Best retro handheld games

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I picked up a lil' handheld emulator that can play games from a variety of older systems (various Atari stations, the various Game Boys, NES, SNES, Genesis, Play Station 1, etc.).

I have access to a pretty robust library of games to pick from, but I'm overwhelmed in my decision of what to actually sit down and play.

Does anyone have any favourite games from these retro devices? Ideally ones amenable to handheld play with a d-pad (no analog stick).

[burner]

I assume you can't play multiplayer games on your device, but if you can, Great Baseball is an absolute blast to play with a friend. It gets intense.

Otherwise, Dig Dug is always a good option, as well as Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

[DougJoe]

Ok, that's a *huge* list of games to choose from.

Atari 2600: Pitfall!, Frogger, Plaque Attack, Centipede, Defender
NES: The Legend of Zelda 1-2, Kid Icarus, Metroid, Life Force, Punch Out!, MegaMan 1-6, Castlevania 1-3, Goonies 2, Bionic Commando, DuckTales, Final Fantasy (even though it's horribly bug ridden), Dragon Warrior
Game Boy: Gargoyle's Quest, TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan, Tetris, Final Fantasy Legend 1-2
SNES: Super Metroid, Street Fighter 2, F-Zero, TLoZ:ALttP, MegaMan X 1-3, Super Punch Out, Final Fantasy 2/3 (4/6).

What genre(s) of game(s) floats your boat?

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Thanks for these. It is a bewildering amount of games I could be playing. The suggestions here are basically all included in the ROM pack I have already so I'll play around with a bunch of these titles in the coming weeks.

I grew up with DOS/PC games so this is mostly a new world for me.

I'm definitely open minded as to what I play. Having a fun little fighting/racing/pinball type games to play in short bursts is great, but looking forward to get into some of the longer form RPGs and platformers as well.

[JECE]

If you like turn-based strategy games I had fun with Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 as a kid.

[DougJoe]

Couple of other 2600 games I forgot: Yar's Revenge, Haunted House. Missile Command! Can't believe I forgot Missile Command.

The interesting (good?) thing about many of the 2600 games is that they range pretty well from "this is easy" to "holy hell what's going on". Both Missile Command and Plaque Attack (which is a cool little shooter) are like that. Haunted House has *9* difficulty levels and I've honestly only really ever tried it on level 1.

...my favorite 2600 game is probably Star Raiders but you need the keypad controller to play it. It has some flaws, but I still really like it (most people consider the Atari 400/800 version to be superior.)

[kingofthepirates]

lil' handheld emulator
the various Game Boys, NES, SNES

nintendo would like to have a word...

my recs: pokemon has great stuff. the originals are fun, but ROM hacks are also really great!

[miminena]

i'd have to recommend the first rhythm heaven game for gba (although idt it was ever released in English)

also seconding advance wars

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

lil' handheld emulator
the various Game Boys, NES, SNES

nintendo would like to have a word...

my recs: pokemon has great stuff. the originals are fun, but ROM hacks are also really great!

US copyright law would allow Nintendo to charge for Pokemon Yellow until 2094. To me that's an insane example of how monied interests unduly affect public policy — how is an income stream 90+ years on (and after most of the original creators are dead) supposed to have any impact on the incentives to create new artistic work? I buy new and innovative work, but have no problem stealing the rest haha.

Do you have any particular recommendations re: Pokemon ROM hacks? Radical Red looks interesting, but there are so many to pick from.

I'm surprised you didn't have a Kirby game to recommend.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I'm slowly getting through some of the recommendations here, appreciate everyone's suggestions.

One stand out so far has been Advanced Wars 2, I'm very impressed so far.

[kingofthepirates]

Do you have any particular recommendations re: Pokemon ROM hacks? Radical Red looks interesting, but there are so many to pick from.

I'm surprised you didn't have a Kirby game to recommend.

I loved randomizers for a long time, and radical red was p fun! idk I haven't played in a while, last I did seriously was in middle school... there's some sites online with recs and popular hacks, I downloaded a couple of those a while ago (and didn't touch them lmao... never had time)

kirby games I haven't played the old ones, only wii and later lol

[miminena]

kirby games I haven't played the old ones, only wii and later lol

if you ever get a chance, play super star. it has imo the most iconic soundtracks in the series, with dedede's theme being extended from the first two games, and also gourmet race which has possibly the most well-known kirby song as its theme. also the gameplay is cool too ig

[DougJoe]

Hey Esquire, what have you tried so far?

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Hey Esquire, what have you tried so far?

I have so far only delved into Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, and Gameboy Advanced games. The catalogue is so large I haven't felt the need to move onto the other consoles yet. I also haven't started any proper RPGs and have stuck to things that are easy to pick up and put down.

Advanced Wars II is a clear standout so far. I'm surprised at how difficult some of the maps are. Just all-in-all a very fun turn-based war game.

Tetris DX is nice because it has colour, but the original Tetris has a *banging* soundtrack.

Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland has been a good introduction to Kirby games for me - much better than the DOS platformers I had as a kid. Metroid Fusion has been another great platformer with surprisingly good story and art design.

WarioWare, Inc. - Mega Microgame$ is great for short sessions. It's just a series of very short (like 5 second) games you have to try to score perfectly on.

The most surprisingly fun game of them all has been Pokemon Pinball - Ruby & Sapphire. It's not just a mindless game, there's a lot of skill required and I'm trying hard to catch and evolve the various Pokemon.

My fiancé has been having fun with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I didn't think she'd be playing with the device much, but she's probably put as much time into this game as I have into all the other games combined.

This, of course, doesn't scratch the surface of the recommendations in this thread, but I'll be getting to more of those over the coming months.

One thing I'll say that might disappoint some folks here is that games really did get better over time. In general the Gameboy Advanced games are just *better* than Gameboy games. The graphics are more legible, the music is better, and even the gameplay is more engrossing. I'm excited to try some of the truly retro games over time, but I already anticipate that only a select few are really going to pass muster.

[DougJoe]

Advanced Wars II is a clear standout so far. I'm surprised at how difficult some of the maps are. Just all-in-all a very fun turn-based war game.

Tetris DX is nice because it has colour, but the original Tetris has a *banging* soundtrack.

Fun fact, Game Boy Tetris Music-C is a chip-tuned Bach song (French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814: Menuet).

One thing I'll say that might disappoint some folks here is that games really did get better over time. In general the Gameboy Advanced games are just *better* than Gameboy games. The graphics are more legible, the music is better, and even the gameplay is more engrossing. I'm excited to try some of the truly retro games over time, but I already anticipate that only a select few are really going to pass muster.

Yeah, a little disappointed - but it's hard to disagree. The Game Boy feels like a step back from the NES (if only they hadn't skimped on the display!) and the GBA feels almost comparable to the SNES. The GB came out in '89, and in contrast, the TurboExpress handheld (which came out in '90) *played the exact same "cards" as the TurboGrafx-16 console! (Oh how I wanted a TurboExpress.)

The GBA had a lot of good stuff - you said you tried Metroid Fusion, had you played either the NES, GB, or SNES Metroid games previously? If not, curious to see what you think of them after playing Fusion first. Super Metroid on the NES is pretty dang good.

I think it's worth it to spend the time on the first 2 FF Legend games on the GameBoy - great soundtracks, mostly good gameplay.

Also, I really liked Mario Kart Advance for the GBA (maybe even more than the original SNES Mario Kart). Superstar Saga was a pretty fun RPG as well.

[DougJoe]

*Super Metroid on the SNES

[DougJoe]

...also, I'm guessing the IntelliVison isn't part of the emulator and I think you said two-player games probably aren't doable anyway, but, if you ever get the chance, _Sea Battle_ for that system is really really fun.

[JECE]

...also, I'm guessing the IntelliVison isn't part of the emulator and I think you said two-player games probably aren't doable anyway, but, if you ever get the chance, _Sea Battle_ for that system is really really fun.

Is that game available here?

https://archive.org/details/intv_Sea_Battle_1980_Mattel

[DougJoe]

...also, I'm guessing the IntelliVison isn't part of the emulator and I think you said two-player games probably aren't doable anyway, but, if you ever get the chance, _Sea Battle_ for that system is really really fun.

Is that game available here?

https://archive.org/details/intv_Sea_Battle_1980_Mattel

Yup, that's the one. Real time strategy and action. It does require two players. There's no AI.