Should You Play Handheld Video Games? - Retro Bird 

Games being played: Link to the Past (0:00), Advance Wars 2 (0:30), Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (0:50), House of the Dead 2 (1:14), Dexterity (1:18), Donkey Kong (1:35), Donkey Kong Country 2 (2:25)

The CRT on the toilet gag is next level commitment

Handheld on the toilet: hah, obvious joke Dreamcast and CRT on the toilet: ok that's clever Gameboy outdoors in the nude: you have earned my respect, sir

The Wii U is to handhelds as the letter Y is to vowels: it is sometimes.

My GBA SP has helped me get through many power outages and hospital stays. How could I not appreciate it?

The two worst auto accidents/ incidents I was in as a kid occurred while I was playing the same Gamegear. During an 8th grade school trip to Boston, the bus driver got confused and went into a tunnel with insufficient clearance and sheared the very tippy top off the vehicle. I remember getting closely acquainted with the seat in front of me, being confused (didn't see it coming), and then maybe looking at the ceiling of the tunnel through missing hatches. The tour bus was ruined and so was the driver's life but the good news is my Gamegear was fine and I didn't even loose any lives! The second was a couple years later during a return car trip from a family vacation to the beach. I was hunched down playing Sonic or something in the middle bench of an '85 Volkswagen Vanagon and all the sudden my passenger window cracks and does that spiderweb pattern safety glass does when it breaks. Was confused, thought it might have been the stress of a large temperature difference between the outside and the AC cooled environment of the cabin during a hot summer day. For reasons I've since forgotten my parents start flipping out above and beyond a broken window and pull off at car dealership in a rural area. Turns out some careless hunters got a little too close to the highway and a slug went through the glass window. I was so engrossed I didn't even realize it had somehow missed me, ricocheted or something and then rolled harmlessly under my butt! XD Teenager me was amused. My Dad wasn't. To this day, the most extraordinary thing about both events is that I was running that Gamegear on batteries! The thing had such an appetite that I almost always ran it on an AC adapter. Writing this out now I can't believe I threw that thing out 15 years ago just because of the weak early LCD tech and foolishly believing you can never go back.

As a 3DS owner, YESSSS!!!

When I first saw the video title, I was thinking "I own a Switch, so... yes?" But to be fair, I also own one of each of Nintendo's handheld generations, and I've played my fair share on all of them. I'd have to say the best experience overall though was Pokemon Diamond. It's the game that made me buy a DS, and my roommate at the time got Pokemon Pearl. We spent months playing side by side, helping each other fill out our pokedexes and coming up with ridiculous battle scenarios to face off against each other.

First off, Castlevania: Dracula X on the PSP is awesome! Love how you can unlock other games like Symphony of the night as well but man was that final boss a task for myself. Been a huge fan of hand helds since the original GameBoy. I actually stole an ac adapter from one of my mother's decorations to play my GameBoy without batteries lol. I now own the GB, GBA SP, DS lite, 3ds xl, PSP, Switch, & Wii U. What it boils down to is that it is easier sometimes to pick up a hand held when you want to play something but don't necessarily have the time to fire up a console.

You actually having that dreamcast setup at your toilet had me dead. Also the way you elaborate gaming lifestyle is on point.

Dude your content is always great for a chuckle. Ill never miss. Video. Thank you for being you! ❤ "retro" gaming in whatever form that takes

Getting a DS Lite as a gift back in 2009 will always be one of my fondest memories.

The scene in your bathroom alone with your CRT awards you a 👍🏼. I died laughing 😆 Thank you for the entertainment, good sir!

Very fast you went from one of the retro you tubers I watch too the only one I watch. Your videos great dude!

Not a huge hand held fan but i did buy a Sega Game gear about 1991 to help with the bordom of work. i remember playing Physcic world a lot and loving it. Great Hand held, great memories. Another great discussion RetroBird.

I've revisited the DS Lite and that console still holds up and offers so much. Tons of battery life and a huge library consisting of both ds and gba games. You get to play 6 Castlevania games, 2 Metroid games, 2 Mario Kart games, 4 generations of Pokemon, the godlike Wario Land 4, 6 2d Sonic games by Dimps, and plenty others. Edit: 4 Metroid games. Counting Prike Hunters and Prime Pinball

There’s something about handhelds that I’ve always loved. I always seemed to like them more then home consoles.

I play the Switch (and Wii U), 3DS, GBA, and Vita. I even had a few Tiger games back in the day as well. It's nice to be able to take an experience with you anywhere you go!

Okay, how did you manage to present all the screens always so perfectly, dude 😮 Extremely satisfying to watch Even better then MLIG 👍

I would like to see a behind the scenes on how you prepare and make your videos. They stand out from all the others. Have you had a public speaking class? You are great. They have to take a lot of time and patience.

Awesome video man! I've been enjoying playing game gear games on the tv using the Mega SG with the game gear adapter.

I'm really sensitive about this topic, because handheld consoles are my favourite. I love playing games wherever I want. Except at work, there I can't play without getting fired. Or while driving...

Another good thing with Handhelds Is that they don't have any TV setup issues and for PAL there's no 50hz/60hz problem

Some of my favorite gaming moments come from handhelds. Family trips in the car when I was a kid, playing Link's Awakening, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy Legend etc. And eventually the GBA came out and blew my mind, getting SNES quality games on the go, with Golden Sun being my favorite. And now years later I just picked up an RG350M and wowwww what a great handheld. It's nice being able to play all those games on the go without having to pack a ton of carts :)

I love the video! You never fail to put a smile on my face! As for favorite handheld experiences it would most likely be playing Kirby: Nightmare In Dreamland as a kid on the GBA or playing through the DS Port of Chrono Trigger

this was a great video as always! my favorite was playing Dreamcast on the toilet lol ! for me what i ended up doing is just narrowing it down to just the 2 handhelds i played when i was younger ....and thats the Gameboy and Game Gear ! i did also have the PSP...DS... 3DS...and a PS Vita at one point! but now its just the good old Gameboy and Game Gear ! nothing wrong with having all of them ...but for me this works !

I was taking the bus home from my grandmother's house with my dad and some kid had a pre release original Game Boy sitting in front of me with super Mario land. Our 2 dads were nice enough to switch seats so that we could sit next to each other. Most of The Times I only got to watch but I did get to play it a little bit and when I did it was magic.

I stopped playing handhelds when I stopped going on road trips in the early 90s. Then I snagged a GBA. I feel like a lot of handhelds kept the retro concept alive. I just picked up an Atari Lynx and it reinvigorated my love of Retro gaming. Especially when you upgrade the LCD to something more modern

i used to spend whole nights on top of a trampoline playing Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire with a best friend at the time. So many great memories with the Gameboy Advance SP😭 My favorite, being me knocking out, then waking up in the morning to my friend having helped me reach Rayquaza in order to catch up. He a real one for that.

I play my GBA SP literally every time I take a crap. It's a beautiful way to live.

The way to go when i'm at work to play during lunchtime hour....I sometimes take my laptop, Switch or Android tablet for retrogaming

I recently got a vita and learned of all the new features available for it to make it a great retro and multi vendor portable machine... I could not be happier

Game Boy with Motocross Maniacs and TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan got me through so many car trips. But I also had a rechargeable battery pack and a car plug adapter

Had a laugh at 0:40 "anywhere in the house is a possibility" and the locations after, same with 3:19 and eating that cartridge. Those comedic "reenactments" of yours get me laughing haha. Bite sized experiences are what got me into using my phone to emulate GameBoy games like Tetris DX, the various mainline Pokemon games and Kirbys that I could play for a bit (or a few hours) until I need to do something else. Playing handheld games on a big screen or home console games on a smaller screen just feel odd to me. GameBoy games on a phone and console games like NES, SNES, & Wii for bigger screens like TVs is what makes sense to me and what I do.

I think I'm starting to like handheld-gaming with my GBA SP and Switch Lite. There's something very appealing about just turning them on and getting into the game right away. With console games on the TV; you have to plug it in and find the controller, unwind the controller because the wire is wrapped around it; turn the TV to the right channel, etc. etc. I want instant access.

I never did play many handheld games because the first "handheld" I found comfortable to hold was the Wii U GamePad. I was gifted a Game Boy but only had two games for it, and that's the only one I had until 3DS and Switch. I do think I'll pick up a Super Game Boy and a GBA player for Gamecube.

Still have my original childhood gameboy from 30 years ago, picked up a couple 3ds for me and my 8 y/o, and even grabbed a Vita before they announced the Vita store closing and prices went crazy. Love handheld!!

Yep, 3DS, Wii U and switch. I’m working out if I want to make the leap to a handheld for my GB carts and maybe include GBA support. Your original/wide GBA looks pretty sweet. I like that form factor even though the SP is protected by default and compact.

Interesting vid, I was never a huge portable gamer but definitely remember the hype around the original Game Boy. I eventually picked up a Game Boy Pocket for Pokemon though and got a GBC for my gf/now wife so she could play too. In terms of portable consoles though, my fave was the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It had a small but really nice library. I really like the GBA too, but that's sort if a cheat since I only use adapater for the Cube 😅. The Lynx and Game Gear were interesting as well. The only portable gaming I may do now is w/my kids on their 2DS/3DS, it has been cool introducing them to some of the classic DS games.

Another great video. Thank you.

Hey, man. Please never get discouraged at the rate at which your channel grows. I promise you will blow up eventually. The RU-vid algorithm is unpredictable and nonsensical. You're an absolute hidden gem.

Saved up and imported a pink PS Vita and love it use it so often!

driving while playing Wario Land on gameboy is the cause of all crashes in the US

I love classic games but rarely hook up my old systems so I started getting the GBA reissues. Contra 3 has been super fun. Even though they are often not perfect conversions I would never notice without a side by side comparison

This was a good one. My first handheld was OG Gameboy. I was so good at Tetris back then. My favourite would be Vita. What a fantastic system, with tons of great stuff to play. Although my Switch Lite is getting a lot of playtime recently. I enjoy that I can maximize my limited daily gaming time. Also. Subscribed. Really enjoying your channel 👍🏻

Couple of original handheld games for Zelda are Oracle of Ages and Seasons. These were great games for the day and worth a play. Dragon Warrior 1-3 were great portable options as well. Gameboy Advance SP I recharge via USB. Can use a portable charger in a pinch.

My most memorable experience with a handheld has gotta be Link's Awakening on the OG Gameboy. Especially the first release as it had the screen jumping glitch. Got myself into a few weird spots utilizing that exploit.

Been in love with handhelds since the original Gameboy.

Someone donated me a ds lite they were no longer using. Having the gba slot gives you access to one heck of a library. Castlevania Order of ecclesia&portrait of ruin, cooking mama 2&3, link to the past, metroid zero mission, chronotrigger, super mario bros, it's been great fun.

A Game Boy _would've_ been great for those long car rides to visit relatives, but I never had one as a kid. When I finally got one (several, as luck would have it!) at the age of 20, it kicked off a wave of Game Boy obsession for a bit, as I caught up on some of those games I'd missed or barely gotten to try! These days, I have little need for handheld game systems themselves, but there are still lots of great exclusives which make them worthwhile. I usually use a combination of Super Game Boy and emulators to get my non-handheld handheld gaming fix. :)

What a coincidence when I’ve just bought my first handheld(DS lite) and this video came up in the feed. Another excellent video from Retro-Bird, however I’m not sure whether I actually learn anything coz I simply laugh and then retell my wife the funniest bits.

In May my CRT TV was under repair for three weeks, so my home consoles became useless and I rediscovered my Game Boy Color. The thing I love the most about handhelds is that they never abandon you, they are always there. For the time being, I use an everdrive with my GBC, but I might consider collecting actual games in the future

I love playing my New 2DS XL. Just picked up Super Mario 64 DS for it yesterday for some of that home console nostalgia on the go. Some handheld memories are being able to enjoy crappy versions of good games on Tiger Electronics. Finally getting a GameBoy and sitting outside in a place that offered enough sunshine for the screen, but still enough shade where I can play a couple hours of Link's Awakening. Having that lamp with a 100 watt bulb to enjoy those games inside. Beating Super Mario Land before my friend, and discovering that it actually had a hard mode too, just like Super Mario Bros. Despite having home consoles most of my gaming life too, I have always loved the convenience of handhelds, and sometimes prefer them even today as an adult as my free time is lacking, and beating a few levels while dinner is simmering is a plus for me.

Zelda: Link’s Awakening on the original Gameboy made a pretty big impact on me. Love it to this day. Mario Land 2 and Wario Land also. Then later on the Advance SP I enjoyed the heck out of Zelda: Minish Cap. Playing through it again with my kids!

A few classic series had some of their most important entries on handheld. Metroid 2, Metroid Fusion, Link’s Awakening, and Aria of Sorrow to names a few. Cutting out handhelds, bars a vast swath of quality retro titles.

I focus on handhelds, and use the pc for games that don't fit well for handhelds (rts, fps, using my arcade stick for shmups). I find it amusing the fact that so many great games and graphics can be played so portably and their designs also amaze me.

I’m a huge fan of handhelds. When I joined ithe Army, I bought a GBA SP in 2003 that I still have today. Some soldiers bought consoles and TVs, but Uncle Sam doesn’t usually let enlisted troops pack that stuff around when you have to travel all over the place or go overseas. Well, unless you’re a desk jockey, I suppose. Anyway, I got a travel case and the pairing cable and a headphone adapter and another accessories for it. The first game I bought was Zelda/Four Sword. By now I have around 70 games for it give it take. I’m still buying games for it. Just played it today, in fact, while waiting in the car to pick up my kid from school. The GBA SP made my Army enlistment tolerable through the long periods of stress and tedious grind. I have a special fondness for it. I also loved the SNES and GameCube. I miss both those consoles, but I was able to keep my GBA SP through many moves and relocations because it’s so small. I’ve been collecting for the GBA for about 20 years now and have nearly 100 games for it. I consider myself a handheld fan for sure.

I play portable games on occasion. These days, it's typically for three reasons. Vacation where I travel, games only playable on handhelds, or waiting room situations that could last hours such as jury duty or a hospital where I'm not watching my kids. The biggest area of these is the DS line of handhelds and their exclusives. The Castlevanias, the Kunio games, Contra 4, Culdcept Revolt, etc. The tough part for me is that they (especially the 3DS units) are grossly uncomfortable for adult hands, so I am basically accepting a lot of annoying little discomforts if I choose to play them. So, if I have any home console alternative like a GBA player, Super Game Boy, compilation disc, etc, I'm taking it. Conversely, I play zero games on my cell phone. I use it for web browsing, watching videos, calling, and texting, but I find just about any alternative to touch screen gaming preferable and more satisfying. So, the toilet gets my phone time, and the long term waits out and about get my handheld time (usually my Game Boy Micro), and the DS/3DS/PSP/NGPC, etc can have my attention when they have an exclusive.

Absolutely! Just finished Metroid Samus Returns about half an hour ago

I've found myself more and more inclined to draw the distinction between handheld and desktop games, but not so much on the grounds of where I play them, but of what kind of games I play. For example, retro games feel great when emulated on the PS Vita, and 2d platformers in general are great on handheld mode too: feels like you can wrap yourself around your handheld in a little cocoon of nostalgia. Again, jRPGs tend to be so long, that carrying them in my pocket or backpack to play a bit here and there also feels nice. For everything else, MasterCard and desktop consoles.

Great video! I think I'd have to say my favourite handheld is the psp. Was like a portable PS2 at the time and that was enough to blow my mind haha. Although I've owned a Game boy advance and DS over the years and they were good too 👍

yep my fave handheld memories include playing pokemon red on my red GBC (remember when Costco sold those themed sets? there were also blue GBCs with Pokemon blue). Besides that - Wario Land 2 and Warlocked were probably my other 2 fave handheld games (haven't had a handheld console since).

I did a shitton of PSP modding back in the day, well software anyway. Recently did up my Vita as well as a friends' for all the games. But my latest was a Glacier White GBA taco like was featured in the video. I did an IPS backlit screen, glass cover, LiPo battery, holofoil stickers to replace the crusty yellow ones on the back, clear teal/green buttons, and a replacement battery cover since I got it without one. Speaking of, the donor taco was $4 at Goodwill a few years ago. Whole project probably cost about $150-175 at the time, I'm assuming it's more now. Last I checked a few months ago similar pre-modded GBAs were going for $250-300 on eBay.

I completely agree with retro and bite sized gaming. I especially liked the Disney games on the Game Gear. They were generally short and easy to complete. And with the Master Gear converter I could pick up cheap SMS games for a few bucks. Sure wish I could find my 3DS. It got lost when I moved.

Most nostalgic memory: Playing Pokemon Gold on my GBA SP at school in the morning while waiting for classes to begin. Most fun: Playing Mario Kart and Pokemon Diamond with friends when the DS was a brand new item. What I play now: GBA and 3DS. I keep both of these on me when I travel so I can always have something to play.

My best handheld experience was Link’s Awakening. I played that for the week that I was suspended from school. Another experience was Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Amazing handheld game. :)

Despite being the bulkiest a handheld can get, I've found the SEGA nomad to be unbelievably ergonomic with one of the comfiest dpads ever.

I was about 10 when everyone on the playground had pokemon red blue or yellow. An amazing time!

Mole Mania and Tiny Toons on Gameboy got me into hand-held games. Big Pokémon fan as well but I played the former games before the latter.

90s, playing Gameboy Games in school or late at night when you should sleep as a kid was really cool after those crappy lcd games. Loved and still love Super Mario Land and Tetris and play it till today. Getting Batteries was a true nightmare:-)

Finished metroid zero mission last week on my gba sp and was realy impressed by the game. I also own a Ds, 3Ds and Psp. Maybe some day a Vita

I've had a daydream/bit idea about walking down the road and being completely absorbed in my Gameboy advance. Similar to the way people walk and text but I'm playing the Gameboy. It cracks me up because people would assume I'm texting but nope it's Metroid Fusion. "Hey that guy's just playing a game." And I hope that you like what I had to say!

I appreciate the wii-u love there haha

My favorite handhelds by far has to be the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the PS Vita. They just have a charm that's hard to find anywhere else. With the NGPC, of course you have that unbeatable clicky stick (Seriously, I'm surprised there haven't been more controllers out there that use the microswitch setup without being an arcade stick.) which make the system an absolute joy to play fighting games on. The library even outside of those are just incredible. Like you have Metal Slug, you've got a real neat spin off of Beast Busters; Dark Arms, you have the absolute card game joy of Cardfighters Clash, hecking Bust A Move, Puzzle Link, Neo Turf Masters, Sonic. God there's just a lot of good stuff in that small library ut has. The aesthetic of it all is also really good. Like with having a lot of games being made by the amazing sprite artists at SNK, of a lot of the games on the system would look excellent. No matter what, you can always tell a game is an NGPC game. It's pretty much unmistakable. I also love the feel of the system menu, with it giving you so many things to tinker with. Yeah it's unnecessary, but it's exactly why I love it so much. The Vita also has so much going for it. It kind of feels like Sony's Wii U, with the exception that there's still many games on there that weren't ported to other platforms. The games I really enjoy on the system just feel experimental. Like there's so much ambition to them while using some of the unique features of the system. I also really like how it kind of was like the Switch before the Switch. Like there was a lot of consple ports on the system that weren't downgraded all too much, not to mention the wonders of Remote Play. There's a reason after I brought my Vita back from the dead I've been pretty much obsessed with the thing. That's without even mentioning having access to a lot of the PSP library. (Or all of it if you plan to hack it like I do.) As for greatest portable game memory, it's really hard after all of the great ones I've had. There's the time I found out Pokemon Crystal was on the 3DS VC and then purchased it roght there. Leading to things like beating Whitney on my first try with my Meganium with the power of fury cutter, or the time I went up to Suicune and realized I didn't save, adding tension to every ultra ball I threw at them until I finally caught them. Then there's something like LBP PS Vita, whoch went on to be my favorite game in the series, and has also held some of my favorite online multiplayer interactions. I was so dang lucky to get the multiplayer exclusive prize bubbles when I could since now the servers for the game are down. Gosh, there's alao Animal Crossing New Leaf which U played for so long, and am still playing to this day. God I love all of the great times I've spent with my villagers, and now I love being able to play the game with my real friends. I've even been going to Club Tortimer quite a bit recently and have been having a lot of fun with the people I meet there. Of course I can't forget Monster Rancher DS, which is one of my favorite games in the Monster Rancher series. I got the game for my birthday around when the price for it was going up, and I've enjoyed it ever since. The first monster I raised was a Mewcho named Bob, named after a funny little guy on a hand drawn birthday card one of my friend's gave me. It was just incredible. Now I can't keep going on forever about all of them, but these are certainly some of the biggest handheld highlights I've had. Handhelds really are just such a nice experience. It's just great being able to pull out a game wherever you are and just enjoy yourself. It certainly has some of the best experiences out there.

The only thing I have left from my actual childhood for hardware or games is my little brothers Game Boy Color. My absolute favorite game for the Game Boy was "Battletoads". Little did I know the reputation the game would come to have! Lol. Still one of the few Game Boy games I will still pop in today. My other favorite game was Pokemon Yellow. I remember all my buddies had a copy of each red, blue and yellow and we all leveled our best Pokemon up from each game to then attach the cable to duel between Game Boys directly. Good stuff!

After Hurricane Ida made us lose power in Louisiana, I'm grateful I bought a used DS and all 3 Castlevania games. But there's something else you need to enjoy video games, handheld or console.....Air conditioning. Try to enjoy your favorite game sitting thru a heat advisory. Not cool lol. Great video, look forward to seeing more!

I love my silver Nintendo DS Lite. It looks great, feels great, has a huge variety of games and is the perfect size for carrying around. It also introduced me to a whole new genre, with the likes of Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Trace Memory and other visual novel type games.

I play games from pretty much all handhelds from time to time, but definitely right there with ya having Pokemon Blue version being my best handheld experience when it first came out.

Best Link's Awakening memory: Going out to get the strategy guide as a kid to figure out how to beat the final boss and ended up finishing it before arriving at the store.

I own all the Nintendo handhelds and the PSP and Vita. Of those, I play the 3DS and my modded backlit original GBA the most. The main reason I like playing handhelds is so I can have a movie or TV show on the TV and also play a game at the same time.

I play flash cart on gba sp, and can play ALL gb/gbc/gba games, I have a game gear with a flash cart, a psp, vita, 3DS(with DS flash cart, with all North American games on it), and homebrew on the 3DS with 200’ish games installed, I have the Atari and Sega flashback handhelds from ATGames, and can carry those with me if I choose, and I have a switch lite(and a full size), and of course a few mobile games on my phone

Growing up I was fortunate enough to eventually get reusable battery charger (maybe cause my mom played TETRIS more than me🤔) this flexibility ultimately allowed me to acquire a GameGear… which I seemingly spent as much time charging batteries as I did playing the system 😅

Handheld gaming is awesome. I was always in awe of owning a video game console with it's own screen, buttons, powered source and interchangeable games. My first was a Gameboy pocket, and it always felt like such an impressive piece of tech. Peeking into the cartridge slot and seeing the connectors, the LCD screen, (if you have a transparent model) seeing the motherboard, chips etc all felt very cutting edge to me as a child....heck, it still does to this day. The carts themselves seemed cutting edge as well. I couldn't believe such immersive, charming worlds could be contained in a tiny little cartridge. What can I say, the entire Gameboy line is very near and dear to this millenial's heart.

Xmas '98 was great! Got a GBP and Pokemon Red. At the time I was enjoying Genesis on the family TV when I could, but the Gameboy let me game whenever I could (and had batteries or a/c adapter) and wanted. At the time I had no idea what Pokemon even was, and wasn't much of an RPG fan, but this game opened me up to the genre as a whole. I did purchase a GBC later, but wouldn't get another handheld until the "NEW" 3ds. Have been collecting / playing some others since. As for comfort; I would argue that the original GBA is one of the more comfortable options out there, though my experience is limited to Nintendo handhelds. My GBP was comfortable enough in the late '90's but my hands were a fair bit smaller back then.

Love Handhelds as my parents thought games would ruin there TV. So I started saving up and eventually got a GB like everyone else when it 1st came out. Now a days I really love handheld devices as I play them like I would when I was a kid playing with Toys. As a kid I would lay out all the toys I wanted to play with on my bed & have adventures. Out grew toys but playing a handheld on my bed makes me feel like a kid again! To me that is the only way to game!

The 3DS is a wonderful lineup of systems, I have 3 myself, and I mainly use my Samus Returns Edition system and play a few indie and 1st party titles on it. I also use some select themes I got off the Theme Shop, and they look great and sound good too! The only thing that keeps me from completely enjoying them is my Switch, as it too has awesome titles and functions.

I collect for consoles and I emulate for handhelds. Gameboy, gba and gameboy color I use everdrives. My psp and vita are modded. It’s very convenient, cost effective and preserves space. My console collection is none of those but I love them the same.

The DS and 3DS would have to take the cake for me when it comes to handhelds. They were Pokemon machines for me but I did own the Game Boys back then but the DS and 3DS took it to a new level because of the touch screen. Now I have an Android phone to emulate all my old favorites when I'm out and about and need to game. I do have a Switch as well but I prefer playing that at home.

Zelda BOTW was my favorite gaming experience period. I played that mostly in handheld mode.

I remember playing pokemon crystal on my GBA sp in my bed at night, on car rides home at night, and in my pitch black closet. It was a great way to go on adventures literally any time, day or night!

About 6 months before the pandemic I got a bug to get a gameboy advance because I had been seeing the ability to mod the screen, which I did. I have a PS4 I never play, and the newer games aren’t for me. I prefer the ease of use with the GBA, backwards compatibility, and the games are more my speed. Plus it had a whole bunch of SNES ports (Ghouls and ghosts is still hard). First games I got after the mod were the Mario, donkey Kong and Zelda games along with Pokémon silver.

I love all of the Nintendo and Sony handhelds. Dissidia on PSP was like Smash Bros. for Final Fantasy and I sunk hundreds of hours into both games. Sidenote, your jokes were hilarious in this video, lol!

When im on vacation i take my Nomad. Totally helps for long road trips

I loved playing my Gameboy advance, and my fondest memory has to be playing Metroid fusion.

I had a Gameboy Color as a kid and the fight with batteries wasn't too bad. We had the rechargeable batteries that had the energy bar on the side telling you how much charge they had left. And when we got tired of charging those we got the rechargeable back for the gameboy

Kudos for pointing out that handhelds are actually for the home and not for public transport. I've never seen anyone play a handheld console on a train or plane. I play games on handhelds more than on a TV because I like being able to move to a different room or from a chair to a bed, etc. It's just convenient, and takes up less space too. I have a PSP, a New 2DS XL, and a Switch, and those allow me to play the entire history of videogames in handheld form. GB, GBC, and GBA games should be played on the PSP, and DS games should be played on the 2DS/3DS XL. Those older handhelds had screens that were too small. The PSP was the first portable that had a big enough screen.

I used to wait in the car while my mom went clothes shopping with my DMG. Final Fantasy Adventures was always a go-to if I wasn't playing tetris or Mario.

I play the Switch with a nice trip and the Ambernic rg351v because it's like having a Gameboy in your hands again. Awesome

When my last phone died I bought a Moto Z4 to replace it; specifically because of the Moto handheld controller mod that can be paired with it. And I haven't looked back since. The eureka moment when I figured out how to sink my saves to the cloud so I can switch seamlessly between it and my PC was what made me love the Z4 and almost makes it feel like a Nintendo Switch. It emulates pretty well. Not all Dreamcast games work but I've had success with Soul Caliber and Sonic. Most of the 64's library runs along with the older stuff. But now, I refuse to upgrade my phone until they come out with a Z5 or something else that supports this specific mod. With the folding craze going on I'm not sure that's gonna happen anytime soon.

I play GameBoy Advance because of its 3 systems of games; GB, GBC, and GBA. So when it comes to games, I have options out the sphincter. My most memorable experience with it, was the day me and my cousin, on the same day, bought the link cables and Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire when they came out, and every first weekend of every month we'd use the link cable and trade on Saturday and fight on Sunday. It was awesome! I still have that GBA, sadly it doesn't work anymore.