

Rewind to the early 1990s: Leeds United are a top-flight club, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a believable killing machine, and everyone is walking around like they're in a Shane Meadows TV drama or something. But in every playground, a fierce debate is raging: Game Boy vs Game Gear - which portable gaming system is best?



With Sega's battery-gobbling handheld console turning 25 years old, we're revisiting one of gaming's angriest rivalries - a bleeping David and Goliath battle contested in our trouser pockets. With the benefit of hindsight, which was superior?

Which handheld was cooler?

Let's face it: by today's standards, the Game Boy is an ugly grey brick. But a brick that was the foundation of so many childhoods - hence why its harsh corners, purple buttons and greeny-yellow display will always seem charming. It was also durable and slotted into your back pocket... just about.



Game Boy retrospective: Nintendo's handheld turns 25 years old



If the Game Boy was a brick, then the Game Gear was a cinder block that almost made a mockery of the word portable. Trousers may have been baggy in the early 1990s, but even MC Hammer would have a job stashing this 209 x 111 x 37mm beast in his slacks.

In a stark contrast to the Game Boy, the Sega system was horizontally aligned, with a D-pad on the left and buttons on the right, running games in landscape mode. It looked undeniably cooler and more high-tech than its Nintendo rival, but lugging it around was no fun.

Point to Game Boy! Game Gear 0-1 Game Boy: This is a close one because the Game Gear looked more cutting-edge, but the point goes to the Game Boy for its pint-sized practicality.

Which had the superior display?

On paper, the Game Gear is the clear winner here. How could the dull, monochromatic Game Boy hope to compete with the full-colour might of the Sega system's 160x144 pixel screen that lit up like a beacon in the night? The Game Gear delivered on this promise of providing console-grade gaming on the move by emulating the Sega Master System to a tee.

Some of our most cherished gaming memories were made on the Game Boy's humble monochrome screen, but Sega had the bragging rights here, and it rubbed Nintendo's face in it at every opportunity - remember that cheeky TV ad starring Randy Hickey from My Name Is Earl and the dead squirrel?

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That said, for a panel that was only capable of displaying four shades of grey, that Game Boy display played host to some impressive visuals. The likes of Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land and Zelda Link's Awakening could almost pass for black and white SNES titles.

Point to Game Gear! Game Gear 1-1 Game Boy: Shrewd developers knew how to get the most out of the Game Boy's monochrome panel, but how could it hope to compete with full-colour, console-quality visuals?

Which had longer battery life?

Sega appeared to have beaten Nintendo in the arms race, with a device that not only outgunned the Game Boy technologically, but also looked like the sci-fi future we'd all been waiting for. Only one problem, however: its battery slot turned out to be the equivalent of the Death Star's thermal exhaust port.



Having a light-up full-colour display came at great cost, as the Game Gear ate AA batteries for breakfast, guzzling them in greedy mouthfuls of six at a time. This netted you two-to-three hours of playtime on the move - even Sonic the Hedgehog couldn't race through levels that fast.



The Game Boy, on the other hand, was the Duracell Bunny of 8-bit portable devices, lasting anywhere between 10 and 14 hours off four AA batteries, exactly what you want while gaming on the go.

Point to Game Boy! Game Gear 1-2 Game Boy: No competition here - Four AA batteries for 10-to-14 hours of power versus six AAs for two-to-three hours.

Which system had the best games?



The Game Gear did an award-winning impression of the Master System's line-up, with Sega classics like Sonic, Street of Rage, Space Harrier, and Ecco the Dolphin arriving on the system without concession.



Non-Sega ports fared equally well - check out Prince of Persia and Midway's bloody classic Mortal Kombat - but originality was not its strong suit. Decent platform exclusives like X-Men 2: Game Master's Legacy to Tails Adventure aside, the vast majority of the Game Gear's library was made up of Master System ports, and third-party support was lacking.

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Game Boy, meanwhile was a wholly unique device with original games, backed by a software library that outshone its superior-specced rival - Tetris revolutionised our toilet time, Zelda: Link's Awakening redefined what was possible on a handheld console in terms of scope, and Pokemon was an instant global phenomenon that pioneered multiplayer and sharing culture in gaming.

The Game Boy was nowhere near as capable of a good console port - Street Fighter 2 was a wonky mess and FIFA International Soccer panned out about as well as Steve McClaren's Newcastle United tenure - but third-party support was extensive.

Point to Game Boy! Game Gear 1-3 Game Boy: The Game Boy is the clear winner - Zelda, Tetris, Pokemon and the Super Mario Land series are some of the best handheld games of their generation. Sega put up a good fight with its flagship titles, but richer third-party support and originality win the point for Team GB.

Which had the coolest peripherals?



The Game Gear wins this round by total knockout with its TV Tuner and Master Gear Converter. Team GB could play Tetris for the duration of long-haul car journeys, but they couldn't turn their device into a miniature goggle box.



The Master Gear Converter made the handheld compatible with Sega Master System cartridges - many, but not all of them - enabling Sega enthusiasts who owned both systems to run their home console games on their Game Gear, a move that padded out the device's software silo.

Sorry, Game Boy fans, the Camera and Printer combo was novel, even though their potential was never really fulfilled, but you can't compete with TV tuners and Master System converters.

Point to Game Gear! Game Gear 2-3 Game Boy: Game Gear pulls one back at the death with the kind of techtastic accessories the hardware deserved. Team GB's camera add-on simply can't compete.

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So who had the superior handheld?

The tale of Game Boy vs Game Gear is an underdog story to rival Rocky - the Sega system was a Goliath that trounced its competitor in every respect, except where it really counted.

Dismal battery life, anaemic third-party support, and an inferior library of games were the nails in its coffin - along with that launch cost of $150, considering the Game Boy's price tag was in free fall by the time it arrived. And the deciding factors that made Game Boy the undisputed king of its generation.

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But let's take nothing away from the Game Gear - while it had its fair share of problems, the ability to play Master System-grade games on the move was impressive back then and its peripherals had the wow factor the Nintendo hardware lacked. And let's be fair: at least it wasn't an Atari Lynx.

FINAL SCORE: Game Gear 2-3 Game Boy... Atari Lynx 0

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