Sega Game Gear

The Game Gear was Sega's response to the Nintendo Gameboy, the Monochrome handheld designed by Nintendo's Gunpei Yokoi, and released in 1989. Sega had taken note of the general publics criticisms of the Gameboy, and wanted to make a handheld console "everything that the Game Gear wasn't".

The Game Gear was released late 1989 in Japan, 1990 in North America and as usual, us Europeans had to wait even longer, until 1991!

The most obvious different between the two consoles was the 4096 colour palette of the Game Gear, with a maximum of 32 different colours on screen at any time. The screen size was larger than the Gameboy, and was back-lit which meant that you could play it pretty much anywhere, unlike the Gameboy which needed good light.

The console itself was held lengthways, with buttons on either side. This ergonomic design change made the Game Gear much easier on the hands - one criticism of the Gameboy was that it had a very cramped feel it, and many people complained of sore wrists & hands after extended game play.

The Game Gear was, in essence, a portable Sega Master System. This meant that many Master System Games could be easily ported onto the handheld console. Indeed, a Master System Converter add-on was released, which allowed any Master System Game to be plugged into the Game Gear.

Another add-on which proved to be a popular selling point was the TV Tuner. A small device which clipped to the back of the Game Gear turned the handheld console into a small portable TV, not unlike the Sony Watchman. Other add-ons included a rechargeable battery pack, screen magnifier & multilink cable, to allow two Game Gears to be connected in versus play.

With all these add-ons and advantages over the Gameboy, you would expect the Game Gear to have been the more popular of the two consoles. Unfortunately for Sega, it was not - they had overlooked one very important detail. Battery Life. In the end the deciding factor in the latest chapter of the Sega vs Nintendo war was how long the batteries lasted.

While the Game Gear did indeed have everything the Gameboy lacked, it had to pay a price for these luxuries; the average lifespan on the batteries was between 3 and 5 hours, whereas the Gameboy could easily exceed 10 hours. This was a problem suffered by many other handhelds such as the Neo-Geo pocket and the Atari Lynx - while they may have been superior in every other way, it was the simplest of factors that made the Gameboy the overall winner, and eventually the best selling console of all time.

As with all good things, the Sega Game gears came to and end in 1997. In the end, there were over 200 games released for the console, although many of them never made it out of Japan, such as the excellent Sonic Drift & Sonic Drift 2, and take-on of Super Mario Kart which included a multi-link option. Thankfully these can all be played on any Game Gear as there is no region lockout, due to there being no TV compatibility problems.

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Aah Harimanada - Sega Game Gear (NTSC-J) This is a Japanese imported Sega Game Gear Game but will work on any Game Gear as there is no region lockout on this console. This is the Japanese import but it will work fine on all Game Gear consoles. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £16	Batman Returns - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Batman really has his work cut out for him this time! There's triple trouble in Gotham City with the Red Triangle Circus Gang, Catwoman and the diabolical Penguin in league to take over the city! Get ready for the fight of your life! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £16
Chessmaster - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Introducing. The Chessmaster, the most powerful chess program in the world today - and the friendliest! The Chessmaster is the perfect chess companion, adversary and instructor for any player, beginner to expert. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £10	Columns - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Arrange columns of rainbow-coloured items in this mesmerizing, challenging puzzle game! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £12
Columns - Sega Game Gear (NTSC-J) This is a Japanese imported Sega Game Gear Game but will work on any Game Gear as there is no region lockout on this console. This is the Japanese import but it will work fine on all Game Gear consoles. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £12	Devilish - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Blast through beasties and booby-traps in eight challenging dimensions for an experience that could only be called. Devillish! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £14
G-Loc US - Sega Game Gear (NTSC) Fly into the madness in your experimental G-LOC super fighter, and put an end to the Future World Army! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £8	Global Gladiators - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Strap on your Goo Shooter and join Mick and Mack the Global Gladiators on a quest to neutralise the Monsters of Slime World, The Mystical Forest, Toxic Town and Arctic World. Check out the bodacious backgrounds, the 1250 awesome animation frames and the most spacious sound around! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £14
Lucky Dime Caper - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Trek through treacherous lands with Donald Duck to save his nephews and retrieve the Lucky Dimes from evil Magica De Spell!! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £14	Mappy - Sega Game Gear (NTSC-J) This is a Japanese imported Sega Game Gear Game but will work on any Game Gear as there is no region lockout on this console. This is the Japanese import but it will work fine on all Game Gear consoles. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £18
Marble Madness - Sega Game Gear (PAL) The arcade smash hit comes to the Game Gear. Watch out for crazy, but deadly enemies along the way. Three levels of skill and six levels of raceways. Challenge a friend to roll for that goal! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £18	Outrun - Sega Game Gear (NTSC-J) This is a Japanese import but it will work fine on all Game Gear consoles. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £24
Putt and Putter - Sega Game Gear (NTSC-J) This is a Japanese imported Sega Game Gear Game but will work on any Game Gear as there is no region lockout on this console. This is the Japanese import but it will work fine on all Game Gear consoles. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £12	Sega Game Gear Super Wide Gear Boxed - Sega Game Gear The Sega Game Gear Super Wide Gear. An official Sega product - this item is used to magnify the screen on your Game Gear so you don't miss a beat! Clips to the Game Gear and magnifies the screen to compensate for its relatively small size. Item is boxed and complete. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £25
Sega Game Gear TV Tuner Boxed - Sega Game Gear The most sought after accessory for the Game Gear! The TV tuner pack turns your Game Gear into a portable TV; just like the Sony Watchman from the late 80's. This item is for use with a PAL TV signal (such as that in Europe & Australia). This item is boxed and in good working order. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £35	Sega Game Gear TV Tuner Loose - Sega Game Gear The most sought after accessory for the Game Gear! The TV tuner pack turns your Game Gear into a portable TV; just like the Sony Watchman from the late 80's. This item is for use with a PAL TV signal (such as that in Europe & Australia). This item is unboxed and in good working order. Box: no Manual: no Price: £25
Super Monaco GP US - Sega Game Gear Super Monaco GP's World Championship sends you and your pit crew on a sixteen race international circuit. Burn rubber with the best drivers around in a piston pounding test of speed, road savvy and endurance! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £10	Super Off Road - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Grab the wheel and hit the nitro's - the challenge of off road racing awaits you! This conversion of the American arcade coin op classic is packed with enough rough and tumble racing excitement to turn you into a lean, mean off road machine. Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £18
World Class Leaderboard - Sega Game Gear (PAL) Four of the world’s toughest courses, a driving range, a practice putting green – the game’s got it all! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £9	World Class Leaderboard US - Sega Game Gear Four of the world’s toughest courses, a driving range, a practice putting green – the game’s got it all! Box: yes Manual: yes Price: £8