Electronic Handheld Games

Electronic Handheld games come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. This is one of their defining features, in order to make up for the simple games they compensated by having them housed in extravagant cases. Some handheld games are more suited to sitting on a tabletop or the floor.

Grandstand - Astrowars

Grandstand Astrowars
UK maker of loads of early electronic games such as Astrowars. Their mini arcade classics such as:
  • Invaders from space
  • Star Force
  • Firefox
  • Scramble

Bambino - UFO Master Blaster

Bambino UFO Master Blaster
With some of the coolest case designs ever made Bambino games have to be a collectors favourite. They made a total of 11 games from around 1979-1980. Also notable for being one of the first manufacturers to use VFD displays where sprites were made from shaped coloured bulbs (Vacuum Fluorescent Display).

Nintendo - Game and Watch

Judge on the Game and Watch
Nintendo Game and Watch are now quite collectable. Some of the first outings for characters such as Mario and Donkey Kong were on Game and Watch.

Tomy - Blip

Tomy Blip
Blip is one of the first Electronic games ever made. That said, it is more mechanical than electronic. Plays like pong with a weird red moving light. There are several games like this in the series - the stunt bike one is good.

Entex - Pacman 2

Entex Pacman 2
Entex produced a range of official arcade games based on arcade classics such as Pacman 2, Galaxian and Defender. Good designs and quite playable games.

CCL - Invader 1000

CCL Invader 1000
Invader 1000. Space Invaders handheld was very popular at the time.

Tandy - Ogre Eater

Ogre Eater
Another very early electronic game this time from Tandy. Ogre Eater is a Pacman clone.

Nintendo - Gameboy

Nintendo Gameboy
Gameboy. The best selling computer game system in the world. A huge library of games, all newer versions backward compatible and no regional protection. Its dominance of the handheld market continued with the release of the Advance model.

Sega - Game Gear

Game Gear
Basically a handheld version of the Master System, seems big by today's standards but still has one of the largest screens for a handheld to date. A bit heavy on batteries but loads of cheap games available. TV tuner and radio attachments are good but hard to find now.

NEC - PC Engine GT

PC Engine
Slightly smaller than a game gear this is a superb handheld version of the PC Engine. Came with a colour screen and plays HU Card games. Very scarce these days but still available in a few places. Had a TV tuner available as an attachment as shown but I think this only works in Japan?

Atari - Lynx

Atari Lynx
The first hand-held colour video game system. Sold by Atari. Offers multi-player competition, built-in 3D and distortion graphic effects and a 16bit graphics engine. Ahead of its time really if only it wasn't about the size of a brick. Games came on slimline cards with a curled edge.

SNK - Neo Geo

SNK - Neo Geo
Another good handheld that couldn't compete with the Gameboy. Still some superb games, a nice TFT LCD screen and a good battery life make this a superb alternative to the GBA. Removed from US and European markets last year its now also ceased production in Japan. Lots of good Neo Geo conversions, beat-em-ups and RPG games.

Bandai - WonderSwan

WonderSwan
Only released in Japan the WonderSwan is one of the smallest handhelds to date but still has one of the largest screens. Monochrome and colour versions available. Only a Limited amount of games available so doesn't really stand much of a chance against the Gameboy. Does have some superb accessories such as the wonder borg programmable robot bug, wonder wave wireless link and the wonder witch development kit.

Nintendo - Gameboy Advance

Gameboy Advance
The latest 32bit handheld Gameboy looks set to take over the world yet again. Nice size screen, loads of buttons, but best of all loads of SNES titles being converted including Mario Kart, Street Fighter and F-Zero which were available at launch.