Four Obscure Handheld Games.

Y'know, a lot of times, the classics are nice. There is a very good reason why the first game anyone wants to play on a NES is going to be Super Mario Bros. It's basically perfect. Same goes for the Game Boy - You're going to get Tetris, no doubt about it.

The thing is, I've played those games to death. They're excellent, to be sure, but they're boring as all hell to me now. I just tried to sit down and play Super Mario World again. I couldn't do it. I may as well have been playing Rise of the Robots.

I've started getting into more handheld games since the 25th anniversary of the Game Boy. I've become significantly more versed in the libraries of not only the Game Boy, but the Game Boy's competitors, as well. Here are a few interesting, obscure, even somewhat-underrated games that most people gloss over from a number of handheld consoles:



I know what you're thinking: "What is Mega Man doing on this list!?"

Mega Man on the Game Gear was actually published by US Gold, not Capcom (though their name is with the game as the character is a Capcom character of course). Surprisingly, it's not a port of one of the Game Boy games OR a port of any of the NES Mega Man games. Instead, it takes a mix of Robot Masters from Mega Man 4 and Mega Man 5 and puts them in this new game, along with the traditional Wily tower stages. This game isn't nearly as good as the Game Boy Mega Man games, as US Gold put in some weird design choices with the gameplay (giving the Robot Masters post-hit invincibility, for instance...). It still feels strange to have a Mega Man game on a Sega console. It's the same kind of feeling I get when I see something like Sonic Advance or Hotel Mario: that something just feels "wrong". That said, this game is interesting. Definitely not one that people would expect to see on the Game Gear, and one that a lot of people overlook. If you've got a Game Gear that hasn't got blown capacitors, this game couldn't hurt to try. Just know that if you're looking for a perfect handheld Mega Man experience, check out the Game Boy versions (except Mega Man II. That one wasn't that great).