Let's talk about the Game Gear

[atari2600land]

I have been really loving my Game Gear. I bought an Everdrive for it, but I still want to collect games for it. The problem is, I have 82 games for it. I want more, though, so is there anything you recommend that is not really expensive (like, oh, MEGA MAN.) Also, I have been making a homebrew game for the Game Gear, my first Game Gear homebrew. It's called Mr. Ultra. You can download the current version at http://www.atari2600land.com/mrultra/ When I was a kid, I was a Nintendo kid, but now that I'm an adult, I have enough money to explore the stuff I missed, and looking back, I probably should have got a Game Gear instead of a Game Boy. Oh well.

[FieryReign]

Sylvan Tale. Wonderful little Zelda-like adventure. It's an import but there is a translation patch. You probably already know about the Shinobi games.

[BetaWolf]

Got a list of games you own?

[Daria]

Do you like RPGs? Do you own Defenders of Oasis?

I also really like Star Gate, it's just a basic puzzle game but I find it really relaxing.

[atari2600land]

Here's a list of the games I already own. I'm not really into RPGs.
8337

[theclaw]

Puyo Puyo 1 has the proper character cast, in English. Unknown why the translation was created than scrapped, or what markets it was truly intended for.
http://gaminghell.co.uk/PuzlowKids.html

Lemmings is a puzzle classic. Not really my thing.
Vampire Master of Darkness, side scroller with detailed graphics.
Wonder Boy The Dragon's Trap has positive reception. Cute too.
May as well try Sonic Drift 1. You seem to be collecting the franchise.

[atari2600land]

other than the characters, is there a big difference between Puzlow Kids and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine? Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll check out Vampire.

[Edmond Dantes]

I so have considered getting a Game Gear. I used to have one, but sold it, and now sort of wish I hadn't.... especially since I want to play Defenders of Oasis.

But now I hear some Game Gears have capacitor issues? What's up with that?

[celerystalker]

Phone can't open the list file, but I do like a couple.

Zenki is a pretty cool platformer based on the anime.
Woody Pop has a great name and is a decent Arkanoid/Breakout clone.
Tesserae is a fairly unique puzzle game that works a lot better here than Game Boy.
Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya is an excellent strategy game.
I kinda like Ax Battler, the Zelda II/Exile alike, but I can't call it good; I just like it.

[theclaw]

other than the characters, is there a big difference between Puzlow Kids and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine? Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll check out Vampire.

Overall Puzlow Kids looks nicer and has better music, but is missing some added features.
Passwords are only for puzzle mode, not story mode. No sound test either.

[Az]

Woody Pop has a great name and is a decent Arkanoid/Breakout clone.

I have this on a few multi-game carts and find it strangely addicting. I definitely wish they would have shoehorned digital controls in a bit better; instead of holding a button down to move slowly they should have done it the exact opposite and have it held down to move fast. I find myself playing the entire time with the button held down otherwise your paddle flies around at nigh-uncontrollable lightning speed. I'd imagine the SMS version using the analog controller is smooth as silk by comparison.

[Tanooki]

I had one of these for a few years back in the 90s. I had this friend my first year in highschool who had one and was looking to dump it, so I bought it from him and he had like a dozen games for it, good ones mostly too as he didn't get into lame sports titles. There was Aerial Assault (which got a SMS port later) a personal favorite, a few sonic games including drift 2, MK1, Taz, and some other platformers and adventures I forget right now. It was (is) a battery whore, so since he had a rechargeable pack for it I just left that on and tethered it to the wall as I felt it was too bulky to be a handheld. Over time I racked up I think a few dozen titles for it, but like all things Sega and so on from the third tier my tragic losses of over a decade ago it became part of it.

Looking at that one text file in the thread helps remind me of some stuff -- Ax Battler (listed in thread here), Baku Baku, Bust A Move, Castle of Illusion, Columns, Lion King, Ninja Gaiden, Ristar, shinobi, all the Sonics but blast & chaos, Tazmania, and I think that's about it from that text file at least along with MK1 and Aerial Assault I mentioned. There were more, and I think I may have had Aladdin too. It just has been over 10 years since I looked and 20 since it was originally bought.


Edmond Dantes -- Funny thing like 3 weeks ago, never seen it before, but some dude at a flea market had one, damn thing was immaculate with a nice sega case, tv tuner, and just columns. It was dead, but the dude was running a generator so he could let people listen to CDs they may buy. I'd own it, but the screen was a bit brighter than it should be and the audio was 100% dead. I didn't want to insult the dude on price so I left it. I know it can be recapped, but I don't have a kit for it, nor do I think I could do all that tiny work so well either. I probably should have snapped it up but I didn't. That's what you're talking about, most of them have gone bad today where the screen whites out and the audio vanishes. You either today need to buy a recapped one by someone already, or find a real beauty of a system and do it yourself to be safe as it's a ticking time bomb...much like the Turbo Duo+Turbo Express is known to flake out doing (and the Sega Nomad too.)

[BetaWolf]

Bad capacitors can also screw with the contrast. As in, you can't see anything unless you're viewing the screen from an uncomfortable 45 degree angle. It's pretty easy to recap if you can solder. I did it on a blue one my friend gave me and it worked like a charm immediately after. If you want to avoid this, hunt down a Majesco Game Gear. Those are supposed to be much more reliable and even have better screens than the original.

As for games, nobody has mentioned:
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse - Sequel to Castle of Illusion, and every bit as good. It even introduces some elements similar to Mega Man where you must complete objectives and then revisit levels to find something that was unavailable before. Music, graphics, and control are superb.

Lucky Dime Caper - Prequel to Deep Duck Trouble and another game in the Sega Disney series. Not quite as good as the Illusion series IMO, but still worth a playthrough.

Crystal Warriors - Fun beginner Strategy RPG.

Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury Special are pretty good 8-bit versions of the SNK classics.

[Guntz]

Just find a re-capped Game Gear and you'll be fine. Bratwurst at Sega-16 used to do them, not sure if the.golden.ax at AtariAge is still doing them.

[goldenband]

Just find a re-capped Game Gear and you'll be fine. Bratwurst at Sega-16 used to do them, not sure if the.golden.ax at AtariAge is still doing them.

I don't think so -- last I knew, he had a major health crisis that pretty much incapacitated him. He recapped my GG some years back and did a good job.

A few GG games I've enjoyed that come to mind:

Outrun Europa
Psychic World
Space Harrier

I like the system a lot, and also appreciate the fact that it's capable of playing SG-1000 games with the correct colors. But I wish the screen weren't so terrible, and from what I understand it's more or less impossible to get a good & straightforward replacement.

[tpugmire]

I can do Game Gear recaps if anyone needs one done. I've done a few.

[Tanooki]

Well there's an opportunity. :P

I have to admit I'm mildly tempted to try the GG again, but I have this underlying fear I'd use it for a few weeks then some new game would pop up and it would get shelved and then I'd feel bad about it later. :\ I kind of do that with gameboy stuff so I keep it by my comfy chair so it's in arms reach at least.

I also recall aside from Samurai Shodown that MK1 was fairly solid on there too.

[sfchakan]

I kinda like Ax Battler, the Zelda II/Exile alike, but I can't call it good; I just like it.

I played Ax Battler back in the day and loved it. Now, it is way too stiff and not very "fun" at all.

Aside from vouching for most of what's been mentioned above, I also enjoy:

Alien Syndrome - Nothing crazy awesome, but a solid port and fun enough.

Crystal Warriors - This game is so blagh now. I remember liking it more years ago.

GG Aleste II /Powerstrike II- Very nice shooter.

Shinobi - Hah, you've got your Mega Man in my Shinobi! A Stage Select screen and the ability to select powers from the pause menu. Different.

Streets of Rage 2 - A decent fix.

Vampire: Master of Darkness - This game's a bit like Castlevania.

X-Men 2: Game Master’s Legacy - My favorite of the GG X-Men games, this one's based on the X Cutioner's Song story arc from the comics.


I'd have to say I never cared too much for the Sonic games due to how little of the playfield you see versus their console cousins.

[Tanooki]

I'll second any Streets of Rage GG version and also that Vampire game too -- had the SMS conversions from the UK last time I had the console and they were just must have games being very good. It's funny or not I guess but I think around 1/3 to 1/2 of my SMS games were GG titles too. I guess it would make a nice system to have around without having to deal with the master system again and it's technically portable even if it's an evil battery whore.

[atari2600land]

Yeah, I heard the battery life is bad, so that's why I have an AC adapter hooked up to it and use it like a console.

[sfchakan]

You can look for a rechargable battery pack as well.

[Tanooki]

I think you were lucky to get 4 hours out of 6 AAs which is why I avoided doing that.

[The 1 2 P]

Yeah, I heard the battery life is bad, so that's why I have an AC adapter hooked up to it and use it like a console.

That's the route I took as well. I forgot how I acquired it but I some how managed to get a four way ac adapter that worked for the Game Gear, Gameboy, Lynx and some other system I can't remember. I must have sold it when I sold my Game Gear collection a few years ago. It was a nice little system despite the bulkiness and poor battery life but I can't remember playing that much on mine outside of an X-Men game that wasn't really that good and a Spider-Man game that I believe was a European import. I also dabbled with The Coca Cola Kid(Japanese import) after I found it in a retro game store. It was a nice little time waster. All the other games I had for it never got played as my time was split between so many other systems and handhelds.

[Alianger]

Dunno about prices, just gonna list my favourites that you don't own:
Sylvan Tale
Power Strike II
Wonder Boy III - Compared to the SMS game this one has a teleport feature and slightly different level design
Crystal Warriors - SRPG/TBS
Royal Stone - SRPG/TBS
Shining Force - SRPG/TBS
Popils/Magical Puzzle Popils
GG Shinobi I
GG Aleste
Tail's Adventure
Kishin Douji Zenki
Defenders of Oasis - JRPG
Lunar: Strolling School - JRPG
Head Buster
Factory Panic
Halley Wars
Fatal Fury Special
Ninku 2: Tenkuryu-e no Michi
Star Wars: Super Return of the Jedi - Very similar to the GB game but much better looking
Land of Illusion - same as on SMS but with better color
Legend of Illusion - same as on SMS but with better color
Jurassic Park - same as on SMS but with better color
Alien Syndrome - I'd say better than the SMS game overall
Coca Cola Kid - average platformer with so-so hit detection but nice presentation