Unbelievably, the Nintendo GameBoy first launched way back in 1989. All these years later Nintendo still reigns supreme with thesuperb Switch OLED.
However, with the continual rise of mobile gaming and newcomers, such as the Steam Deck, entering the market, handheld gaming is experiencing something of a resurgence. It’s enough to get us all gooey inside about the glory days of portable play.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of our favourite portable consoles from yesteryear to today that made us beam from ear to ear.
Nintendo GameBoy
The grandfather of all handheld consoles, the GameBoy effectively defined the category on its launch in 1989.
The true daddy of all handheld consoles, theNintendoGameBoy effectively defined the category on its launch in 1989. It also brought Tetris into many more lives for the first time, including our own. It wasn’t the first version of the game, but lordy was it the most addictive and popular. We can even hear the music now as we write.
Many versions of the GameBoy were released in later years, including the GameBoy Color, but the classic, chunky, greyish original will always live on the longest in our hearts.
Sega Game Gear
The Sega Game Gear was impressive thanks to its colour screen but shocking battery life really let it down
A year after the GameBoy arrived,Segalaunched a rival machine that was superior in almost every way except one, very important aspect. Because its 3.2-inch backlit screen was full colour, battery life was atrocious. A GameBoy could last for up to 15 hours of play on four AA batteries, while the Game Gear struggled to last more than three hours on 6 AAs.
Nonetheless, those who had a Game Gear loved it, with almost full versions of games ported from the Sega Master System fitting on its tiny cartridges. The handheld’s version of Sonic The Hedgehog was amazing for its time and hardware restrictions.
Galaxy Invader 1000
A bright yellow gaming machine with a game that played like a cross between Space Invaders and Galaxian. Insanely addictive.
There were 100s of one-game handhelds released in the early 1980s but few are as fondly remembered as Galaxy Invader 1000. The bright yellow machine was licensed from Tandy - which had its own variant, Fire Away - but we’d be willing to bet more still have CGL’s version of the game still lurking in their lofts.
The game itself was simple, a slimmed down cross between Space Invaders and Galaxian, and the screen used fixed LEDs where the invaders and your ship appeared in just a few positions. But, it was as addictive as any arcade machine around the time and a real treat for kids when they found one under the tree at Christmas.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a solid fave for hardcore gamers at the time but it didn’t stick around long.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a short-lived machine, only surviving for a couple of years at the turn of the millenium. However, it was a real favourite of hardcore gamers at the time - especially those who loved the shoot ‘em ups and beat ‘em ups from SNK.
The colour version followed a monochrome Neo Geo Pocket, but adding the better screen did not seemingly impact on battery life. Some even claim they got a couple of days of constant play out of theirs.
Nintendo GameBoy Advance
This one blew several competitor away when it launched thanks to its 32-bit power and more.
Nintendo really upped its game with the GameBoy Advance. It was a 32-bit machine, so blew several competitors out of the park, including the Neo Geo Pocket Color, on its launch in 2001. It was also compatible will all GameBoy and GameBoy Color games, so had a large library already available when it first hit stores.
As the hardware was comparable to a SNES, games like Mario Kart: Super Circuit became instant favourites. You can even still see some of its best tracks in the latestMario Kart 8 Deluxefor Nintendo Switch.
PC Engine GT
This was a handheld version of the TurboGrafx-16 games console that also came with a built-in TV tuner. Impressive gear for 1990.
Also called the TurboExpress in the US, the PC Engine GT never made it to the UK or Europe unless you imported one. It was basically a handheld version of the TurboGrafx-16 games console and could play the exact same game cards as the larger unit.
It was very advanced for its time, having been released in 1990. There was even a TV tuner built into the unit so you could use it as a portable set. However, it was also hideously expensive, priced at $249 (£189) on launch - equating to almost $480 in today’s prices with inflation.
Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)
The Sony PSP offered superb handheld gaming thanks to a 4.3-inch LCD screen and awesome games like God of War.
Sony’s first real foray into handheld gaming came in the form of thePlayStation Portable, otherwise known as the Sony PSP. It was first released in Japan in 2004 - coming to the UK and US a year later - and provided a superb, on-the-road gaming experience. This was mainly thanks to its 4.3-inch LCD screen and versions of bigPlayStationhits, such as WipeOut and God of War.
It wasn’t without fault though, with some original consoles sold sporting dead pixels on the screen (we had to replace two of them ourselves). And the odd-shaped Universal Media Disc (UMD) games were a pain to store because of their size. Also, don’t get use started on the PSP Go with its slide out keypad.
Atari Lynx
Atari dabbled in the handheld market back in 1989 but didn’t manage to sell well.
Atari dabbled in the handheld market back in 1989 with the Lynx and while it was no looker, its full colour display and 16-bit hardware made it the geek’s choice of device.
Unfortunately though, poor overall sales meant that game support was nowhere near as prolific as its rivals. Like the Game Gear, the Lynx also had poor battery life, with six AA batteries lasting up to five hours at most. Still, we loved ours and some of Atari’s own arcade conversions played brilliantly on the Lynx.
Nintendo Game & Watch
These single-game handheld gaming machines were a marvel in the 1980s.
Before Game & Watch, Nintendo had dabbled in a TV games machine and coin-ops, but the small, handheld single-game devices changed everything. They were simple, with the first generation at the turn of the 80s sporting just one monochrome LCD screen and basic controls. But later down the line came dual-screen versions in clamshell cases - an idea the Japanese gaming giant would return to for the DS and 3DS many years later,
The Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong was perhaps the best known of the latter models, especially as Nintendo developed the original arcade game. The range also hosted early appearances of Mario too.
Tonytronic 3D
The Tomytronic 3D was basically the forefather of modern VR headsets. Things have come a long way since then.
Of all the handheld games of the early 1980s, the Tomytronic 3D system was by far the most bizarre. But, maybe it was just ahead of its time, because it was effectively a VR headset that gave you a three-dimensional view of a specific game.
There were several in the series, including Shark Attack and the one we remember most, Space Attack. Long term play could cause a headache, but we didn’t care when we were kids as it was a sign of the future. A strangely prophetic one, at that.
