Came across a Pokemon Gold GBC game. The seller said the battery was replaced in 2016. As a policy I always open up and inspect older game carts and I often replace the the battery if its over 8 years old. This game had someone who did a really janky job replacing the battery and this isn't how you should replace a save battery in these games. You can view the video below...


I decided to add some useful information to this video post to clear up confusion for those less familiar with these games. All Game Boy & Game Boy Color games use either a CR2025 or CR1616 battery, while Game Boy Advance uses only CR1616 batteries. The reason for this is size. The numbers in the battery indicate the width and height, the first number is the width and the second is the height, so for example a CR2025 battery is .20mm wide and .25mm tall. Additionally there is a capacity difference between the batteries, but generally speaking for a save battery it makes no difference.

Yes technically you can use a CR2032 battery, as all of these batteries (CR1616, CR2025 & CR2032) are the same 3V. So no it will not damage the game. The reason a CR2032 battery wasn't used by Nintendo is because it doesn't fit. This is the same reason I do not use them as they require you to force the cart to close, which causes the cart to bulge or worse could break the plastic tab that holds the cover in place. Neither is a good strategy for preserving these games. 


I recommend buying ones made in Japan from Amazon or any other reputable source. I have seen comments suggesting tabbed batteries are not as good because the quality cannot be trusted and to that I say don't buy cheap $1 batteries from eBay or Aliexpress. The same brands still exist that were originally used in these carts back in the 90's and 2000's. Panasonic & Maxell are the 2 most common that I have seen. Do they cost more? Yes as of writing this they are $4-$5 a piece.


An alternative solution to the tabbed batteries is to use a CR1616 socket. The reason it has to be a CR1616 socket is that the CR2025 socket is too thick and you will not be able to close the cart without bulging it, which again could cause the plastic tab that holds the cover in place to break. This solution is probably best for those who don't want to or cannot solder a tabbed battery in place. So a really good use case scenario is if your someone who has GB/GBC/GBA games that need the save battery replaced and you only want to have to pay for it once, have the repairer install the CR1616 socket and then you can pop the battery out when it needs to be replaced.

This is what a CR1616 socket looks like.

These can be purchased from Amazon, eBay and yes even Aliexpress. The quality of the plastic matters. I have used ones that were significantly cheaper in quality and after inserting the battery just once the plastic was stressed and cracked, which I ended up tossing in the trash. There is no point in using the socket if its going to break after 1-2 batteries as you will need to solder to replace it. That is the one down side to these the quality can vary widely and you won't know until you buy it and have it in hand to test.