Cartridge After Cartridge, Pokémon’s Tiny Game Boy Jukebox Revives Kanto Tunes

Pokémon turns 30 this year, and the Pokémon Company wants to give its followers a little something to celebrate. They created the Game Boy Jukebox, which is a modest tribute to the original Game Boy. It’s a device that pulls music directly from Pokémon Red and Blue. We’re talking 45 tiny mini cartridges buried in the box, each with a single track or sound effect from the original 1996 games.

You can get a red or blue unit on the Pokémon Center website for $69.99, but you’ll need to act quickly. Sales began on February 27, 2026 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, and fans went crazy, thus supplies sold out quickly online. In the United Kingdom, people are already trying to sell them on eBay for double the price. In Japan, however, it is a lottery, which is convenient for those who can participate, with the Red and Green cartridges representing the games that were first launched in Japan.

It’s a little device, roughly a third the size of the original Game Boy, small enough to fit in your pocket or leave on your desk. There are no buttons or games to speak of; it is simply a prop, a piece of history, but if you pop the back off, you will find three LR44 button cell batteries inside to keep it running, however you must supply your own. There’s also a handy compact storage container to keep all the cartridges organized while you’re not using them.

When you insert a cartridge, a static image appears on the screen that corresponds to the track inside, and you can then hear the exact same music or sound effect that would have been found on the original Game Boy, which was made to sound exactly like it did back then. All of the audio was controlled by the same Junichi Masuda who composed the music for those games, making it a true piece of history.

The cartridges are all miniature, yet identical, copies of vintage Game Boy games. Flip them over to reveal small pictures or scenes that correspond to the music, such as Pallet Town for a serene vibe, Rocket Hideout for a more tense atmosphere, or Lavender Town for a chilling effect. You can hear Jigglypuff’s lullaby, the title screen bell, the concluding swell, and even the winning music. Every one of the 45 music from the original games made it onto the Jukebox; none were left off.

There is no headphone jack, so you’ll have to rely on the built-in speakers to play your music (albeit at a lower volume). Perfect as a nostalgic desk toy or a fast pick-me-up. When the batteries run out, simply switch them and continue as usual.