We’re all familiar with handheld game systems, namely ones like the DS andPSP. Now with the Switch 2 and Steam Deck, the gap between handhelds and home consoles is so thin it might as well not exist.
That said, I kinda miss dedicated handheld systems. Nowadays, multi-platform games are the exact same on each platform with some graphical downgrades, but we used to get entirely different games before.
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After theGame Boy, everyone wanted a piece of the handheld system pie, rushing weird bricks with buttons out. While a ton of those handhelds sucked, plenty of them are rarely acknowledged for how cool they are.
I want to highlight some of those handhelds, from the obscure to the commercial failures, that had fun designs, unique features, great games, and went completely under the radar despite that.
8New Nintendo 2DS XL
Good Format, Wrong Time
While you’ve probably heard of or used the3DS, Nintendo got a bit silly with the raw number of variations on the same system, from the XL, to the 2DS, to the New 3DS, and finally the New Nintendo 2DS XL.
Despite having one of the dumbest console names ever, the New 2DS offered one of the best form factors the console ever got, even being cheaper due to the lack of the 3D gimmick barely anyone used.
It feels nice in the hands, you don’t need to unscrew the back just to access the MicroSD card slot, and the carbon fiber look is genuinely one of my favorite console designs of all time all while featuringsome of the best handheld titlesever.
No one talks about it, though. Namely, because theNew 3DSand 2DS are such pitiful upgrades, offering a tiny handful of exclusives in exchange for being more expensive and having a pencil eraser for a C-stick.
7Retroid Pocket Flip
Everything In One
For a smaller company, Retroid has been doing just about anything to get their foot in the door, and only reallygets appreciated in the emulationscene or by tech nerds with way too much niche hardware.
That said, the Retroid Pocket Flip is just a superb, 3DS-esque android gaming system. Not only is it great for emulation, but also for the growing number of mobile games that are just console games in a trenchcoat.
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These games needed to make a good impression for a new console but weren’t up to the task.
I think it’s mainly because an Android handheld with no dedicated exclusives is going to be pretty off-putting to people when it’s more expensive than a Switch Lite, but like the Steam Deck, it’s just a great way to play existing games.
That said, the form factor feels incredible, and the build quality is even better than you’d expect for a $220 handheld. It’s not a heavy hitter, but it’s a neat little thing, and I enjoy it for what it is.
6Sega Game Gear
When the Game Boy took off, SEGA was so adamant about competing with Nintendo that they couldn’t just let that slide, attempting to make a handheld that was supposed to be better in every way.
TheGame Gearhad great games, full-color visuals, 8-bit renditions of the big console titles, and was essentially just a Master System you could take with you in the car, but it was absolutely neutered by its horrific battery life.
Only 3-5 hours of gameplay off of six AA batteries, and that was equivalent to paying $4.50 every time you wanted to use your system. This is especially terrible in comparison to the Game Boy’s ~30 hours off four AA batteries.
Even though it sold okay, the Game Gearis sadly barely rememberedas more than a neat, nostalgic thing nowadays.
5Game Boy Color
Skipped Over
Nintendo Game Boy
When speaking about Nintendo’s handheld legacy, most sources, including the company itself, simply go from the original Game Boy to theGame Boy Advance, forgetting theGame Boy Colorentirely.
To me, that just isn’t fair at all. The Game Boy Color is as much of a separate systemas the Switch 2 is, getting a decent quantity of banger exclusives and the best version of Super Mario Bros.
It’s similar to the Game Boy, sure, but the extra power combined with a full-color screen made the new games stand out, and even enhanced games like Link’s Awakening DX feel way better with the new kid on the block.
For some reason, though, this significantly different system gets counted as the same thing, even in sales numbers, and that’s a damn shame. It’s such a cool little thing, but people rarely consider it its own beast.
4Neo Geo Pocket Color
Secret Third Thing
When you think of handheld gaming in the 90s, you probably only think of the Game Boy and maybe the Game Gear, but theNeo GeoPocket Color was a legitimate competitor that gets swept under the rug.
For one, it had the only Sonic game to ever get a 10 from IGN, and similarly to the Game Gear, it’s a full-color 8-bit system. Unlike that one, two AA batteries would give you a solid 40 hours of battery life.
Unfortunately, this system just happened to release around the same timePokémonwas taking off, leaving Game Boy sales skyrocketing while the Neo Geo Pocket was left to rot in the back of store shelves.
It’s a damn shame. The form factor was like a predecessor to the Game Boy Advance. It was pretty budget-friendly, had quite a few great games backing it, but unfortunately led to SNK going bankrupt just two years later.
3PlayStation Vita
Clunky, But Charming
After the wild runaway success of the original PSP andPS2, Sony decided to perform the biggest fumble in history by releasing thePS3andPS Vita, whichrather notoriously did not go well for them.
The Vita was where the root idea of the Switch came from. Console-quality games on the go, with very few compromises needed to get them working well, and that was true, with about a hundred asterisks.
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It used an expensive proprietary storage method, and everything about it was incredibly overpriced. The price cut it got did not bring anywhere near the comeback that the PS3 received, which is a damn shame,because the Vita is awesome.
Games likeGravity RushandPersona 4 Goldenwere awesome exclusives, and the multi-platform titles it received were always great ways to play those games. Still, it faded into obscurity after the commercial failure.
First Of Its Kind
On the topic of small companies making cool handhelds in the 3DS form factor, the GPD Win was one of the first gaming-focused PC handhelds to ever catch a decent amount of attention for how cool it is.
These things are still going, and despite being significantlyoutshone by the Steam Deckand ROG Ally nowadays, the GPD Win line are small, powerful computers capable of playing a great number of PC games.
Before the release of the GPD Win, any Windows-based portable device was just a bit too unreasonable to want to use, but this thing gave you something to slip in your pocket and pull out whenever.
I’m particularly fond of the hybrid game controller and keyboard style it has. It’s pretty reminiscent of the dumb peripheral for the GameCube with a keyboard shoved into a controller, but actually refined and well done.
1Sega Nomad
A New Genesis
One of the coolest things to me when I was younger was handhelds that could play retro games by shoving the whole huge cartridges into them, and the Sega Nomad was doing that like a decade before it was a trend.
It was Sega’s last ever handheld console, and it was essentially just a portable Genesis, allowing you to seamlessly use your Genesis cartridges and play them anywhere. That was a banger idea.
It had a massivelibrary of great games off the bat, could connect to a TV and be used as a hybrid home console and handheld, and because this company is addicted to bullets in their feet, it required six AA batteries for four hours of battery life.
It was $179 on launch, which was pretty steep at the time, had no exclusives or pack-ins, and despite being a great concept, died out because SEGA couldn’t be bothered to advertise it, which is such a shame.
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