Games that can be played on a handheld but aren’t really meant for it (e.g. most stuff on the Steam Deck) doesn’t really count.
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
Runner up: Pokemon gold/silver (GBC)GBA Yoshi’s Island, legit had the hooks in me for years
That and Sonic Advanced
That game was sooooo fun
After playing many hours of yoshis island on SNES as a child i cant imagine playing on such a small screen.
That being said it is such a good game and i appreciate anyone who enjoyed that as much as i have regardless of the console.
The first game I bought for the Nintendo DS was Trauma Center. It really sold me on the idea that new kinds of games were possible with the touch screen and stylus. It was also extremely challenging to get the highest rank on each stage. I spent hours playing the stages over and over trying to get the top ranks. The arcade style gameplay was pretty addictive, and it had a good storyline too.
I think the Zelda Oracle games were pretty rad. Easy games to play, and for the truly committed you had cross progression between the two games to complete quests across Seasons and Ages. The two games had completely different maps and dungeons to explore with different items in each. They were a dual release that weren’t just the same maps with slightly reshuffled enemies like the Pokémon games were. I remember trading my copy of Seasons to my friend for his copy of Ages and then checking in with each other to see where we were and if either of us had discovered any secrets that we hadn’t found in our respective playthrough.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP was pretty great.
Dude playing MHFU on PSP with friends was literally peak gaming!
Gonna go with Donkey Kong (1994). Made for a handheld (Game Boy) but also prominently features an enhanced mode enabled by running it on Nintendo’s Super Game Boy accessory for the SNES/Super Famicom (actually mine’s an SGB2–even better).
Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django. You play a vampire hunter with a solar powered gun, and the gimmick is that the GBA cartridge contains a UV sensor so that you’re required to go outside and use real sunlight. It’s such an absurd gimmick, but it works. It works incredibly well and makes it an unforgettable experience.
The first game is alright, but the second is where the series really came into its own.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA). Being able to grind XP / gear to compensate for my bad platforming skills was amazing. Also this sparked my love for Metroidvania games.
Jeanne D’arc on PSP has to be the best tactical rpg I’ve played for pure fun value amazingly polished game if not that well known.
PSP has an amazing catalog I still keep a ton of them on my phone and attach a bluetooth controller.
While always mentioned when talking about the psp library, I definitely think it’s really a hidden gem for the larger gaming community.
After playing Jeanne D’arc most trpgs feel underwheing.
Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks were pretty cool. I played both with the stylus because the DS control pad is tiny as fuck, literally painful to use for more than a few minutes.
Same with the Layton games.
I just got a handheld emulation machine that runs pretty much anything up to Dreamcast, and having a huge chunk of the history of gaming in my pocket has been rad as hell.
Rediscovering a lot of GBA games has been a lot of fun. Wario Land 4 is so fucking good, and I feel like it’s been completely forgotten.
half minute hero. the section where you have the duel greaves has lived with me every day of my life.
Do mobile games count?
Dragon Crystal for the GG. Also Columns for GG.
Nice pick! Was my first experience playing a Rogue-like game, though I wouldn’t know that term for at least two decades.
