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Detonate a nostalgia bomb with our gorgeous Game Boy pictures

We've given Nintendo's late '80s masterpiece the close-up treatment! Bring your childhood screaming back with these stunning images.

Luke Westaway
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
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1 of 32 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Episode 1 of CNET's new show Adventures in Tech takes a fond look back at Nintendo's classic console.

Click the link below to travel back in time with our inaugural episode -- packed full of info, memories, and classic '90s ads -- and tap through our photos to get up close and personal with the greatest handheld ever built.

Read: How the Nintendo Switch make you feel like a kid with a Game Boy again.

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Four AA batteries were all you needed for a gaming-fueled car trip. Wise parents would keep a stash of spares in the glove compartment.

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Forget Angry Birds, Tetris is the best portable game ever made.

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As our show explains, Tetris was essential to the Game Boy's success.

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Nintendo's smart button selection made the Game Boy familiar to anyone who'd toyed with an NES.

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You wouldn't call it ergonomic, but this chunky handheld was right at home in the hands of any game-addled '90s child.

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This connector port made it possible to play against other Game Boy owners, and was essential for swapping Pokemon with other aspiring trainers.

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Cartridges are obsolete now, but meant you could carry your saved game on the cartridge itself.

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Nothing's worse than seeing that power light slowly fade away.

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Nintendo's D-pad has survived for decades, and is still dead comfortable to poke and prod.

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Bad news: the Tetris Type A music is now stuck in your head.

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The Game Boy's screen could only handle four varying shades of grey.

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Game not working? Forget tech support, just blow as hard as you can into this hole.

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A little bit of plastic built into the power switch prevented evil children from tugging the cartridge out while you were playing...but they could always turn the system off, the scamps.

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This handy dial let you choose exactly how grey you wanted the Game Boy's murky display to look.

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When I was young, the rumour was that playing with the sound off saved battery. Sounds plausible, but as for whether it was true, we still have no idea.

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Sorry Walkman, we have more important things to listen to.

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That black bar on screen means the system was turned on without a game plugged in. Heaven forbid you should see the "Nintendo" logo.

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This grille pumps out a decent level of noise -- enough to drive a parent insane, anyway.

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The Game Boy required fewer batteries than its rivals, and lasted way longer. Kudos, Nintendo.

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It was common for these battery covers to get lost. Enterprising kids would use sticky tape instead.

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The Game Boy would just about fit in your pocket. Just.

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Bundling the system with Tetris gave the Game Boy a broad appeal.

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Nothing we owned as kids was ever this neatly arranged.

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That arrow wasn't really necessary -- Game Boy cartridges could only physically be inserted one way.

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A snug fit, and you're all ready for 8-bit thrills.

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Handy grips on the side meant you didn't lose traction when just one Tetromino away from beating a high score.

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Rubber buttons. Squishy!

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The Game Boy paved the way for Nintendo's even-more-popular Nintendo DS.

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If you've clicked through this many photos of the Game Boy, you're probably ready to learn how it vanquished its rivals, despite being much less powerful than handhelds from Sega and Atari. Click the link below to find out!

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I doubt there's a single 10-year-old who ever understood what "dot matrix" meant, but the chunky font sure was comforting.

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