Video games are an excellent way to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:sit back and relax, but they have always had one pesky issue: they need to be plugged into your TV, making them pretty inconvenient to play 🏅on the bus. With the creation of portable game consoles, this problem was solved. Finally, you could play your favorite games on the go, or at least something like them.
The portable gaming space has come a long way from the early Game & Watch days. There may have been a time when portable gaming was seen as a compromise, but over the decades the handheld gaming scene has amassed a large number of quality systems. Chances are, some of your favorite games probably started on one🌼 of these compact consoles.
Updated March 09, 2023 by James Kennedy: If you are a portable game console enthusiast, it really feels like there has never been a better time to be alive. Not only do you have every retro handheld game coꦅnsole available to you, but a number of thrilling new entries have been released in recent years as well.
These include modern iterations of classic portable game consoles that will run your games better than ever, but also new ecosystems releasing with wholly unique, bespoke libraries of games. One could even make the argument that the best handheld game console to ever release may be one of the most recent ones. We are updating this list to include two extremely exciting new options. What a time to be alive!
15 ♎ Analogue Pocket
The Analogue Pocket is a dream handheld game console. Not only does it play your favorite Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games on a beautiful, modern screen—with the ability to play them on your TV—but it also plays them accurately. That's right, this isn't your typical portable emulator; due to the FPGA chip that it comes packing, it is able to perform one-to-one emulations of your favorite games. This means that the best handheld video games ever made can be played in all their glory on slick, new hardware without any of the inaccuracies that come with emulation.
It isn't just the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles, either. You can play other consoles on this magical handheld game console too. Though, in order to do so you will need to shell out for the cartridge adapters. And that is the story of the Analogue Pocket: it is the best version of the best handheld game consoles, but it is also extremely expensive. Ultimately, the Analogue Pocket is a lu⭕xury for Game Boy enthusiasts. But it is undeniably a luxurious luxury.
14 Playdate
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For the uninitiated, the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Playdate is a modern portable game console that features a one-bit dispꦯlay, without a backlight, and a crank. Does having a one-bit display mean it is black and white? Yes. Does it run emulators? Not really. It must be cheap then, right? No, it costs two-hundred dollars. S♚o, you must be wondering, why is it on this list.
Well, first of all, the Playdate comes with 24 bespoke games, and each one of them was specifically designed for the Playdate. On top of that, it is an open platform, and Panic (the makers of this console) have even released an extremely easy-to-use game-making software that is absolutely free. Also, that one-bit screen is gorgeous. Right now, there is a whole indie scene cropping up around this adorable console. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:And it is bursting with enthusiasm. While it🀅 may seem like a pretty expensive novelty at first, if you are its target demographic, you will probably find that it is worth every last penny.
13 Evercade
The168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Evercade is a fascinating system for fans of retro games. The core premise of the Evercade is that you can buy physical cartridges for it that house multiple classic games. While these are, essentially, ROMs playing on an emulator, they are tweaked and tooled to run as close to the real McCoy as possible. These games aren't locked to a single console generation, either. You can play classic games from many eras.
Alongside these game collections, you are also provided with a beautiful manual that runs you through each game included. The Evercade has also recently introduced a game of the month system, where you will be able to play a game every month absolutely free. Oh, and the best part is that this is all priced very reasonably. And it doesn't feel cheap, either. The Evercade feels solid in your hands. It is an odd device targeted at people who have a great deal of affection for physical media, but if that is you then the Evercade is an excellent purchase.
12 3DS
The 3DS is Nintendo's last purely portable console. There are some elements of the hardware that maybe aren't ideal. The disc is a poor replacement for an analog stick, and the screens are notoriously not great. However, there is one thing that the 3DS has that few other portable systems can boast about. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:It has a fantastic roster of games.
There are literally hundreds of top-shelf games on this console. And most of those games are, at least at the moment, locked to the 3DS hardware. There are a ton of these consoles floating around now for cheap, so it has never been a better time to grab a 3DS and pick up some excellent games. It probably isn't the best handheld game console, but it definitely is in the running for having the best library of games.
11 Wonderswan 𒁏
What was the sequel to the Game Boy? Some would say the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Game Boy Advance ꧙(which is valid), but another more interesting answer is the Wonderswan. Carrying forward many of the ideas from the Game Boy, the Wonderswan was ဣa monochromatic console that featured excellent battery life and a low price point.
The Wonderswan isn't just an interesting footnote though, it also had a very respectable library of games ranging from the excellent remakes of the Famicom Final Fantasy games to a number of highly respected (and now quite expensive) Klonoa titles. The Wonderswan was never released outside of Jaꦗpan, but it still deserves a place among the greats.
10 Game Gear
𓆏 The Game Gear is a Master System modified to be a portable console (you c🌼an even purchase a Master System to Game Gear cart converter). This made the console rather powerful in comparison to the Game Boy. It was also one of the first portable systems to have a color display (though the early technology made it a bit blurry in motion).
It was a little chunky, and the battery life wasn’t great, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖♍网:the Game Gear did have a healthy library of games. It also went toe to toe with the Game꧟ Boy and didn’t fade into obscurity, which is an im💎pressive feat in its own right.
9 🅘 🐼 Nintendo DS Lite
While the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo DS wa🦩s a little cumbersome and awkward, Nintendo quickly followed it with this slick redesign. The DS Lite was packed with interesting hardware. It has two screens, a microphone, and the bottom screen is a touch display.
While some game developers seemed to struggle to utilize all of the DS' interesting features, one thing they didn't struggle to do is release excellent games on it. During the seventh generation of gaming, the Nintendo DS was the go-to console for fan♑s of RPGs. While the DS Lite isn't Nintendo's best portable console, it was an extremely interesting experiment and it did accumulate a fantastic library of games.
8 PlayStation Portable ꦡ ൩
The PSP was Sony's first attempt to enter into the handheld gaming space, and it did so with a very different approach from Nintendo. While Nintendo had always focused on making smartly designed, budget-friendly consoles, Sony decided to go all-in on making a little powerhouse.
The PSP never got a strong hold on the North American market, but it was quite a success in Japan. This led to the PSP having a steady supply of excellent games throughout its lifetime. While the PSP does have some agonizing load times, if you are able to look past them you will find an excellent console 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:with a number of quality titles.
7 Neo Gဣeo Pocket Color
It is easy to write the Neo Geo Pocket Color off as an also-ran. But there are specific genres that this console is quite simply the best at in the handheld space. Ever. While the Game Boy and Game Gear were putting out abysmal ports of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mortal Kombat and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Street Fighter, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was releasing 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:absolutely classic fighting games. These titles ꧅are so good that they have since been ported to more mode♔rn consoles.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color had a number of charming ports of their other big SNK franchises as well (including a great Metal Slug game), but it will forever be remembered as the handheld fo🌠r fightin🎀g game enthusiasts.
6 PlayStatio🍃n Vita
Launching with an OLED screen in 2011, the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PlayStation Vita was an absolute marvel. Every component feels expensive on the Vita. This is easily one of the most premium-feeling portable co𝐆nsoles ever made. It also had a steady flow of excellent releases. Until the console was prematurely retired, that is.
The Vita is still an excellent console, it was also supported by indies long after the big companies abandoned it. Another element that helps the Vita stand out is how beautifully it displays PSP games. Unlike other consoles which warp the image of their backward compatible titles, the Vita's screen is double the PSP's resolution, allowing it to keep the aspect ratio intact. The end result is that PSP games look simply incredible on the Vita’s OLED. Ultimately, the Vita is an absolutely wonderful console that met an untimely end. In many ways, this is the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dreamcast of handheld gaming.