How to play Game Boy Color games on your N64

Yes, you can play Game Boy Color games on a Nintendo 64. Cart64 turns a .gbc or .gb file into a .z64 cartridge that a flash cart can start like any homebrew program. It is free, it runs in your web browser, and your game file never leaves your device.

The .z64 file holds two things: our own Game Boy Color player, written for the N64, and your game, unchanged. It runs on original N64 hardware and on the M64, with battery saves kept by the flash cart.

What you need

• A console: an original Nintendo 64 or an M64.
• A flash cart that runs homebrew .z64 files: for example SummerCart64, EverDrive 64 or 64drive. See flash cart setup.
• An SD card for the flash cart (a 64drive loads files over USB instead).
• A .gbc or .gb game file you have the right to use, such as a backup of your own cartridge, or one of the free games on cart64.com.
• A web browser on a computer or phone. Nothing to install, no account.
• Optional: an Expansion Pak. Games over about 2.5 MB load in pieces. The Expansion Pak helps with that but is not required.

Step by step

1. Open Cart64. Go to cart64.com in any modern web browser. There is nothing to install and no account.
2. Drop in your game. Drop a .gbc or .gb file on the box, or choose it with the file picker. The file is read on your device and never uploaded.
3. Check the game card. Cart64 shows the game's title, its cartridge type and how it saves. If the game uses hardware Cart64 does not support yet, it says so here and does not build anything.
4. Pick the picture size. Choose Fit for a bigger, smoothed picture (1.5x) or Sharp for exact 1x pixels.
5. Make the cartridge. Press Make my cartridge. Your browser saves a .z64 file named after your game.
6. Copy it to your flash cart. Copy the .z64 file to your flash cart's SD card (or load it over USB on a 64drive).
7. Start it on the console. Put the flash cart in your N64 or M64, switch it on and pick the file in the flash cart's menu. The game starts in the Cart64 player and saves to the flash cart.

Make a cartridge now

Saves

Games with a battery save keep it on the flash cart, the same way N64 games save. Cart64 writes the right save type into the cartridge header: SRAM for saves up to 32 KB, FlashRAM for larger ones. Saves survive turning the console off. If a save goes missing, see flash cart save settings.

Games with a real-time clock (for example Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal) work, and the clock runs while you play. Time does not pass while the console is off yet; a version that uses the flash cart's own clock is coming.

Which games work

Most Game Boy Color and original Game Boy games: carts with no chip, MBC1, MBC2, MBC3 (with its clock) and MBC5, up to 8 MB. Original Game Boy games play with a fixed color palette. Carts with special hardware, such as a tilt sensor or the Game Boy Camera, are not supported yet. The compatibility guide has the full list and the games we have tested, including Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.

Controls and picture

The D-pad or the stick is the D-pad, A is A, B is B, Start is Start, and Z or C-down is Select. Fit fills more of the TV; Sharp keeps every pixel exact. Details are in the controls guide.

Where do the games come from?

You bring them. Cart64 packages files you already have and does not host, list or link to any game it does not own. To try it right away, take one of the free games made with Shiny Gen on the home page: Shiny Monsters Color, Shiny Crosser or Spark Garden.

Something went wrong?

A red screen that says "This cartridge cannot start" shows a code from 1 to 7. Each one is explained, with what to do, in troubleshooting.