The GB Tower turns the Nintendo 64 into a living-room Game Boy: with the Transfer Pak, you play Pokémon Red, Blue or Yellow on the television, in color and with a decorative border. Two upgraded versions, the Doduo Tower and the Dodrio Tower, speed up the game by two or by three. For many players, it was one of the most concrete selling points of Pokémon Stadium.
How it works
- Insert your Pokémon Red, Blue or Yellow cartridge into a Transfer Pak, plugged into the back of a controller.
- On the town map, enter the GB Tower and choose the cartridge to launch.
- The Game Boy game starts on screen, surrounded by a border. You play with the Nintendo 64 controller.
- The Game Boy game’s save is written directly to the cartridge, as on the handheld console: your game then carries on on Game Boy.
What the GB Tower brings
- Colors: like the Super Game Boy on the Super Nintendo, the GB Tower colors first-generation games, with palettes specific to each version.
- Borders around the game screen. The border is changed with the Z button, and each upgrade of the Tower adds one.
- A big screen to play with several people, or simply to enjoy the mini-games of Pokémon Yellow, like Pikachu‘s Beach from the Surfing Pikachu.
The Doduo and Dodrio Towers
| Tower | Speed | How to unlock it |
|---|---|---|
| GB Tower | Normal | Available from the start |
| Doduo Tower | x2 | Win the Poké Cup or the Prime Cup in Round 1 |
| Dodrio Tower | x3 | Win the Poké Cup and the Prime Cup in Round 1 |
With each upgrade, the building changes appearance and name on the map, and a new border is added.
Compatibility
- The language must match: the French version of Pokémon Stadium recognizes French cartridges of Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow. A cartridge in another language is in principle not supported.
- First generation only: Gold, Silver and Crystal are not compatible with Pokémon Stadium. They are with Pokémon Stadium 2, whose GB Tower is more complete.
- No trading by cable: the GB Tower does not support the Link Cable. To trade, use the machine in the Lab with two Transfer Paks.
- Save batteries: a cartridge with a dead battery no longer keeps saves, on Game Boy as in the GB Tower. On cartridges from that era, it is a frequent problem today.
And today?
The Nintendo Switch Online version of Pokémon Stadium does not allow the use of a Game Boy cartridge: the GB Tower does not work there. To play Red, Blue or Yellow on a big screen, you therefore need a Nintendo 64, the game and an original Transfer Pak. See Pokémon Stadium on Nintendo Switch Online.
