Your Game Boy has probably been there for your whole life. Many current college students were just old enough to catch the wave when the Game Boy Color dropped in 1998. Long car rides, church and snow days all passed a little bit quicker with the small gaming machine.
It’s been a long time since those days. Nearly two decades, in fact, so the internal cartridge save capability that made the system a truly mobile experience is beginning to fail on many of our classic games. This feature is pretty much powered by a watch battery, and when that goes, the game can no longer remember your accomplishments.
Bring your games back from the dead. You have to power to restore power, you just have to change the battery.
THE TOOLS
Small Flathead Screwdriver
Needle Nose Pliers
Electrical Tape
Battery
Nintendo 3.8mm security bit (optional)
Before you get started
Firstly, relax. This is actually pretty easy. It may be nerve-wracking to open up the guts of a game to the open air like this, but it’ll be fine. Take your time; don’t rush through it.
Make sure you have the right battery. There’s a number of different options used, the most common being CR1616, CR2025 and CR2032. The correct specification is typed on the board, above the battery. While a 2032 may fit and function where a 2025 goes, please just use the right battery for the right game.
Step One: Open it up
There’ll be one screw on the back of the game. Remove this. This is where the 3.8mm security bit comes in handy. You don’t need it, but it’s way easier than using some other tool for the job.
Do not lose the screw. Put it some place safe.
Slide the front of the cartridge down to open up the casing.
Step Two: Pry the old one out of there
Here is where things can get a bit dicey.
First, you should be able to see the battery. It’s the only thing inside the cartridge that looks anything like a watch battery, probably in the upper right corner.
There are two arms holding it in place, one across the battery’s top and another along the bottom. You have to pry these arms off the battery without breaking them.
That said, you’re going to have to really get in there. Despite the battery dying, these games have worked for like twenty years. They’re built to last and you’ll probably have to work that thing to get it out.
Also remember, the reason you’re doing this in the first place is because your game is already broken. What do you really have to lose if you maim this thing? Do what you have to do.
Use the small screwdriver to pry the arms away. After you’ve established a foothold, combine that with the pliers to grab and pull. Between the two methods, that battery is coming out.
Step Three: Replace that battery
Once the old one is removed, nestle your new battery into the arms that held the first one. Each arm is labeled with their respective “plus” and “minus” signs, so make sure you put it in the right way.
Go back and make sure everything is smoothed out and still connected. Troubleshoot for tears in the metal near the base of the arms, and use your pliers to straighten out the arms, if they’ve become twisted or bent.
Step Four: Seal it.
Congrats, the hard part is over. Use a small strip of electrical tape to seal the modification in place. Either slide the strip, sticky-side up, underneath the bottom arm and seal it on top, or just paste in down on top of the whole mess. Both ways work.
If you’ve removed the whole board, set it back down in the cartridge and return the cover. Grab that screw you were told not to lose and put it back in place.
Step Five: Check your handiwork.
Power the game and Gameboy on. If the game and saves properly, you’re finished. If it doesn’t, reopen the cartridge and double-check everything.
Hopefully you were successful. All there is to do now is enjoy your game.
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