PTE 11: The Greatest Handheld Part 2

[Neon Ignition]

With so much love being shown for the generation of handhelds after those listed in Part 1 we'll begin the next round of polling. Don't forget, Part 1 is still open for voting.

Let's move into the next generation of handhelds...

[Skull Commander]

GBA Micro for me. Superb screen and one of the most portable handhelds ever. A superb library of games, and great battery life. Controls can be slightly cramped for certain games, but a minor niggle.

[koopatroopa90]

Micro for me too, although the AGS101 is pretty damn close. The size of the micro wins, even if you do have to carry a case (whereas the SP obviously covers its screen!) - coupled with a flash cart you can carry a handful of excellent titles in a package smaller than most phones.

Pardon my ignorance but what is the Game.com?

[nakamura]

I find it very hard to choose between the GBA SP 101 and the PSP. The GBA 101 offers an amazing screen with a huge library of GBA and GB games to play on it including all ther Zelda games which I love. Metroid too come to think of it.
The PSP however has a great selection of J-Rpgs, racing games, fighting games a PS1 classics from the store.

I am going to go with the GBA purely down to fact it has more favourites to me and the fact I do not count modding in a topic like this.

[sj33]

I second the call to not count modding or emulators in this, else you end up with formats who's strength actually come from other formats (I mean, the PSP can play GBA games via emulators, but we shouldn't let that count against the GBA). Either way, it appears that none of the 'current' formats are in this poll anyway.

I actually voted for the GBA-SP. I'm a bit torn between the SP and the Micro, but I have a love for clamshell handhelds.

[dataDave]

If we're going off of percentage of worthy titles then it has to be the NGPC.
I like the Micro though. I need to get another after my last ended up on a bonfire along with 80% complete hard mode AW2.

[Neon Ignition]

I present... the Game.com. Tigers failed attempt at a kind of budget entry approach. Not very good, lol

The GBA is a bit of an awkward one for me. Personally, the idea of a pocket Snes was amazing so I was pumped when it came out but all 3 in standard form have annoyances. The micro is cool to look at but the smaller screen and ill fitting cartridge system ruin it, for all it fixed I never liked the shape of the SP at all and the original has easily the best size and shape but the lack of back light hurt it badly. Then there's the games, for me it was a huge disappointment overall. Despite it's limited genre support and lifespan the Neo Geo Pocket Colour was a much more comfortable and though lower specced had some great games.

[gospvg]

GBA Micro for me also , so perfect & small enough to fit into pockets. Many hours wasted playing RPG's

[vanpeebles]

Neo Geo Pocket for me but surely it came out at the same time as the GB Color? It's in the wrong generation.

[cutmymilk]

I had a Game.com!!!! Minty, sold it for a fiver a few years back. Proper ****e. I also had a Barcode Battler which I just didn't understand tbh!!!

[nakamura]

The GBA is a bit of an awkward one for me. Personally, the idea of a pocket Snes was amazing so I was pumped when it came out but all 3 in standard form have annoyances. The micro is cool to look at but the smaller screen and ill fitting cartridge system ruin it, for all it fixed I never liked the shape of the SP at all and the original has easily the best size and shape but the lack of back light hurt it badly. Then there's the games, for me it was a huge disappointment overall. Despite it's limited genre support and lifespan the Neo Geo Pocket Colour was a much more comfortable and though lower specced had some great games.

I can see where you are coming from. The SP only wins due to the 101 model for me. The others are far too washed out and the Micro is a bit small and lacks GB playback.

[Dogg Thang]

NGPC for me. I voted differently this time around in that hours-wise the GBA would have given me much more entertainment. But the NGPC was unique for me in a couple of ways. Firstly, the stick was one of the best controllers I have seen on anything. It was perfect for most games on the system.

And secondly, and probably more importantly, the absolutely fantastic fighting games were made to perfection for the system and were never seen again. SNK vs Capcom was amazing. Gals Fighters was brilliant. They were all great. And they were all great for one huge reason that seems to have been ignored by almost every other fighter that made it to a handheld since - they were specially created to work within the limitations of the system. Even now, and not just in fighting games, that's something that seems to escape devs. Work within your limitations.

The SNK NGPC fighters did this and ended up with some of the most fun fighters of all time.

[Golgo]

Gameboy Micro, huzzah!

[Dogg Thang]

The Micro is a beautiful machine, no doubt. A true pocket machine and, in its Famicom form, looks great. Lovely screen too - I love the tiny screen, makes games look great.

[Flabio]

Micro for me, out of this lot it's by far the most impressive. It's so tiny! You can play Doom on it!