One sure way to also tell, especially with Crystal, is the shape. Crystal was a Gameboy Color exclusive, meaning the cartridge was rounded so that it couldn't be inserted into an original GB and turned on. (The upper corner lacks the cutout). While reprods often have very pretty looking designs, making a 1:1 copy of the original Gameboy Color exclusive cart casing is quite a hassle for bootleggers, since they can't use the same case mould as standard GB game cases.
That's a very good point! Crystal is usually quite a tedious game to counterfeit, and usually the versions on popular auction websites and other storefronts tend to be quite obviously fake. However, it's a very good point that we didn't mention. There's likely many other things we didn't include, so by leaving your comment here, you may have indirectly helped someone!
One sure way to also tell, especially with Crystal, is the shape. Crystal was a Gameboy Color exclusive, meaning the cartridge was rounded so that it couldn't be inserted into an original GB and turned on. (The upper corner lacks the cutout). While reprods often have very pretty looking designs, making a 1:1 copy of the original Gameboy Color exclusive cart casing is quite a hassle for bootleggers, since they can't use the same case mould as standard GB game cases.
That's a very good point! Crystal is usually quite a tedious game to counterfeit, and usually the versions on popular auction websites and other storefronts tend to be quite obviously fake. However, it's a very good point that we didn't mention. There's likely many other things we didn't include, so by leaving your comment here, you may have indirectly helped someone!