ModRetro Chromatic review: a love letter to Game Boy that actually works

I knew I was looking at something different from what I normally review the moment I saw the box. It was covered in bright, bubbly graffiti-style graphics like a 1991 mall arcade. The orange unit inside looked like it belonged in a Charlotte Hornets jacket pocket. I half-expected Kriss Kross to jump out. And yes, I did put my hat on backwards.

This is the ModRetro Chromatic, a brand-new handheld console with its soul firmly rooted in the early 90s. It plays original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, has a cartridge line of games of its own, and even comes with three AA batteries in the box. That alone deserves a Booyah!

• Display: 2.56″ IPS LCD, 160×144 resolution, Gorilla Glass or Sapphire screen
• Audio: Ultra-loud custom speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Power: 3x AA batteries (included), compatible with rechargeable Power Core
• Data: FPGA-based, USB-C lagless video out, IR link, link cable port
• Compatibility: Supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Chromatic cartridges
• Build & Size: 5.2 x 3 x 1.2 inches, 6.2 oz, magnesium alloy shell, PBT buttons
• Extra: Charm attachment point, USB-C charging via Power Core

Cartridges and clicks (and childhood)

My unit came with Tetris, and sliding in that cartridge felt exactly like how it did my childhood. The top-mounted power slider was easy to find, and gliding it to the right fired up the screen and I was instantly in the game. There was practically no loading screen. No accounts to sign in. No additional content to download. No ads. Just fire it up and go.

I used to be a bit of a Tetris champ back in the day, but those reflexes are long gone. Still, I had a blast.

ModRetro sent a few other games as well, and I tried them all. Gravitorque, Wicked Plague, Self Simulated. They look and play just like the 90s titles they’re riffing on, complete with chunky pixels and funky soundtracks. A special shoutout goes to Sabrina Zapped, which my eight year-old daughter adored. But I’m not here to talk about the games. MobileSyrup already has an excellent article about them.

Set adrift on magnesium bliss

What I want to talk about is the hardware. The Chromatic is chunky in all the right ways. It’s got real heft. The magnesium alloy body feels premium and I was surprised by how grippy it was, even with sweaty thumbs. My only complaint is the battery cover. It falls off easily when detached and I dropped it more than once. But I’m nitpicking here.

It’s a compact unit at 5.2 by 1.2 inches and it weighs just over six ounces. That’s perfect for hands large and small. ModRetro really hit the design out of the park here like a Joe Carter World Series-winning home run. It feels like a serious gadget and not some cheap plastic toy, and everything from the PBT buttons to the satisfying way the cartridges slide in reinforces that feeling.

One small design feature I didn’t fully appreciate until later was the charm loop. Every game came with a little metal charm on a string loop. I thought it was some weird gimmick, maybe a kid-focused branding thing. Turns out it’s both. My daughter figured out they were meant to dangle from the side of the device. She found a way to slide the loop through a little opening on the side of the unit and she loved it.

Display and sound

The display is beautiful in daylight. That 2.56-inch backlit IPS panel with Gorilla Glass protection is the bomb. I never once struggled to see the screen on sunny days. Text and sprites are sharp, crisp, and readable, which still didn’t help me with Tetris.

Things weren’t quite as smooth at night. The screen doesn’t dim as much as I’m used to with my phone and I seared my eyes the first time I tried using it in the dark. I decided not to play before bed.

Its speakers punch decently loud and true. The ultra-loud speaker modules delivers everything from the iconic Tetris theme to crunchy battle sounds with decent clarity. Volume is controlled with a classic side wheel that’s only a thumb swipe away. Not every game benefits from full volume though. Some, like Self Simulated, feature jagged and distorted effects that sound terrible when maxed out.

Most importantly, a big shout out to ModRetro for including a 3.5mm headphone jack. That made it infinitely more usable on road trips, especially when my kids were using it in the back of the car while I blared House of Pain.

Power and plug-in possibilities

The part that surprised me the most was its battery life. Those three AA batteries lasted me a full week, and then my kids another week on a long summer trip. The batteries were still going strong when I got it back. This tells me the ModRetro sips juice instead of chugging power.

ModRetro sells a rechargeable power core separately for those who want rechargeability. It charges right through the device with no need for a cradle or proprietary cable. That’s dope.

Backwards compatibility and modern streaming

The Chromatic can handle original Game Boy cartridges if you have any laying around. I didn’t, so I couldn’t test this, but apparently there’s no need for firmware flashing or fiddling. Just slap in a cartridge and go.

There’s also support for link cable play and infrared sync. It’s all FPGA-based as well, meaning it’s emulation-free and accurate to the core. The Chromatic game cartridges feel like a spiritual continuation of the OG Game Boy, and while I didn’t dig too deeply into the titles, I appreciate that they’re trying to build a new library to compliment the old.

Kid tested and nerd approved

My ten year-old son declared it “too basic” which honestly isn’t surprising from someone used to touchscreen games. But my eight year-old daughter fell in love with it. Sabrina Zapped was her favourite, as I mentioned. She played it constantly.

It also went through a gauntlet of brother-in-law testing. He’s a serious techie, and he has Android emulators and terabytes of ROMs. He lit up when he saw the Chromatic. The look, the physical cartridges, the metal build, it all caught his attention immediately. It was actually harder to get the unit back from him than from the kids.

Throughout it all that Gorilla Glass screen and all-metal body gave me peace of mind. I didn’t worry about my kids dropping it. Okay, maybe some worry, but way less than I usually have when I hand a kid a piece of tech.

Final verdict: not for me, but absolutely for them

The Chromatic isn’t just coasting on nostalgia. It’s built well and performs reliably. It’s like something from 1992 time-travelled to 2025 just to remind of what tech used to feel like.

Would I buy the ModRetro Chromatic for myself? Probably not. The retro-style gaming scene isn’t where I spend my time these days. But as a gift? Hella ya. Kids, collectors, fans of retro gaming, and Salt ’N Peppa cosplayers will find this the perfect handheld.