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yann64andClaude Opus 5.5 b274874139 All machines linked to their forum thread (full comment import) 
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
2026-10-13 17:26:43 +02:00

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---
title: Sega Game Gear
categories:
- Consoles
params:
name: Game Gear
image: /media/museum/photos/sega_gamegear_1s.jpg
company: /companies/sega
company_name: Sega
tabs:
- photos
- hardware
- software
- emulators
- links
forum_thread: 1079
photos:
- title: GAME GEAR
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sega_gamegear_1.jpg
- title: BLUE MODEL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sega_gamegear_blue-model.jpg
- title: WHITE MODEL
subtitle: ''
text: '... with TV tuner mounted'
image: /media/museum/photos/sega_gamegear_gamegear_white.jpg
- title: COCA-COLA MODEL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sega_gamegear_cocacola.jpg
- title: BOX
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sega_gamegear_box_1.jpg
hardware:
- title: FROM SEGA
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_carrying-case_1.jpg
- title: FOR THE GAMEGEAR
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_gamegenie.jpg
- title: BOX
subtitle: ''
text: Plays Master Systems games on your Game Gear !
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_mastergear_box.jpg
- title: 'BOX #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_mastergear_box_2.jpg
- title: FROM SEGA
subtitle: ''
text: The PowerBack attaches to back of Game Gear and extends the battery life for hours of play without the need for recharging.
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_powerback_1.jpg
- title: BOX
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_powerback_2.jpg
- title: FROM RECOTON
subtitle: ''
text: This is a FM Radio adapter for GameGear with tuning button, volume button and headset plug. Play your Favourite FM radio stations through the Sega Gamegear console !
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_recoton-fm-tuner.jpg
- title: FROM SEGA
subtitle: ''
text: This excellent add-on turns your Game Gear into a portable colour TV!
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_tv-tuner_1.jpg
- title: MOUNTED ON THE SYSTEM
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/sega_gamegear_tv-tuner_2.jpg
screenshots:
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/bart%20vs.%20the%20world%20%28jue%29%20%5Ba1%5D-01.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/batman%20returns%20%28jue%29%20%5B%21%5D-01.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/bubble%20bobble%20%28ue%29-01.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/bust-a-move%20%28ue%29%20%5B%21%5D-01.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/bust-a-move%20%28ue%29%20%5B%21%5D-02.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_columns_box.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/columns%20%28j%29-01.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_castle-of-illusion_box.jpg
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/mickey%20mouse%20-%20castle%20of%20illusion%20%28j%29%20%5Ba1%5D-01.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/mickey%20mouse%20-%20castle%20of%20illusion%20%28j%29%20%5Ba1%5D-02.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_put-putter_box.jpg
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/putt%20and%20putter%20%28jue%29-02.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/putt%20and%20putter%20%28jue%29-03.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #3'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/putt%20and%20putter%20%28jue%29-06.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_sonic_box.jpg
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sonic%20the%20hedgehog%20%28jue%29-01.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sonic%20the%20hedgehog%20%28jue%29-02.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_super-golf_box.jpg
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/super%20golf%20%28j%29-01.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/super%20golf%20%28j%29-02.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/taz-mania%20-%20the%20search%20for%20the%20lost%20seabirds%20%28ue%29-01.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_tazzmania_box.jpg
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/taz-mania%20-%20the%20search%20for%20the%20lost%20seabirds%20%28ue%29-02.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #3'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/taz-mania%20-%20the%20search%20for%20the%20lost%20seabirds%20%28ue%29-04.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #4'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/taz-mania%20-%20the%20search%20for%20the%20lost%20seabirds%20%28ue%29-07.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_donald_box.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/lucky%20dime%20caper%2C%20the%20-%20starring%20donald%20duck%20%28j%29-01.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/sega_gamegear_wonder-boy_box.jpg
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #1'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/wonderboy%20%28j%29-01.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/wonderboy%20%28j%29-02.png
- title: 'SCREENSHOT #3'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/wonderboy%20%28j%29-03.png
emulators:
- title: FreezeSMS
url: http://freezesms.emuunlim.com/index.html
platform: Windows
text: Excellent emulator (NES, SMS, GameGear, SG1000, Coleco)
- title: MEKA
url: http://www.smspower.org/meka/
platform: Windows
text: Best Game Gear emulator (also emulates a lot of Sega 8-bit systems)
links:
- title: GAMEFAQS - GameGear section
url: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gamegear/
text: Tips & tricks, FAQs about GG games
- title: Official Game Gear pages from Sega!
url: http://www.sega.co.jp/archive/segahard/gg/
text: Excellent. Lot of info here (specs, pix, soft lists, ads,etc.)
- title: SMS Power!
url: http://www.smspower.org/
text: Excellent site dedicated to Sega 8-bit systems
- title: The REAL GAME GEAR F.A.Q.
url: http://www.classicgaming.com/museum/faqs/realggfaq.shtml
text: Full of info about the Game Gear, including list of cartridges
- title: Wikipedia - Gamegear entry
url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Gear
text: Nice page with full info
oc_id: 1109
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230507012732/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1109
date: '2023-05-07'
---
In 1991 Sega entered the handheld marked with its Game Gear console to compete with Nintendo's popular Game Boy. The hardware was pretty much a direct copy of Sega's 8-bit [Master System](/museum/sega-master-system/) technology which was just dramatically reduced in size to fit the handheld case. There was also an adapter called Master Gear which enabled you to play SMS games on your GG. The only real difference between the Master System and the Game Gear is that the GG has a color palette of 4096 compared to the 256 of the SMS. This is pretty much the only reason why the SMS can't play GG games.
Compared to Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Gear has many advanced features like a quite big backlit color screen (3.2''), which even the original Game Boy Advance doesn't have, and a more ergonomical case design.
But this was not enough to win the handheld battle. Nintendo's console already had many good games available whereas GG had mostly conversions of old SMS games with added colors. It was also more expensive that the Game Boy due to its color screen. The battery life of the GG was also quite short with the batteries of the time (not so much of problem nowadays as batteries have improved) and it also took six AA sized batteries at once which was quite a strain on the owners wallet. The machine was also more fragile that the Game Boy and many of the machines that you can see for sale today have scratches on their screen and sound problems especially when using headphones.
---
Text by Taneli Lukka
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