Sega Master System/Game Gear Handheld Portable Console Review

Handy and convenient, portable consoles are the perfect way to kill time whenever you’re travelling or even if your sat at home waiting for that season finale you’ve been longing to watch. Now you don’t even have to fork out big bucks for a console you don’t have games for.

At Games have created a little dinky console called the Sega Arcade Gamer Portable dedicated to Sega’s famous 8 bit era. Cramming 30 classic games spanning the Master System and Game Gear phase of Sega’s console making lifespan into a super small, sleek little game station is quite the throwback.

The console comes in a small oblong box containing the console itself and a miniscule screwdriver to help remove the battery cover, ideal! The console itself has two face buttons A and B, the traditional d-pad, start and select buttons on the front in a black and red colour scheme which looks really cool. On the top, there is the on/off switch, volume control and a video out port with the headphone port on the bottom. The 2.4 inch screen is nice and brightly backlit making each game look crystal clear with no compromises in graphical quality whatsoever. Same can be said about the sound, its set at an optimal level which is great in quieter environments but if you choose to play this in transit you may want to take some headphones. The console is very small, kids will have no issues but in my full sized man hands, it felt a little small. That being said, I had no problems playing although due to the size, my hands strained after extended play.

Turning on the unit welcomes you with the AT Games logo and a simple, no frills menu screen listing every game across four pages alphabetically. It’s extremely easy to navigate and selecting a game fires it up almost as fast as it is to blink!

Now, the most important thing, the games! 30 old school classics both known and not very well known populate the library on offer. Three Alex Kidd games, one of which was best known for being preinstalled in Sega Master System Two systems, Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco The Dolphin, Golden Axe and the few Sonic The Hedgehog games are the worthiest of mentions here. These timeless classics look just as fabulous as they did back in the 90’s on the Sega Arcade Gamer Portable’s little screen as do lesser known space fillers like The Ninja, Aztec Adventure, Kung Fu Kid and Putt and Putter. There is no way of saving game progress as it wasn’t possible to do so back when these games were in their prime however a save state feature should have been included to encourage short spurts of playtime of which this thing will be played most.

The only real issue I found to be a bit of a downer is the fact the Sega Arcade Gamer Portable runs on AAA batteries meaning you have to carry some around with you on long journeys. Luckily though the screwdriver tool is small enough to fit in your wallet.

Pros

Sleek and nicely constructed

Great selection of games

Bright display and clear sound

Cons

May be a little too small

Sega MS and GG games are super small in file size, could have fit more on

Sound at its highest volume level is not ideal for busy environments

Summary

The Sega Arcade Gamer Portable handheld console is a nicely constructed solid machine fit for purpose. A healthy selection of games on offer will keep you busy for quite some time all of which are displayed beautifully on the small screen. The only problem is the fact it runs on batteries. A great gift for any retro fan.