In particular, dithering was a very common way of blending colours together in old video games and programs despite hardware limitations preventing more than a few colours per block of pixels. The CRT display helped blend them together since the individual pixels weren't as clear as on a modern LCD display. A lot of old games look noticeably worse on a LCD display compared to a CRT.

You, or your 13-year old, might enjoy (or already have seen) this video-essay;

The Power Of VHS | SCANLINE

Tldw watching a somewhat worn out version of Alien VHS on a 4:3 CRT TV in a dark room compared to a super bright plasma TV and some remastered wide-screen version can be much scarier.

Let me tell you what my kid taught me:

So the game boy advanced SP has a backlight which is a big upgrade over the color. It can play color games as well (though as you mention, maybe that's not the point). It's a folding formfactor though, and I believe the color comes in significantly different form factors -- both the vertical and wide orientations. Anyway, last time I checked, you can buy original hardware on eBay. We have tinkered and repaired things on ours. His electrical charging port became loose and required some cleaning, but thankfully no soldering. Hes had this thing for 10 years now of heavy use.