Question about Gameboy Color Cartridges

[Bulletproof]

I am fairly new to the whole Gameboy scene, but after picking up a GBA SP and a few great titles, I am hooked.

Anyways, I am interested in picking up a couple of older Gameboy Color titles, but I've noticed that they say "Battery Save".

- Does the cartridge have a battery in it?
- Does the battery need replacing on an older cartridge?
- Can the battery be replaced for a reasonable price?
- If the batter is not working can I not save?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I don't want to invest in older "rare" ebay purchases if I'm gonna find problems with saving.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Bulletproof

[Tebunker]

Batteries and cartridges are a headache... fortunately the GBA games have gotten past this using other means of storage...

However, it's tough to replace batteries if only because it's tough to get the batteries and the tool to remove the screws. Otherwise it's no different than changing a battery in a watch.

If the battery is dead or weak you can save, but it get erased immediately. It's a real pain in the arse.

[Destructor]

Well, look at it this way - only now are some of the NES batteries starting to die out.

So, odds are, the batteries in the GBC titles are still good.

[EddieA]

I'm playing 3 GBC games now (Dragon Warrior 1 and 3 and DW Monsters) and they all work fine.  This is just a guess, but I would think the batteries would be good for about 10 years.

[Chesspieceface]

I bought a preowned GBC MarioGolf recently at my local GameSlob and it wouldn't hold a save.  They DID accept the return, but I presume the jerks just resold it depsite its essentially useless state.  The cart was at least 5 years old.  1st and only time I've actually seen that happen, but it certainly brought to my mind the same concerns you've expressed.

[stiffler]

I had a dead battery in the first used GBA game I bought.  Not GBC, but GBA.  Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.  Man, I played it for like 6 hours before I saved and turned it off.  When I went to continue it was dead.  The EB folks took the return, but only after they verified for themselves.  Normally not a big deal, but it does take awhile to get to the first save spot in the game!  I suspect something strange happened to the game while in the hands of the previous owner.

[Chrisoc13]

Whoa, GBA games have batteries too? Thats a shame, I thought they had a different way now.

[stiffler]

Whoa, GBA games have batteries too? Thats a shame, I thought they had a different way now.

Well, I don't know for sure!  Just saying that whatever stores saved games was dead in mine.  I am going to look into that, though.