Poll - Best Nintendo handheld ever?
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 10:46am by David
Last week, you decided that the SNES was the best Nintendo console ever. This week, it’s up to you to decide:
What is the best Nintendo handheld ever?
Variations only count for the main iteration of each handheld (e.g. Game Boy Micro falls under Game Boy Advance) .
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:30 am
Why isn’t Nintendo Pokemon Mini handheld system listed?
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am
The fun i had with the Gameboy Color i have never experienced since. In a weird way it was the SNES of the Playstation generation. Sure you can play the games on the Advanced, and sure the DS is a close follow but that lil yellow machine just holds a special place in my heart.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:51 am
I don’t think it’s fair to call the Virtual Boy a handheld since the only “hand held” part about it was the controller and needed to have the rest of the machine on a table.
The Wii’s a lot more handheld in comparison.
I vot efor the DS though. While lacking GBC support, what’s cooler than being able to carry 2 full games with you at once on your handheld? (and no, the rom cartridge that lets you hold as many as memory permits doesn’t count :P)
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
DS because of it’s BC with GBA. If there was no BC I would’ve gone with GBA, though. Mostly because I can play my Pokemon TCG cart on it.
(They reeeaaaaally need to make a sequel, especially with all the sets that are out now. And it would give some competition to the Yugioh tcg games too. Please, Nintendo?)
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Where is the original portable Nintendo system: the Game & Watch? :\
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Although I played the original Game Boy quite a bit, I have almost no nostalgic memories of the system - nothing like the original Atari system, NES, or even SNES. Will someone voting for Game Boy give us a reminder on why it’s the “best” system? I just can’t rate it that highly without some reminder of why it was good.
The difficult challenge for me is DS vs Game Boy Advance (GBA). The GBA system was an amazing leap over the original Game Boy systems, and allowed some of the best games ever made to be played on the move. On the other hand, the DS started out looking like a gimmick… but soon offered more games than the GBA could have ever dreamed about. Virtually every great GBA game has now been directly replaced by a DS equivalent, and there are also dozens of creative titles that take advantage of the unique features of the DS. And don’t forget that DS has an absolutely gorgeous system design, wireless connectivity (perhaps the best feature ever for portable, multiplayer gaming), and backwards compatibility.
In the end, it’s wireless for the win! DS should take the best handheld console by a nose.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
@Platinum,
Apparently, more people like it than they do the GBC.
I’ve owned every single version of every single handheld Nintendo has put out.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I really hope the 4 people who voted for Virtual Boy are just kidding.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I have a 19 year old Game Boy, and my wife has a Game Boy Color. I played my old Game Boy A LOT, I had to vote for it.
Some friends have the DS, and it seems really cool, but a handheld for me, nowadays, is pointless. So GB all the way!
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I had a really hard time deciding between the GBA and the DS…
True, the DS incorporates GBA in backward compatibility, but I had to go with the GBA for the same reason that I voted for Wii on the previous poll: it represents the pinnacle of a design that had seen many iterations. In particular, I was thinking of the GBA micro, of course. The micro is the ultimate portable gaming machine, in my opinion, because of small physical size, beautiful hardware, and huge software library combined.
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I would have to say that my favorite was the Game Boy Color.
I still have my classic Atomic Purple (see through :D) GBC. I probably played more hours of game play on that device then any other handheld.
I beat Link’s Awakening and uncountable times and would spends days upon days playing Pokemon. Even my crappy games for the system felt like good games. I had a game called Montezuma’s Revenge I remember loving it cause it reminded of Indiana Jones.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I’d say the DS, followed closely by the brick (original GB).
The DS has so many quality games that are really fun and really innovative, so it was the obvious choice.
The original GB brings back memories, though. I had a lot of fun with it, and I just love how big and lovable it is!
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
the gameboy was awesome because it was the first, but i love my ds and think it is the next step. i have many memories of road trips with the gameboy and now i will make new ones with my kids and our ds. the gb color was pointless and the graphics ugly especially when you could get a game gear years before. the gba was really a lot of fun, but in the wake of the psp it was obsolete (the original version still didn’t have illuminated screens). never owned the virtual boy, so no comment. i still can’t resist the urge to mention the lynxx it was my all time favorite though…
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I have enjoyed all of the portable systems almost equally so its a tougher choice here. I went with the GBA in the end, so many quality titles that appeal to me. Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Golden Sun, Metroid Fusion, Zelda. All that it was missing was an original Mario platformer.
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:10 am
After just reading the comments quick, and connecting with my opinion…
I think we need to replace Virtual boy with Game and Watch, since Virual boy (from my knowledge, Im still looking to buy one) isnt the most portable system, nore was it “handheld” it sat on your face
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Tough decision betwen original GB and DS, I loved tetris and super mario land, but I’l have to go with DS becouse it has so much great games: NEW Smb, Mario Kart, Castlevania: DoS, Castlevania: PoR, Phoenix wright series, contra 4, nanostray, another code, megaman zx, sonic rush…..and many more.
For me DS isn’t only the best handheld, but the best console alongside original playstation!
January 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Gba for sure!
Brilliant library of awesome games.
rock and roll racing, 2 kirby’s, all 16 bit mario’s, mariokart, golden sun, mario sports series, final fantasy, breath of fire, fire emblem, gradius, minish cap, lttp etc. etc..
With the Gamebooy Micro it was / is the best handheld ever!