I'm not so impressed with the Game Gear anymore.

[fishsandwich]

I suppose it had to happen afetr my Neo Geo Pocket Colour and my recent experience with my father's Game Boy Advance, but I find that my recent purchase of a Game Gear and a mess of games has been less than satisfying.

I know a lot of these games are direct ports of Master System games, and are therefore at least as good as some NES games (some of them, again) but they just don't seem as good on the Game Gear.

Let me rephrase that... I know a handheld game is not going to hold my interest like a game on a TV, but I had hoped for more. I mean, the thing is in color, the thing is big enough for my adult hands (unlike the GBA SP) and I have it hooked up with an ac cord so it's not heavy and it's not eating batteries like a mother. I should be getting some pleasure out of this thing, right?

It seems I've played my old Game Boy Pocket (no color, no light) a great deal more than my nice back-lit Game Gear in color. I have loads of games, and I've tried to get those games which I've heard are the best that the Game Gear has to offer. I'm just not spending much time with it.

Could anyone recommend some games that really make the Game Gear shine and show its true colours?

DAMN I wish Sega had made a "Super Game Gear" that would have plugged into the Genesis! Playing Game Gear games on a regular TV with a Genesis controller... that would have been SWEET

:/

[Archenemy]

Throw your GameGear.

Get a Nomad.

You haven't lived until you have a Nomad. You will love your Nomad. Better, more beatiful, and with the full power of a Genesis Engine inside, it can play -almost- any Genesis game ever! You can play with another pal IN YOUR TV!!!

You must get a Nomad. You can never have enough of them because Nomads are beatiful and I want more Nomads and I cannot have enough of them and... WHOA! Where are you taking me, doctor?

* Continues the babling until they take him back to his padded cell again*

[InsaneDavid]

DAMN I wish Sega had made a "Super Game Gear" that would have plugged into the Genesis! Playing Game Gear games on a regular TV with a Genesis controller... that would have been SWEET

You can get close by playing Game Gear games on your TV with a Dreamcast controller. With the recent release of the SMSPlus v0.2 emulator I've been enjoying the Game Gear a lot more. It emulates both Sega Master System and Game Gear. The big draw here is that on the TV Game Gear games are a LOT better looking since the blurring of the GG hardware is no longer a factor.

Check out the following link for more information and a how to on getting started...

http://dcevolution.net/DCHelp/index.php?id=kbindex&board=smsplus

You'll have to get game backups (roms) elsewhere and you can download SMSPlus directly at http://www.pascalorama.com/

[Gamereviewgod]

You didn't really say what games you've played. And if we start recommending games, all this becomes is another thread of "what games are the best."


But what the hell? You need Streets of Rage 2, Fatal Fury Special, and Samurai Shodown. Most of the Sonics are good too.

[-hellvin-]

Some of my favorites:

Ax Battler
Crystal Warriors
Legend of Illusion
Prince of Persia
Star Wars
Xmen & Spiderman: Arcades Revenge

I still own all the games and systems since I got them years ago from my parents. Good system, but I just don't like the screen, too hard to see anything.

[Graham Mitchell]

Dragon Crystal is actually way better than it's Genesis counterpart (Fatal Labyrinth).

Also worth mentioning here is the wonderful Shinobi games (there's at least two) for the Game Gear. They are not like any other console Shinobi game, and they are not a port of the SMS version. They actually have a layout like Mega Man (stage select, earn new moves and attacks by finishing levels), and play like Shadow Dancer or Revenge of Shinobi, depending on what character you're using. The music is by Yuzo Koshiro, as well. I highly recommend those games.

[FooFighter]

Throw your GameGear.

Get a Nomad.

You haven't lived until you have a Nomad. You will love your Nomad. Better, more beatiful, and with the full power of a Genesis Engine inside, it can play -almost- any Genesis game ever! You can play with another pal IN YOUR TV!!!

You must get a Nomad. You can never have enough of them because Nomads are beatiful and I want more Nomads and I cannot have enough of them and... WHOA! Where are you taking me, doctor?

I agree I love my nomad. I haven't really touched my Game Gear since I got it. It has an awesome library (Genesis) and dosent have that screen blur that you get in the Game Gear on fast paced games.

* Continues the babling until they take him back to his padded cell again*

I agree (Mostly) I love my nomad. I haven't really touched my Game Gear since I got it. It has an awesome library (Genesis) and dosent have that screen blur that you get in the Game Gear on fast paced games.

But on the other hand don't throw your game gear :)

[devilman]

I've only really been into two games on the Game Gear - Wonder Boy III - The Dragon's Trap and oddly enough, Pacman, which I think plays really well.

[classicb]

I think you've discovered why nintendo won this round of the protable gaming war. The Game Gear had a color back lit screen that was as blurry as hell and not enough fun games to back it up. Being a Sega fan you don't know how many times I tried to make the system my go to portable. I have the AC and car adapters to make the battery issue null. Still the Game Boy just has better portable games and have spent to this day far more hours with it than the Game Gear. The Game Gear does have some great games but that screen kills me. I'll second a previous poster in favor of emulating it on another system to avoid that blury screen.

[suppafly]

The game gear rocks. Its very important to find a new console, because its backlit screens go kinda blurry and white with time.....

There are a lot of great game gear games like:
* Lion King
* Sonic 1, 2
* Mean bean machine
* Gunstar heroes
* Shinobi 1 and 2
* Streets of rage 1 and 2
* Columns!

And many more!!

[fishsandwich]

My screen isn't so bad. It's a bit scratched, but I have ordered a new cover for it. It does blur a bit, but no more than the new one I had stolen years ago my my alcoholic ex-roommate.

I've played Battletoads the most... that one is pretty darn fun. I wish Sonic Drift 2 were more balances, but it's not and I can't stand the contant passing and re-passing of the other characters for no reason.

Galaga is pretty darn sweet, though, as is Aleste II.

The Arcade Pack (Centipede, Missile Command, Pong) is DREADFUL. I mean, if the Atari 5200 from the early 80's could do a good port of Centipede, why not the Master System (and the Game Gear by default?) It plays too darn slow.

Road Rash is ok, if a bit slow and repetitive.

Ehhh... I'll give it another try once my screen replacement gets here.

:D

[suppafly]

Oh yes, How could I miss Road Rash for game gear

That was a GREAT port by US GOLD. It looks better than A LOT of 16 bit games! :)

[machine.slave]

The Nomad's great and all, but don't expect it to be very portable. On 6 brand new AA's, it only lasts about 30 mins (40 tops).

BUT, having near GBA worthy graphics on a system that's 10 years old is pretty cool.. :D

[joshnickerson]

I used to own a Game Gear... I got it as an unexpected Xmas gift one year. I'd been a straight Nintendo man until then. LOL

But anyway. I did give it a shot. I thought Sonic 2 GG sucked, so I went out and bought Sonic Chaos and Sonic Triple Trouble, which were far more enjoyable. But after those two, there just wasn't anything on the system that appealed to me, and I found myself going back to my trusty Gameboy. I ended up selling the Gear about five years ago.

Of course, the most memorable thing about the Game Gear I remember was some stupid commercial Sega did. It featured some stupid fat kid playing a Gameboy (what exactly was Sega trying to say?) and seeing a skinny cool kid playing a Game Gear... IN COLOR. So the fat kid picks up a squirrel and smacks himself in the head, (yeah, I thought that was kinda dumb too), making him see all these psychadelic colors while he played Tetris or something. It was just so ODD. *L*

[fishsandwich]

The Nomad's great and all, but don't expect it to be very portable. On 6 brand new AA's, it only lasts about 30 mins (40 tops).

BUT, having near GBA worthy graphics on a system that's 10 years old is pretty cool.. :D

You have GOT to be kidding me! 40 minutes tops from 6 new batteries? No wonder it went down the toilet!

I hear the GG lasts 4 hours... that also sucks. I've been playing it at home with the AC cord. Makes the GG lighter, too.

Maybe a car adaptor is in the cards...

:D

[Gapporin]

You have GOT to be kidding me! 40 minutes tops from 6 new batteries? No wonder it went down the toilet!

I don't think it was that bad. Probably a few hours at the most (which isn't that great either, granted.)

Even with the Rechargeable Battery Pack, it only lasts about 4-5 hours. I think it's the only system that takes longer to charge up than it does to use it. :P

Since we're on the topic of the Nomad, is it true that you can use the Power Base Converter with it?

[Dire 51]

I've always enjoyed Vampire: Master Of Darkness, Castlevania clone that it is. It's the only CV-esque title for the GG, I believe.

[Immutable]

I don't recall anyone mentioning this, but if you have any SMS games, grab a Game Master Converter. It only works for 1 playered games though.

[Dire 51]

Game Master Converter

Sounds like the same thing as the Master Gear converter, which is a great item to have if you're an SMS fan. More often than not I'd be playing my SMS games on the GG, more so than the actual GG games.

[syd]

Some people are probably going to laugh at me, but in addition to the great games already mentioned, one of my favourite GG games is Home Alone. WAY better than the NES version!

[Immutable]

Sounds like the same thing as the Master Gear converter[...]
Opps, I stand corrected. :)

[slip81]

I like the GG, probably even more than the GB, but then again I'm a Sega fan. I don't have one right now, but I plan on changing that soon. The GG is a nice system if you want to play ports on the go.

[FooFighter]

Game Master Converter

Sounds like the same thing as the Master Gear converter, which is a great item to have if you're an SMS fan. More often than not I'd be playing my SMS games on the GG, more so than the actual GG games.

Never heard of either of these, but I do know the Power Base convertor wont work.

[Dire 51]

Game Master Converter

Sounds like the same thing as the Master Gear converter, which is a great item to have if you're an SMS fan. More often than not I'd be playing my SMS games on the GG, more so than the actual GG games.

Never heard of either of these, but I do know the Power Base convertor wont work.

Especially considering the PBC is designed for use with the Genesis and wouldn't fit into the GG's cart port.

[rbudrick]

DAMN I wish Sega had made a "Super Game Gear" that would have plugged into the Genesis! Playing Game Gear games on a regular TV with a Genesis controller... that would have been SWEET

To connect your GG to your TV, tell Xavier you want him to build you one of these:

http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2539&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=32ec21de7f840bdeaed35fa87b89c78b

Now! Go do it!


I don't recall anyone mentioning this, but if you have any SMS games, grab a Game Master Converter. It only works for 1 playered games though.

Not true. You can plug an adapter cable into the link port to use a second controller. I actually own one of these, so I know this for sure. Using a turbo controller being second player rules. Never tried any guns or stearing controllers or anything though.

-Rob

[FooFighter]

Game Master Converter

Sounds like the same thing as the Master Gear converter, which is a great item to have if you're an SMS fan. More often than not I'd be playing my SMS games on the GG, more so than the actual GG games.

Never heard of either of these, but I do know the Power Base convertor wont work.

Especially considering the PBC is designed for use with the Genesis and wouldn't fit into the GG's cart port.

Oops I'm still thinking about the Nomad.......... We swithched back to the GG again?? :)

[fishsandwich]

I finally got my Master Gear convertor in the mail... It's a cool piece of hardware. I tried playing Master of Darkness on it (the SMS game, not the GG game) and it was so blinky that I kept getting killed by enemies and it was damned irritating. I've heard this is a good game on the GG... perhaps I should try the GG-optimized version?

I have to think... what would a Game Gear look like with a battery pack and a Master convertor (if they would fit at the same time... I doubt it) and a screen magnifier? Sounds like we're getting close to Virtual Boy territory in terms of "portability"

:D

[starchildskiss78]

Personally I LOVE my Game Gear. I got one for X-mas maybe a year or two after it came out and played it a LOT. (Had to use the adapter though most of the time to kill the battery issue.) Sonic 2, Joe Montana Football, Columns, and World Series Baseball got extensive play when I first had it. I stupidly got rid of it a couple years after that (for what I don't know...gas money maybe?) and had been kicking myself ever since. I found one at a flea market for 5 bucks a few weeks ago and with the exception of scratches on the protective screen and no battery covers it runs like a champ. My only mistake now is that I bought some real stinkers (the Batman games come to mind off the bat) that are not that enjoyable. On the subject of the plastic screen...for those who have replaced it...where did you go? And how hard is it to replace it? (I tried Future Floor Polish which eliminated a few scratches but was generally unsuccessful. May try Novus Plastic Polish next if I don't get a new screen.)

[fishsandwich]

I have a replacement screen on the way... I'll let you know how it goes. From what I've been told, it's VERY SUPER EASY to replace a GG screen. They are evidently glued on... just unpeel the old one with a sharp edge and stick on the new one. Again, I'll let you know how it turn out.

As far as Game Gear goes, it is super cheap to get one on ebay... I see ones with a carrying case and several games go for $20 or less all the time. The GG is very inexpensive to collect for.

http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sell/SSProfiles/10054384/Images/GGscreen.JPG


:D

[Ed Oscuro]

Throw your GameGear.

Get a Nomad.
Eh, I stopped using my Nomad (for all but on-the road gaming, I always take the Shinobi trillogy) once I got a Genesis 2...it's much, MUCH better for to-TV than the 3 is, though.

[Quickclaw]

I'm torn between buying a huge lot of GG carts and selling the system altogether. Maybe I should play an entire season of NBA Jam before deciding what to do with it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well...

Say what you will; my first Game Gear title (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8129632938&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT).

[fishsandwich]

Well...

Say what you will; my first Game Gear title (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8129632938&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT).

That looks gosh-darn interesting. A Zelda-type game on the Game Gear! I wonder how much the Japanese text will prove to be a hinderance to the gameplay... hopefully not much!

:D

[Ed Oscuro]

Not much, I don't think, though there is a translation patch. Apparently the menu music is awful :)

From the looks of this auction, yet another real sleeper. Jeez, these days I'm more interested in the sleepers than I am in the popular action games - how come? LOL

[Dire 51]

Game Master Converter

Sounds like the same thing as the Master Gear converter, which is a great item to have if you're an SMS fan. More often than not I'd be playing my SMS games on the GG, more so than the actual GG games.

Never heard of either of these, but I do know the Power Base convertor wont work.

Especially considering the PBC is designed for use with the Genesis and wouldn't fit into the GG's cart port.

Oops I'm still thinking about the Nomad.......... We swithched back to the GG again?? :)

Yep. LOL

[Dire 51]

I finally got my Master Gear convertor in the mail... It's a cool piece of hardware. I tried playing Master of Darkness on it (the SMS game, not the GG game) and it was so blinky that I kept getting killed by enemies and it was damned irritating. I've heard this is a good game on the GG... perhaps I should try the GG-optimized version?

I think in this case that'd be your best bet. I never did get to try the SMS MoD on the GG, but now that I've heard about this, should I ever get a GG again, I'll just track down a V: MoD cart.

[fishsandwich]

I just got a new replacement screen for my Game Gear in the mail, and I must say that it has made a big differance. I am enjoying the game Gear a lot more.

I got one of those replacement screens off e-bay. I was initially disappointed in the screen... the old screen on my Game Gear clearly had rounded edges while the replacement had straight, flat edges. I didn't hink it would look right, but I tried it anyway.

I pried off the old screen with a razor... it took some convincing, but it finally gave up it's hold on the beat-up blue Game Gear it has traveled with for all its life.

It was stuck on with some sort of black two-sided tape, the bulk of which stayed stuck on the screen with a little residue on the Game Gear itself.

The new Game Gear had plastic wrap on both sides, no I peeled it back to reveal a perfect, new, unscratched screen. My fears of not fitting well or looking stoopid were unfounded... the flat screen fits just fine in the old footprint left by the old curved screen, and no one would be able to tell it was a replacement. It even has the hole where the light shines through on the side.

It's made a world of differance when I play... I might actually like this thing now that I'm not playing through a haze of scratches.

It's kind of like how you appreciate the world around you when you get new glassses, only more stupid.

:D