally think that gba enhancement looks worse than standard gbc. It looks a little bit washed out.
That's because you're looking at it on an emulator. The palette changes were meant to adjust for the different color gamuts of the two consoles' displays.
@@codahighland Looking on a genuine GBA...
fantastic video, thank you so much, had all the game boys when I was a kid and had no idea it was as simple as a switch moved by cartridge
12 minutes to say that it uses a switch seriously?
great video! didn't really care for the topic at first but I watched the whole thing cuz... its an MVG vid!