To Put it Bluntly; Handheld Gaming is Mediocre

Originally Posted by Blizzaga

I'll add Final Fantasy Tactics A2 to the "Frak'n Awesome Handheld Games List" for various reasons. Namely, because it's awesome, and in my opinion the best FF Tactics game thus far (yes, even better than the first one for PS1).

Lets see... a list of awesome handheld games....

Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2
Wario Land
Wario Land 2
Sonic and Tails
Sonic Tripple Trouble
Sonic Advance
Sonic Advance 2
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2
Zelda: Link's Awakening
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Zelda: The Minish Cap
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Super Mario Kart DS
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Pokemon Blue
Pokemon Red
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Crystal
Pokemon Ruby
Pokemon Saphire
Pokemon Leaf Green
Pokemon Fire Red
Pokemon Diamond
Pokemon Perl
Pokemon Trading Card Game GBC
Kirby's Dreamland
Kirby's Dreamland 2
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Kirby: Squeak Squad
Kirby: Super Star Ultra
Harvest Moon GB
Harvest Moon 2
Harvest Moon 3
Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Cave Story
Super Mario 64 DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Meteos
Elite Beat Agents
Mario & Luigi
Mario & Luigi 2
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Metroid: Fusion
Feel the Magic
Feel the Magic 2
WarioWare: Touched!
Zelda: A Link to the Past
Advance Wars
Metroid: Zero Mission
WarioWare: Twisted!
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Mega Man Battle Network
Mega Man Battle Network 2
Metal Gear Acid
Summon Night: Twin Age
The World Ends With You
Advance Wars 2
Advance Wars DS

That's a few. I think it'd be pretty hard to make a complete list, but these are all amazing handheld games that I've played.

Many of the games listed above are ports from console games, which doesn't really help your argument at all.

Originally Posted by Dr. Fish

Many of the games listed above are ports from console games, which doesn't really help your argument at all.

There was a total of two ports on that list, however, non exclusivity doesn't make the game any worse.

Originally Posted by Dippo

Go to GameRankings. Look at game scores for handhelds. Then look at console/PC ratings. There is a clear discrepancy between the two. You would think that reviewers have some sort of bias against portable games. They don't. Reviewers look at games as a whole and don't just count certain parts.

Reviewers are not always right, but once you play portable games you realize that they most certainly are about this.

This quality ravine is not a result of developers downsizing games to fit /GBA/DS/PSP/; This is the developers being lazy.

I am not talking about graphics of handheld games (Obviously) being worse than their console counterparts. What I am talking about is pretty much everything else: music, style, control, level design, etc.

An example of what I am saying can be found in the Super Mario series. Super Mario Advance 2, 3, and 4 are some of the best Mario games ever. These games received high ratings around the board; despite the fact that they are ports (Which takes off a couple percent). The best that Nintendo could come up with in original handheld Mario platforming is New Super Mario Bros. This game is okay but pales in comparison to the NES/SNES classics.

When you play portable games you have to ask yourself questions? Did Metroid Fusion touch the greatness of Super Metroid? Was Metroid Prime Hunters anywhere near as beautiful or atmospheric as the original Prime? Did any of the GBA/DS Castlevanias come close to the smoothness of control of Symphony of the Night's Alucard? Did Phantom Hourglass have any of the magic or depth of The Wind Waker? Did any of the GBA/DS Sonic games have the music or level design of the Genesis greats? Was MGS Portable Ops as compelling as MGS3?

The answer to these questions is NO. None of the portable games had the effort put into them that their console editions did. Many of these games could have been much better if someone had stopped and said, "Why don't we fix this?" I know that not all games are trying to be the best; just as most movies are made to make money and not win awards.

What I am trying to say is that great franchises have faltered when it comes to handheld expansions of the series.

Companies need to devote more time to the development of portable games. They should actually write a soundtrack, instead of flinging notes together; they should work on level design, not throw a couple screens together and call it a day; and most importantly make sure that the game is fun to play.

Out of all of the handheld games that I have played, the only one that I think has been truly great is The Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening. This is truly a game that was well thought out. It had good music, amazing puzzles, and graphics that rivaled the best of the NES. It also had a certain magical feel that no subsequent Handheld Zelda could match.

Game makers need to look to games like Link's Awakening for inspiration. They have to realize that when you put effort in; you get a result. A good game is a combination of many factors that must mesh together perfectly to create a good game.

Until this happens, handheld games will remain mediocre.

I absolutely agree. The quality in handhelds is continuously dipping and really makes me feel bad for the DS. And yes, Link's Awakening is probably the second/third best ZELDA game, not just the best handheld game. The only game in recent memory for a portable that was any good was Pokemon Pearl and it had a million issues with it that were hard to ignore. The wide array of compatibility with games of recent eras and other people who had the game greatly increased its longevity, but the extreme lack of anything at all to do in the world and the addition of new pokemon together were really disheartening.

No good games are being released on handhelds, they all seem to be trying to hard to be a regular console game. Examples are Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart DS, just about anything on the PSP, and Metroid Prime Hunters. Phantom Hourglass was an attempt at making a slightly watered-down Wind Waker, and it ended up sucking miserably. And the reasons weren't related to the handheld's lack of power or anything, but just genuine mistakes in game development, like the continues repetition of dungeons. Metriod Prime Hunters desperately tried to be a first person shooter on a handheld and could not work without a joystick. Not to mention it tried to be fast paced and just ended up sucking because of the control scheme it probably could have had the kinks worked out, but who cares about doing that when it would make money anyway?

I wish we could see more 2D side-scrollers like Metroid or Mario return. Or a new 2D Zelda. And no more of this crappy three-dimensional visuals on two dimensions. It's obnoxious, and looks bad because handhelds can't really handle three dimensions as good as a console can. They could make absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully animated sprites though, and sprites have a lot of charm. It wouldn't be a downgrade. Sprites looked lovely in all the Paper Mario games, why can't we have games similar graphically to Paper Mario on the DS? It could more than handle it and look amazing too. A fully-realized 2D Metroid with sprites on the DS would almost make me cream my pants. No doubt I would drool everywhere. A new Zelda along the lines of aLttP with the same view and style would be stellar. But no, we get this three dimensional stuff that tries too hard to be a console game, and ends up sucking, or just making the DS appeal to more people.

This thread put me into the mood to binge with my DS.

After several hours of playing New Super Mario Bros. and Final Fantasy Tactics A2, I reaffirmed to myself that handheld games are definitely not mediocre. They're still as wholesome and entertaining as they ever have been.

/thread.

Originally Posted by Lord linketh

soory i'll try my best i hunt and peck so...

Originally Posted by same

im soory, i'll try to do better,thanks for telling me i was wrong

This guy is awesome. This guy is seriously awesome.

Originally Posted by Shmehzzie was

This guy is awesome. This guy is seriously awesome.

I agree, I was going to correct his grammar in those posts, but then I was like, "At least he's trying." So I left him alone.

I have discovered another awesome DS game to add to the counter argument list.

Summon Night: Twin Age

Originally Posted by Aziel Satori

I have discovered another awesome DS game to add to the counter argument list.

Summon Night: Twin Age

Got this game in August. Awesomtacularly amazing.

Originally Posted by 8bit

There was a total of two ports on that list

Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2
Wario Land
Wario Land 2
Sonic and Tails
Sonic Tripple Trouble
Sonic Advance
Sonic Advance 2
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2
Zelda: Link's Awakening
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Zelda: The Minish Cap
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Super Mario Kart DS
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Pokemon Blue
Pokemon Red
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Crystal
Pokemon Ruby
Pokemon Saphire
Pokemon Leaf Green
Pokemon Fire Red
Pokemon Diamond
Pokemon Perl
Pokemon Trading Card Game GBC
Kirby's Dreamland
Kirby's Dreamland 2
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Kirby: Squeak Squad
Kirby: Super Star Ultra
Harvest Moon GB
Harvest Moon 2
Harvest Moon 3
Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Cave Story
Super Mario 64 DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Meteos
Elite Beat Agents
Mario & Luigi
Mario & Luigi 2
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Metroid: Fusion
Feel the Magic
Feel the Magic 2
WarioWare: Touched!
Zelda: A Link to the Past
Advance Wars
Metroid: Zero Mission
WarioWare: Twisted!
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Mega Man Battle Network
Mega Man Battle Network 2
Metal Gear Acid
Summon Night: Twin Age
The World Ends With You
Advance Wars 2
Advance Wars DS

Looks like six to me, and that's not even counting Fire Red and Leaf Green as ports of their originals.

however, non exclusivity doesn't make the game any worse.

That's true, but when trying to make a list of games that shows how handheld gaming can hold its own in respect to consoles, it would probably be wise not to put console-to-handheld ports as examples.

Looks like six to me, and that's not even counting Fire Red and Leaf Green as ports of their originals.

That would be a total of six (and LeafGreen and FireRed are more remakes than ports, and Blue and Red weren't on console anyways) games; not that many, which was what you said.

Did I? Maybe I meant "some."

Okay, so even though most of those games are made for the handheld, there are still those that are very derivative of superior console games. Like Sonic Advance, Mario and Luigi, or Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Good games every one, but I don't think very many would prefer them over their console originals.

That being said, there are some excellent series that originated from handheld roots. Kirby, Advance Wars, Pokemon, and Wario Land are examples that even have console games based on the series, proving that there is at least some gaming originality and ingenuity being applied to handhelds.

As soon as I bought a DS, ive spent more money on games for it than consols. I love the games for the DS. I have no idea what your problem or other reviewers problem is with hand helds.

I agree with Blitz; the only reason that I'm not rushing out and buying games for it is because I'm worried that my 4-year old is going to break it, thus losing any games that I've got saved.

>.<

(And I didn't get the Tactics game because I still have some battles left in FF12.)