Zelda Game and Watch device

[eri0o]

Recently got the small Zelda Game and Watch device and it's a sweet little thing. It's a small device that you can play Zelda I, Zelda II and Zelda Link's Awakening (the original one, not even the dx).

It's such a nice thing. It has buttons for that and that's it. It does also contain a timer and a clock and a mini game. It's battery apparently lasts a lot, I am still in the first charge.

It totally makes me imagine a small device that only plays a small selection of ags games - although I have no idea how the thing would look like.

I saw that apparently there is one that only plays Mario 1 too, but I don't think I will get that. I have been rediscovering the original Gameboy and Gameboy Color and the mindset to play is so nice - grab the cart, shove the cart in and play, no updates, you can turn things off at any time. The games are also things that you can play a little and turn off - works great in busy adult life, lol.

But anyway, back to the Zelda Game Watch, I think if I would complain one thing is it deserved a physical volume slider or at least a mute button. If you want to change the volume you have to press a small config button and then find the option in the menu, and then click it and then opens another window to change the volume. You can also place your finger over the speaker output to muffle the sound.

Ah, the device has a clock so you can play while you wait for something - maybe the lunch break.

Anyway, I played Zelda I and II way too young and didn't finish neither at the time (I think), and it's a nice experience to revisit and it's a device I could hand to kid at some point and not worry too much.

[LimpingFish]

I saw that apparently there is one that only plays Mario 1 too, but I don't think I will get that.

I have that. It has Super Mario Bros, the Japanese Super Mario Bros 2, and Ball, a Game & Watch title. I agree with your points about it lacking certain features, but the resume game feature is dope.

I remember seeing a YouTube video about someone soldiering a headphone jack into the Zelda one (EDIT: here).

[Khris]

I got this a few months ago:
https://anbernic.com/products/rg35xx?variant=43649446805761
(from here: https://www.geekbuying.com/item/ANBERNIC-RG35XX-Handheld-Game-Console-64GB-Card-Grey-519449.html)

It boots really fast, has a great UI and emulates everything up to and including Playstation 1 games.
It costs about as much as the Zelda G&W but also plays the SNES, GBC and GBA games
You can even use it like a console if you connect it to a TV and a gamepad.

[eri0o]

Uhm, nice information it also has Mario 2, now I may get it, lol. Thanks!

@Khris how well does it work? Does it boots right away? Does it have too many software updates?

The other interesting thing I saw is there are some cheap kits to change the screen of Gameboy Color and some cool different plastic cases for it, and you simply get an old beaten up one to scavenge the main board, take out the screen, resolder it and put it in the new plastic. It looks reasonably doable and beaten up Gameboy Color can still be found reasonably at ok prices.

There is also apparently some chinese gameboy carts that are very cheap and work somewhat the same for simpler games.

I also saw some flasheable carts, thinking a bit to explore this paired along with GB Studio to make my own Gameboy games and play in real hardware.

I also was looking for a portable SNES that could boot real cartridges but apparently the ones available are using some unstable emulator instead of so.e regutted SNES chips.

[Khris]

@eri0o

It takes 13 seconds to boot to the console selection screen (including holding down the button to power it on). Way, way faster than for instance RetroPie.
You cannot connect this one to the internet; you simply put your games on an SD card and pop it in the 2nd SD card slot. Upgrading is possible if you flash a suitable image on the card in the 1st slot, but there's no reason to do this once you have a working system; it's not like you need to constantly update a gameboy emulator core

I've looked into DIY kits but I primarily wanted a new, reliable, fast handheld that emulates all the 80's and 90's consoles. The kits all seem to be Raspberry based and therefore running Retropie, so it'll take you about 2 minutes from powering it on to being able to play, which is a dealbreaker for me. I also find the controller configuration to be a massive headache. (And let's not talk about the fact that a Raspberry doesn't have a power switch...)

The RG35XX also has the Gameboy Pocket form factor but features the full set of PS1 controller buttons and a great screen. It also does use RetroArch under the hood, so you have the full range of settings to tinker with, if you want to.

I'm pretty sure a homebrew GB game will run fine on most GB cores, but I get the appeal of putting your own cartridge into an actual Gameboy

[eri0o]

Uhm, I think the magic of cartridges and Real Hardware™️ is a lot to me. I was wondering here whether to get one of those but for now I will restrict the emulation on my PC. I found a really nice GBC emulator on GitHub and am using it to play Survival Kids. I also found a repro of the English version of the cartridge on AliExpress for really cheap including shipping and got it (like around 6USD!), I will wait it arrive and test it as the real cartridge I can only find in Japanese - not sure if it was released in English at all, but I found a ROM in English and am playing it. The Japanese cartridges here are cheaper than in US, I guess because of the certain proximity (a lot of japanese people here) a lot of japanese cartridges are still somewhat easy to find.

I am happy playing on my flip GBA (I think it's called SP), and surprised how well the battery lasts.

I am looking around for some kit for writing in a cartridge, thinking about one cartridge with USB itself for quick dev/test cycle and one of those kits for recording in a single cartridge... To play with GB Studio. But still reading a lot on the topic, a lot of things in there are out of stock.

In the meantime I found a GBC screen that is around 50USD that includes the possibility to switch the palette of the game and some image filters... Also lots of plastic kits to customize your GBC are around 5USD! The hard part is getting an old GBC itself at a good price, they didn't sold as much here so there aren't a lot and I fear themselves will take some tax when shipping.

I ordered some things to play with here and will update when they arrive.