Retro Appreciation of the fallen competitors to the OG Game Boy

[Roger Rabbit]

As we all know, the Game Boy didn't just beat its rivals, it crushed them like frogs under a tractor wheel. Mike Tyson versus a new-born baby.

But they weren't bad systems. There are games on all of them, some of which hold up well today.

I had the Lynx and the Game Gear at the time, and much preferred the Game Gear. Castle of Illusion is an amazing game, and really made me feel as if I'd done the right thing in spending that hefty hundred quid back in 1992 on the system itself. I was brought back down to earth when the batteries ran out later that evening.

Also had Super Monaco GP and Wonderboy early on. Super Monaco is too fast to be playable, but Wonderboy is great. And Shinobi, once I got over the disappointment of it not being a port of the arcade game, was a cracking title.

Now, however, I prefer the Lynx. That weighted in at a whopping 170 quid when first released, back in 1989. Tiny Library, but some breath taking graphics for the time. Blue Lightning was so much better than G-Loc on Game Gear (PC Engine was barely available in the UK so no portable afterburner for us). And Warbirds, while certainly not everybody's cup of tea, was utterly unique. In fact, the only handheld title I can think of remotely similar to it is Snoopy Vs the Red Baron on PSP.

Did you have any of these at the time? What games did you play?

I haven't talked about PC Engine / Turbo Grafx because I didn't get one until much later, but would be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[NeoZeedeater]

I had a Game Boy, Game Gear, and Lynx in their era. I love how all of them excel in different ways. It's a shame the GB hogs all the attention.

I think the GG had the best in some categories for portables that gen: action-platform games with the Shinobi games, 2d shooters with the Aleste series, SRPGs with Shining Force, fighting with Fatal Fury Special, ball and paddle with Devilish. And it was great as a Master System fan as it had a converter to play its games (some stuff was glitchy, though). And since most of us in NTSC countries didn't have easy access to PAL SMS games, it was nice that a bunch were available on GG in our regions, like some of the Sonic and Mickey games.

What I loved about the Lynx is that it offered arcade-ish scalers like Blue Lightning, STUN Runner, Roadblasters, Xybots, Battlezone 2000, etc. Its line up was a great mix of Western arcade and computer styles. It was strong for puzzle games, had some impressive conversions of side-scrollers like Toki and Shadow of the Beast, and classic titles like Joust and Robotron.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

Those were good times - all three handhelds offered a unique experience.

You're right about the Master System - it isn't often that Pal region gets the best of a console, but it did with that one. Axe Battler on Game Gear was a huge disappointment, so when the Master Gear came out I was delighted to have a portable version of one of my favourite games at that time, even if it wasn't a very good port.

For such a small library, there's a great variety on the Lynx. Only problem is that there are too many side-scrolling beat em up / platformers. Scrapyard Dog and Kung Food, I'm looking at you. I never had Aleste at that time on GG, but Zarlor Mercenary is an awesome shoot em up.

Songbird Productions still churns out Lynx games. They're overpriced, but I like having them.

 

[YolkFolk]

My younger brother had a Game Gear with Sonic, a golf game and some fighter jet game. We’d sit in bed under the covers pretending we were in a cockpit while playing the fighter jet one. The only thing I remember about the golf game is that it had voice clips such as ‘That’s it, that’s into the sand trap!’.

 

[Suiseiseki]

I wonder if having a color screen this early led to costs that they can't handle in the long run, aside from third party software differences.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

My younger brother had a Game Gear with Sonic, a golf game and some fighter jet game. We’d sit in bed under the covers pretending we were in a cockpit while playing the fighter jet one. The only thing I remember about the golf game is that it had voice clips such as ‘That’s it, that’s into the sand trap!’.

The fighter game sounds like G-Loc. I've never played any golf on the Game Gear, although I recently bought Super Golf and Fred Couples Golf.

I wonder if having a color screen this early led to costs that they can't handle in the long run, aside from third party software differences.

Definitely made it more expensive and too pricey to be a long-term success, especially as both screens were lit up. And neither of them had anything that was remotely as good as Tetris as a system-seller. Honestly, that game was just perfect for portable play then. But the real battleground, on which they were annihilated, was battery life.

 

[NeoZeedeater]

Songbird Productions still churns out Lynx games. They're overpriced, but I like having them.

While not from Songbird, Zaku is a neat homebrew shooter inspired by Air Zonk.

 

[KilgoreWolfe]

I had a Game Gear, and I vividly remember playing it sitting on the floor of a church banquet hall, tethered to an outlet with the AC adapter to combat the terrible battery life. I think the only two games I ever had were Sonic 2 and Garfield. I actually remember liking Garfield more, because Sonic was really hard for me, haha.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

While not from Songbird, Zaku is a neat homebrew shooter inspired by Air Zonk.

Yes, I got that too. Considering the only other horizontal shmup is the very mediocre Gates of Zendocon, Zaku was a welcome addition to the Lynx library.

Now I'm off to have a look at some footage of Garfield on GG.

 

[NeoZeedeater]

I like Zendocon for the laser attack and the atmosphere but it could have been a much better game with less levels but more effort put into their design.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

The Game Boy was by far the best handheld for horizontal shooters, unless we include the PC Engine. Nemesis, Nemesis 2, Parodius, R-Type, Mercenary Force, Sagaia, Tail Spin, Burai Fighter, two levels of Super Mario Land, people were spoiled for choice. Neither the Lynx or the Game Gear had much to compete with that. It was different in the vertical shmups, where the Game Boy only AFAIK had Solar Striker and a few ports of games from the early 80s. Lynx's Zarolor Mercenary and Game Gear's Aleste were much better than Solar Striker. Even Halley Wars was better than Solar Striker.

 

[NeoZeedeater]

Yeah, the GG is lacking for horizontal shooters unless you count Defender-style stuff like Dropzone and Fantasy Zone Gear.

 

[Stairouais]

I loved me NeoGeo pocket at the time. Having good KOF and Metalslug on a handheld was incredible.
Despite never geting one, I'm fascinated by the Wonderswan. Such a cool looking handheld.

 

[MisterSpo]

One of the sad things about Virtual Console falling by the wayside is that, with GameBoy and GameGear on there, you could have had a VC service which gave those early rival handheld systems a bigger, contemporary audience.

 

[ermitron2]

This was the real competition of GB here in Mexico, good times

 

[Roger Rabbit]

Yeah, the GG is lacking for horizontal shooters unless you count Defender-style stuff like Dropzone and Fantasy Zone Gear.

There are a handful, but none of them are any good or very high profile. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is Aerial Assault.

 

[Deleted member 887]

I loved me NeoGeo pocket at the time. Having good KOF and Metalslug on a handheld was incredible.
Despite never geting one, I'm fascinated by the Wonderswan. Such a cool looking handheld.

Encountered a Wonderswan in the wild briefly as a teenager. Truly an amazing little machine, and some excellent games in its library I've played through emu. But that hardly does the machine itself credit. 16bit processor, incredible battery life and a form factor that was designed to be played both vertically and horizontally.

The library is mostly Square RPGs and a lot of puzzle games (Gunpey is the system's equivalent to tetris on the Gameboy), and despite feeling like it was made for shmups there weren't many, but Judgement Silversword is fantastic

 

[Roger Rabbit]

I have all three of them - original, color and crystal. There's not much to play on it that isn't better on another system, apart from Judgement Silversword. For Japanese gamers who aren't into importing or emulation, it's the only way to play Golden Axe on a portable.

 

[Pineapple Pizza]

I have fond memories of sitting cross-legged on the sofa with the Game Gear plugged into the AC, and the Master Gear converter attached, playing gems like Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse. It really helped that Master System cartridges in the mid to late 90s were getting quite cheap to pick up loose. In some ways I really wish we weren't forced to keep trading in our old consoles to get others, as I would love to hook all this up again. The NSO service would really benefit from SMS/GG games. They definitely still hold up. Me and my partner were in a console gaming bar a few weeks back and they had SMS Aladdin hooked up to a CRT and my partner spent hours playing.

In the UK the Master System was much more popular than the NES. I'd love to know the sales figures for the Game Gear vs Game Boy in the UK...

 

[Mr Swine]

I only had the GB while growing up. I remember seeing the Game Gear and was interested in buying it but it needed a whopping 6 AA batteries to power it and that it was more expensive than the GB so my parents noped out pretty fast

 

[Sumio Mondo]

I only had the GB while growing up. I remember seeing the Game Gear and was interested in buying it but it needed a whopping 6 AA batteries to power it and that it was more expensive than the GB so my parents noped out pretty fast

Exactly why I didn't get one also. My parents bought me a Master System, so naturally Game Gear would have been next if not for that. Plus my parents enjoyed playing Tetris on the GB too, so it ended up being my first Nintendo system. Glad I got GB in the end up, some classics on it. Only exposure to GG I have had is through the Virtual Console many, many years later. Didn't know anyone who had the Lynx, Game Gear or Wonderswan growing up.

 

[Phantoon]

I have a Neo Geo Pocket Colour. I'd say that while it's got a small library it's a shockingly good one; there's a ton of unique classics on it, and the average quality of the games are really high. It's a real shame it never got the love it deserved, it should've blossomed alongside the GBC. It really deserved to.