Game Boy Tower

(Redirected from GB Tower)

A Game Boy Tower (Japanese: GBビル GB Building), or GB Tower in Pokémon Stadium 2, is a location in the Pokémon Stadium series where players may play Game Boy Pokémon games in color using the Transfer Pak. The Tower places a border around the game screen, using the same borders as the Super Game Boy accessory, with the exception of Pokémon Crystal, which uses a generic border designed after a Game Boy; this same border is seen for a few moments in all games while it loads the boot ROM before rendering the Super Game Boy border and then booting the games in either Super Game Boy mode (for the Generation I games other than international Pokémon Yellow) or Game Boy Color mode (for the Generation II games and international Pokémon Yellow).

Game Boy Tower in Pokémon Stadium
Game Boy Tower in Pokémon Stadium 2

When the Japanese Pokémon Red, Green, or Blue are played on the Game Boy Tower, the animations of some moves are slowed down significantly, more so than in the edited animations of Japanese Pokémon Yellow and Western Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. This can occasionally cause brief graphical bugs with some moves, such as Body Slam. When played on a Super Game Boy or Game Boy Player, however, the animations are shown in their original unedited form.

Upgrades

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: In the beat E4 -> start new game scenario, when is access to Doduo/Dodrio mode lost, if ever? When the mode is turned off? When the player leaves GB Tower? When the N64 is restarted? - Are the unlockable borders in Japanese Stadium 1?

The player can unlock upgrades for the Game Boy Tower by completing various cups. The Doduo Game Boy Tower allows games to be played at twice the speed, while the Dodrio Game Boy Tower allows games to be played at three times the speed (four times the speed for Generation I games in Pokémon Stadium 2).

In the Japan-only Pokémon Stadium, the Doduo Game Boy Tower is unlocked by clearing either the Level 1-30 Division tournament or the Level 50-55 Division tournament. Likewise, the Dodrio Game Boy Tower is unlocked by clearing both cups. Similarly, in the Western Pokémon Stadium, the Doduo Game Boy Tower is unlocked by completing the Poké Cup or the Prime Cup, while the Dodrio Game Boy Tower is unlocked by completing both cups. With each upgrade, the appearance and name of the Game Boy Tower will be updated and a new border will be unlocked. Borders can be switched with the Z button.

In Pokémon Stadium 2 (known as Pokémon Stadium: Gold & Silver in Japan), the Doduo Game Boy is unlocked for Generation I games by completing the Gym Leader Castle or clearing all of the Stadium Cups in Round 1, and the Dodrio Game Boy is unlocked by completing both. To unlock the modes for the Generation II games, the same requirements must be met in Round 2. With each upgrade, the appearance and name of the GB Tower will be updated. In Pokémon Stadium 2, when Doduo mode is used with a Generation II game, the border changes to black and applies a sepia-tone effect to the game display. Stadium 2's Dodrio mode, when used with a Generation II game, changes the game display's tone to black-and-white. Additionally, these modes cannot be used with a Generation II game until the Generation II game clears the Elite Four for the first time. (However, it is possible to have a save file that has cleared the Elite Four, then start a new game from the main menu and keep the modes activated.)

Gallery

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Pokémon Crystal, Doduo and Dodrio alternate borders

Generation I

Generation II

Trivia

  • The Game Boy Tower appears to use a modified version of the Super Game Boy 2's BIOS; if it is tricked into run a Game Boy or compatible Game Boy Color game other than the core series Pokémon titles, the Game Boy Tower will run the programming on it identically to the peripheral, complete with Super Game Boy-compatible games utilizing the special borders, colors, and sounds programmed onto their cartridges. However, the Game Boy Tower's save feature will not function in this scenario due to the Pokémon Stadium games not being programmed to recognize these ROMs.[1][2]
  • Pokémon Red and Blue cartridges are only supported by their corresponding Pokémon Stadium language. However, because Spanish versions of Pokémon Red and Blue were released in Latin America (with the translation from Spain), it was necessary to make them compatible with the American version of Pokémon Stadium (which was the official released in Latin America). On the contrary, because Pokémon Yellow was released only in English in Latin America, the Spanish version (from Spain) is not compatible with the American version of Pokémon Stadium (since it wasn't necessary to do so).[3]
  • The Latin American versions of Red and Blue have a different loading screen and take longer to load because the Stadium games have to recognize the 14 exclusive characters of the Spanish language first, these are: Á, á, É, é, Í, í, Ñ, ñ, Ó, ó, Ú, ú, ü, ¡ and ¿.[4]
  • Even though Pokémon Crystal cannot be played on a regular Game Boy, the generic border depicting said system is still used for it.

In other languages

Language Title
France Flag.png French Tour GB
Germany Flag.png German GB-Turm
Italy Flag.png Italian Torre GB
Spain Flag.png Spanish Torre GB

References

Related articles


Features of the Stadium series
Stadium Cups: Pika CupPetit CupPoké CupPrime Cup
Nintendo Cup '97Nintendo Cup '98Nintendo Cup '99
Little CupChallenge Cup
Modes: Stadium ModeBattle Mode
Other: Gym Leader CastleWhite City
Earl's Pokémon AcademyGame Boy TowerKids Club
Mobile StadiumMystery GiftPokémon LabVictory Palace


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