Modretro Chromatic | the best review of the greatest FPGA Game Boy ever made
38On December 1st, 2024 the Modretro Chromatic was officially unleashed upon the world. The Chromatic is an FPGA Game Boy with a pixel-perfect sapphire crystal display, metal case, and specs that very closely mirror the original Game Boy Color from the 1990s. At $200, many were initially skeptical that this device would be little more than the folly of an eccentric billionaire war-contracting industrialist, but now that the CCP (Creative Cat Productions) has gotten our mittens on TWO of these devices - thanks to Santa Clause - we are happy to join the band wagon in saying, “this thing is freaking awesome.”
We love Modretro’s Chromatic. It is, essentially, a perfect recreation of the Gameboy Color experience - ENHANCED - for the sensibilities of hardcore enthusiasts in the 21st century. The drawback, however, is that the Chromatic is narrowly focused on just the Game Boy and Game Boy color universe. Sadly, unlike those other FPGA portable consoles…..this really is, basically, just a Game Boy Color! And you know what? That’s part of why we love it.
So join us as we examine, in fairly deep detail, “Palmer Luckey’s Folly” - the Modretro Chromatic.
CCP Management
P.S. While it is true that the original run of Chromatics are all sold out, it is likely that - in the future - Modretro will release some kind of 2nd edition. Further, these are still widely available at GameStop which has some kind of deal with Modretro to distribute these consoles in a store. There are also more games on the way, so it’s not necessarily the case that you need to despair if you missed the first run in December 2024.
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Chapters:
0:00 - introduction/Modretro Chromatic
0:28 - part 1 - Palmer Luckey
2:16 - part 2 - what does it do?
4:26 - part 3 - the screen
5:25 - part 4 - issues? / $200 price!
6:20 - launch titles
8:51 - horrible issue number 2 - design
9:29 - why not get an Analogue Pocket?
10:43 - end?
10:56 - Koss X Modretro unboxing