The WonderSwan Color is a moderate update to the black-and-white system released in May 1999 in Japan, gaining a slightly larger non-backlit color TFT LCD screen in its jump from the black and white design. The unit itself is approximately a centimeter longer than the original system, but that's really nothing when you realize how miniscule the WonderSwan system really is ¿ it's thinner, narrower, and shorter than a Game Boy Color by nearly a centimeter in every direction.
In the move to the update, the WonderSwan Color both gained and lost a few functions. Returning is the ability to enter your name and have it pop up upon boot-up ¿ by holding the start button on power up, you can personalize the system with your name or message. The WonderSwan Color removes the power switch in favor of a power button under the screen. The unit has a switch on the bottom, but that's to lock the battery compartment to the unit ¿ on the original WonderSwan, it was possible to bump the extruding battery off the system, and this switch prevents that from happening on the WonderSwan Color unit. Other changes are merely cosmetic ¿ each button on the Color unit is clearly labeled on the button instead of engraved in the plastic next to it as on the black and white systems. Also, the contrast knob as been moved from the bottom of the system to the left side.
As mentioned above, the LCD screen is slightly larger on the WonderSwan Color...but just barely. The big difference, of course, is that it's now full color. The screen also has a higher refresh rate than the blurry black-and-white WonderSwan, which means that there's less "smearing" like there was on the original. But the color LCD screen isn't a major advancement over the black-and-while LCD ¿ there's visible ghosting of vertical lines over brighter on-screen objects, similar to the screen ghosting of the Atari Lynx's back-lit display. And the new screen doesn't eliminate smearing completely ¿ compared to the Game Boy Color's display, Nintendo's Sharp-manufactured screen is crisper and cleaner than the one chosen by Bandai for the WonderSwan Color.
Though the WonderSwan Color is 100% compatible with older WonderSwan games, the unit doesn't colorize black-and-white games ¿ so games like Klonoa and Final Lap made for the orignal WonderSwan will come up in the basic grayscale on the Color LCD.
Upstate Games was able to send us two WonderSwan Color games, Gunpey EX and Digimon Adventure 02 with our package ¿ the much-anticipated NES remake Final Fantasy is extremely high in demand, so our copy of the game won't be shipped until later in the month. But with these two games, we get a decent idea of the power of the system.
Like on the Game Boy Color, games made for the WonderSwan Color are manufactured on clear plastic cartridges, compared to WonderSwan games on solid black ¿ they still come housed in plastic protective sleeves, so nothing's changed there.
We'll save our impressions of the games for a later update, but initially, the WonderSwan Color graphics aren't much of a leap from the Game Boy Color graphics. There doesn't seem to be as much of a display limitation as on the GBC, but the colors aren't exactly plentiful on either of these titles. Gunpey EX is the English-friendly of the two (Digimon Adventure 02 uses a ton of Japanese), so if you're considering importing the unit, this would be a good title to pick up.
One thing to note is the sound capabilites -- while the audio chip sounds a lot better than the Game Boy Color, it's hindered by a really cheap-sounding speaker on the unit. The WonderSwan unit requires a proprietary headphone setup, so you might want to consider buying one with your system for better audio.
The unit's also one of the most non-ergonomic systems ever created -- just like the original WonderSwan, the WonderSwan Color is probably the most uncomfortable handheld system ever conceived. You have to hold the edges of the system in order to hit the action buttons at the bottom of the system -- Gumpei Yokoi may have hit the motherlode by inventing the original Game Boy, but the WonderSwan isn't one of his best creations.
Bandai still has not commented on if this system will be coming to the US ¿ but the chances of a stateside release next year are very slim. Why? Two factors. First, 90% of the games made for the WonderSwan systems are made specifically for the Japanese audience and wouldn't translate well for the US market. The second reason is a bit more obvious: the Game Boy Advance is on its way in July 2001...fierce competition indeed, and we all saw what happened when another Japanese handheld tried to penetrate the US handheld market ¿ poor, poor SNK with its dearly missed NeoGeo Pocket Color.
The system's a cute handheld with lots of potential, and there are a few fun titles out in Japan that you'll never see here. You can grab a system from import houses such as Upstate Games for around a hundred dollars.
For technical specs on the WonderSwan Color, click here.
-- Craig Harris