The Game Boy Color Turns 21 Today

21 years ago on this date of October 21st, the Game Boy Color made its illustrious debut in Japan.

As the name implies, the Game Boy Color (GBC) one-upped the original Game Boy by being able to play handheld titles in glorious color, an astonishing feat for the time. It was also backwards compatible with the original Game Boy titles, and could even display some of them in color, such as Pokemon Red & Blue and Super Mario Land. Naturally, the console itself also came in a much wider variety of colors than the original Game Boy, including some semi-transparent variants.

While there are no exact sales figures for the Game Boy Color alone, it reportedly sold 118.69 million units alongside the original Game Boy, with 501.11 million games being sold between them. Even today, it remains one of the most successful video game consoles of all time, beating out the lifetime sales of the original Playstation and even the Wii. Among the best selling games for the GBC were Pokemon Gold & Silver and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons.

Although the console’s production was discontinued in 2003, it still holds a special place in the hearts of many gamers, to the point where people are still making games for it. So Happy 21st Game Boy Color, and thanks for all the memories.