Super Game Boy Color Hack

Original game : The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Platform : GB

Author : Vague Rant

Release date : 27 July 2021

Category : Improvement

Patch version : 1.0

Modifications : G

Downloads : 1173

ROM Information

Database: No-Intro: Game Boy/Color (v. 20210227-015730)

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (France) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: F48824FE
SHA-1: 9A679E30B03E119A21AE7DAAC65E73E0EF4E0894

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (France) (Rev 1) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: 4E2B75E7
SHA-1: B5E4DF1A67432C609FA0F23519315297C6DCDC1D

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (Germany) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: FED5959B
SHA-1: 8CD9D786547BFB3DDBE16AD2A84A36CF895AC16E

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (Germany) (Rev 1) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: EFB76777
SHA-1: 7F5C39FA297CB17ABF51C6F91FBDEBC9F07E3DE8

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (USA, Europe) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: 97822948
SHA-1: D90AC17E9BF17B6C61624AD9F05447BDB5EFC01A

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (USA, Europe) (Rev 1) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: B38EB9DE
SHA-1: 363D184D9B1E9FAA5A2FACD80897B7E118446164

Legend of Zelda, The - Link's Awakening DX (USA, Europe) (Rev 2) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: 06887A34
SHA-1: 1C091225688D966928CC74336DBEF2E07D12A47C

Zelda no Densetsu - Yume o Miru Shima DX (Japan) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: D974ABEA
SHA-1: B810925BF9D9F4F6CD97C5E46C94C1A9DD61A113

Zelda no Densetsu - Yume o Miru Shima DX (Japan) (Rev 1) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: BD8A1041
SHA-1: D3DE302D44BDB240BCF55A5DC70F491F5456D721

Zelda no Densetsu - Yume o Miru Shima DX (Japan) (Rev 2) (SGB Enhanced) (GB Compatible)
CRC32: E998E595
SHA-1: 5FDFFAE3CAEF63A9FB295BCBD38F923190254E01

Hack description

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX is one of a handful of games with support for both the Super Game Boy and the Game Boy Color, two parallel enhancements of the original Game Boy. While no official hardware ever had support for both devices, emulators like mGBA and the FPGA Game Boy implementation in MiSTer are able to run in a combined "Super Game Boy Color" mode (SGB+GBC together), allowing games to simultaneously take advantage of both hardwares.

Since this behavior was never expected by developers, games like Link's Awakening DX disable their Super Game Boy behaviors when running on a Game Boy Color. This patch, compatible with all LADX regions and revisions, re-enables the SGB border in GBC mode, so that emulators with "Super Game Boy Color" support can display it. The patch was tested using the SGBC mode in mGBA.

Note: Some emulators include a feature of loading in SGB mode until the border packets are sent, then rebooting into Game Boy Color mode (which is otherwise the more advanced of the two) while retaining the border. That emulator feature works differently to true Super Game Boy Color support, but for this game it should give essentially the same result as this patch.

Contributions

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
Vague Rant	Hacking

Reviews

Nice little feature & compatible with LADX Redux!	ShadowOne333	2021-07-28	Version 1.0
I never thought something like combining SGB borders with actual Game Boy Color games was possible, until this hack mentioned the possibility. I wanted to test this out right away with the Link's Awakening DX Redux hack, and I had some initial troubles getting it to run. One thing this hack's description (at the moment of writing) doesn't mention, is that the user requires a recent version of mGBA in order to pull this off. I was trying it in 0.9.1, and I couldn't get it to run. However, I updated to the latest nightly version of mGBA (by compiling and installing on Linux), and behold, the full glory of LA DX Redux, with full color, with the proper Super Game Boy border for it! Opening mGBA - Settings - Game Boy, one can change the models that each game can use, depending on its source console. Setting GB Only, SGB compatible and SGB & GBC compatible, all 3 to "Super Game Boy Color (SGB+GBC)" mode makes the desired visuals properly apply to the game once booted up! Oh and also enable "GBC color palette if available" and check the "Super Game Boy borders" box so it works properly. With those settings, you can enjoy it LA DX with its SGB border without issues! You can see it for yourself: Link's Awakening DX Redux running on the latest mGBA nightly

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