Nominate Hidden Gems for the Sega Game Gear

[racketboy]

I don't have a whole lot of Game Gear content on the site and a Hidden Gems piece might be a fun way to start.

- Please nominate your favorite less-well known games for the handheld
- It would help a lot if you share some thoughts on what made it special or interesting
- If you would like to a formal contributor / writer for this guide, please let me know It won't be an urgent project, but I could use all the help I can get!

Thanks!

[alienjesus]

I'd love to recommend titles for this piece, but to be honest, I know very little about what's a Hidden Gem for the system and what's considered to be one of the 'obvious choices'.

Outside of Sonic and Columns, were there any obvious choices for the system?

[Exhuminator]

- Please nominate your favorite less-well known games for the handheld
- It would help a lot if you share some thoughts on what made it special or interesting

GG Aleste (Japan) = Amazing shmup, one of the two best on the system.
GG Aleste II (Japan) AKA Power Strike II (EU) = Amazing shmup, the other best on the system.
Gunstar Heroes (Japan) = Surprisingly faithful port of the Genesis original.
Head Buster (Japan) (Has English fan translation.) = Fun mech combat strategy game.
Madou Monogatari I - 3-Tsu no Madoukyuu (Japan) (Has English fan translation.) = Cutesy dungeon crawler by Compile.
Pop Breaker (Japan) (English friendly.) = Very unique, very difficult, very fun hybrid of shmup + logic puzzler.
Psychic World (USA, Europe) = Unique platformer that's a little different than the other ports.
Sylvan Tale (Japan) (Has English fan translation.) = High quality action-RPG sorta similar to Zelda.

Well that's a start. Maybe I'll remember some more later.

[marurun]

GG Shinobi was pretty good, actually.

[dunpeal2064]

I feel like a lot of the list would be 16-bit downports to the handheld, that likely get overlooked. Thinking of things like Ristar, Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi, etc. These are popular games, but these versions are not nearly as loved or known.

not sure if you could work that into a separate section, or if you just want those on the list. Hell, they may not even quality for hidden gems anymore (Similar to how the GG Aleste games are talked about enough now to maybe not qualify).

Other than that, no clue, similar to aj I feel like the obvious choices, now, would have been all the hidden gems 10 years ago. And the obvious choices 10 years ago would have been Sonic games.

[Exhuminator]

Ristar

That's another good choice. A lot of people don't know the GG version is unique from the Genesis one. It's not just a "down port".

[Ack]

What about James Pond 2 and 3? I remember them being fun, but it's a series that is generally forgotten.

[marurun]

GG Shinobi is a completely different game. It's awesome. But I'm not sure how hidden it is, in retrospect. It's more like a mainstream good title.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Crystal Warriors is an incredibly solid and compact (both in length and physical size, haha) strategy RPG. One of the best of its time. The Japan-only sequel, Royal Stone, is also quite good.

[racketboy]

I feel like a lot of the list would be 16-bit downports to the handheld, that likely get overlooked. Thinking of things like Ristar, Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi, etc. These are popular games, but these versions are not nearly as loved or known.

not sure if you could work that into a separate section, or if you just want those on the list. Hell, they may not even quality for hidden gems anymore (Similar to how the GG Aleste games are talked about enough now to maybe not qualify).

Other than that, no clue, similar to aj I feel like the obvious choices, now, would have been all the hidden gems 10 years ago. And the obvious choices 10 years ago would have been Sonic games.

Yeah, I would probably have the downports in a separate section and then have some brief talking-points about what compromises were made in the ports and where they succeed.