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Retro Review: PlayPal Portable
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Retro Review:
PlayPal Portable
Link to PlayPal Portable at Play Asia's
site
Once upon a time there was a handheld game. No, not the Game Boy,
this one was in colour. No, not the Lynx either, but Sega's Game
Gear.
This was a rather cool little system that unfortunately ate through
batteries like a battery eating machine, but on the upside had a
crystal clear colour backlit display and some rather decent games
available for it.
It lasted six years against the unstoppable might of the Game Boy
before being put out to pasture, but that isn't the end of the
story.
Last year The PlayPal was released. It's based on the Game Gear
with 20 built in games, including some fairly rare ones. After a bit of checking
it turns out that
these games aren't really the Game Gear versions - but the Master
System ones, not that is matters really.
First though - let's have a look at what you get for your money
(currently around £15).
Retro Gaming on the go
First off - the packaging is actually rather decent. This is
certainly no cheap Chinese clone system - all these titles have been
officially licensed by Sega. You get the console and an AV
lead. Yes kids, you can also play this on the telly (as long as
your telly supports NTSC)! The d-pad is comfortable to use and
the controlls are responsive. The console is a little smaller
than the original Game Gear and should be OK for all but the smallest
hands.
A Mini Master System?
The 2.4 inch backlit display is clear with bright colour definition,
albeit at a
low resolution. The sound is clear enough and even supports the
FM sound samples in games such as Altered Beast ("Power Up!").
There is a good choice of games (albeit with a couple of stinkers such
as Snail Maze). High
points are Sonic - Triple Trouble,
Alex the Kid in
Miracle World, Altered Beast,
Columns, Global Defence, Eco II - The Tides of Time and Fantasy Zone.
That's seven really good games. Add the others into the mix
(and who knows, you may even like some of them too) then you're looking
at a bit of a bargain.
The PlayPal certainly gives you good value for your money. At the
current exchange rate it's around 75p per game(!) on the handheld it is
costs less than some budget games, plus you get the console too.
Hopefully they will make a follow-up release with some more of the
better Master System games.
As a side note, I bought mine via Play Asia (see the link at the top of
the article). Delivery took less than a week from Hong Kong and
was very well packaged. They even gave a discount voucher against
my next purchase.
Conclusion: A nice piece of nostalgia for a real
bargain price.
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