Sega Game Gear review by Mike Matei

[@rerez]

This capture method makes for one freaking awesome review. Seriously, really well done Mike! :D

[@tobyisawesome]

clickbaiter

[@DMurcielago]

@@tobyisawesome bro you're a doink 😂😂😂

[@SpaceHamsterGames]

I've never played on a Game Gear, but it seems like it could be fun.

[@tarikbegovic]

Game Gear is too bulky in my opinion.

[@tarikbegovic]

The D-Pad is too small making it quite weird to move.

[@TheShmekler]

tarikbegovic My hands would get to sweaty, and after about a half hour, the weight of the game gear would become a distraction as it kept trying to slip out of my hand.

[@Donatello97]

I could never fully appreciate the game boy back in the day, due to the colorless pea soup green monochrome screen. The game gear? Bought one on day one...but I played very little games for it. it wasn't until the realease of the DS Lite where I really got into hand helds.

[@1BergerVongSchlauigkeitHer]

You'd probably have more fun with a Nomad, if you can get one. I always wanted a game gear when I already had a Megadrive and I'm kind of glad I didn't get one because I would probably have been disappointed. I didn't even know at the time that it only played Master System games.

[@YowLife]

I was envious of Mike for having a modded Game Gear he could play on TV. I really wanted something just like it, but it was always so expensive. Now I have a Retron5 with a Game Gear adapter to play my GG games in HD with savestates. I tell you, waiting a few years was the right option.

[@hlonghi]

Nice to see Mike doing more reviews! I had the Sega Game Gear when I was a kid and I think Mike forget its biggest problem: god awful battery life. Man that thing drained batteries like crazy.

[@MrEraider60]

I'm pretty sure that's why Nintendo went with the black and white screen when they made the Game Boy. Because a color screen would have used more power to give the desired output. If there's only black and white to worry about, then it wouldn't use as much power.

[@Shadowfied]

Guess someone didn't read the description..

[@captainviggo4575]

"Nice to see Mike doing more reviews!" Except this one, as said in the description of the video, is an old review (2012), from the Cinemassacre website, that was not on KZbin yet.

[@400KrispyKremes]

Yeah it was mandatory to get the AC adapter and rechargeable battery-pack. You had to buy both, but if you were at home you could plug into the wall fro unlimited play time, and the battery-pack had like 3-4 hours of run time if you wanted to play on the go. There was also a car adapter, but you had to get it separately. That was great for long car trips though.

[@edbadyt]

I had a game gear and a gameboy and after I got my battery pack, the gameboy never got a look in. I had loads of great games and never had a problem with the catalogue but that might be because Sega was a lot bigger in the UK than the US so maybe we had more games available.

[@aaronthebox]

5:45 "You fuck enemies to death with your mighty, pelvic thrust" Hey, just like Mike!

[@BuddhaJesusSoul]

seg game gear is incredibly underrated. it had colours and great graphics way before the gameboy advance ever came out

[@Nightfall815]

"You'll never have more fun, than when you're hitting blonde bimbos in the face with a lead pipe!" - that's exactly what I told the judge in court... somehow, he didn't agree with us, it seems :/

[@ImmortalfireTheMod]

My cousin had a Game Gear back in the day. Even with it's horrid battery life, I always enjoyed playing it. The GG version of Sonic 2 was always a favorite.

[@ClassicContagious]

The Game Gear is a pretty nice hand held. The only issue with the system are how many you find that don't work. This wasn't an issue back when it was out, but now a days it seems like they have a 75-80% failure rate. Most of the time it's the capacitors that need replacing.

[@RedHairdo]

Plus, isn't it heavy and tires you after an hour? And has an unforgivingly short battery life?

[@ClassicContagious]

RedHairdo Yes and Yes. It's a friggin battery eating machine.

[@Th1rt3eNoriginals]

to be fair it's a 24 year old hand held device, it's amazing any of these hand held systems still work at all considering all the bumps they take traveling around and experiencing "gamer rage".

[@soupalex]

Classic Contagious Gaming _"It's a friggin battery eating machine."_ This is my most significant memory of the Game Gear, to be sure.

[@ClassicContagious]

soupalex Hehe yeah. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty cool system it just wasn't very good on batteries. Nowadays if you're not trying to keep it portable, just plug in a cable.

[@destructodude]

I went into this not expecting much, then we got direct-feed Game Gear footage. Ho. Ly. Fuck.

[@Wazgrel]

Chuck Rock was also on SNES.

[@OSW]

Knowing that Mike goes off on angry rants, I think he's intentionally keeping level-headed and scripted, so he doesn't share any mannerisms as AVGN, and step on his toes. Good guy Mike!

[@02337755]

Wow mad respect for this guy going through all that trouble to review this on a GameGear

[@banj0smah0mie]

"Huge and Convoluted" - an autobiography by Mike Matei

[@Arthur19-v3y]

Just got myself a game Gear. I'm super excited to get my game collection going!

[@xChillDudex]

I wanted to go check out the video where they modded the game gear but there's no link. Damn.

[@raafmaat]

its on the cinemassacre site... this was published there like 2 years ago

[@GeejMusic]

there is no detailed description on how he hooked up the game gear in the description,,,

[@hiimcarson]

Yeah, that's kinda disappointing

[@gyromurphy]

GeejMusic this was an old video uploaded from the website. the description is on that one

[@8-BitEric]

good times love the game gear

[@martymcfly1312]

8-Bit Eric cool

[@weldin]

Mcfly!

[@neciscuelibertas5363]

Great video! That guy who mods the systems is a genius! When I was growing up the Game Gear was always a mystery and I only played one once. Nobody I know had one.

[@alexsbdYT]

Game Gear is just a portable Sega Master System, but with less resolution. You can just review the games on the Master System, you don't need to mod your portable console.

[@killertrip10]

that bone is the hamburger helper glove...

[@jamesacichon]

I feel like I could watch a whole video on Mike playing the X-Men arcade game.

[@KhanGarth]

i always liked the Sega Nomad more, taking your Genesis games on the road was a better idea to me.

[@danserrano1915]

Am I the only one where Streets of Rage tended to devolve into a three-way of nonstop backstabbing the second a friend fucked up and accidentally pressed the Throw button while standing too close to you?

[@MetralletaLuis]

You should include the link of the game gear explanation that was in the description in the website

[@RAPTIMETIMETORAP]

I'm so glad you're doing this! I was the same way.. all Nintendo shut and the only Sega thing I had was a game gear! Some requests for review.. sonic chaos, major league baseball (an amazing game to take shits to), marble madness, lion king. I also had chuck rock. That game was awesome but not as good to shit to. Thanks again Mike for taking me back to the past!

[@GuillinCorp]

Thanks for taking your time to get the hardware to do the review!

[@gedaman]

I remember playing friends Game Gear games. That thing would gulp AA batteries in virtually no time at all! The Batman Returns game was impressive and the backlit display and full color was revolutionary for a handheld.

[@RockEsper]

2:00 Where's the link? Please add it.

[@biz_markie9189]

The only problem I have with the Gamegear is its library is mostly half-assed games, but mostly the Sonic games are irritating. When you jump, an inevitable blind death is bound to happen because you can't see where you are landing. I have Sonic 2 and Sonic Chaos, and those two are like that (not sure about the others). Anyone else know what I mean and feel my pain too?

[@TheDrunkenCelt]

Mike's face while playing X-Men at the end.

[@Horzuhammer]

I have the opposite story to yours. I've always seen the GG just as "a crappier Master System" or something, never bothered to even emulate the system. Recently I loaded a bunch of the games to my PSP and absolutely fell in love with games like Shinobi, Vampire and the Donald Duck one. Now I can't get enough of the games for the system.

[@dimebagdarrell2390]

There are 2 Donald Duck games for game gear

[@EXIIPlays]

There's no link in the description for how he got the Game Gear to play on the TV.

[@bytex666]

look it up on the cinemassacre website. This is just a youtube repost of a video they posted there 2 years ago.

[@ChairmanMeow1]

Game Gear was great except for one huge problem.... battery life!!

[@Videogamelover58]

Agree

[@DvdRC9702]

This would've been better as an AVGN episode.

[@dillonc862]

DvdRC9702 so would everything else Mike's ever done.

[@LCardoso17]

The Ninja Gaiden manual told how to get to the secret password screen. Next on the list to review is the Master System games on the Game Gear (with the Sega MS to GG adaptor). Nothing beats playing the home console game in the portable console!

[@JPMitchell31721]

Did Magneto say "welcome to die"?

[@Doronin]

I was really young when I owned a Game Gear, and back then I thought I was just bad at the X-Men game until I decided that it was really just an irredeemably bad game. I'm actually glad to see someone else come to the conclusion after all this time.

[@kubev]

I love Game Gear. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury is my all-time favorite Shinobi game, and I daresay that Game Gear has the only decent version of Primal Rage (despite it missing a lot of content).

[@cloudmatt11]

I was a big Game Gear fan myself, the graphics were better and the lit screen made playing on long band trips easy(as long as my battery packs and spare AAs held out). I'd love to see a review on some of my favorites, like G-Loc, Castle of Illusion, Psychic World, and any of the Shining Force games. You might also want to torture James with the Mega Man game.

[@MegaBondagemon]

I'm pretty sure Sammy Skate isn't a "rookie cop".

[@mikeegee21]

The intro music of Chuck Rock is amazing! Loved that animation sequence when I had the game on my Amiga.

[@Jarito1903]

WHAT !!! Streets of rage 2 for GG was a 2 player game?

[@TheT3rr0rMask]

GG is truly an awesome system. Wish Hyperkin or Retrobit would do a clone handheld with TV out. The screens just don't last, which is the main problem with the system.

[@ExaltedDuck]

I thought the barricade to reviewing the games was going to be an economic one involving the procurement of an adequate number of AA batteries. The Game Gear was only as portable as the length of its AC adapter. :D (thumbs up for the modded box, though. The footage looks good.)

[@Audiomancer]

Seeing the hack to play the games on the tv with a normal controller is friggin' cool.

[@gamenetwork8143]

I had "Chuck Rock" on Sega Master System and it brought me a lot of fun at the time, but it was quite difficult because, in order to attack, you have to stay so close to the enemy.

[@Makron5]

I think there's a plug and play thing if you buy arcade boards so you can kinda play them like cartridges on a monitor or something cool like that.

[@FyberOptic]

Game Gear had too many design flaws for my taste. Most notably, terrible battery life, and a screen that blurred with even a little bit of motion due to them opting for color (and the average LCD technology not being quite good enough yet). But it wasn't until years later that we started to see actual defects as well, because bad capacitors they used started to fail, leading to very blurry, faded, and generally terrible screens, deteriorating to the point that the system entirely stops working in some cases. There are entire replacement cap kits on Ebay just to address this issue. And if you ever want to buy a used one, you should probably make sure it comes from someone who mentions that it's had its caps replaced, or you're likely buying a piece of junk. If you find one with something like a TFT LCD replacement, that might be even better.

[@AntoRetroGamer]

LOL! Turning the Game Gear into a console, using a Master System controller. There lies one of the main problems with it: MANY of these games were also on the Master System, and it was better playing them on a T.V. Sonic 2 immediately springs to mind. Not only that, but it ate up battery juice like crazy, and many of it's exclusive games were Japanese-only RPG's! And I thought Pokémon on my old Game Boy went through a lot of batteries! I know that there were alternatives to extend battery life, or even bypass it altogether, but seriously, who wants to play a Game Gear six feet away from a plug socket? I had a Game Gear too, but there is simply no way it's a no-contest, declaring so against the Game Boy. The sales alone tell it's own story. Glad that it still gets some love, as it is somewhat underappreciated, despite it's flaws.

[@R33Racer]

Not even close, there's several reviewers that use modded GG's for reviews (and probably leisure too) but certainly one of the most subbed channels to do it to be fair.

[@purebaldness]

I've been melee chopping people at work Goldeneye 64 style. I've also been fired.

[@MadMatty01]

There was an SNES-version of the Crash Test Dummies-Game. Just recently found it and was not surprised to find that it says "LJN" on the cartridge...

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

I was just playing the X-Men arcade game with my X-Arcade stick a couple days ago! AWESOME! Although I don't have a dual stick but honestly how much use does the player 2 side of that dual stick really get?

[@SorcererLance]

I actually HAVE that Crash Dummies game on the Game Boy, it's the EXACT same game minus the colors. The goal of the bomb factory level is to use the hammer on the Crash Dummy body parts and to leave the bombs alone, letting them drop at the end, but if they're lit, you have to blow out the fuse. Using the hammer makes the bombs explode as does leaving the lit bombs drop at the end, letting too many of the bombs explode makes you lose a try. I'm PRETTY sure if memory serves, if you paid attention at the start of the level, the game actually tells you this. That said, all the levels are pretty easy, but tricky to get a perfect score... except the final level with the rocket, fuck that level completely.

[@bunnyfreakz]

The best handheld is Turbografx Express, you can use game cartridge from console into it, full color , cable recharge so you are not buying ton of batteries to play. And guess what, its come before gamegear and gameboy

[@nicknixon6395]

What theme song is playing at the beginning of the video? That tune is so familiar.

[@themrnails]

Why are there two channels? Combine them please.

[@meltapes]

what's the music playing in the background on the beginning?

[@Poppycop3]

+munkey cheez When you're late to the meme. #Justyoutubethings

[@outtagoodnamesdangit]

I had a Game Gear as well and loved it. I was kind of hoping you'd mention the Sonic Games. They were weird: Sonic 1 was pretty close to the Genesis port with some different levels, but Sonic 2 was hard as HELL! And then there was Sonic Chaos which was really great, if a bit easy, since you could play as Sonic or Tails with the gimmick being that Tails was easier since he could fly, but only Sonic could access bonus stages, and if you got to a bonus stage, you skipped the rest of the level, which balanced out the easiness for Tails' stages. Notes, Sega: that's how you have different characters and BALANCE THEM!

[@Rapid98k]

The guy that made the NinToaster is very talented.

[@BawesomeBurf]

Very cool! When I finally get around to repairing the screen on my Game Gear, will definitely be looking for some of these games. The handheld is pretty huge, but it feels very comfortable.

[@Xanatos21]

I was always more of a Game Boy fan (including the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, and the Game Boy Advance). I grew up playing such classic titles as the Super Mario/Wario Land series, Donkey Kong (remake), and Link's Awakening for hours on end. However, the Game Gear DOES still have a pretty fun assortment of games (my favorites being Sonic Triple Trouble, Land of Illusion, and the original Shinobi). Great review!

[@JBird401]

They need to make a retron console that can play game gear games on a tv. That'd be dope!

[@ostrichesandgin8570]

There's this thing called the retro freak that does just that, it even plays pic engine games as well, that's the turbo grafx in the u.s, but I'm not sure if it plays the us cards.

[@Silenced23]

+OstrichesAndGin It's PC not PIC

[@CarozQH]

The Game gear is really cool, but to me the Atari Lynx seems more interesting. Too bad there were so few games made for it...

[@Carnage6X]

***** You're absolutely right. When I was a kid I never wanted a Gameboy or Gamegear after I saw how awesome the Lynx was. I don't regret a thing.

[@KoolThing14]

What link in the video description?

[@FreddyCasanas]

You guys are always one step ahead :-)

[@ashleyp3662]

Mike is a Gangsta

[@TheKiller7276]

Vomitsaw! I saw his video about the game gear, I was waiting for it to show up here!

[@LillitosanEP]

Mike, do a review on the amazing X-Men Arcade Game. I love that arcade when I was a child. Cheers from Camuy, Puerto Rico.

[@Metafron]

I like how people have slowly warmed up to Mike. Before, people would dog the living shit out of him. James and Mike remind me of me and some friends I used to have when I was a kid. It was all about going over to each others houses and playing fucking video games all day and night, passing the controller around, bitching about parts that were hard as fuck. Unless it was a multi-player game, then we just bitched at each other. We would stop, but only occasionally, for food and drink. Or to read the newest gaming mags, or watch a movie. Ahhh, those were the days.

[@CazTheGamerGuy]

1:53 The precursor to the Vita TV! Also, please stop with the comments about Mike, they weren't funny to begin with.

[@jasonallgood2122]

Shinobi 2 the silent fury was amazing for the game gear. it was also one of the few games on game gear I beat in middle school.

[@SimonvCleef]

That one was very good indeed. There is actually a pretty high amount of good games on the game gear. It was by far the best portable after the gameboy. Atari lynx and neo geo aren't even close if it comes to the library of games.

[@31FilmTalk]

Man this is an old video. I never knew anyone who had a GameGear

[@Silvergun_Raven]

I love the Game Gear so much and part of my childhood (mostly remember playing it in 1994).

[@Captain_Obvious_Says]

Love hearing that "Segaaaaa!" I got a gamegear for Christmas, I think I was bout 8 years old. I played it everyday. Don't know what happened to it unfortunately. I just bought another one on eBay which came with 3 games and dc adapter. Man I miss being a kid! 😫

[@joelatham1502]

More game gear reviews please Mike :) I really liked this one!

[@lynntaylor9681]

I loved the Game Gear when I was in middle school. It's too bad that mine stopped working in 2003.

[@CommonSenseless1993]

All the rich kids at my school had a Game Gear. I remember a lot of my friends complaining about the crappy battery.

[@kyuven]

I had one of these suckers...even had the crash test dummies game for it, along with Sonic Chaos and a few others. These things ate batteries like a you wouldn't believe, which also contributed to the device's weight issues. Had some interesting peripherals, though, like a TV tuner.

[@Steambull1]

There is no "kick button" in the Genesis version of SOR2 either...

[@skabcat242]

The sega game gear was neat for its time.I did like that tv adapter it had which i doubt will work now these days.

[@teamhex]

I had a game gear as a kid. I had Tetris and Surf Ninja.....That's all I ever had on it, but I enjoyed it as a kid.

[@ChastasticGaming]

Click the link in the video description, only has Mikes Twitter :(

[@devilmikey00]

I had one of these as a kid but I couldn't use it because mine didn't have the AC adapter included and my parents refused to buy me anymore batteries for it lol Not sure what happened to it after that, probably just ended up in a yard sale. Also that's a pretty sweet mod the dude did for you.

[@Q7R43]

Great quality Video as always Mike!

[@janahoeningmusic]

That "Ew" is the most genuine reaction to a fart I've ever heard.

[@jamielofts]

Shinobi was the best game imo. So many hours went into playing that game and Columns.

[@gameoverwehaveeverypixelco1258]

I can play emulated game gear games on my gameboy advance using the GBA movie player, crisp and clear, my game gear LCD screen is faulty so an av output would be cool.

[@ScottCrippen]

Sweet X-Arcade cameos!..Now if only I'd bought the model with the center track ball. >:(

[@shadowgandalf]

I enjoyed the Crash Test Dummies game. Yeah, it's short, but I found it a fun challenge to ace every level. I succeeded too. I hit every canopy and the target in stage 1. I collected all cans and hit the target in stage 2, I hit every flag and the goal in stage 3, I hit every bomb in stage 4, and hit the target dead centre on stage 5. (stage 5 took lots of practice though). It then cycled to a new game on a harder mode. I couldn't ace these, but I still beat them.

[@waziammm]

Can you do a follow up to get through a few more of those games?

[@SolidMikeChannel]

Theres a TV adapter addon for the Game Gear, but im sure it wont work in this digital age lol.

[@asmodeus58XX]

I've heard that the test dummeies game was published by James' "favorite" video game company.

[@ConkerTheCat]

wow, this looks pretty decent without screen glare.

[@MrEraider60]

I never had a Game Gear. However, there was this one time that I thought I had gotten a Game Gear, but it turned to be just a container full of bubble gum.. I enjoyed the gum tho.

[@zoratsu]

i thought the game gear was the handheld that you could plug in sega genesis games to play them on the go. which handheld am i mistaking it for then?

[@zoratsu]

found it! Sega Nomad System lol

[@NostalgicRoe]

Where can I get a Game Gear setup like that? Or in general the ability to play my games on a tv?

[@27dcx]

Where's the link to the game gear mods?

[@bytex666]

on the cinemassacre website where this video was posted 2 years ago

[@27dcx]

Ah ok thanks

[@Dingalow]

"okay, so we have this game about a cave man who chucks rocks to solve his problems, so what attack should we give him? Rape."