Link's Awakening DX! I remember playing the crap out of that game on the GBC. The gameplay, the music, everything about this game was/is awesome! A runner up would have to be the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents series on the DS. Also Pokemon. But only the first 2 gens.

I think a lot of us neglected to mention when it comes to the iPhone is the people who already have them and are desperate to leave AT&T based simply on coverage. Almost all of us discussed our experience and why we thought it wasn't a huge deal. But for some people, it is a big deal, because AT&T really doesn't care about their customers.

As for this week's Wringer, I'm not really a hand-held gamer at all. I never had a Gameboy, but I did have a Super Gameboy (and the Gamecube Gameboy Player). Hand helds, much like 3D movies, give me terrible motion sickness.

Because of that, I wasn't able to keep up with that area of gaming. So when everyone I knew was discussing whatever hand held game they were currently playing, I was still rocking the Genesis and SNES.

I wasn't cool for that and there was really nothing I could do about it.

One of the beautiful things about not being that kind of gamer is how I got to go back and re-experience all of these wonderful titles on GB players. I never realized how many truly fantastic games there were. Yet still, all of my favorite titles are on consoles and not hand helds. But I'll probably have to go with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening as my favorite hand held game.

I just need to get the PSP 3000, because you can hook it up to your television and play through the HDMI port. I need to play through Dissidia and Crisis Core. Luckily, as a Grand Theft Auto fan, the two titles released for it were re-released for PS2.

I have a DS, but I don't play it at all. I got it for Final Fantasy 3, but I still don't play it.

Including this one might count as cheating but hey,it's my damn post so I'll just say it:

The Legend of Zelda: A link to the past on the Gameboy Advance. You just can't get any better than that as far as handheld gaming goes.

A few honorable mentions:

Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

Castlevania:Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)

Ace Attorney series (DS)

Pre FF VII Final Fantasy remakes (All over the place really)

Sonic Advance (GBA) (Arguably the last great 2d Sonic)

Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (PSP)

I don't know if I can decide between two classic GameBoy titles which is my favourite, so I'll list them both.

Link's Awakening (not DX, just Link's Awakening in glorious GameBoy Black/Green) is one of the two.  I only have played it once but I remember it so vividly.  I never owned it, but would play it on my friend's copy on the bus to school.  The level of depth the game's story had really connected with me.  The whole dream state of the island and the actual Awakening really stuck out to me for a game that seemed more simplified than A Link To The Past.

My second title would be Metroid II The Return of Samus.  Unlike Link's Awakening, I played that title more times than I can count.  I know that game like the back of my hand, and really enjoyed the moodiness of it - especially being startled by every Metroid hatchling.  I know it's the black sheep of the Metroid series, but at the time when there was only the NES iteration and the GB title to choose from, I preferred the latter.

So, yeah, I kind of chose two.  I might lean more towards Metroid just because of playing more frequently, but these both really stick out to me as benchmark points in hand-held gaming.

I'm with Mr. K, the portable gaming market never really hit me. I never found myself super excited for a portable game.  It's not motion sickness, but I just can't can't hold onto  a portable game for too long. However, I do own a DS and their has been one game that I've had the most fun with.

SCRIBBLENAUTS: No, it's not first party Nintendo or anything special, but I think it's really fun with the creativity and overall fun of the puzzles. Plus, it's cool that you can just mess around and have fun. And don't even get me started on creating fights I've always wanted to see. 

But otherwise, Portable games... meh

I have to agree that the first two generations pokemon were fantastic games that I definantly spent more time than I can count on. Also links awakening dx was fantastic as the first handheld, and the ending is still kind of depressing:P.

Other mentions:

Ace attorney series

megaman battle network series (don't judge me; i still stand by them)

final fantasy tactics advance kicks ass

The Oracles are my personal favorites due to just being a near perfect Zelda games you could play them on the go i still play Seasons to this day but sadly my copy of Ages no longer functions right after  i beat it. 

Actually, Mr. K, you play the PSP through a component connection, not HDMI. So I hope your TV supports those, too. :)

I know there are going to be a lot of people listing Link's Awakening. Actually, I asked for a GB when that game was out and I never got it; they listened to my sister and got a Game Gear. *Shrugs* The first online purchase I ever made was Link's Awakening DX, still in shrink (although the shrink had been cut, it was still in mint condition). This was a few years after it came out, when I bought my (launch day) GameBoy Advance. I also got the two Oracle Zelda games that came out right before the GBA's launch. I honestly think I like the Oracle games better, even if they reuse a lot of assets from LA. The games seemed more mysterious, for some reason. So my favorite handheld Zelda game is Oracle of Ages. And that's damned near my favorite handheld game. I really like the first Dragon Warrior Monsters, but not as much as Oracle of Ages. Dragon Warrior III was my favorite NES RPG/favorite Dragon Quest game, but it's a port so I dunno if I'd consider it my favorite on GBC too.

On GBA, the Golden Sun games are really good, but I don't think I'd replay them. Once again, lots of really good games.

I have a TON of great DS games. At least 45 (only a few I'd say are not great, just good. And no, I have no Pokemon games), after counting, and I have one paid-off preorder that's coming out in a week or so (probably my last DS game, aside from the Game & Watch Collection 2 I'll get as a Club Nintendo reward soon). Wow. So of course, I've found a few games that I love, and I finally had a chance to buy Chrono Trigger.

But even against so many great games, I think... I think Etrian Odyssey III is my favorite DS game. And I think it may very well beat out the Golden Sun games AND Oracle of Ages. Anyone who says you have to grind in this game is playing it wrong, too. The only downside to the game is it may require a FAQ to figure out how to get the optional drops, but most of them make sense after-the-fact. Oh, and that it's for hardcore gamers only (but I kind of like that). Just goes to show, sometimes you don't need a huge development budget to make a fantastic game.

Etrian Odyssey III for the win.

I actually own the original Link's Awakening as well as DX. I first played DX but the original is still freakin awesome. DX just has a bigger nostalgia factor for me.

"Keeping it to more recognizable system" so I take it Merlin is out of the question? http://www.handheldmuseum.com/ParkerBros/Merlin.htm

$250.00 for a handheld? I don't even buy consoles for that price, every console I bought was $99.99 and the prices on the NES, SNES my parents bought were $99.99, and the DSLite I bought was $94.00 (Glad that stores do Ad-Match since the other store they were gone fast at that price.)

Never got into handheld gaming since I don't like the small screens and if the lighting isn't right it's hard to see the screen, but I did play thought Driver on the GameBoy Colour.

However when I had access to a DS I tried it, and along with the GameBoy Advance games (but without the curses of the touch screen and stylus) I liked the full colour screen that is the likes of a TV, so I bought myself a DSLite the moment the DSi came out since I had several GameBoy Advance games and no access to a DSLite anymore.

A sibling of mine gave me their GameBoy Colour and games since it never gets used anymore and ironical within a couple of week I came across a Super GameBoy and a couple of month later a GameBoy Player (but I needed to order the CD from Nintendo). So if Nintendo keeps the pattern the console after the Wii might have an DS Player which will make my DS no longer needed.

One of the main reasons I play handheld games are to play 2D Zelda, Metroid, Mario  games (in that order) and 2D games in general. I just wish that Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons weren't expensive.

Favorite handheld game? Umm, that is hard to say. I like most GameBoy/GameBoy Colour games for the lack of graphics.

GameBoy - 'The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'

GameBoy Colour - 'Driver'

GameBoy Advance - 'Klonoa: Empire of Dreams'

DS - 'Soul Bubbles' and the Dragon Quest numerical games.

To mention I have played ports of some Game Gear games on the Sonic Gems Collection (GameCube) and they weren't bad. I do want to try some more Game Gear games that aren't Sonic games.

If you don't like handhelds, most of the Game Gear Sonic games were ports of Master System games.

Being a handheld gamer by trade, I have way too hard a time picking just one...

OK, tell you what, take a d6, and roll it. That will give you my favourite handheld game.

1) Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red (GBA)/ Blue (DS):

I like the idea of playing as the pokemon for once, and I've always liked mystery dungeon style games (Persona 4 and Dark Cloud being my 2 favourite home console games)

2) Fire Emblem 8: The Sacred Stones (GBA):

I like the return of the branched evolution paths, as well as the trainees. And the inclusion of something to do after the main story is a very nice touch. Oh, btw, can a dragon hit swordmaster Joshua? No. No they cannot.

3) Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

I find this game keeps drawing me back. For one, the levels were all very fun. But the main reason is I still haven't reached Wario... the castle is hard dammit. I will beat you one day though.

4) Tetris (GB): Do I even have to explain this one? it's tetris.

5) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney (DS):

How much fun is it to yell "OBJECTION!" at the top of your lungs? Quite a lot, actually. These games are actually quite fun though. Plus, hurray for false logic proving your points. That may be why I'm quite good at these games actually...

6) Pokemon Red/Blue (GB):

The originals (unless you count green) were really the best imo (the grind just before claire/elite four ruined Gold/Silver, I never really got into Ruby/Sapphire, I haven't played enough of Diamond/Pearl to form an opinion, and the "Extra Game"/"Remakes" just seem to be lacking something).

Anyway, there's my list. 

I could say that Zelda (all of them GB/GBC/GBA/DS) is my favorite series, and though I love them all, they are not my favorite portable games overall.

Tetris has to be the absolute best portable game for me.

When I got my Game Boy back in the day (20 years ago this past Christmas) I only had the one game to play and it was the included copy of Tetris.

I played that game for hours on end.  I am still proud to ay that I hit 120,000 points fairly consistently,and I think I hit really close to 200,000 a couple of times with a best line score somewhere around 130.  I started my games on level 7 or 8 and was practically OCD for hitting the 4-line completion.  There were times I would shut off the game and restart if I missed a Tetris.

I have since hit 246,846 points and maxed out at level 16 at just under 160 lines recently on Tetris DS.

On a side note, it seems as though the batteries that came with the system lasted forever.  I think I played for a couple months on that set of batteries before I bought the Game Boy Battery Pack.  It amounted to an AC adapter with a battery pack ab0ut the size of your fist that had a belt clip and a cord that ran to the Game Boy.  You could play for a long time on one charge of it as well.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nPhs3B8v63s/0.jpg

Tetris has been my go to game for a long time.  I even owned Mickey's Magical Tetris on the N64.  That game rocked and could really kick your ass.

Interestingly enough, I hated the original Tetris on the NES.  The play control was horrible on the NES.  The Game Boy version was far superior.

And I still have my original Tetris cart.

I never owned one, but wouldn't the Sega Nomad qualify the Genesis games for portability?

Just throwin' it out there.

For my money, Pokemon Gold/Silver was the best that the classic Game Boy had to offer.  It just held an amazing amount of things to do for an RPG on a then decade-old system.

But of course, special consideration has to be given to the ultimate portable game, and the thing that sold so many Game Boys in the first place - Tetris.

Plus, bonus points to Super Mario Land for such an awewsome ending theme song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi5f5MVYjh8

     My fav handheld has to be the gba.  When I first held it and started playing Donkey Kong Country and A Link to the Past, I truely started to realize that handheld gaming was on-par with console gaming, and could one day surpass it.

     As for my fav handheld game, Im goin with Pokemon gen.I (on the GameBoy) because was the first handheld RPG that was just as deep and expansive and deep as any console RPG.  The first time I played, I was extreamly suprised how it got so much out of the GB hardware.  I would have just been happy if it could save my progress!

Growing up, I was one of those spazz-tastic kids with extremely hard to manage ADHD. constantly talking ,moving, and ipulsive. One day, my parents realized that one of the only times I sat still silently was when I was hooked up to a game console. So, they bought me a gameboy to keep me occupied and quiet for places where i would be waiting a long time and car trips more than fifteen minutes long. Things moved to the GBA after that and then I bought my DS and PSP. I've had a lot of games come and go over the years, so this is a tough question.

eh, enough lecturing: here are my picks.

Gameboy/GBC-- either Tetris or Zelda: Links awakening. I seriously never got tired of either game. they were constatly on hand with the GB.

GBA--  Castlevania: Circle of the Moon . I'm a HUGE castlevania fan and have been for a long time, and this is one of my favorite handheld action games. a very close runner up is Zelda Minish Cap

DS--, I'm not sure. there are a lot of DS games i really, really, really, like, My favorite RPG for it is The World Ends With You. When my first DS and all my games got stoen, TWEWY was the one i was truly devestated about so i guess that does make it my fav.

PSP--This would either have to be Persona 3 Portable, a VERY good port with added content, or MGS: portable Ops.

If I could only chooes one though, it would be Zelda: Minish cap. i play it every now and then, its always excellent,

TWEWY would take second place.

I've owned a Gameboy, a Gameboy advance, a PSP and now a DS.  I was playing the ports of Metroidvania and Final Fantasy Tactic on my PSP, and was leveling every second of game play. When I bought my DS I got the remake of Final Fantasy 4, I haven't tocuhed my PSP since.

I also want to throw in, that anyone that buys an iPad has downs, HP was doing tablet computers before AND better than apple's expensive paperweight.

Pssssh, we all know that the Virtual Boy was the best portable system ever.

Dragon Warrior III (remake) for the Game Boy Color is not only my favorite handheld games, but easily in my top three favorite games ever. I've been playing it off and on for the last ten years, and just defeated Zoma for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I could hardly believe the epic quest I started when I was 6 was finally over... Everything, and I mean absoulutely everything in the masterpiece is pretty much the best you can ask for. I like how the main plot is basically composed of many sub-quests... The reclassing system is fantastic... MASSIVE world to explore, great classes, gameplay, fun to level up, perfect amount of challenge, graphics fit the game perfectly and are VERY impressive for GBC. And of course the sound/music, great. Hours upon hours upon hours of intense heroism, epic battles, twists, turns, bonus content (haven't even got to that, yet!), honestly anything that is good about the RPG genre is present and polished in this beautiful, beautiful game. I love it, best handheld ever.

You know, I took my copy of Dragon Warrior III reprise (GBC) to the first American Space World showing off the GameCube. Of course, I had already beaten the game and the first bonus dungeon solo, but I was collecting Monster Medals for the second Bonus Dungeon so I could go deeper into it. When I finished, I put it back in its case and put it in one of my pockets. When I got home, I washed my jeans. Although decently protected, there was still plenty of agitation, heat, and water, (and later even more heat and agitation in the dryer) and when I finally turned it back on all my save files were gone... except one. Good thing I made copies over every  journal AND saved in the temporary save slot. However, I had lost all my Monster Medals. I had to start getting them all over again. Needless to say, it took a while.

I think I was the first American to beat that game solo, as I was posting on the Enix of America boards at that time. But how'd I beat the first bonus boss solo? I found out that the negative effects from the Noh Mask's curse (which causes you to attack team mates, and possibly yourself) don't actually work if the hero is alone. So +255 DEF (or whatever it was) FTW. That extra defense means you can sacrifice some defense in other equipment for attack spell/breath resistances. Does mean you have to go without the status resistances offered by Ortega's Helm, though, and you have to get uncursed to take it off. And there's no WAY you can beat the bonus boss fast enough with a solor hero to get a reward, I just wanted to see if I could do it. After I did, I created some party members so I could get the rewards, and keep on playing into the second bonus dungeon. Actually, I beat the second bonus boss alone once I got his reward and put the video on YouTube.

Just thinking about it, I think I was 7 or 8 when I first played Dragon Warrior III... on the NES. ;-) That was a few years after it came out, though. It was definitely one of my favorite games.

Dragon Warrior 3 was definitely one of the best JRPGs of that era.  I go between that and DW4 when it comes to which is better in my book - they both so great for completely different reasons.  I mean, how often do you get to play the merchant in an RPG?

But I couldn't be the only one that would get scared by these games as a kid.  Running around a tower or dungeon, maybe low on HP and MP, and then BAM!  Random encounter.  That can traumatize a child...

Nope, you're not. I got scared in that way, too. Getting paralyzed or blinded can be really nasty too. :-P

But I couldn't be the only one that would get scared by these games as a kid.  Running around a tower or dungeon, maybe low on HP and MP, and then BAM!  Random encounter.  That can traumatize a child...

I know the feeling. When I was younger, I was too afraid to leave Kakariko Village in ALttP. I finally got up the courage to wander around the Light World field. But no way on the dungeons and especially the Dark World.

And awesome that you might have been the first to beat it solo, I'm thinking of starting a solo adventure soon!

One thing you'll discover is that enemies that can paralyze are the most dangerous enemies in the game. If they successfully paralyze you (not too unlikely) and you're alone, it's game over.

Also, there's only one part in the game where it actually recognizes your efforts, and you don't get anything too special. And it's 2/3 of the way through the game.

Are you ok Commodore? You seemed a bit down this week or maybe tired, anyway feel better man! 

My choice for number 1 would have to be a DEAD TIE between : The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Game Boy & Pokemon R/B/Y

LoZ: LA

This was one of the first Hand-Held/Game Boy /First  Games EVER that I played this was before i played Ocarina of Time so i didn't know who Link was but damn was this a fun game, from the Epic thundering into scene to the incredible music i never stopped loving this game, playing the first two dungeons NUMEROUS times because i was stuck after words i learned the hard way how challenging this game was to me (only about 6 at the time, i think) this was an awesome test to my young mind. I loved how you got to collect so many items and i was quick wanted to fill out the entire map and explore this island, TRUELY the best of the Zelda Hand-Helds were made in this style Such as Oracle of Ages/Season

Pokemon

I believe I was born the right time (1992) to enjoy Pokemon i was young and on the playground and saw a bunch of kids in a circle I went to go check it out and someone was playing a game, i didn't think much of it I had a Game Boy also so what's the big deal, i asked the kid what he was playing and he said "Pokemon", i look at the screen and he was walking around and the game looked fun so i asked if he could let me play for a sec, so i walked around in grass and the screen went crazy and music came on and i was quickly thrown into my first battle, from then on I've been a Pokemon fan, I got the game a week or so later and couldn't put it down, around the same time the show also game on which only fed this craze that hit the U.S. that year

Number 2 Choice: Tetris - Game Boy 

This is the first game that i played consciously, many a long car rides where spent playing this great game. I always picked Type C for my music and went at it trying to beat my high score and always quickly retrying even though i probably didn't make it that far, i learned how to use every block to my advantage.

We all know that the NGP is going to kick 3DS ass.

I'm not sure that necessitates a comment. :-p

thanks for the mention this week commodore and sorry it's taken me so long to comment, my internet is being an absolute pain in the ass. Btw, I don't think you really understood what I meant, but I'll post in the feedback thread I made about that in a few minutes.

Re: portable gaming - I've never really been a fan - I've had pretty much every portable system that has come out, but I've never really enjoyed any of them. The games themselves are great, but gaming on a small screen for me is tiresome - this is why the Super Game Boy and the more recent Game Boy Player are fantastic peripherals, as are emulators.  But gaming on the move... not for me.

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