18 replies to this topic

[Metal Ghost]

Thanks in advance everyone for lending your insight, it is greatly appreciated!

I am thinking of getting a classic handheld eventually. I'm sure that it wouldn't be until after the first of the year, if even that soon.

Between a Sega Game Gear and an Atari Lynx, which would you go with? What are some of the pros and cons associated with each?

[Seob]

I would choose the gamegear, because i find think the screen of the lynx is a bit worse to look at. It's refreshing to slow. But the system i like most is the NeoGeo pocket color. The best screen available at that time. But you have to love those games.
I own both the gamegear and the lynx. I used to own a gamegear back then so i have a weak spot for that system. But be aware that the gamegear comes with a few bad caps problems, cause no sound and display problems. Always try to check the system before you buy to see if it is working.

[Austin]

Well, they are so cheap it's easy to get both.. If you must only have one, I will list what I feel are some pros/cons (assuming you have never played either one).

Game Gear

Pros

- Lots of familiar licenses and software (Sonic the Hedgehog, Wonder Boy, Lion King, Mortal Kombat, etc.)
- Will play SMS games via the adapter
- Games are ridiculously cheap. Very few US titles are expensive.

Cons

- Many of the games don't hold up that well today
- Hardware issues are frequent these days, including busted sound capacitors. Easy to fix supposedly, but a pain in that it has to be dealt with regularly
- Short battery life. An A/C adaptor is neccessary.
- Seems to be difficult to find one with a nice/scratch-free screen.

Lynx

Pros

- Hardware that will probably impress, even today. Heavy use of scaling in many games to show off what the system is capable of.
- Lots of great arcade ports (S.T.U.N. Runner, Roadblasters, Qix, Rygar, Toki, the list goes on and on)
- Comfortable units (both models)
- Lots of quirky titles.
- Many of the games can still be had new/sealed at decent prices.

Cons

- Lynx Model I is huge. This may be a turn-off for some.
- Battery life is terrible, just like the Game Gear.
- Very few mainstream/familiar titles and licenses (i.e., no Sonic, no Mario, no Mortal Kombat, etc.)
- Lots of quirky titles.

[DemonoidTentacle]

I own both and use them frequently because playing a handheld is so much easier than setting up a console with cables and what not.

I do prefer the Game Gear, I play it a lot more, and has more titles that I really enjoy.

Whereas the Lynx gets less play time, there's fewer titles that I enjoy. That said, there's fewer titles on the Lynx, full stop. It's very achievable to obtain a complete Lynx collection, even sealed in box.

They both have terrible battery life, but have a good supply of rechargeable batteries, 12 dedicated to the Lynx, and 12 dedicated to the Game Gear. Sounds crazy, but as I said, I play them a lot and don't want to be tied down by an A/C adaptor.

[in the dark]

My opinion is a bit bias. Being an Atari Lynx fan, I would recommend going with the Lynx. I have both systems I have two Game Gears and three Lynx. Neither Game Gears are working right now due to the capacitor thingy. I believe Sega cut corners, which is sad. My Lynx is very solid and dependable. The Lynx systems are still going strong. Lots of games on the Lynx that are still fun to play even though the graphics will seem dated by some gamers.
Love the arcade games that were ported to the Lynx. It plays them so well. Almost as if the Lynx was made for them. One powerful little system that still rocks.

[ls650]

If you are a fan of 80s arcade, the Lynx has a fair number of good conversions.

[akator]

I love the Lynx, but I'm a much bigger fan of the Game Gear. Get AX to do the cap replacement and LED backlight mod, and you'll even get 8 hours of gaming off the batteries.

The Game Gear has tons of great titles. With the Master Gear Converter, you can play 98% of SMS games. Or get the Stone Age Gamer/Krizz GG multicart, load everything into one micro-SD card, and play happily every after.

It is surprising how many Genesis games were ported to the 8-bit Game Gear. Sure, it's not 16-bit, but there are so many games to choose from that it's difficult to go wrong.

While the Lynx has better processing, the game selection is a fraction of the GG/SMS. I love the Lynx, but I play the Game Gear more.

[jferio]

If you go in the direction of the Game Gear, do take the time to track down one of the rerelease Majesco units. They have the white circles next to the SEGA logo (rather than colored), and the Start button is purple. I got two, did a comparison with the older one, and was blown away by the difference in the screen. And it was made in 2001, so it shouldn't have the issues with capacitors going out. It plays all the games, and takes the same power supply as the original. The only caveat is apparently the first party Master System converter doesn't work with it.

[theredlineboss]

I have both systems and while I like the Lynx, I prefer the Game Gear. In my case, it does a better job of catering to my cheapskate nature, as a variety of games are readily available locally for cheap (usually 3-5 bux each).

The capacitor issue on the GG is a bit of a concern; I had to have the caps replaced in mine, whereas the Lynx hasn't had any issues. And as others have mentioned, both systems are battery hogs- in fact, these were the main reason I decided to switch over to rechargeable batteries, lol.

-Rob

[zylon]

I'll 2nd the Majesco Game Gears as being better. I bought 2 of them when I had the chance.

[Metal Ghost]

Ahhh, decisions decisions! Thanks for the input guys....it is realy appreciated. Certainly, if anyone else out there is apt to chime in please feel free to do so. I really am torn on this one. Though it sounds as if the peanut gallery is leaning towards the Game Gear.

I'm curious now because of the mentioning of which version of the Game Gear I might want to try and get if I go in that direction....if I were to get the Lynx, is there a preference towards V1 or V2??

[Nuclear Pacman]

Metal Ghost, on Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:08 PM, said:

Ahhh, decisions decisions! Thanks for the input guys....it is realy appreciated. Certainly, if anyone else out there is apt to chime in please feel free to do so. I really am torn on this one. Though it sounds as if the peanut gallery is leaning towards the Game Gear.

I'm curious now because of the mentioning of which version of the Game Gear I might want to try and get if I go in that direction....if I were to get the Lynx, is there a preference towards V1 or V2??

I prefer the Lynx 2 because it's a bit smaller, and it has rubber grips underneath which made it more comfortable, and at the same time prevented the units from getting scuffed up, which if you look at the underside of any Lynx 1 and you'll most likely see a ton of scratches and worn off paint. Electronically, you can't beat the Lynx as these generally do not have the mechanical issues you see with the the Game Gear and the Turbo Express, like blown capacitors. I think the Lynx has an LED lit screen, and was guaranteed for 100,000 lights. Lynx 2 also has stereo sound with headphones, as well as a plastic screen protector. When you compare the two units side by side, you can really see the Lynx 2 was a significant and well thought out redesign.

[Emehr]

I have both and I would say go with the Lynx. I personally find the Game Gear library to be pretty bland. I don't think there's much there that you couldn't play on another system, but that's just my observation. I love my Genesis and I have a few Master System games so a lot of the Game Gear library just seems redundant. Also, the screen is really blurry and hard to focus on. The Master Gear converter is cool but those games are better played on a Genesis (with Power Base Converter) or a Master System, in my opinion.

The Lynx, on the other hand, has many titles and excellent arcade ports that are unmatched or don't exist on other systems. If you want a fresh experience, give the Lynx a shot. Its library may be smaller but there are a lot more solid titles to be had. Again, in my opinion. Just be sure to get the battery pack or an A/C adapter.

It's all about what types of games you're looking for. Beyond being portable, the Game Gear and Lynx are as different as night and day. For me, the Lynx just has more to offer and offers something fresh that you can't get on anything else. Again, it all depends on what kind of games you want to play.

[Cynicaster]

I’d go for Lynx, too.

I got a Lynx when I was in 8^th grade and only had it for a little over a year before my brother accidentally destroyed it. As already mentioned, the hardware scaling capability—which almost seems quaint today—was eye popping to see back then, especially if you were used to playing Game Boy and NES (which I was at the time). My first game was Blue Lightning (think After Burner at a slower pace). The way the mountains in the distance would gradually and smoothly scale into view was incredible and unlike ANYTHING you’d see on NES. Heck, not even Genesis had hardware scaling (although it made up for it visually by means of enhanced resolution and color palette for crisper graphics).

Also, as mentioned, the arcade ports were impressive. I don’t know if you like Klax, but to this day, the Lynx version is my favorite of all time because from an audio/visual standpoint it’s pretty close to arcade-perfect, yet, refreshingly, a little more forgiving on difficulty. The sound effects are dead-nuts and crystal clear, including the speech. A few months ago I played the Gameboy Advance version of Klax and overall I think the Lynx version is markedly superior and more faithful to the original arcade game despite being released 15 years earlier.

I admit my exposure to Game Gear is limited, but I always found it bland, even back in the day. It had no “wow” factor for me. To be fair, I was already well into my Genesis years when I first tried Game Gear, whereas I was still in NES mode when I first played Lynx, so that might have something to do with it.

[Seob]

If you go lynx, i would say the version 2, because it is easier to swap carts. The first version has a door that needs to be opened to swap games, and is HUGE.
@Nuclear Pacman: the lynx 2 didn't have led backlight, but uses the same kind of bulb as the game gear does. White led's where only develop from 1995 an onwards, so the didn't exist when the lynx came on the market.

Edited by Seob, Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:56 PM.

[bomberpunk]

i'd go with Game Gear only because i never owned a Lynx.

...or maybe i'd go with Lynx since i already owned a Game Gear..

[Nuclear Pacman]

Seob, on Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:56 PM, said:

If you go lynx, i would say the version 2, because it is easier to swap carts. The first version has a door that needs to be opened to swap games, and is HUGE.
@Nuclear Pacman: the lynx 2 didn't have led backlight, but uses the same kind of bulb as the game gear does. White led's where only develop from 1995 an onwards, so the didn't exist when the lynx came on the market.

Didn't know that. There must be an explanation as to why the screens have been more durable over time, I mean they instantly light up, as when compared to the Turbo Express which can need warm-up time to get bright, kind of like an old TV. I know my experience is anecdotal, but I haven't seen widespread signs of pixels blacking out on the screens either, although I'm sure it's happened, but it doesn't seem to be an epidemic. I just have had really good experiences with the Lynx hardware over these 20 years.

[the.golden.ax]

theredlineboss, on Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:57 PM, said:

I have both systems and while I like the Lynx, I prefer the Game Gear. In my case, it does a better job of catering to my cheapskate nature, as a variety of games are readily available locally for cheap (usually 3-5 bux each).

The capacitor issue on the GG is a bit of a concern; I had to have the caps replaced in mine, whereas the Lynx hasn't had any issues. And as others have mentioned, both systems are battery hogs- in fact, these were the main reason I decided to switch over to rechargeable batteries, lol.

-Rob

If you or anyone here ever need the LED upgrade for your Game Gear, I offer that service. It makes the AAs last about 8 hours vs the standard 2 or less.

AX

[walterg74]

Difficult for me as i'd have to combine it during a trip to the us, but ow much is the mod, and how much is the capacitor replacement jo b, and where are you located?