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What is your favorite handheld system?

A look back on our favorite handhelds

Words: on December 16, 2012
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52 comments

  • KnowYourPokemon - December 17, 2012 9:32 a.m.

    Have to agree with Cooper on the DS Lite. Played all the great Advance games, had an amazing backlight, has a ton of amazing games itself. It's actually still the handheld that gets the most use from me due to its backwards compatibility, and it played DS games better than a 3DS does.

  • C.King - December 17, 2012 4:19 p.m.

    would've chose the ds light if it could play gameboy games but why did they modify the slot? the gba could used the same slot for both so why did they change it with the ds?

  • KnowYourPokemon - December 17, 2012 9:48 p.m.

    Probably had more to do than just the slot not fitting. If I had to guess the thing wasn't going to be able to play gameboy/gbc games to begin with so instead of letting you put in the cartridge and being given a "cannot read" message they just decided not to let you.

  • malypso - December 17, 2012 7:43 a.m.

    3DS XL!

  • jackthemenace - December 17, 2012 6:31 a.m.

    As great as the DS and 3DS are, they came into a world which was, for me, already being dominated by consoles. So for me, the best handheld would have to be the GBA/SP. It was perfect; it had absolutely everything. In fact, it's a pity they don't still develop for it today. IMagine what they could DO!

  • Pruman - December 17, 2012 5:46 a.m.

    Definitely the GBA, and if I have to pick a model it's the GBA SP. I got one basically to play Metroid Fusion, and ended up discovering other awesome games like Golden Sun, Advance Wars, and Fire Emblem, and then re-played some of my favorites like Link to the Past and Yoshi's Island. The GBA represented Nintendo at its best, because the hardware was great and the amount of good games available for the system was staggering. I'd go so far as to say that no Nintendo system other than the SNES had enjoyed such broad and deep third-party support up until that point.

  • JarkayColt - December 17, 2012 2:37 a.m.

    Wow, Sophia's entry pretty much mostly applies to me, too! I was given a Game Boy for my (I think it was my fourth) birthday, and it was essentially a hand-me-down as well, from one of my dad's work colleagues who didn't want it any more. But it was in a big foamy carry-case and included stuff like a rechargeable battery pack (YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH! *cough* excuse me) and a whole bunch of games. I have fond memories of playing Super Mario Land, DK Land, Lemmings, Link's Awakening, and Pokémon Blue & Gold. I think it pretty much set me up to be the gamer I am today (even if Mario Land was actually the first and only Mario game I played until the DS arrived with the 64 remake. I'm so sorry!) It also got me through some hell like long stays in hospital, so thanks Game Boy! I just wish it still worked. It technically does, but half the pixels are dead from being dropped so many times ;_;

  • Tranquilbez34 - December 17, 2012 12:27 a.m.

    The Innovation that was the DS, seriously the First-Party games for that system were stellar and a few third party titles proved worth even a few really surprising ones (Thor: God of Thunder, The DS version is better than the Console versions)

  • Redeater - December 17, 2012 12:26 a.m.

    I know this is off topic but I just bought my first 3DS and is the E-shop seriously as clusterfucked as I have been finding it so far? For example the only way I have been able to find excite bike is by searching for it by name. (Which defeats the whole purpose of having an online store you are supposed to browse). Also the platform filter seems useless. On my Wii I could select Game Gear and BAM...every single Game Gear game is there.

  • Redeater - December 17, 2012 12:27 a.m.

    Oh and uh.....Gameboy. Gargoyles Quest, Mario Land, Castlevania...so on and so on.

  • J-Fid - December 17, 2012 7:34 a.m.

    Yeah, it's not the most organized thing around.

  • cheezitmonster - December 16, 2012 8:57 p.m.

    My favorite is the psp because of emulation and great jrpg's

  • tbelz99 - December 16, 2012 8:20 p.m.

    I'm gonna go with the DS lite. Don't get me wrong I loved the SP and the original DS, but the lite really cut down on the excess of the first DS and made it more compact without really taking away anything from the DS functions. Not to mention it's still backwards compatible with GBA games which I still play even now.

  • majorsuave - December 16, 2012 8:18 p.m.

    I'd say I like the Nexus 7 a lot but find it quite heavy for its size, which forfeits the #1 rank to my Galaxy S3. Honestly, i prefer to sit on a desktop chair and play with a mouse and keyboard, when in a couch, at the par or on the toilet seat I like to read news and watch gear/games reviews.

  • taokaka - December 16, 2012 8:09 p.m.

    DS lite all the way. I still play it to this day despite having a 3DS and vita which certainly says something about the system.

  • berva - December 16, 2012 6:53 p.m.

    I would have to say the Wii U is my favorite. Love playiing black ops 2 in bed, before you guys go nuts on "its not a handheld" it sure plays like one get over it.

  • LordZarlon - December 16, 2012 6:15 p.m.

    While I could easily say the Game Boy Pocket, because I spent the most time playing it, I would have to say the Nintendo DS Lite. It could play all of the Game Boy Advance games and it played all DS games. That combined library can't be beat.

  • winner2 - December 16, 2012 5:54 p.m.

    Gotta be the SP, REPRESENT!

  • pl4y4h - December 16, 2012 5:22 p.m.

    As soon as they hit the ds that couldn't play advance games, that's where i drew the line. Still use my ds lite today.

  • Cyberninja - December 16, 2012 5:04 p.m.

    Pretty much anything Nintendo, I have all of them so there is heavy bias

  • MetroidPrimeRib - December 16, 2012 4:37 p.m.

    DS Lite easily. It has the two best handhelds (GBA and DS) in it, there's no stopping it.

Showing 21-40 of 52 comments

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