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Sega's Game Gear: A Look Back
Written by Señor Cha Cha on Friday, May 19, 2006
It was clear in 1990 that the Game Gear, with its backlit, color screen, was destined to rule the handheld gaming roost. We take a comprehensive look back at the one retro handheld that *almost* made it...
RetroMo Part 1: NEC Turbo Express
You Are Here: RetroMo Part 2: Sega Game Gear
RetroMo Part 3: Atari Lynx
The most important purchase that I made as a child was a Sega Game Gear. I had scrounged for several months to buy what was at the time a very hot piece of hardware, a portable that had a palette of 4,000 plus colors and played Sega videogames. It was and still is a cherished system, one that I played obsessively, not because it was the greatest thing ever, but simply because it was all that I could have. My parents were strict when it came to games, and if they had had their way, I would have been playing an Atari 2600 all through high school. But there's something to be said for a kid that wants to earn the value of a dollar from stealing them from other people's wallets (shhh...they still think my sister did it), so my mama and papa decided to let me have at it, partly because they were excited to see their little enchilada accomplish what was at the time a very lofty goal. And thus, after what seemed like a never ending game in itself, I managed to save/pilfer well over $200.
Just how stubborn were my parents? On the way to the mall to buy the Game Gear, I decided to test the waters by announcing that perhaps it would better to invest in a Super Nintendo instead, a proposal that my mother swatted with Shaq-like authority. So it was all right for her son to save his money, but heaven help him if he decided to make a decision on what to do with it.
Although the rejection stung like a cactus needle, I stayed the course and bought the Game Gear. The bundle came with Sonic the Hedgehog, and to sweeten the deal, I added Sonic 2, Batman Returns, a carrying case, and an AC adaptor, because back in the day, you had to purchase the plug separately, because videogame publishers were greedy nonsensical bastards. But I was too young to really understand what the hell was going on, and so, I happily brought my packages home, carefully opened them all, and prepared to enter the "next generation" of hand held gaming. Sega, meanwhile, welcomed me to the next level.
posted May 22, 2006