Game Gear

[~llama]

Well, after purchasing my Lynx and some games, I've got a new thing for handheld systems. I already have my 1992-vintage Game Boy (and a Blue GB Pocket), and I'm thinking about snagging one of these lots of a Game Gear, battery pack grips, and twelve games I'm seeing on eBay. Should I? What does the Game Gear have (other than Sonic ) that Lynx doesn't in terms of coolness?

 

Also, what is the maximum decent price for a GG I should pay? I have no idea how much these things are worth, I just remember by best friend in elementary school having one and my wanting to play it because it was color and my Game Boy wasn't. I wanted a Lynx, but my parents couldn't find one and got me a Game Boy... so Game Gear is more about curiosity than settling old scores

[SteveW]

Honestly, for me anyway, the Game Gear was a real step down from the Lynx. The Lynx has such a good screen, while the Game Gear's screen turns to blurry sludge the moment any fast action takes place. The Game Gear had plenty of titles for it, since it was essentially a Sega Master System, and the games could be ported over easily, but it didn't have the great scaling and graphic effects the Lynx had. The games lack a little something that doesn't inspire me to keep playing them for more than five minutes.

 

Watch out when you buy an old Game Gear, there's an issue with sound going out on them. I've got a couple, and the sound only works on one.

[Stingray]

Skip the GG and get a Nomad, this goes double if you already have a pile of Genny games.

 

-S

[~llama]

I don't currently have any Sega stuff, but I for sure won't start a Sega collection based on the Game Gear, especially now that I have a Lynx.

[christianscott27]

game gears are cheap, i find em all the time for under $10. of course they're always in rough shape and often missing battery covers. i dont see the point in comparing it to the lynx, it stands on its own for a machine of that era. the screen does have some blur issues but not every game is sonic so you can still enjoy plenty of titles without that issue. the thing thats cool about collecting for the gamegear is how many games there are and how cheap they are. i've got over 100 now and never paid more than $3 for one, you cant say that about gameboy or lynx games. then theres the mastergear which lets you play SMS carts on it, a sorta hunchback contraption.

 

it sure beats collecting for the game.com

[Emehr]

I picked up my GG at a yard sale for $1 (came with RBI Baseball '94). I remember seeing games in the Sega Visions magazines back in the day that looked interesting but damned if I can remember any of them (and my mags are currently buried in a box somewhere). I'd never anticipated owning a GG and if it weren't for that yard sale score I probably still wouldn't have one. I had always been engrossed in the Lynx .

 

Even so, having the Master Gear converter makes it worth owning if you like SMS games (of which I only have a few). It's the main reason I'm hanging on to it. I only have a small handful GG games and none are spectacular.

 

Chicago Syndicate is interesting and a little different. I haven't played it much but it's a side-scrolling beat'm'up with an unusual control scheme I'm still figuring out.

 

Dragon Crystal is basically Rogue with non-ASCII graphics.

 

I also have Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2, and an X-Men game, all of which I have for (and would rather play on) Genesis.

 

I'd also like to know about must-own Game Gear games. There's gotta be at least one!

 

- Jason

[Room 34]

I have a Game Gear that I got back in the day. (I bought it in late 1995 in preparation for a plane trip to Australia.)

 

I don't have a huge collection (http://room34.com/vg/collection.php#GG) but among those, here's how they break down in terms of the amount of time I've given them:

 

LOTS OF TIME:

5 in One Fun Pak (no kidding! I've played lots of chess and "yacht" -- i.e. Yahtzee)

Bubble Bobble (excellent!)

Super Columns (very addictive; I love the music!)

 

SOME TIME:

Mortal Kombat (decent)

Prince of Persia (this game was always a challenge for me)

Sonic 2 (I just got this a couple years ago, way after my GG prime)

Simpsons: Bartman vs. Radioactive Man (never quite got into it)

 

NO TIME:

Pac-Man (scrolling )

PGA Tour Golf II (it's almost funny how long it takes to render the screen)

RBI Baseball '94 (the amount of time it's taken to type this is more than I've played it)

[thegamezmaster]

One nice thing about the Game Gear is with an adapter I forget what's it's called, I think it's the Mastergear, you can play almost any Sega Master System cartridge on the Game Gear that really adds to the library of games to play. And some games are very cheap and there is no lock out on most games no matter where they come from as a lot of games weren't released in the US but in other countries. I've had one since they came out and love it. Just my two cents worth.

[superjudge3]

Shining Force kicked ass for the Game Gear. Get that one for sure.

[sega saturn x]

Come this weekend i will be able to answer your question. I have only plyed a gear for a few seconds and have never played a lynx. All i have to go on is my own research and second hand opinions. But some games i think look good (since i haven't got to play them) are the 2 shinobis for the system. I'm a huge shinobi fan and those two games alone make it worth it to me.

 

The shining force looks amazing and i love tactical games so this will be a must. I liked reistar on genesis so i hope the game gear one is decent. Also the streets of rage looks like it could be a lark. Plus mega man looks fairly impressive. But i know little about the system, and know less about the lynx. So hopefully i can find out more soon.

Edited September 27, 2005 by sega saturn x

[Atarifever]

Come this weekend i will be able to answer your question.  I ahve only plyed a gear for a few seconds and have never played a lynx.  All i have to go on is my own research and second hand opinions.  But some games i think look good (since i haven't got to play them) are the 2 shinobis for the system.  I'm a huge shinobi fan and those two games alone make it worth it to me.

 

    The shining force looks amazing and i love tactical games so this will be a must.  I liked reistar on genesis so i hope the game gear one is decent.  Also the streets of rage looks like it could be a lark.  Plus mega man looks fairly impressive.  But i know little about the system, and know less about the lynx.  So hopefully i can find out more soon.

938919[/snapback]

I like my GameGear. Sadly though, there's a lot of mediocre to bad games you might end up with. Under no circumstances are you to buy "ax battler". I know it says it's a legend of Golden ae, but let me put it this way: the main character's name is AX BATTLER. Yeah, that's his name. I almost don't regret buying it because at the start the king was all like "bring in ax battler" or something hilarious like that and I laughed for 10 minutes. Still, it wasn't enough to make up for the fact that the game plays like crap, looks like crap, and is crap. Imagine if you had Zelda 2, but took out anything that makes it good, exciting, or fun. Then crap on that. Now you're playing Ax Battler.

If you are going to play Sonic on the GameGear, then play Sonic Chaos, I still think it's a perfect portable sonic (Sonic Advance/Sonic N can eat me).

Mortal Kombat 2 is relatively good.

Also, STreets of Rage 2 is a game you have to track down if you own the system. Having a GG and not having that game is not a good idea. Anytime you play crap you'll say "why do I even keep this piece of junk", then you'll plug in SoR2 and you'll say, "oh yeah".

Anyway, I opened up my GG carrying case for the first time in months to try to remember the name of the sonic game and it made me realize I need to play some more Game Gear right now. One thing the system has going for it is that it looks like something that wants to be played. Even the games look cool.

[sega saturn x]

I never had any desire to play a portaple golden axe, i always thought the genesis/arcade cersion was sorely lacking compared to streets of rage. And some of the sonic games look fun, i don't think playing them on the cube in those collection would do them justice. They just look like a big blurry mess.

[SteveW]

One good thing about the Game Gear is that they're easy to find in the wild. I tend to come across the games and units all the time. Unfortunately, because it's a Sega system, the games tend to be sports titles. But occasionally I'll find something better. I've got around 20-25 games scattered around. I find them in thrift stores or at flea markets, I buy them up, set them down somewhere, and forget about them. I've only played a handful of them, to be honest.

[sega saturn x]

I love handhelds in general and will buy any of them if the price is right. I might get a lynx as well but i have yet to see a game that peaks my interest. Any suggestions?

[~llama]

Chip's Challenge and Super Skweek if you're into puzzle games, California Games is fun too. Those are the good ones that I have, but I know there are better (I just got a Lynx last week myself)

[MCHufnagel]

A local used music shop has two Game Gears and a few games for sale. One is going for $19.95 while the other is going for $29.95, but includes both an AC adaptor and a car adaptor.

Are these good, OK or steep prices for these items? They had a third one that was sold a few weeks ago for $19.95 and it was blue. I heard that those were limited edition models.

[SteveW]

$20 and $30 are kind of steep for a GG without any games. If it didn't include a carrying case and an AC adapter, definitely don't pay $30 for one. Not worth it.

[Chickybaby]

If you check on EBay you can find them with games fairly regularly for less then $30.

I really need to go through our GG games as I am sure we have doubles although they are probably the dreaded"sports games" lol.

 

I still would live to find the 4 in 1 and the 5 in 1 game packs as I don't have one of those yet but I'd also like to collect all the games for it too. Speaking of how many US released games were there?

[panda_racer]

got mine with sonic 2, and ac adaptor for a dollar at salvation army..

[shadow460]

A must have title would be Shining Force: Sword of Hayja.

If I ever find one of those, my game gear will come out of its cobwebs.