GameGear

"A power eating powerhouse with nice games..."

Ah yes, GameGear, the Gameboys early rival, a technicaly superior system yet it failed. Lets look at its abilitys.

Graphics:9/10
Holy crap, this blows the Gameboy's 4 shades of gray outa the water instantly! 256 colors, 56 at once, and attempts to recreate the Genesis/Mega Drive's power. This is evident in Sonic Triple Trouble, which looks FANTASTIC, but has horid slowdown sometimes. In addition, it had a backlight. Yes, the first backlight! Not the DS, the 20 year old Gameboy competitor! (in fact, I have compared and the GG is about 15% better than the DS in brightness) However, this leads to one tiny snag...

Battery life:2/10
The Battery life was 6 AAs for 3 hours. If its a cheapo brand like "Duraking" you find by sliping a $5 bill to a shadowy figure at the flee market, its an amazing 30 min! True, there is an AC adaptor (which I own) but you'll need rechargables to save money. Have fun hunting down batterys!

Games: 7/10
Hmm, a mixed bag. There were a few horid games such as Sonic Blast (but it looked great...) but also you'll find gems like Tails Adventure or Shinobi or Defenders of Oasis to name a few. If you want this for the games, just be sure it isn't one of the 30% that are bad and you should be fine.

Design: 5/10
... It looks cool I supose. The thing is gigantic, about 15% bigger then DS Phat, and ways what seems to be around 5 pounds. The sheer size offsets the weight however, but be sure to have big pockets or a backpack to take it with you. You have the power button, AC jack, Headphone jack, game slot, multiplayer cord jack and volume. On the right side is a contrast adjuster (ooo...).

Control: 10/10
Very nice. Like the GB, it has control pad and two function buttons. Instead of A/B meet 1/2. Same thing. Ah yes, and start. No need for select.

Overall:8/10
With Rechargable Batterys, properly sized pockets, AC adaptor, and the right games, this is a very good system indeed. I have one (off of Ebay, a deal, 6 games, AC adaptor and System for a mere $30! Worth every penny), and if you like retro gaming then this is for you. Oh, and sonic/sega fans.

Buy?
Yes, buy! If you are offered the system by itself for 50 bucks, its worth it. Any higher and it needs to come with games to be fair.

In closing, the GameGear isn't necisarly a bad system, it just was flawed, and caused many to overlook it. It is certanly better than the Atari Lynx... but that is a different story.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/06