Project Mercury Memories

[Essay]

The recent announcement of Game Gear games available for download on the 3DS has taken the reigns on the nostalgic part of my brain...which seems to supersede all other logical functions of it.

Anyhow, just wanted to share some of the personal highs and lows and...weirdness that stand out with the Game Gear.  Curious on everyone's experiences, too.

Origin:  Purchased it at the defunct FuncoLand with my dad.  It was to be a Christmas gift.  I still didn't know much about games, but I know we got a used system, along with a used Sonic game or two.

Games:
Sonic Drift 2
Sonic Triple Trouble
Sonic Chaos
Sonic 2  (My parents bought this for me for another holiday...I found it and beat the game before that holiday came.)
WWF Wrestlemania:  Steel Cage Challenge (A surprisingly fun wrestling game...I mean, you can't really go wrong with cage matches.)

Gear Works (...I really have no idea what this game is about.  My mom got it for me, and while I appreciated the gesture, there were no instructions and the game seemed nearly impossible to produce any sort of coherent input.  I just looked it up on YouTube.  Still confused.  No website can tell me either.  The game was developed by Sony, so there's no chance of it ever coming to the VC for me to conquer prior exasperations.)


Maybe there were more games, I don't recall.

Accessories
-Super Wide Gear
-Cases, AC adapter...standard things
-This...beast of a shell thing  (I don't know.  A gift from a friend.  I guess it might come in handy if you're rock climbing)


Second-hand hand-held
I do have one regret in my purchase of a Game Gear.  Everything I ever owned for the handheld was second-hand.  Sega and/or their third parties never saw any profit from my purchases.  Aside from championing the device, I was a non-factor in the Game Gear - Game Boy war of the 1990s...  :oops:

(...Maybe that shell thingie.)

[cube_b3]

Thanks for sharing.
I never bought a game gear but a friend bought it over the genesis, he was intelligent enough never to buy batteries for it, he always used the charger in his room.

Further more it could be connected to the TV which was amazing, I don't remember if you could plug another controller in to the game gear but that one time I was at house we couldn't get it to function with the TV.

So I just spent a few hours playing Sonic and other games he had built into a cart.

It was very attractive, and amusing but I never thought the need to buy it. I probably was a more rationale kid than I am a man, lol.

[Essay]

I probably was a more rationale kid than I am a man, lol.

Ha!  I find that's true for me, too.  I think it comes down to funds.  As a kid, you're opportunity to purchase games is usually limited to a meager allowance or the random holiday, so you have to be more selective on what and how often you can make a purchase.

[Barry the Nomad]

I had always wanted a Game Gear when it released, but didn't get around to getting one until Majesco rereleased the handheld in 1997. Reason I held off for so long was because my dad bought me a Nomad for my birthday in 1995. Mobile Genesis games > Game Gear games. I was the coolest kid on the block for a good two years.

I initially owned Sonic 2, Sonic Chaos, Columns and Shinobi (aka The G.G. Shinobi). In 1996 I picked up Sonic Drift 2 and it fast became my favorite title on the system. over the past five years I picked up the remaining original Sonic titles (Sonic 1 and Triple Trouble) as well as a few miscellaneous titles. I think I have Itchy & Scratchy and a Disney game.

Only accessory I have is the Super Wide Gear and the usual power cables. I was about to pick up a TV tuner, but then the USA went fully digital and I found out that the Majesco models do not work with the TV tuner.

edit: OBJECTION! HOLD IT! wait, cube , I don't believe the Game Gear could do TV out unless modded. Also, it had no controller input. Only the ability to link with another Game Gear. The Nomad however could be connected to a TV and had a controller port.

[cube_b3]

Did it come packed in with The Ooze?

[Barry the Nomad]

Did it come packed in with The Ooze?

From what I can find, the Ooze was never on the Game Gear. Only the Genny/MD.

[CrazyT]

I remember we having a gamegear with sonic chaos, fantasy zone, a donald duck game and the best of all, mickey mouse's castle of illusion. Weirdly, I enjoyed the games so much!! It just sucked that the thing sucked so much battery, 6 of them. Back then it was a pain.

[Emmett The Crab]

I never owned any portable game console until I could afford it mysely (GBA).  If I had a game gear I probably would have had it taken away from me in school.  what year did that come out?

[Barry the Nomad]

1990 in Japan, 1991 for the rest of the world. Though I don't recall knowing anybody who owned one until 1993 when Jurassic Park hit the Game Gear. Whoever had JP on the GG was the shit.

[cube_b3]

@ Barry: Nomad not GG.

[Sega Uranus]

I had a cousin who had a Game Gear when it came out with tons of games and all of the extras. He never let me play it though, no real reason, you know how kids can be.

Once I found out about emulation in like 1999, I went nuts with learning about the platform. The thought of it having 12 Sonic games just blew my mind, and I played through almost all of them in no time. It took me a few more years to really get into it. I tried to collect for it, but the local search for games and add ons was basically pointless and it took a long time to get anywhere with it.

One of the lamest things I ever did in my life was take a Game Gear and Nomad to a friend's sleepover. One in each pocket, and dozens of games in my coat pockets... This was only like seven years ago... yes I am shocked they did not kick my ass.

If you search long enough and can appreciate games for their time, there are a lot of real gems on Game Gear. The Shinobi games are some of the best spinoff titles I have ever played and games that seem like they should be awful, like Sonic Drift 2, are just fantastic fun.

However, I cannot believe how much I hate the Ecco games on it. For those unaware, the Genesis games are literally my favorites of all time, but the Game Gear versions of them are... I just hate them so much. So... Much...

Did it come packed in with The Ooze?

From what I can find, the Ooze was never on the Game Gear. Only the Genny/MD.

I think he meant if your Nomad came with the Game Gear, as it was the game that was marketed specifically for it, as weird as that sounds.

[Emmett The Crab]

1990 in Japan, 1991 for the rest of the world. Though I don't recall knowing anybody who owned one until 1993 when Jurassic Park hit the Game Gear. Whoever had JP on the GG was the shit.

I graduated from High School in 1993, so that explains it.

[crackdude]

My uncle was all into videogames when I was what.. 4 or 5? I remember he had a GameGear.
The holy grail was to find six AA batteries laying around.

As I grew older, he gave it to a cousin of mine. My cousin had it and played it until I was 12. The he LOST IT. Seriously big time. He went living to England and lost the thing while packing/moving.

So yeah, my time with it was short.
We had Columns and a 4 in 1 sports pack.

I have wanted to get a GG ever since.
The announcement of GG games on the 3DS made me make up my mind on buying one. In all seriousness it's the console's most attractive feature for me.

[Essay]

One of the lamest things I ever did in my life was take a Game Gear and Nomad to a friend's sleepover. One in each pocket, and dozens of games in my coat pockets... This was only like seven years ago... yes I am shocked they did not kick my ass.

Eh, I can't judge.  I once bought a pair of pants because the pockets were the perfect size to fit GBA games in.

The announcement of GG games on the 3DS made me make up my mind on buying one. In all seriousness it's the console's most attractive feature for me.

It's funny how that can work.  For instance, I never bought I Sega Saturn--though I very much longed for one.  I still wait with bated breath that maybe one day the console's games will be released on a download service/comp. disc.

[crackdude]

I find it great that I can buy and store multiple simple portable Sega games. And still play newly released 3DS games.

What's lacking in the GP2X/Caanoo is a stream of constant new fresh content.
Also, having the entire libraries of old games at ready disposal vulgarizes my experience (don't know why, it just does).

As such, this simple idea (that came out of nowhere, I wasn't expecting it) is really getting me pumped!