Game Gear - is it worth it?

[neogenesis]

I was thinking of getting a refurbished Game Gear. I haven't played it before. Is it worth getting one?

[danthor]

In this day and age, as much as I love it, I find it -really- difficult to recommend. It's not that the games are bad, they're wonderful, it's just the screen is just so blurry it's hard to go back to. I think you're better off just going right for a Master System, since 90% of Game Gear games were the exact same as their MS counterparts. Alternatively, if you're willing to slap a better screen in there, it'd be something.

[neogenesis]

I wanted to get a handheld though. Do you know if the Game Gear replaced with new capacitors takes away the blurriness of the screen? Alternatively, I might get a GBA SP instead.

[rob7979]

Master system all the way (although not a handheld!).

I agree with Danthor - retro and handhelds do not make great companions. Too many issues around screen size and battery life.

You can pick up a master system 2 with a selection of decent games very cheaply - I'd recommend Spiderman, sonic, afterburner, outrun and space harrier (and of course shinobi).

[neogenesis]

I guess that's true about retro handhelds. Sad, but true. I love my NGPC, but the screen isn't lit, so that somewhat lessens my fun with it.

[danthor]

Retro handhelds can be a fiddly business, but they're all tweakable. It depends on what you're willing to put into it. I love my NGPC, and since those games aren't available on anything else (and even if they were, that thumbstick is a treasure to be enjoyed), I decided a screen mod is the way to go. Now I can see!



It's not quite a modern screen, but it makes a huge difference. My crappy phone pic really doesn't do it justice. In the case of my GBA SP, I put an AGS-101 screen and new battery in, and it's just perfect.




Any farther back, and I have a hard time justifying it to myself, like in the case of the Game Gear. I could revive mine, but I'd need to put in a whole new LCD, and then there's that whole battery life thing. So far every GG game I really loved, I can play on my Master System, so I just migrated to there when it came to playing my old GG loves. With that solution, I just can't be arsed to sink the time and money into modding my Game Gear. If I really want to keep playing them on the go, I'm content with PSP emulation.

In the case of NGPC and the Gameboy family of things, that's another thing. I love everything about those systems very dearly, and have a really large library for both of them that I want to continue playing, so for me, getting mods for those made sense, and was completely worth it, especially the GBA. At least with my NGPC and GBA, the battery life is excellent, even with the front/backlit screens. I could also have my OG Gameboy done up with a light mod, but when I can just play those carts in my SP, why would I bother? On top of that, nearly every GB/GBC game I enjoy, I've been able to get them on the Virtual console for my 3DSXL, -much- larger and better in every way screen. For the few games that aren't on the VC (or if I'm insisting this session use the real deal), I can just pop my cart into my SP, done deal.

[neogenesis]

The picture for the NGPC isn't showing for some reason. Anyway, I do agree that the thumbstick on the NGPC is awesome, especially for the fighting games.

I've pondered on getting a GBA SP 101 for a while now, but I always somehow hesitate to get it. I guess because most of the games I want for it are mostly on the SNES or are similar to their SNES counterparts (i.e.- Street Fighter II, Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario, Final Fight).

As far as handhelds, I really like my ATgames Genesis portable. I know it's emulation, but it has a solid build (for the price), nice screen, good battery life, plays pretty well, and the ability to play more games with a SD card. If only the sound emulation was better. Oh well...nothing's perfect.

[rob7979]

I agree - I was playing my AT game genesis on the train today - it always joins me on my commute. Nothing like blasting through afterburner to get you into the mood!

Would love to see that NGPC pic

[neogenesis]

I really like playing Street Fighter II with it because of the 6-button layout. I just recently got the newest version of the ATgames portable. Here's a comparison picture:



The new version is the white one. It seems to be pretty much the same emulation-wise. The only real difference is the bigger screen (3.2"). If you look closely, you can tell. Also, the handheld itself is just slightly bigger than the old one, but not by much. It looks more classy with the new color scheme too. Though I wish they went with black and grey, so it would look more like a Genesis controller.

[danthor]

Oct 27, 2015 15:45:28 GMT -5 rob7979 said:

Would love to see that NGPC pic

Re-upp'd that pic, so it should be appearing in he original post. Not sure why it wasn't able to be seen before. Again, cruddy phone pics don't do it justice, it's much clearer in person.

[neogenesis]

I see it now. Very nice. Did you do the screen mod yourself?

[danthor]

Nope, I had a far more capable friend do that mod. I was only able to do the GBA mod because it was literally plug and play, it was just slow and tedious taking it apart and re-assembling it properly. The NGPC needed much more precision, and soldering, which I am just terrible at.

[neogenesis]

That's cool. I have no modding skills what so ever. haha. By the way, what's that Nyko thing attached to your NGPC? Some sort of speaker enhancement? I wish I could find an affordable NGPC wormlight. They seem to be rare and expensive.

[danthor]

It's called a Shock 'n Rock. It is a speaker enhancer (louder and in stereo) but on top of that, it adds optional rumble (I keep that off) and it acts as a rechargeable power supply, which is the biggest reason I got it. Lasts quite a while, definitely comparable to typical AA usage.