Cage Match, NGPC vs. Lynx: May the best handheld win!

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, here's a topic I've had on my mind for a few days, just wanted to keep it until today so I wasn't spamming up the Forum :) Anyhow, this is a "battle of the handhelds," to determine which is the more popular underdog system!

The Lynx has everybody in the graphics fanatic department stunned...it was the most advanced handheld of the 1980s and had processing power to compete with NEC and Sega's later handheld consoles, the PC-Engine GT/TurboExpress and the Nomad. Collecting (even brand new games) for it is mostly quite easy, and common games can be had on eBay just about any day for $10 or less. Finally, Todd's Adventures in Slime World looks to be just about the most amazing handheld game, ever :)

A handheld Neo Geo would've been nice, right? Bigger, badder, better (just give it a three letter acronym, a human-portable car battery pack and a stand for the thing to strap to your chest, eh)? The Neo Geo Pocket Color NGPC might have a NES-level graphics palette, but look at any of the games on the system and you'll quickly forget about it. It seems generally accepted that the NGPC has one of the highest good to junk games ratios of EVERY system known to man. The ports of games from its bigger brothers the AES and MVS are very well done and so are all the original games I've seen yet far.

Two systems, two contenders and no way out. Two systems are gonna enter that cage but only ONE is coming out. Which is YOUR favorite?

Bonus round: I've added the Bandai WonderSwan (Crystal, so you can play any game in the library) for those looking for an Other option.

[Querjek]

Aww man... this is a hard one. I own each of those and like them all a LOT. But the Lynx has bad battery life but is backlit, the NGPC needs 3 batteries but saves to the system, and the WS uses one battery and... uh... that's it. I vote Wonderswan.

[jaydubnb]

You said it yourself, great good games to junk ratio. Yeah, some of the games were held back visually due to the "3 color sprite" barrier that seemed to domintae the library, but Sonic and Cotton both broke through it took the graphics to the next level. And lets not forget the best damned "d-pad" ever!

NGPC wins with an elbow from the top of the cage :)

[Garry Silljo]

Havent chosen yet. I know I'm not voting for the swan, but if I do decide to vote for the lynx, I can't because the bubble I need to check isnt showing up on my computer. I'll wait to vote.

Neo Geo Pocket had a lot of fun games but I think the library was a little junked by double releases, like 2 Dive alerts and 2 Card fighters clash editions. I think these could have been one cart and in CFC you could just choose the starter deck you liked best and in Dive Alert there could have been a character select screen. I also thought that all the systems power and available colors were wasted on the limitations of on screen usage.

Lynx was also a great system. Being able to flip the system sideways to play puzzle and shooter type games was a stroke of genious and wonderful for titles like Klax. Colors were well used and it's the only place to play the Arcade Ninja Gaiden. It unfortunately has more junk titles compared to the NGPC .... game of Super Sqweak any one!?!??! ..... thought not.

[Ed Oscuro]

OK, Sorry folks! I screwed up big time.

[Ed Oscuro]

Wow, how did 8 people manage to vote for the Lynx when there wasn't an option? Well, hey, it's all good. >)

[hu6800]

The pcengine LT or express gt

[Ed Oscuro]

The pcengine LT or express gt
There's a reason that's not an option, same with the Nomad ;)

Come on, vote! Not that hard is it! :P

[Nubiandaze]

Hey All,
I voted for the grandpa Lynx and see that he is winning the votes. I have a Lynx, NGP (not NGPC) and it comes a close second with games such as Metal Slug and King of Fighters R-2. Iv'e also got a Wonderswan on the way in the mail from Hong Kong so I might vote again when I get that. But at the moment the Lynx gets my vote with games such as Alpine Games, Warbirds and Jimmy Conner's Tennis.

I wish the Lynx RPG 'Distant Lands' would be released, I here it's only about 40% complete and it';s been years. Poor guy who's programming it though, it would be tough to program an RPG. It's a pity I can''t vote for both Lynx and NGP as they are both beautiful. What is the GAME.COM like?
Regards,

Nubian.

[Zerothis]

I really want to enter a cheat vote.

My vote would be:
Buy an iPAQ Pocket PC and get emulators for every handheld.

Plus most of the home systems from PlayStation back are emulated on PPC also. For the ones that don't have PPC emulaters, one can run DOS version of the emulators using the PocketDOS emulator. Put my whole videogame collection in my pocket.

[SoulBlazer]

There are other handhelds besides the Game Boy? :P

Seriously, man, I've had nothing but Nintendo handhelds since 1989 and never looked back. MAYBE the Sony PSP will cause that streak to end, but I have my doubts on that. :D

Even when I had a chance to grab the NGPC bundle they were selling last year at my local EB, I passed. Not enough games I was interested in.

[PhoeniX]

I have to say the wonderswan!

On the ratio of good/bad games, I'd say the NGPC beats out the Lynx but both libraries are small in comparison to the Wonderswan. The Wonderswan may have a language barrier issue but great games like: Gouls & Ghosts, Rockman, and a faithful Golden Axe. There are more games on this system that are good, even when you just consider the ones that english speakers can understand.

...But man I love the NGPC rockman game, very fun!

[EnemyZero]

NGPC all the way :D , I love mine, I don't even know why I own a GBA lol, my wife yells at me because whenever we go somewhere , like a doctors office or whatnot I bust it out lol

[Shinji008]

Gotta go with the NGPC. I think that if SNK hadn't slinked off into finacial woes during the late nineties that the NGPC might have become a bit of a contender. I mean for its time it was a darn site better than the GBP. Also the horoscope and other offline functions are an awesome addition. And the closing argument is...portable Metal Slug, oh so nice.

[tholly]

never played the wonderswan....but i own the other two, so that was a toss up....

lynx....backlight, huge, too many batteries

ngpc...small, no light, good on batteries


but, being a bigger fan of SNK than one of Atari i went with the NGPC

[evilmess]

I don't own any of these handhelds but I have seen and played the NGPC.
For the record I do own a GBA/SP and a Nomad.

A couple things that I really liked about the NGPC was the way the D-Pad/Joy stick fealt and the fact that the NGPC has a system OS of sorts with the calendar, world clock and horoscope. And much like the GBA/SP, it fits in your pocket, bonus points right there!

[MegaDrive20XX]

NGPC hands down

Last Blade
SVC MOTM
Puzzle Bobble Mini
Puzzle Link
Card Fighter Clash (SNK and Capcom ver)
Samurai Shodown 2!
KOF R-2
Pac-Man
Shanghai Mini
Metal Slug 1st Mission
Metal Slug 2nd Mission

I rest my case

[pookninja]

there is no struggle,the ngpc wins,hands down.of course,the lynx gets the boobie prize for being"most ugly looking handheld system ever".

[sisko]

You said it yourself, great good games to junk ratio. Yeah, some of the games were held back visually due to the "3 color sprite" barrier that seemed to domintae the library, but Sonic and Cotton both broke through it took the graphics to the next level. And lets not forget the best damned "d-pad" ever!

NGPC wins with an elbow from the top of the cage :)

Never played Cotton, but I agree with everything here!

Not to mention the unit is so much smaller!

[Kid Ice]

I really want to enter a cheat vote.

My vote would be:
Buy an iPAQ Pocket PC and get emulators for every handheld.

Plus most of the home systems from PlayStation back are emulated on PPC also. For the ones that don't have PPC emulaters, one can run DOS version of the emulators using the PocketDOS emulator. Put my whole videogame collection in my pocket.

Is this a theoretical, or have you actually done this? Is the iPaq a good game playing machine?

[Funk Buddy]

Gotsa' be the NGP(C) great games (strip mahjong), horoscope and great screen even with no light.

Second is tough, I really like the WS but the sound is not the best. I guess 2nd goes to the Lynx just for US games, even though I'm an import guy.

[RetroYoungen]

You said it yourself, great good games to junk ratio. Yeah, some of the games were held back visually due to the "3 color sprite" barrier that seemed to domintae the library, but Sonic and Cotton both broke through it took the graphics to the next level. And lets not forget the best damned "d-pad" ever!

NGPC wins with an elbow from the top of the cage :)

That's kinda weird, the elbow dropping from the cage was the first thing that popped into my head!

My choice was also the NGPC. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my Lynx, but my hands are constantly grabbing my NGPC instead. The whole console, besides being smaller and even not back-lit, I've found it so much more comfortable; the thumb stick doesn't hurt my thumb after long periods of playing (whereas the d-pad on the Lynx leaves my thumb ACHING, and I feel like I shouldn't play anything for a while), the button placement is closer and easier to manage (maybe I just have smaller hands, but I have a bit of trouble hitting the A and B buttons on the Lynx, when on the NGPC they're close and easy), and the whole unit is so much smaller and easier to work with.

And my favorite game for each system, STILL no comparison: Oekaki Puzzle (NGPC, a Japanese title like Mario Picross) vs. Crystal Mines II (Lynx, action/puzzle). At least for my personal preference, no comparison.

Oh, and I have NO idea about the WS, never even SEEN one up-close let alone played one. :(

[davec]

I vote for the NGPC also. Very high quality games and the prices have dropped a lot on the bay. Kudoes to that great control stick, I can crank out fireballs like nobody's business.

I don't own too many games for it but my two faves are Cardfighters Clash and the awesome Puyo Pop which is worth the price of the system by itself. I am dying for a copy of Cotton. I liked the Lynx when it came out but the size of the system and the way it sucks down batteries make it come down in second place.

[Zerothis]

I really want to enter a cheat vote.

My vote would be:
Buy an iPAQ Pocket PC and get emulators for every handheld.

Plus most of the home systems from PlayStation back are emulated on PPC also. For the ones that don't have PPC emulaters, one can run DOS version of the emulators using the PocketDOS emulator. Put my whole videogame collection in my pocket.

Is this a theoretical, or have you actually done this? Is the iPaq a good game playing machine?

I currently own a Toshiba e740 with many emulators installed. I've overclocked it to 472mhz (100mhz bus) (a couple of the emulators crash at faster overclocks than this). It works, to a degree, for every emulator I've tried so far so it's not exactly theoretical. The theoretical part is having the cash to own a Pocket PC faster than 200mhz (default speed). Many of the best emulators are "Only for iPAQ" but I've found that most 'iPAQ' programs will also run on my e740. The iPAQ seems to always be one step ahead of the other PocketPCs with processor/bus speed and fancy periferals (there are game coltrollers especcially for iPAQs). The controls on my e740 are a little lacking (non-multi-button issues) but can be worked arround. Ironically, the iPAQ has the same issue with the built-in buttons. Many emulators work arround this by haveing a duplicate set of controls on the touchscreen (also one at a time). This allows one to press, for instance, 'Up' on the screen and button 1 on the unit at the same time without button 3 being activated instead (this happens on my e740). I haven't gotten an external game controller working yet. Some PPC emulates can be controlled perfectly with a Gravis Stinger gamepad. NES games run great except for a few 'odd mappers' that crash on load. Gameboy/color runs great at native resolution and playable in scaled mode. Genesis games seem to suffer more from controller issues but work. SNES runs without sound and a little slow. Atari 2600 is spot on. Commodore 64 runs excelent. I'm currently working on getting Apple ][ working. The games run great but emulator lacks features (such as fitting the whole Apple ][ screen on the LCD properly. Think pan & scan without the pan. "they're sand people alright, I can see one of them now. [but the TV audience can't so they'll just have to take my word fo-@$*! they'll see that one that's three feet in front of my binoculars me making me look foolish!]"). I Havn't tried the Lynx, Game Gear (+SMS), Wonderswan, Game&Watch, GameBoy Advance, NeoGeo Pocket, TurboGrafx-16, MAME, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Atari 16-bit, Colecovision, CP/M, MSX, MZ-2500, Odyssey2, Oric, Palm, PC-8801, PC-9801, PlayStation, ZX-Spectrum, m5, TI or VZ emulators yet. Some platforms that seem to be lacking so far are Arcadia, Atari 7800, Intellivision, Virtualboy, Vectrex and SegaCD. These would be theoretical since it requires a DOS emulator to run the emulators for these platforms. I've run Ultima 6 on PocketDOS and PocketDOS+Bochs does does 386 now. Its advancing quite well. Sega Saturn would be an interesting emulator for Pocket PC since the Saturn runs an older version of the Pocket Pc anyhow.

Eventually every system will be handheld 8-)

If your interested in emulators for Pocket PC here are a few good places to start:
Retromgames EMUs4PPC List (http://www.retrogames.com/pocketpc.html)
PDArcade EMUs4PPC List (http://www.pdarcade.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=102)
ここに掲載's EMUs4PPC List (http://www.emulation9.com/emulators/wince.html)
DOS for Pocket PCs (http://www.pocketdos.com)

[max 330 mega]

ngpc ... card fighters clash has to have been the game i logged more hours into than any other.
and the metal slugs were so great.

[Ed Oscuro]

Sega Saturn would be an interesting emulator for Pocket PC since the Saturn runs an older version of the Pocket Pc anyhow.
I know that the Sega Dreamcast runs Windows CE (3?), but the Saturn I was not aware of...it came out in 1994, and if it had a version of Windows on it I'm sure I would've heard of it. This wasn't really that long after the VIS hit the market, either... The Saturn is a tough system to emulate even on top-of-the-line PCs, due to its dual processor system. Explain please!

[CRV]

Sega Saturn would be an interesting emulator for Pocket PC since the Saturn runs an older version of the Pocket Pc anyhow.
I know that the Sega Dreamcast runs Windows CE (3?), but the Saturn I was not aware of...it came out in 1994, and if it had a version of Windows on it I'm sure I would've heard of it.!

Wouldn't it have had a logo or something on the unit like the Dreamcast has?

[Zerothis]

actually I ment to say dreamcast instead of saturn. Not being a hugh fan of Sega, I often mixup the names of their consoles. :embarrassed:

[allsport11]

NGPC hands down

Last Blade
SVC MOTM
Puzzle Bobble Mini
Puzzle Link
Card Fighter Clash (SNK and Capcom ver)
Samurai Shodown 2!
KOF R-2
Pac-Man
Shanghai Mini
Metal Slug 1st Mission
Metal Slug 2nd Mission

I rest my case

Can't forget Crush Roller. ;) One of my all-time favorite games. :)

[Psycho Mantis]

lynx rules! also, i'm collecting lynx games. if you have any for sale or trade, pm me.

[The Brown Eye]

I also vote for the Lynx, large multiplayer games are the way to go! And A.P.B. rocks my socks!

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[goatdan]

I had to go with the Neo Geo Pocket. While the Lynx had and has some amazing games, the design and execution of the Neo Geo Pocket creamed it. In perhaps the ultimate vote, I sold a big chunk of the Lynx games I never played not too long ago, and bought Neo Geo Pocket games with the proceeds...

:embarrassed:

[junglehunter]

Lynx doesn't even stand a chance against the NGPC, IMO. LOL

So my vote goes to the NGPC. :)