1990 · Sega · Japan · handheld
Sega Game Gear
Sega attacked Nintendo’s monochrome Game Boy with a full-color, landscape backlit screen and the famous slogan "Separates the men from the boys." While it…
Essential Trivial to run ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
Sega attacked Nintendo’s monochrome Game Boy with a full-color, landscape backlit screen and the famous slogan "Separates the men from the boys." While it ate 6 AA batteries in 3 hours on real hardware, it is a joy to emulate.
Yuzo Koshiro composed an original soundtrack for The GG Shinobi, delivering some of the finest chiptunes ever produced on 8-bit handheld hardware.
Under the hood
- CPU
- Zilog Z80 @ 3.58 MHz with 8 KB RAM + 16 KB VRAM
- Sound chip
- Texas Instruments SN76489 (3 square channels + 1 noise) with stereo headphone output
- Graphics
- 3.2" Backlit Color STN LCD (160 × 144), 32 simultaneous colors from 4,096 palette
- Media
- Game Gear Cartridges & TV Tuner Accessory
What it cost
only about 9% of a month’s pay in 1990 · about $360 today
| US launch list price ($149.99 with Columns) |
$149.99 (1990)
Full-color backlit 8-bit handheld based on Sega Master System hardware. |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | 10,620,000 10.62 million units sold worldwide. |
Why it mattered
Yuzo Koshiro composed an original soundtrack for The GG Shinobi, delivering some of the finest chiptunes ever produced on 8-bit handheld hardware.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | Genesis Plus GX, Gearsystem, MasterGear |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Trivial to run (0 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | A standard modern controller covers the ordinary controls, though unusual accessories may need custom mapping. |
| Runs on a handheld | Yes |
Plug and play in Genesis Plus GX with zero BIOS required. Emulators eliminate the battery-drain drawback of the original hardware! The emulator names above are starting points, not a promise that every title or accessory behaves identically. Computer platforms usually add model selection, disk handling and keyboard setup even when CPU emulation itself is mature.
Firmware
This system needs no firmware file. Install an emulator, open a game, and it runs.
How many files you need: none to go and find. No separate firmware file is needed for an ordinary setup.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Libretro documentation for the current list.
Where the software is
Preservation catalogues describe verified dumps; they do not grant permission to download commercial software. A curated, correctly matched set is easier to use than an undifferentiated archive.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- The GG Shinobi I & II Action Platformer
Choose your ninja element (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth) with Yuzo Koshiro chiptune music.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 / Sonic Chaos Platformer
Tailored 8-bit Sonic physics and unique level geography.
- Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya Strategy RPG
Full-fledged tactical grid warfare with rich battle animations.
- Defenders of Oasis JRPG
Arabian Nights-inspired RPG with genies, thieves, and tactical party combat.
- Tails' Adventure Action Metroidvania
Tails exploring Cocoa Island with napalm bombs, remote robots, and flight mechanics.
- Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap Action Adventure
Portable color version of the beloved transformation adventure.
The verdict
Sega’s full-color, backlit Master System in your hands. Outstanding 8-bit platformers and RPGs: Sonic 2, GG Shinobi, Shining Force Gaiden, Defenders of Oasis, and Tails' Adventure.
The strongest software can be rewarding, but original controls and setup assumptions may matter more than screenshots suggest.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about sega handheld and arcade platforms and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 4/5 for fun today and 5/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.