The homebrew and ‘post-life’ library for Game Boy and Game Boy Color seems to be getting new additions every month. While some of these go under the radar and are simple puzzle games, other titles are more ambitious. Dragonborne was originally released as a Game Boy title a few years ago (still in the Game Boy’s ‘post-life’ era). It was an ambitious role-playing game that seemed to borrow elements from Zelda, Pokémon, and Dragon Quest. The 8-bit title was one of the most wanted and most well known of all the Game Boy homebrew titles. Then, it was announced that Dragonborne would be getting a Game Boy Color update. The update is what I’m reviewing here. It is known as Dragonhym. The release of this game has coincided with the hype and release of the premium Game Boy Color clone, the ModRetro Chromatic. A wide library of new games has been released for the Chromatic, and they can also be played on the Game Boy Color since they are essentially Game Boy Color games. New games are dropping for the Chromatic every few months. It seems like the Game Boy Color is getting a second life. Read on for a review of one the Chromatic’s flagship titles, Dragonhym.

Dragonborne and Dragonhym

Dragonborne was developed by Spacebot and released for the Game Boy in 2021. The title was ambitious, advertised as a sprawling adventure with leveling up and turn-based combat. Imagine a cross between Pokémon Red and Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and you’ll get a good idea of what this game is trying to be. Because of its clear ambition, it gained attention from some big gaming sites. It was later announced that Dragonborne was getting a color update and would be known as Dragonborne DX. Then it changed to Dragonhym. Dragonhym released in December 2024. I’ve played both Dragonborne and Dragonhym. The titles are not identical. Dragonborne uses a simpler graphical style and lacks a wide range of colors. The stories of the games follow similar paths, but they are different. Events can occur in different orders. Dragonhym is a vastly better, and more finished game. The presentation of Dragonhym surpasses Dragonborne, and I’d advise anyone who wants to pick up one of these to go with Dragonhym. Dragonborne feels like a demake in comparison to Dragonhym, but it is still a good game.

Art, Sound, and Presentation

As soon as you boot up Dragonhym, you are greeted with some awesome art of Kris, our protagonist, looking out over a landscape with a castle at its centre. The different levels of parallax scrolling that you can see being implemented give an indication that this game will push the Game Boy Color to its limits. The menus are all clear and practical. Kris, our red-haired hero, has options of medicine, equipment, key items, and keepsakes to choose from in the inventory tab that appears when you click start. There’s also Techniques and Settings to choose from when you click start. Select opens up a map of the overworld. Kris’s health, SP, as well as his stats, are also shown, as well as the options when you click start. Overall, the player has all the tools and options that you’d want in an epic adventure. The visuals are some of the best that I’ve seen on the Game Boy Color. Environments can be vibrant and bright or dim and gloomy. The art is great, and some of the monster designs are grotesque and impressive, especially the bosses. Kris is a red-haired lad who is well animated himself. As this is a turn-based game, we don’t need to worry about swords and physical hit detection (unlike in Zelda or Crusader of Centy). The gameplay is mostly turn-based, especially in terms of combat, although there are also puzzles, especially in the dungeons. Sound is another area that the game excels. Sound effects are appropriate, and dungeon tunes are ominous and will stick with you.

Gameplay and Story

The overworld of Dragonhym is a sprawling kingdom of hills, rivers, mountains, and villages. The world-building and lore really sucks you into the experience. From the start, Kris is tasked with finding his father, and this involves collecting items which then give the player access to items (for example, a raft) which then opens up more of the game, and more opportunity to trade or find key items. Then, eventually, dungeons will become accessible. Collecting dragon scales is key to opening dungeons. After making progress, activities such as fishing open up to you (you catch fish to sell at shops). However, there are moments where you might not know where to go, or what to do. The gameplay loop of exploring, doing some combat, doing some puzzle solving, and finding a key item is a good and fun loop, but the player may be at a loss as to what to do, a bit too often. I’d say that becoming lost or not knowing what to do is the biggest problem with Dragohym. The game isn’t as accessible as the Pokémon games, or Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The dungeons themselves consist of puzzles and combat and are well designed with good theme tunes. Without a doubt, the game is ambitious and almost pulls off an epic adventure on the humble Game Boy Color.

Conclusion

Draogonhym is more than an upgrade to Dragonborne. The Game Boy Color title completely reworks Dragonborne and pushes the system to its limits graphically. On top of that, a well-designed fantasy world is presented to us to explore. Characters have personality, and an epic tale of dragons and heroes is available to those who invest the effort to explore and solve puzzles. The gameplay loop consists of finding items that are hidden behind puzzle challenges. Creating tools such as rafts and gaining entry to dungeons that are designed in the Zelda style and full of puzzles and strong enemies to fight. However, the game isn’t as accessible as its inspirations. Too many times I found myself lost, not knowing what to do to find that last mushroom or dragon scale. This lack of accessibility limits what would otherwise be a must-have game. If you like Zelda and Pokémon, I’d recommend this title. It may be a homebrew, post-life game for the Game Boy Color, but it could easily pass for a game made by Square or Capcom in 2000. Happy Gaming.

7/10

BongoBongo123

BongoBongo123 is an avid Zelda fan who also likes the odd game of Smash. His interests in gaming are broad but he loves a good Metroidvania or action RPGs.