[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Hand-to-Handheld Combat
June 9th, 2008 by Benj Edwards
Of Aliens and Men
This richly illustrated advertisement for Irem’s R-Type and Kung-Fu Master on the Game Boy made me bristle with excitement as a kid. Unfortunately, most Game Boy games (when played on the blurry, slow-response, low-contrast, pale green LCD display of the original GB unit) didn’t live up to the promise of their vivid, colorful ads. Sure, I tried my hand at many action games on Nintendo’s famous handheld, but the lackluster experience made me mostly stick with Tetris until the vastly-improved screens of the Game Boy Pocket and Color came along.
Discussion topic of the week: What was your first portable electronic/video game experience? Describe it for us.
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June 9th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Three words: Game and watch.
Most of the games were quite simple and dull, and they made me look at the Game Boy longingly, but they were a good boredom-breaker when camping or waiting in the doctor’s office.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
The first one that made an impression on me was Mattel Football. It’s funny how long that 9 x 3 grid of red LEDs kept my interest.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I liked Merlin better, but I did play Mattel Football, Baseball, and Basketball. I even had a Pac-Man watch. I’ve never personally owned any of the portables in the sense of a Gameboy et. al.
Layne
June 9th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Mattel Football II for me. I couldn’t put that down and probably went through 100 batteries. That was lost through the years but I got it again just a few years ago. After Football II it was the Game Boy. Strangely I still have my Game Boy w/ fresh batteries on my desk which I play regularly. Tetris and Super RC Pro-am are my favorite games.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Don’t bash the Gameboy! Final Fantasy Adventure and Links Awakening are a couple of my top games of all time. Its amazing they could fit these huge RPGs on that little tiny cartridge.
I spent soooo many hours in the backseat of my parents’ minivan on road trips playing GB. I’d say the Gameboy Pocket specifically, with its crisper screen and smaller footprint, may have been my top gaming system of all time.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I’m not bashing the Game Boy. I loved it as a kid. I was just mentioning how hard it was to see fast-moving action games on the original Game Boy’s slow-response screen.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Mickey Mouse Game and Watch:
http://www.gameandwatch.com/screen/widescreen/images/mickey.gif
June 10th, 2008 at 11:44 am
My uncle won a Gameboy in a draw or something, and I became an absolute fiend for Tetris. I would argue that most of the time that I spent in my aunt and uncle’s house during my childhood was spent playing Tetris!
June 11th, 2008 at 7:02 am
When I was really little I had an “Independence Day” LCD game, but it was kinda silly so I never really played it.
My first real handheld game was a Game Boy Pocket with Super Mario Land. I played that single game for literally months. Then I got Tetris Plus and Pokemon and my life was forever changed.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Ah, this thread brings back memories. I had Mattel football, and Mario Game & Watch. I also had Mattel baseball & basketball, and head to head baseball, but I have to say that Tetris on my new Game Boy beat them all. I was so addicted, I would actually have dreams about it.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Personally, my first handheld gaming was on the original gameboy. I still have mine… I was actually playing it A LOT while I was stuck in bed for almost a week after getting surgery just over a month ago.
Before I had that though, my mother had a Manhole Game and Watch which I played a few times… it’s mine now. It’s pretty cool, I get batteries for it every now and then when I feel like playing it.
My second hand held system was the Game Gear. I’ve still got it too, and a second one.. and the ever so hard to find link cable… and a load of games too.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I had (well, still have) a Nelsonic Pac-Man watch with joystick. It’s really fun! As I recall it came with a few plastic joystick extensions which plugged into the socket of the metal joystick, but those quickly broke.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
A Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Tiger LCD game. I was insanely good at it too.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Really, my first handheld experience was with my own Game Boy Color that I received for my sixth birthday with Pokemon Blue. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent playing that game. Unfortunately that first Game Boy of mine now sits crucified above my window, it broke about a year back. Fortunately though, I have about 7 back up GBAs, my DS, and my Gamecube whenever I get that urge to play me some Pokemans.
September 27th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Before the Game Boy(which I got for Christmas the year it launched(89?)), It was all about the Tiger hand held lcd games. My brother and I must have had at least 10 of them. These days, I would be lucky if I could play one for more than 5 minutes.