This emulator reimagines Nintendo’s Virtual Boy with a full color display

Finally, Luigi isn’t forced to wear a red hat in Mario’s Tennis. VBoy Color

VBoy Color comes with built-in color packs for 15 different games, which actually represents a significant chunk of the Virtual Boy’s limited official library. Tinkerers can edit those packs manually using built-in video tools to color individual screens, teaching the emulator which colors to assign whenever that same tile is used elsewhere in the game.

Unfortunately, the re-coloring process doesn’t work perfectly in the current beta release. For one, the coloring algorithm seems to occasionally miss individual tiles, leading to some flickering, uncolored squares that stand out distractingly from their surroundings.

For another, this coloring process doesn’t work on games like 3-D Tetris or Red Alarm that eschew tile-based graphics for a more 3D wire frame effect. For these, VBoy Color also offers an option that lets you apply new palettes or color gradients based on the apparent depth of each line, making it easier to discern the 3D effect (especially on a flat monitor).

Even in its early state, VBoy Color features some high-quality emulation (built off of previous emulators like VirtualBoyGo and Beetle VB) and useful features like full stereoscopic support on VR headsets or 3D monitors. All in all, it’s nice to have yet another emulator that goes beyond accurate gameplay to actually improve on the experience delivered by original hardware.