Every Final Fantasy game for the Game Boy can now be played in color

All four titles have received the DX treatment

There’s no shortage of fan-made colorized Game Boy hacks available on the web, from Super Mario Land DX to Metroid II DX. It seems like new color mods pop up all the time, and today I have a doozy to share. All four Final Fantasy games for the Game Boy have finally joined the world of color, thanks to an enterprising modder known as Adam.

The GBAtemp forums are no strangers to modded ROMs, and a recent post has shared the news that we have four new DX mods to test for Final Fantasy Adventure, Final Fantasy Legend, Final Fantasy Legend II, and Final Fantasy Legend III.

Of course, the reality is that none of these are Final Fantasy titles. Final Fantasy Adventure is actually the first Mana (Seiken Densetsu) game, and the three Legend titles are the first three SaGa games. That’s not to say all four aren’t some of the best JRPGs on the Game Boy system; they simply don’t contain stories that take place in the Final Fantasy universe.

Add some color to Final Fantasy’s classic Game Boy titles

There are several ways you can secure the color mods in question, whether you prefer to snag the files from the creator’s GitHub or Romhacking.net, but you’ll have to apply the mods to your ROMs manually. Instructions are clearly outlined in each GitHub listing. However, if you prefer something a little simpler to get started, there’s a Romhack.ing site that actually offers a way to apply these patches to your ROMs with ease.

Simply click on the title of the color mod you wish to apply, which will open a new page where you can click on the Get Downloads button. Drag the slider to prove you are human, then click on the Patch Now button. This brings you to a page where you can upload your corresponding ROM, and then simply press the Apply Patch button. The modded ROM will be instantly downloaded, and then it’s off to the races.

^{Patching on Romhack.ing is easy}

Once modded, the games will play like any Game Boy Color title

Once you’ve colorized your ROMs, you’ll need GBC hardware to play them, or at the very least an FPGA system that supports GBC games, or an emulator. Having tested the modded ROMs on the original Game Boy, they would not boot. So unlike some GBC games that can be played on both Game Boys and Game Boy Colors, this won’t work here.

Having modded all four Final Fantasy titles myself, I can say they look great now that they are in color. While the modder Adam warns that they chose to keep the sprites unchanged, which has resulted in limited color choices “resulting in some blockiness,” it’s certainly respectable to keep the art unmolested.

^{Screenshots from Analogue Pocket}

All in all, I’m having a blast revisiting these classics now that they can be played in color, and so far, things are running nice and stable. Of course, these mods are just the first release at version 1.0, and bugs may exist. So if you notice any issues, please lend a hand and report them on GitHub.