TL;DR
A designer exported the Game Boy Color boot sequence from the console boot ROM using an emulator debugger, captured each frame, and assembled them into a GIF which was cropped and resized into an 88×31 web button. ImageMagick handled most image transforms; color remapping and per-frame analysis were required to remove white-background ghosting, and an AI was used to generate the color interpolation code.
What happened
Seeing 90s-style 88×31 web buttons come back in use, the author decided to make a Game Boy Color-themed button. They ran the boot ROM in an emulator, set breakpoints around the VBlank wait routine (labelled in the disassembly as Wait_for_next_VBLANK at $0211, reachable from an address labelled sub_0291), and stepped through each frame to capture screenshots. That produced 175 PNG frames at 160×144, which were combined into a GIF with ImageMagick. The Game Boy logo area was cropped (127×22 at +16+48), recolored to replace white with a chosen grey, resized to 82×, and then centered inside an 88×31 canvas with a two-pixel border. A per-frame histogram revealed the blue-to-white fade palette (notably including #006BFF to #FFFFFF), which the author remapped to the grey background; an AI-assisted script produced the interpolation used for the color substitution.
Why it matters
- Demonstrates how emulator debugging can be used to extract exact visual assets from ROM code.
- Provides a compact, repeatable ImageMagick pipeline for cropping, resizing and framing animated assets.
- Illustrates pixel-level color analysis and remapping as a practical technique for preserving visual fidelity when changing backgrounds.
- Shows how small tooling and scripting choices (breakpoints, histograms, interpolation) matter for retro-visual recreations.
Key facts
- Author wanted an 88×31 Game Boy-themed web button and made one from the Game Boy Color boot animation.
- They used an emulator debugger to step at the VBlank waiting routine (Wait_for_next_VBLANK at $0211, called from sub_0291) to capture each frame.
- 175 screenshots were captured at 160×144 and combined into a GIF with ImageMagick using the command: magick -delay 1.6742706299 -loop 0 *.png(n) animation.gif (the delay time noted as ~0.0167s).
- The logo was cropped from the GIF at 127×22+16+48, then resized to 82× (yielding 82×14), and placed into an 88×31 grey (#C0C0C0) frame with a 2-pixel border.
- White-background frames caused visible ghosting when scaled; replacing white with the target grey before scaling avoided artifacts.
- Per-frame color histograms were generated to identify fade transition colors; the original fade palette included values from #006BFF up to #FFFFFF.
- The author used an AI-assisted interpolation script to compute equivalent transition colours fading toward #C0C0C0, then applied those substitutions with ImageMagick.
- Tools mentioned: an emulator with breakpoints, a disassembled/labelled boot ROM, ImageMagick (magick), and Aseprite for inspecting pixels.
What to watch next
- Ghosting and color artifacts when transforming animated assets with different background colors—identify transition palettes and remap before scaling.
- not confirmed in the source: potential legal or licensing implications of extracting and redistributing proprietary console boot ROM graphics.
Quick glossary
- Boot ROM: Read-only memory containing low-level code a system runs on startup to initialize hardware and validate software.
- VBlank (Vertical Blank): A short period when a display is not updating visible pixels, often used as a timing point for frame updates.
- Breakpoint (debugger): A marker set in code that pauses execution at a specific address so the state can be inspected or stepped.
- ImageMagick (magick): A command-line suite for image manipulation that can convert, crop, resize, compose, and analyze images and animations.
- Histogram (image): A count of pixel colors or intensities used to analyze the palette and frequency of colors in an image.
Reader FAQ
How many frames were captured from the boot animation?
The workflow produced 175 screenshots at 160×144 which were combined into a GIF.
What tools were used to make the button?
An emulator with breakpoints, ImageMagick (magick), and Aseprite were used; an AI helped generate the color interpolation code.
Was the white background removed before or after scaling?
The author replaced the white background before scaling to avoid artifacts; attempting it after scaling left undesirable remnants.
Is it legally permissible to extract and reuse the Game Boy boot animation?
not confirmed in the source
GBC Boot Animation 88×31 Web Button 04 Jan 2026 #game-boy #88×31 #magick Like many other 90s styles coming back in fashion, I’ve been seeing those retro 88×31 web buttons on…
Sources
- GBC Boot Animation 88×31 Web Button
- The 88×31 GIF Collection | Part 1 – DABAMOS
- Reverse Engineering the Gameboy Boot Screen
- [A9LH]BootAnim9 Animations Thread!
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