Being a collector means that the internet is both your best friend and worst enemy. For every cheap game you're able to find on eBay or great trade through a message-board there's another elusive and expensive rarity out there taunting you. These are the kind of items that we didn't even know existed because we've never seen them mentioned before. So stumbling upon them feels like you're in on a special secret. That's exactly how I felt when I discovered the Konami Hyper Boy a few weeks ago.

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The Hyper Boy was a unique accessory that Konami released in Japan for the original Game Boy. The idea is that the Game Boy would slip inside of the Hyper Boy and be turned into a tiny arcade machine. This is certainly novel, and of course appeals to fans of Game Boy shmups such as myself.

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The unit itself runs on two D batteries, which as you might imagine add up to a considerable weight when coupled with the Hyper Boy and Game Boy (which already has its own four AA batteries inside). Sadly the Hyper Boy does not offer an AC Adapter option, which means those D batteries are your only option to power it. Luckily the Game Boy's AC port is still reachable though.

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Besides the obvious addition of an arcade stick rather than D-pad, the Hyper Boy also incorporates a magnifying screen and front-light as well as an amplified speaker. Interestingly the arcade stick even has separate settings for four or eight directional controls.

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Of course the real question is how well does it work? Well first off the magnification and light certainly helps the screen out, but it certainly can't deliver any miracles. The classic Game Boy screen is still going to be a challenge if you don't get the contrast just right. The added speaker on the other hand works quite well. It actually adds a nice bit of clarity and strength to the output. As far as the arcade stick goes, it's by no means arcade quality but it definitely does the job. The eight-way setting feels comfortable and loose enough on shmups like Konami's own Nemesis.

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Though this accessory is far from perfect, it's also ridiculously unique. It was obviously made for a very niche audience, of which I'm definitely in attendance. Perhaps it's not the kind of device that every gamer would drool over, but for someone like me with such an affection for Game Boy shmups it's one of the crowning pieces in my collection.

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