Released back in 1995, fairly late in the life of the Sega Genesis, the portable Nomad system plays all Genesis and Mega Drive titles. The backlit 2.5-inch LCD screen is pretty good quality. The extra port to plug a normal Sega Genesis controller into is a neat touch.

Having said all that, the Nomad definitely suffers from a short battery life (six AA batteries will last for four to six hours). An AC adapter really helps. Sega Genesis Model 2 adapters are compatible, as well as multi-plug AC adapters; the plug on the Nomad is the same as that on the Sega Game Gear. Oh, and you can’t plug in a 32X adapter, but that’s no great loss, considering the small amount of good 32X games. Unfortunately, the Nomad is fairly heavy, but perhaps you can accept that for a chance to play Sonic The Hedgehog on original, unemulated hardware.

Another relatively rare handheld version, NEC’s official Turbo Express portable plays games created for the NEC Turbografx 16 (called the PC Engine in Europe and Japan). Originally released in 1991, it had relatively limited success, but its good quality, backlit screen, and a stable of classic Turbografx games mean that it’s still a cult hit today.

For starters, the credit card-sized HUCards are perfect for playing in a portable system; a large NES cart can mean trouble for a small handheld system. Battery life is still rather scant, somewhere on a par with the Sega Nomad. Also be aware that there are region compatibility problems, even if you use a cart adaptor. Those problems aside, the stylish design makes this one of the most desirable portables, especially when combined with the relatively scarce TV Adapter.

The NES-playing Game Axe handheld, originally launched in Asia in 1995, is an excellent example of a very unofficial and rather smart way to play console games portably. Someone has coaxed pictures of the handheld’s schematics from the Game Axe creators (http://members.fortunecity.com/davidlevine/gapics.htm). There are two models: the FC-812 has a green power LED and a smaller, three-inch LCD screen, whereas the much more common FC-868, built from 1997 until recently, has a four-inch LCD screen and a red LED.

Unfortunately, there are some important caveats. In its normal state, the Game Axe will play only Japanese Famicom titles, not American NES games. You’ll need a 60- to 72-pin converter to make that work. This simple add-on, available from companies such as Lik-Sang (http://www.lik-sang.com/), allows any Japanese Famicom device to play American and European NES games. If you do this, though, the NES cartridge, already sticking out a long way from the top of the unit, protrudes a whopping nine inches. Another optional add-on is a third-party Famicom controller, tricky to find outside Asia, that plugs into the Game Axe’s controller ports.^[6]

As usual, battery life is a major issue. The portable takes six AA batteries and can drain in fewer than two hours. There’s an AC adapter that works just fine at the expense of portability. You can also plug AV cables into a television and un-portable-ize the Game Axe, but that’s hardly our goal here. Also, many people complain of screen blurriness and uneven lighting with this highly unofficial toy.

Even with these issues, the Game Axe is still fun. It sells for around $100 on eBay or Asian game sites. However, there may now be better NES-related options.

Until recently, the Game Axe was the only standalone portable NES clone, but now there’s the rather cool Game Theory Admiral (http://www.nesworld.com/gametheo.htm). It sports a thin-film transistor (TFT) screen—a design that makes it look very suspiciously like Nintendo’s own Game Boy Advance, all the way down to similar dimensions and a similar-sized built-in screen. It solely plays Famicom games, which plug into a special slot adapter perpendicular to the console. Oh, and it has one of those marvellous nonsense names that only unofficial pieces of hardware sport (see “Super Wild Card,” “Super Magic Griffon,” etc.).

Again, there are plenty of positives and negatives for this gray-market product. Positive features include the TFT screen, which is much less blurry and better-looking than the Game Axe, with good brightness and contrast controls. The form factor makes it less bulky than the Game Axe. The battery life also seems to be significantly better than the Game Axe, needing only four AA batteries.

It’s also worth noting that the systems are color-coded in terms of the external AV cables. A blue Game Theory Admiral produces a PAL (European) TV signal, and a pink Admiral (aren’t those butterflies?) emits an NTSC (American) TV signal. If you want to play the Admiral on your TV as well, buy the right color portable.

There are several other unconventional portable console devices; most involve the much-loved NES and Famicom. The AdFami (http://www.the-magicbox.com/Mar04/game030404h.shtml), newly released in Japan, is a unique add-on for the Game Boy Advance SP that plays Famicom games. It’s even color-coordinated to match the special-edition NES version of the SP, which should be available in the United States by the time you read this. There’s also an official Famicom-to-NES converter for the AdFami that solves a lot of the problems with the other devices. This is very tempting, although there haven’t yet been any reviews that describe compatibility and quality.