Best Sega Game Gear games of all time

41. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

So no spin dash, but we got tough mine-cart and hang-gliding sequences instead. Plus the sequel improved on the Game Gear original in a lot of ways. You could now grab rings back after being hurt, a first for portable Sonic, even though his console counterpoint could always do it. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was also the first appearance of Silver Sonic, aka Mecha Sonic, aka that evil robot that looked like Sonic.

40. Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament

The Game Gear got a conversion of Codemasters blockbuster pint-sized racing sequel, which added to the originals inventive miniature-racing gameplay with the addition of varying classes of vehicle, each with their own physics properties and handling abilities. Single-player mode offers a lengthy vehicle-collection challenge which will introduce you to the various classes of Machines, but the heart of the game is still in multiplayer.

Thats offered here via the games clever and nearly one-off ability to host two simultaneous players over a single Game Gear, allowing you to literally butt heads with your rival.

39. Legend of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse

The third installment in Segas acclaimed Illusion series was created by Sonic Chaos developer Aspect. Eventually ported to the Master System in Brazil, Legend of Illusion was designed--unlike many of Segas 8-bit platform-jumpers--with Game Gear audiences in mind, explaining just why the graphics look so good on this platform and so not-much-better on the SMS version.

The game offers fast platforming and challenging puzzle play to make older gamers question its family-friendly exterior, though young players will most likely end up embarrassing you by completing it on their first try--as is young players habit.

38. Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck

Mickey Mouses psychotic best friend Donald has found a cursed amulet, puffing his plutocrat uncle Scrooge up like a balloon--and for all Donalds scheming to eclipse Scrooges fortune, apparently when the miserly mallard is in trouble its time to hop to. Thus the stage is set for four worlds worth of enemy-squashing, brick-kicking, chilli-munching, rampage-running platforming as Donald.

And the ducks particular flavor of platforming tends more toward combat than Mickeys outings. Big, brightly-colored sprites make this cartoon offering a standout among the Game Gears healthy platformer lineup.

37. Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Trap

The Wonder Boy games began with a platformer simplistic enough to make Tiny Wings look like Dark Souls; but by the games third numbered installment, theyd matured into a complex adventure demanding several years serious study just to explain the difference between Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Trap and Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair.

To make a complex issue simple, just take our word that this is where to start: a deep, free-form side-scroller owing more to the likes of Metroid than to earlier games bearing the Wonder Boy name. Multiple routes! Collectible items! Paths that only open once you collect the correct implement somewhere else in the game! Theyre all in one of the finest 8-bit platformers to grace Sega machines.

36. Fantasy Zone GG

Segas oddball Fantasy Zone series doesnt look like any other shooter on the market, but the game packs the same challenge as an R-Type or Salamander. The games sickly-sweet appearance masks a complex, one-of-a-kind shooter series that demands your full attention to navigate the successive levels mixture of hidden warp gates, screen-hogging boss enemies, and bullet-hell onslaughts.

Fantasy Zone Gear, to give this version its proper nomenclature, is a standalone iteration with a level progression similar to the first title in the series, but with graphics and controls designed around Segas small-but-colorful screen.

35. The Chessmaster

The rules of Chess have been around since sometime in the Middle Ages, but its still an excellent way for underpowered games machines to show they have some AI chops. The Game Gears Chessmaster, cut from the same cloth as the leading line of chess sims now owned by Ubisoft, offers an admirable depth of options and gameplay modes, making it an excellent learning tool and a worthy opponent for all but the grandest masters.

You can customize the games intelligence level, the amount of thinking time allowed for computer and human players, and even how much the Game Gear will try to teach you as it goes along.

34. Mortal Kombat II

The feature-rich sequel to Midways arcade bad boy bravely spread its influence across most any machine that would have it, with predictably variable results: While 16-bit platforms showed their quality with plausibly arcade-like recreations of every bloody matchup, compromises had to be made for the handheld conversions.

That said, this miniaturized MK plays better than either the Master System or Game Boy versions, with more fighters and color, and crucially the games infamous blood and gore as intact as can be expected on the Game Gears tiny screen. Which practically means the occasional spurt of red pixels, but its the thought that counts.

33. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury

As a modern-day ninja, Shinobi had more than just enemy swordsmen to worry about. There were murderous robots and corrupt businessmen to face, then a showdown with the Black Ninja in his fortress.

32. Virtua Fighter Animation

Taking cues from the TV show, story mode had cutscenes that set up the matches. While 8-bit graphics meant the fighting didnt look quite as splashy as on your TV, it was every bit the grounded, methodical fighter players loved.