Product Description

Pocket-sized game system preloaded with 20 great games. Play on the go, or plug into your TV for big-screen fun. Games include: Sonic Drift II, Assault City, Kung Fu Kid, Fantasy Zone, The Maze. The Ninja, Super Columns, Astro Warrior, Bomber Raid, Sonic Triple Trouble, Alex Kidd in High Tech World and more. For 1 player; ages 5 and up; A/V cable included.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132871 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Coleco
• Model: 41740

Features

• Pocket-sized game system preloaded with 20 great games
• Play on the go, or plug into your TV for big-screen fun
• Games include: Sonic Drift II, Assault City, Kung Fu Kid, Fantasy Zone, The Maze
• The Ninja, Super Columns, Astro Warrior, Bomber Raid, Sonic Triple Trouble, Alex Kidd in High Tech World and more
• For 1 player; ages 5 and up; A/V cable included

Customer Reviews

Classics in your pocket, but watch out -- these games have aged.
This machine contains 20 8-bit (Sega Master System and Game Gear) games, including including Sonic Triple Trouble, Fantasy Zone, Super Columns, Alex Kidd, Fantasy Zone, Ecco the Dolphin, and others. Personally, I NEED to own anything that has the Coleco name on it AND plays classic Sega games, even though I'm not a big fan of their 8-bit stuff. It looks like the "new" Coleco is doing right by their brand legacy, because this is a solid little unit. Here are my impressions of the new handheld unit:

Hardware: The build quality of this device is well above average, definitely better than the VGPocket games, and at least on par with the GP2X. The case is glossy black plastic with a subtle marble/sparkle finish. The whole thing looks nice in person, despite the nasty red COLECO logo. It feels substantial in the hand, but definitely smooth and pocketable. It's larger than the GB Micro, about the size and thickness of a largish cell phone, but very light. It doesn't make any noise when you twist it. There are two speakers on the front of the device, probably dual mono output. The screen is large and bright, with excellent color saturation and contrast. The buttons have a nice springy feel to them. The two buttons above the D-pad on the left are volume + and -, which come in handy since the device doesn't remember your volume setting when you switch it off. The buttons over the A and B action buttons on the right are RESET (to the game select menu) and START. There are no shoulder buttons or volume wheels on the device, just a small slot for a wrist strap. A headphone jack on the bottom of the unit is intelligently placed and doesn't get in the way.

Hackability?: The unit takes 3 AAA batteries and you need a small screwdriver to open the battery compartment. The device is held together by 4 small screws so it looks like it would be easy to get inside easily. I didn't open mine -- I want to play some games for my hard-earned cash, first. There's a jack for an external power adapter (DC 5V), as well as a standard mini-AV jack for audio/video output (included) should you want to play on the big screen. I'm happy with the built-in games for now, but it would be neat to expand this device. It almost feels like there's enough room in the case to do something like that.

Software: I don't know if this is a "SMS-on-a-chip," but it feels like the real thing to me, rather than emulation. Sounds are loud and accurate, and video is displayed in the game's original aspect ratio. Since different video systems are present on the software in this device, some games are upscaled to fill the whole screen, while others are displayed in a window. Text is readable in all modes and motion blur is minimal -- on par with GBA Micro and MUCH better than the original Game Gear. It's nice to have Sonic Triple Trouble on the run in my pocket, and having Snail Maze without a TV-based console. The game selection was done by someone who knows the Sega library, as there are no issues like those you sometimes see with pirate multicarts, such as duplicates, unplayable dogs, or titles that need the lightgun or 3D glasses. These are OLD games, but unlike some of the recent "new" games that were created for plug and play devices, most of these have a measure of professional polish. In other words, I'd rather play great games from the late 80s than poor games from last week.

Game list: (they're displayed in this order in the software menu)
Sonic Drift 2
Sonic Triple Trouble
Alex Kidd in High Tech World
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Altered Beast
Assault City
Astro Warrior
Aztec Adventure
Bomber Raid
Columns
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
Fantasy Zone
Fantasy Zone: The Maze
Global Defense
Kung Fu Kid
The Ninja
Penguin Land
Quartet
Snail Maze
Super Columns

Go Coleco!
I purchased a Coleco Sonic Handeld online for $50, and I'm glad to say that it was well worth my money. I can see this as being great for both people like me who like the classic Sega games (or in my case, Sega in general) and play occaisonally, or for people who play more often. It is very portable - just look at the picture some other guy posted - it's not that big compared to the Gameboy Micro. The games on this thing are great, since there's a good mix of shooters (like Assault City and Global Defence), adventure (Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Ecco II: Sands of Time), and puzzles (Snail Maze and Columns). Plus there are those games that don't really fit into any game category, but are still immensly fun to play. For people who care about looks, you've got them here. The Coleco hanheld is all black (exceprt for that red logo) as has a nice shine. The buttons are nice and springy, and the directional pad ("+" pad thingy) is very responsive. The headphone jack is placed on the bottom of the handheld (good thinking) and the sound ajustment is nice too. Even if you haven't really played Sega games or (GASP!) haven't even heard of Sega, you will still thoroughly enjoy this product.

No continues !?1?!?!?!?
At first this game player seems great, until you find out that it will NOT let you use continues on any of the games!!! That's right, you will rarely see past the 1st level of any game. It makes a decent paper-weight....