Here we are with yet another flash cart from the Krikzz team. This time we are checking out the Everdrive GB X7 for the GameBoy and GameBoy Color.
When it comes to the Everdrive GB line of flash carts, I own and have used the Everdrive GB X3 and have really enjoyed the cart. So I was excited to check out the Everdrive GB X7 to see if it’s worth the additional cost.
I will not be reviewing both carts here, but I will say that the price difference going from the Everdrive GB X3 up to the GB X7 is definitely worth it. The added features of the Everdrive GB X7 which are the isolated RTC and supported save/load states justify the price increase in my opinion.
I might just be getting ahead of myself a little. So let me explain a little bit about what the Everdrive GB X7 is and what it offers. The GB X7 as I will refer to it going forward is a flash cartridge that allows you to place all of your legally dumped GameBoy and GameBoy Color games onto a single cartridge, using a micro SD card to store them.
Aside from the micro SD Card slot, the cartridge features a small button next to the slot. This was used as a soft reset button to reset the cart back to the main menu on previous carts. On the GB X7 it is used to pull up the save and load state menu with the option of going back to the main menu as previous carts did.
When it comes to the GB X7 specifically, the cartridge supports isolated RTC which means that each game can use the RTC without conflict. This is a nice feature to have if you play various Pokemon games for instance that need to use it for time based events. Another major feature of the GB X7 is that it supports save states. So if you pick up and play a game of POWA! or Genesis, you can save the game at any point and resume it the next time you want to play and not need to start the game over again. This is definitely a feature that is a welcome upgrade from the GB X3 and for me is totally worth the price increase.
The GB X7 sounds great and all, but how do games perform and what hardware can you use this cartridge with?
I want to first take a look at the hardware that this cartridge is able to work with. Krikzz states that the GB X7 is “Compatible with all systems which supports GB and GBC cartridges (including Super Game Boy)”. Now this is the case with all of the GameBoy and GameBoy Color handhelds I’ve tested it with, including the Super GameBoy 2 of which it works very well. I am getting to the exception here which is the ModRetro Chromatic.
I had a conversation with Jacob Adam of 8BitJoystick about the GB X7 and the Chromatic. In our conversation it was determined that because of the FPGA version differences, my GB X7 works without issue in my Chromatic while his cartridge doesn’t. As you can see in the image above, Jacobs’ FPGA version is version 06. This version of the firmware does not work in the ModRetro Chromatic. As you can see he’s showing it running on a modded GBC. On the other side, my FPGA version is 07 and has zero issues running on my Chromatic.
So for those of you that have a ModRetro Chromatic and want to pick up the GB X7, you should be fine to get one now as it will work. If you purchased a GB X7 before the end of 2024, then you would need to purchase a new GB X7.
With all of that stated, the compatibility of the GB X7 is rather impressive and was a nice surprise. I mean when Jacob and I had our conversation, I was a bit nervous that it wouldn’t work on the Chromatic as there has been zero information on if it works with the Chromatic as of writing this review as far as I am aware. I am however happy to confirm that yes, the GB X7 if purchased right now, will work without issue on the ModRetro Chromatic handheld.
We have looked at what the GB X7 can run on, but what about the games? What are the limits of this cartridge and is it still worth picking up?
Chromatic Tetris is the pack in game for the ModRetro Chromatic and the game runs with zero issues on the GB X7. No speed issues, glitches or anything. The only aspect I am not able to test is the multiplayer support. But as far as a single player experience, the game plays quite nicely and supports save states.
Doc Cosmos is a great action platformer for the GameBoy Color. The game looks really good on the ModRetro Chromatic and as expected, runs with zero issue on the GB X7. This game also supports save states without issues.
Yosei Wars is one of my favorite arcade platformers to ever grace the GameBoy and GameBoy Color handheld. Happy to report that this game too works without issues. It plays beautifully well and also supports save states without issues.
POWA! Is one of these games that looks absolutely gorgeous on the ModRetro Chromatic and is a platformer that everyone should experience at least once. The game plays great and is yes, a game that supports save states.
Pokemon is a beloved series even to this day. Here is Pokemon Silver running on the GB X7. The game saves internally without issue, and supports save states, though they aren’t really needed since the game has a save function.
Digital Monster Pulsmon Version is a digital pet game that was never apparently released to my knowledge. I was provided a press ROM several years ago and here the game is running great on the GB X7. The game plays well and supports save states.
Cel Story is an action platformer with shmup elements for the GameBoy. The game plays very well on the GB X7. The only issue with it is that it doesn’t support save states, in fact it doesn’t support the menu interrupt at all.
The games shown above are all games I have legally dumped from personal carts I own or are ROMs provided by the publishers themselves for review purposes. The reason I made mention of the games that support save states is because as I stated, there are some games like Cel Story that don’t support save states.
So that kind of brings me to the one issue I have with the cartridge which may be a selling point for some people and a reason they would want to pick up this cartridge over any of the previous iterations.
There are maybe one or two games like Cel Story mentioned above that don’t support the menu interrupt, at least as far as my experience with using the cart and playing these games are concerned. Meaning that in my experience, when you press the menu button at the top of the cart, it interrupts the game and provides a means to save or load a state as well as going back to the main menu; and this doesn’t work with a handful of games it seems.
While a handful of games may not support the menu at all, there are some games that will just freak out when you try to save and load states.
Here is an example of exactly that instance. Above you can see the amazing Super Mario Bros Mini. This is a fan made take on the original Super Mario Bros and made it mini so that it plays very well on the GameBoy Color. This is the definitive way to play this classic game on the GameBoy Color. As awesome as this game is, it doesn’t support saving and loading states. So when you save the state, it glitches for a second, but then when you load it, the game has a tendency to graphically corrupt to the point of being completely unplayable. Sometimes it can correct itself, other times it will just completely lock the game up and you will have to power cycle the handheld entirely because the cart menu won’t come up.
With the features that the GB X7 offers, game performance, and the one percent of games that have issues with the cart when it comes to save states and the menu not working in general, is this cartridge worth purchasing?
I would have to say that, yes this cartridge is definitely worth picking up. If you’re thinking of upgrading from an older Everdrive GB X model to this one or looking to purchase an Everdrive GB X flash cart for the first time, this is totally worth the purchase. The isolated RTC and save states alone are more than worth picking up this cart if you’re upgrading. On the other side of the coin, if you’re looking for an all around amazing flash cartridge that pretty much does it all, then look no further than the GB X7.
Coming from the Everdrive GB X3, there is no way I could ever go back to using it as my daily flash cartridge since getting the GB X7. If you own a lot of GameBoy and GameBoy Color games, or you have a large digital collection, this is definitely worth picking up and should be a staple in everyone’s GameBoy and GameBoy Color collection!
Disclaimer: We were provided with a review unit
You can buy the EverDrive GB X7 here
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.