Jeremy Parish

Game Boy Works Gaiden #08: Game Gear 1990, Pt. 1 of 4 (Patreon)

Published:

2020-08-26 13:00:00

Imported:

2024-04

Tags:

game boy works gaiden game gear sega

Content

Atari Lynx isn't the only handheld getting Gaiden love! Game Gear coverage has been in the cards since the beginning, and now we're near the end of 1990 for Game Boy, it's time to look at Game Gear and see how it fared. As with the Lynx episodes, these overviews will encompass three to five games per episode and will rarely go into tremendous depth (though of course there will be exceptions), and they won't appear nearly as often as Game Boy Works episodes for the simple fact that Game Gear didn't have as many releases as Game Boy.

This episode looks at the system's day-one lineup in Japan in Oct. 1990, and it's a tidy counterpart to the last Lynx episode in that it entirely centers on first-party arcade conversions. Handy way to contrast and compare? Get it? Handy? As in the Lynx's codena—ah, never mind.

Meanwhile, I don't think Game Boy had any first-party arcade ports until, what, Donkey Kong ’94? And then only barely. So already we're seeing a marked contrast between Nintendo and the competition in terms of basic priorities. Again: Handy.

Files

Game Gear 1990 (1 of 4): Columns / Pengo / Super Monaco GP | Game Boy Works Gaiden #08

As 1990 winds down for Game Boy Works, it's only proper to explore the major competitor that entered the Japanese market that fall: Sega's Game Gear. Where Atari's Lynx was too poorly supported and too region-specific to pose a serious threat to Nintendo's handheld dominance, Game Gear arrived just as Sega began its meteoric 16-bit ascent in the west. And this trio of Japanese launch titles—a set of arcade conversions running the gamut in terms of original vintage and play styles—demonstrates a canny understanding of what made the handheld gaming market tick. It's a strong debut showing for Sega as they positioned themselves to attack Nintendo's grip on the games industry on two fronts at once. Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! And be sure to check out the Retronauts podcast (http://www.retronauts.com), where I (and many others!) tackle a much wider array of classic gaming topics each week.