Jayro's GAME BOY™ Test Cartridge

This is the world's first test cartridge for the Game Boy Color!

Nintendo made an official test cartridge for the original Game Boy, but let's face it... It sucks. The tests work, but they aren't geared to test the Game Boy Color's specific hardware.

My test cartridge has set out to fully replace Nintendo's official one.  I created this ROM using GB Studio v4!

Mario is a registered trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd. This test cartridge is not officially licensed, sponsored, nor supported by Nintendo Co., Ltd.

This project is public domain, and may be freely used,

distributed, or sold, without my express permission needed.

PHYSICAL COPIES ARE AVAILABLE HERE:

https://ko-fi.com/s/cd332c5214

(I do not sell on AliExpress, those are not made by me and their quality can vary wildly; Your mileage may vary. I use the same quality PCBs and shells every time, as well as professionally-printed labels that are NOT the DS slip cover)

FEATURES:

• Game Boy hardware detection between Classic Game Boy, Super Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance upon boot up.
• Designed specifically for Game Boy Color hardware, yet is fully backwards compatible with original Game Boy hardware too!
  
• Includes an easy to navigate menu system for the user to choose the type of tests they want to perform.
• The cartridge can intelligently detect the proper tests for the screen and buttons for the hardware it's being run on, seamlessly and transparent to the user.
• Endless button testing lets you test the buttons as long as you'd like!
• Link port testing with an appropriate Game Boy/Pocket/Color game link cable. (GBA cables will not work.)
• Extensive sound testing and a 8-key piano. (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C)
• Test the left and right stereo channels together, or independently of each other.
• Includes tests for modern IPS screens, such as testing for dead pixels, ghosting, screen tearing, image retention, and even attempts to safely repair stubborn or stuck pixels.
• TV test patterns for calibrating your Super Game Boy or Game Boy Player with a CRT TV or PVM, so you can dial-in the best image possible.
• SRAM save testing. See if your SRAM (or FRAM) can hold a save file.
• A printable patterned test page is available for testing your Pocket Printer, to make sure things print correctly.
• Comes with a screen lens alignment tool, to aid Game Boy modders in properly aligning their LCD kits and screen lenses. (Not needed for laminated screen kits) Also useful to fix overscan and aspect ratio issues in emulators.
• Comes with link port and link cable pinout documentation. Pinout is colorized on color Game Boy systems. Game Boy (+Color), Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Micro ports are all covered.
• Additional documentation for power pinouts is also integrated, for all Game Boymodels supporting power input.
• Now supports testing of rumble motors when flashed to a supporting MBC5 rumble motor flash cartridge! Push the (A) button to make the motor rumble!
• Works on Game Boy Advance systems using the GBC ROM, or the Goomba Color emulator. Additionally, it also works with the GB Boy Colour (a Chinese hardware clone), the Funnyplaying FPGBC (An FPGA-based Game Boy and Game Boy Color device) the Analogue Pocket (An FPGA-based Game Boy device), and ModRetro's Chromatic (An FPGA-based Game Boy Color device).

Quick-boot shortcuts:

Hold (Start): Main Menu

Hold (Select): SRAM Saving Test

Hold (A): Dead Pixel Test

Hold (B): Link Cable Test

Hold (Up): Endless Button Test

Hold (Down): TV Test Patterns

Hold (Left): Platforming Button Test

Hold (Right): Stereo Sound Test

EPILEPSY WARNING:

Colorful test patterns and flickering graphics may cause seizures in people with epilepsy. Use with caution at your discretion.

IF YOU LIKE MY WORK, YOU CAN ALWAYS LEAVE A TIP:

https://ko-fi.com/jayrojones

Changelog for v3.0.1 Stable + Hotfix 1

NEW:

• Project has been compiled using GB Studio v4.3.2.
• Menu performance is the star of this release, along with a brand new Main Menu system. Menus have gone under changes to be snappier and cause less delay.
• Titlescreen timeout to DVD screensaver is exactly 55 seconds now, which is exactly 1 listen-through of the theme song.
• Several menus got some small graphical changes.
• Adjusted graphics in some of the tests, like the Button Tests to be more consistent in coloring, as well as overall graphics quality.
• There's a new icon for the Extras Menu, showing two linked Game Boy systems with a data packet running down the cable.
• "BOOT-UP SHORTCUTS" entry added in the Extras Menu, so it's easy to reference which shortcuts do what.
• Changed the Game Boy Printer Test's error text so it's a bit easier to understand.
• The "Game Boy" in the spinning GB Studio logo got grip-stripes on the back and proper shoulders drawn on it.
  

FIXED:

• A funky (experimental and unfinished) music track that I was experimenting with in the Link Cable Test has now been swapped back to the normal track, that was an overlook from the last release.
• Pressing left or right on the Main Menu when the screen was already in motion, caused the menu to freeze in place and get stuck. This has been fixed with the help of Mico27. (Thanks to @Cayenne (CD-REV) for the bug report!)

OTHER CHANGES:

• The redundant "CREDITS" entry in the Extras! Menu has been removed, as it's now on the Main Menu.
• "LCD TESTS" text in the SCREENS Menu has been retitled to "SCREEN TESTS" to be more consistent overall, as well as realizing we have more than just LCD screens on the market now. This broader term just makes sense.
• Small file optimizations the user wouldn't notice, saving me ROM space and memory.
• Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience.

Known Issues:

• If used with Goomba Color, pushing L and R at the same time during the Button Test will bring up the Goomba Color menu (still confirming that L and R are working for you). The screen size won't change like it would if it was running from a Gameboy Color cartridge in a GBA, despite the text telling you it would if the "GBA Detect" option was enabled.
• On some FPGA-based systems, some cores display the "Made in GB Studio" text all distorted while the animation is in motion. Budude2's core on Analogue Pocket is unaffected. Spiritualized97's core on Analogue Pocket and FunnyPlaying's FPGBC exhibit this glitchy behavior.