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[SodiumBenzoate]

That thing was a dedicated AA-battery destroyer with a bonus game console feature.

Loved the MS sonic ports, though. And that power rangers fighting game. played them with my dad when I was 6. Good memories.

 

[blast processed]

That thing was a dedicated AA-battery destroyer with a bonus game console feature.

Loved the MS sonic ports, though. And that power rangers fighting game. played them with my dad when I was 6. Good memories.

According to this post, it's up to 14 hours with new alkaline batteries. Just the fact that I don't have to tilt the screen for the best viewing angle is making me want to do this.

 

[theSlacker]

That thing was a dedicated AA-battery destroyer with a bonus game console feature.

Loved the MS sonic ports, though. And that power rangers fighting game. played them with my dad when I was 6. Good memories.

Personally I was mad when I found out there were master system versions of the games that didn't have as much of a zoomed in screen making them more playable.

 

[whiterabbit]

I never had a game gear but I remember the 90s when my cousins had one. I bought sonic on the 3DS virtual console and it wasn't too bad. I might try to buy another Game Gear VC game soon....

 

[captain_skyhawk]

I remember the first game I bought for the Gamegear was Earthworm Jim and it was extremely faithful port of the genesis version. I believe it even had the exclusive levels that the genesis version had.

the next game I bought was X-men: Gamemasters legacy and it was a pile of garbage. That game single handedly ruined multiple vacations as I desperately tried to squeeze any and all enjoyment out of it.

 

[Jedi2016]

Oh yeah, I still have mine. I know I have Shinobi, I played the hell out of that one. Can't remember what else I have, though.

 

[I am Christina Aguilera]

Oh, EVERYONE WHO OWNS A GAME GEAR SHOULD HAVE MAGICAL PUZZLE POPILS

Console-exclusive action puzzle game made by the creator of Bubble Bobble as a freelance job for Tengen with a save/resume feature? Console-exclusive action puzzle game made by the creator of Bubble Bobble as a freelance job for Tengen with a save/resume feature.

 

[itf56]

G-Loc with the link cable was amazing multiplayer.

 

[taybul]

Columns, baby! Also can't forget Clutch Hitter. Played Sonics 1 and 2 to death (spent forever trying to find the emerald in the sky level in Sonic 2). I'm pretty sure I had Shinobi as well but don't remember much from it.

 

[bock]

My first exposure to the Game Gear was actually via Chinese pirate compilations, played lots of My Hero there for some reason (it's an early Master System game that was commonly included in those bootlegs). I hadn't owned one until fairly late maybe 1995-1996? Nowadays if you can bother setting of those modern LCD screen or RGB output hack it gives the system a new-life.

Two friends and I have started making a faithful and hopefully to-be-licensed remake of Wonder Boy III The Dragon's Trap which was a Master System / Game Gear titles (the best if I may say so).
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=50899

And that's some of my Game Gear collection nowadays:

 

[GankzyMcfly]

Perfect example of a console way ahead of its time in my opinion. This beast murdered so many AA batteries. The power adaptor was a must, fortunately I always found a place to plug in wherever is was.

 

[kamikazekoala]

My first exposure to the Game Gear was actually via Chinese pirate compilations, played lots of My Hero there for some reason (it's an early Master System game that was commonly included in those bootlegs). I hadn't owned one until fairly late maybe 1995-1996? Nowadays if you can bother setting of those modern LCD screen or RGB output hack it gives the system a new-life.

Two friends and I have started making a faithful and hopefully to-be-licensed remake of Wonder Boy III The Dragon's Trap which was a Master System / Game Gear titles (the best if I may say so).
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=50899

And that's some of my Game Gear collection nowadays:

Whoa, that's a nice collection

 

[JadedWriter]

I had one and loved it, and then my mother got tired of buying batteries for it and the huge battery pack eventually stopped working. So many memories though, used to love playing sonic 2 and Mortal Kombat on it. Never had too many games for it though. I can only recall owning Sonic 2, G-Loc, one of the xmen games, Desert Strike, Mortal Kombat and I think that's it.

 

[Morfeo]

Crazy cool collection there bock!

 

[blast processed]

Impressive collection. That's a lot of Game Gears. BTW what's a cockpit TV? That box is huge.

 

[sixteen-bit]

ballin' collection

 

[Gunstarheroes]

A wild CIB Mega Man has appeared online

I had a feeling it was going to be big money, and my gut was right.

 

[bock]

Impressive collection. That's a lot of Game Gears. BTW what's a cockpit TV? That box is huge.

It's a set that was sold in Japan. Hold a Game Gear, TV Tuner, Car Adapter, Car Antenna and Out Run. there are some pictures here (not of mine) http://www.smspower.org/forums/9105-NewGameGearAccessorySet

Under it is in red is the Verno pack which is a similar package. I luckily managed to get hold of two and sold one a while ago, some pictures:
http://www.smspower.org/forums/12929-FSTSegaGameGearSpecialPackHONDAVerno

 

[Morfeo]

A wild CIB Mega Man has appeared online

I had a feeling it was going to be big money, and my gut was right.

Is this a port, or an original game?

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Is this a port, or an original game?

Its sort of both. It borrows elements of Mega Man 4 and 5 and makes it own thing with it.

 

[Morfeo]

Its sort of both. It borrows elements of Mega Man 4 and 5 and makes it own thing with it.

So, kinda like the Game Boy-games then?

 

[whiterabbit]

Wow, that's a lot for one game. I would totally buy that if it were on the 3ds virtual console. I love me some Mega Man.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Wow, that's a lot for one game. I would totally buy that if it were on the 3ds virtual console. I love me some Mega Man.

I think that game is supposed to be trash tho.

Dat US Gold "quality"

Makes sense they wouldn't release it on VC

 

[djtiesto]

Great collection, Bock! I really like those grey-colored GG boxes, it's got that awesome 80's future tech look I so love. Also the Japanese GG boxes are so tiny and cute Wish we got those over here instead of the US ones (or even ones in plastic cases).

 

[Drippy]

Few days ago I've bought a used console with replaced capacitors. It's really cool, especially considering that this thing is almost 25 years old. Some can say that Game Gear was a PSP of its times, and i wouldn't argue about that. Color, backlit screen, TV Tuner with ability to display signal from other source. It had to blew minds in early 90s.

The main reason for buying Game Gear was that a few weeks ago I bought really cheap about dozen of cartridges, including some rare ones like CJ Elephant or Tails Adventures. All of them are working after cleaning. Games are really fun. Some are better (Sonic is great), some worse. But there's one thing I don't like. 6AA batteries lasts for no more than 4h. And of course, I don't have any power adapter. Due to this and fact that most games are really hard and have no save ability it's hard to finish any game.

Still, it's really nice to have Game Gear in my collection. I'll play on this from time to time. At least until the batteries run out again.

 

[blast processed]

Few days ago I've bought a used console with replaced capacitors. It's really cool, especially considering that this thing is almost 25 years old. Some can say that Game Gear was a PSP of its times, and i wouldn't argue about that. Color, backlit screen, TV Tuner with ability to display signal from other source. It had to blew minds in early 90s.

The main reason for buying Game Gear was that a few weeks ago I bought really cheap about dozen of cartridges, including some rare ones like CJ Elephant or Tails Adventures. All of them are working after cleaning. Games are really fun. Some are better (Sonic is great), some worse. But there's one thing I don't like. 6AA batteries lasts for no more than 4h. And of course, I don't have any power adapter. Due to this and fact that most games are really hard and have no save ability it's hard to finish any game.

Still, it's really nice to have Game Gear in my collection. I'll play on this from time to time. At least until the batteries run out again.

Definitely get a power adapter, they're about $10 and have long cord. Also if you haven't tried it, pick up Shinobi. It's a good pickup and play game and it allows you to pick from 4 levels. Sonic Chaos is a good pickup game. You can easily blow through that game pretty fast.

 

[MikeMyers]

Thinking of getting a Game Gear. How's the screen? Can't really play GB screen without it hurting my eyes.

 

[blast processed]

The only issue I have is needing to tilt it at a certain angle regardless of how I have the brightness set. I've been thinking about getting mine modded with an LCD screen with VGA or RGB out. Haven't decided yet.

 

[JonathanNemo]

I loved my Game Gear, but it's a bit tricky for me to justify getting another one as a retro pickup because:

• It's a battery vampire.
• The screen is a low quality LCD panel. There's some unexpectedly pleasant side effects with this, like the nice color blending that happens in games like Outrun and the end credits of Sonic 2, but it makes it a bit tricky to play fast paced games at times.
• The electrolytic capacitors need replacing. If left unchecked, the Game Gear's motherboard will be permanently damaged and eventually unusable.

It's a bit of a crazy idea, but you might consider taking the Game Gear's case and throwing in a Raspberry Pi mod to turn it into an all purpose retro portable. That gives you the form factor, without the hassles of the original, cheaply sourced hardware. I've also seen some Game Gear console mods that looked quite nice on their own. Yes, I'm aware of the Sega Master System and the Sega Mark III, but the SMS never had the rich color palette of the GG, and the Mark III, the SMS and the GG all have their own nifty exclusives.

There are things I liked about the hardware, especially the Sega soundtracks. Sylvan Tale has a really nice chiptune soundtrack from the composer of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Saga and Orta, and the Shining Force games have neat renditions of the Shining Force II soundtrack. The Sonic games sounded great, too, and Tails Adventure's a gem on its own merits. The AM2 arcade ports were excellent, the Phantasy Star spinoffs were interesting, the puzzle games were good, and some oddly excellent titles like Mick & Mack Global Gladiators, GG Aleste, Royal Stone and the Disney platformers showed off the kinds of animation and colors you could pull off on the thing.

If Sega wasn't cheap with the display and the caps, I'd have an easier time recommending it. Just beware that unless you're buying it second hand from someone that already replaced the caps, you'll need to do some maintenance if you want the hardware to last.

 

[MikeMyers]

Virtua Fighter animation any good?

 

[JonathanNemo]

Virtua Fighter animation any good?

Not from what I remember. Uggggh.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Virtua Fighter animation any good?

No, but i found the cutscenes amusing.

Spoiler

Still better then VF2 on Genesis

 

[MikeMyers]

That's a shame.

Apparently that is a Yellow Game Gear there.

 

[blast processed]

No, but i found the cutscenes amusing.

Spoiler

Still better then VF2 on Genesis

I must be the only one on the planet that likes VF2 on the Genesis. Haha

 

[0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55]

Lynx was better

California Games

 

[ResidentDante]

And that's some of my Game Gear collection nowadays:

Dat collection! Damn. Really impressive!

 

[m00h]

My first exposure to the Game Gear was actually via Chinese pirate compilations, played lots of My Hero there for some reason (it's an early Master System game that was commonly included in those bootlegs). I hadn't owned one until fairly late maybe 1995-1996? Nowadays if you can bother setting of those modern LCD screen or RGB output hack it gives the system a new-life.

Two friends and I have started making a faithful and hopefully to-be-licensed remake of Wonder Boy III The Dragon's Trap which was a Master System / Game Gear titles (the best if I may say so).
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=50899

And that's some of my Game Gear collection nowadays:

Wow, just wow! My eyes begin to tear if I see this. Game Gear is my favorite game console of all time. I jailbroken my Vita just to have all my favorite GG games with me everywhere I go. Not a single console brings up that feeling of childhood happiness like this little buddy here does, even though it wasn't my first console.

Still love to replay this game 3-4 times a year.

 

[IrishNinja]

And that's some of my Game Gear collection nowadays:

welp, that's officially the most impressive GG pic ive yet seen - congrats!

 

[AmyS]

Got some nice Game Gear articles for you all

 

[Teknoman]

Psychic World sounds too interesting to be bad.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I think that game is supposed to be trash tho.

Dat US Gold "quality"

Makes sense they wouldn't release it on VC

It was ESRB-rated so they were considering it at some point.

The story behind MMGG is that it was supposed to be a mashup of all 6 NES games but outside factors forced them to scale the game way back and the final version is basically unfinished. It's not terrible but there are lots of little inconsistencies that should have been addressed but weren't--damage values, invulnerability after hit, etc.

The other big issue is that, unlike the GB games, the stage designs are 1:1 with the NES games, so there are lots of blind jumps and so on.

 

[MikeMyers]

I got a Top 10 Game Gear games by WatchMojo recommendations today:

Spoiler

#10: “Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe” (1991)
#9: “Lemmings” (1992)
#8: “Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament” (1995)
#7: “X-Men” (1994)
#6: “Arena: Maze of Death” (1996)
#5: “Tails Adventure” (1995)
#4: “Mega Man” (1995)
#3: “Lunar: Samposura Gakuen” (1995)
#2: “The G.G. Shinobi” (1991)
#1: “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (1992)

Don't really agree. My vote for best Game Gear game would be Land of Illusion.

 

[LamerDeluxe]

I still have my GameGear, with a collection of games, a TV tuner, MasterGear converter and external batterypack. I need to replace the capacitors and I might replace the display for a modern one, if it doesn't have any drawbacks.

I prefer the Lynx (of which I have one unit with a modern replacement display), for which I have almost all games ever released and a flash cartridge. Made some demos on that one as well. It has a better battery life than the GameGear, comparable to that of the PSP, 3DS and Vita.
But I really enjoyed playing the Sonic games on the GameGear, especially Sonic Chaos. Got Triple Trouble much more recently and haven't played it much yet.

Never cared for the Gameboy though. I thought the display looked terrible and most of the games on it were platformers. I had two friends that owned one, and both liked my Lynx better and got one themselves later on.

 

[blast processed]

But I really enjoyed playing the Sonic games on the GameGear, especially Sonic Chaos. Got Triple Trouble much more recently and haven't played it much yet.

Sonic Games on the Game Gear are great, except for 2. Not sure what Watch Mojo is smoking.

Just picked up Batman Returns, I swear this game plays & sounds just like Shinobi.

 

[Dangerblade]

Greatly enjoying the love for Popils in here! One of my favourite puzzle games of all time. So underrated!

 

[Celine]

Yōhōden Hisuimaru 妖逢伝ひすい丸 (Game Gear - Unreleased)

Tengai Makyou wannabe in development by Sega for Game Gear around 1993.
The game was never released.

https://youtu.be/q9IesmbmodY?list=PLlMDKUWi7E3gIzP8VX6jWgNNnHu87xF5r

Greatly enjoying the love for Popils in here! One of my favourite puzzle games of all time. So underrated!

+1

 

[dr. apocalipsis]

I saved all the money I could on my own to get this as a child. Having my own screen saved me a lot of headaches.

It died eventually, sadly. First graphics started to be corrupted, with games working on background. Then only tv tuner was able to work and I even managed to get my Dreamcast working on it. It started to get really hot at some located point and display's backlit ended dying too. I guess it is too late to fix it replacing caps and lcd. I wouldn't use it anyway, but you know, nostalgia.

The only flaw system had was the lack of a proper FM synth chip instead of a stereo PSG. At first I was in a bubble since I only had Sonic and Shinobi games, with Yuzo Koshiro doing his magic, and then I played games like Ax the Battler or the likes of it with pretty good sound. But as I was able to trade games with some other kids I realized how bad and chaotic sound could be.

About the batteries, I had 2 sets of rechargeable batteries, each one able to last around 2,5~3h. I'm pretty sure with current batteries that figures would go much higher. Batteries improved a lot in 20 years.

Right now it is still on its eternal sleep on this carry case my fathers gifted to me on some birthday. Very good present to keep all accesories perfectly stored:

One of the most underrated console/catalogue ever.

 

[blast processed]

CGR just uploaded a review of the Master Gear Converter.

 

[Khaz]

CGR just uploaded a review of the Master Gear Converter.

It was a great little device that really helped me enjoy my handheld when I only had a couple of games for it. Being able to play all my console games on the go was a boon.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

My uncle as well as my friend down the street each owned a Game Gear. It had some cool games that definitely looked better than Game Boy. Like the Genesis, it seemed to be the go-to for people who liked Sports and Racing games (since those were leagues better on SEGA hardware). The platformers were pretty good, too. Kinda surprised it only sold 10m.

Game Boy is what I had. Looking back, it was definitely the better handheld. Thing came out in '89 and was popular for more than a decade (Pokemon Red/Blue came out in '98).