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Best handheld for GameBoy catalog?

Hey y'all. First post on Lemmy!

I want to go back and play my favorite GameBoy games, and want to find the best way to do this on a handheld device. I have lots of cartridges, but ROM support would be nice! I've looked at Steamdeck but I'm not sold on it yet... the Analogue Pocket looks lush but expensive. The Miyoo Mini Plus looks promising, and the RG353V almost looks too good to be true. I specifically want to play GameBoy and GameBoy Color games, bonus points if it can do GameBoy Advance.

What say y'all?

34 comments
  • Miyoo Mini plus and Ambernic RG35xx are probably what you want. I have these two devices and the 353V, all three are quite nice but the MM+ and RG35xx are better to your needs and are probably better for beginners.

    Personally I would go for the MM+. Definitely install OnionOS if you get a MM+ or GarlicOS if you go for thr 35xx. (JELOS is my pick for the 353V) These custom firmwares are far more polished and have more performance than the default OS and have tons of great features and community applications.

  • All Gameboy Advances play GB, GBC, and GBA. The best GBA is the SP model AG-101 which has a factory backlight screen. However, there are tons of modifications available for Gameboys out there. I say get a used GBA and go to https://www.retromodding.com/ and go to town on it. Customize it the way you want

    For ROMs only, the absolute best way to play is to get a Nintendo 3DS or 2DS and install home brew software. And as a bonus you can play the entire DS and 3DS library as well.

    FYI the Nintendo DS can play GBA games, but it does not support GB or GBC.

    I know you said you wanted handheld, but for anyone else reading my absolute favorite way to play is with a Gamecube and a Gameboy Player! It actually plays all GB, GBC, and GBA games! Gameboy Players can be cheap, but the boot disc is expensive. To get around this there is home brew software for the Gameboy Player that is very good, although I haven't tried it myself. To use it you need an Action Replay and a cheap SD card to GC memory card adapter. The software will boot the Action Replay first, then boot whatever is on the SD card. (I bet there are ways to load roms too but I haven't looked). I play with a Raphnet SNES to Gamecube adapter.

  • I bought a gameboy color and a EZFlash cart and can play any GB or GBC games on it.

    My one was pre-modded with an IPS screen but I have also modded one myself and it wasn’t overly difficult.

    There’s something about playing on an original Nintendo machine lol

  • I really like my Retroid Pocket 2+ for all gens of Gameboy, Game Gear, NeoGeo Pocket, Wonderswan, etc.

  • I have both am R4 card for my 3DS and a 353V. Loving the 353 as it covers so many systems. Ripping all the games from my Dreamcast from back in college has been awesome. GB, GBA are flawless on that device

34 comments