Following Nintendo's successful release of the Game Boy in 1989, Sega started working on a rival handheld - the Game Gear, which was released in the UK in 1991. It was designed to be everything the Game Boy wasn't - Colour, back-lit and more comfortable to use.

The architecture at the heart of the Game Gear was very similar to that of the Master System, which aided companies in producing ports of their existing software for the new handheld. There was also a Master Gear add-on to allow Master System Games to be played on the Game Gear.

The major downside to the Game Gear was its battery life. Compared to the Game Boy which had 10-35 hours, the Game Gear had a paltry 3 hours of life from six batteries.

The Game Gear Console


The optional TV Tuner Accessory