Tiger Game.com - handheld system

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PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby PSX1 » December 5th, 2011, 4:25 am

Back in 1997, Game Boy Pocket was all the rage.  Of course, I was the one kid in town who had to be different, so I decided to ask for a Tiger Game.com for Christmas.  (read: I was the one idiot in town who got suckered in by Tiger's marketing campaign).  Back then, all I had for gaming was a neglected Super Nintendo and a Windows 95 PC.  So it was a big deal to be getting a new system.  As one might predict though, I never really got much enjoyment out of it and I eventually sold my Game.com a few years later.  

Just recently, I finally added a Game.com back into my collection, along with about 15 games (there were a total of about 20 games released).  Now, let me say, I can definitely be a glutton for punishment, having spent plenty of time playing the likes of the CD-i, 32X, Jaguar, etc.-- but this just might be the most unplayable system I've ever attempted to use.  The first Game.com model is B&W with no back-lit screen, so finding the right lighting is half the battle.  If you can accomplish that, then you have to fight through some of the worst animation and most unresponsive controls you'll ever encounter in gaming.  ..It was far worse than I remembered it.  Tiger was blessed to have great franchises appear on the Game.com handheld - games like Sonic Jam, Duke Nukem 3D, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Batman & Robin, and Resident Evil 2 - ... and it destroyed all of them mercilessly.  [i.e., Think of how badly CD-i destroyed Zelda, but then subtract all the unintentional humor and replace the CD-i controller with a piece of ham.  That is Sonic on the Game.com.]  The few playable games include a port of Centipede (a 15-year-old game at the time) and games like Wheel of Fortune and Quiz Wiz (i.e., games that require limited animation and controller input) [these aren't good games, but I give them credit for actually possessing the capability of being played].

Anyone else ever played this atrocity, either back in the 90s or maybe collected it more recently?  Any Game.com games that you were actually able to play without wanting to shoot yourself?

MoonMetropolis

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby MoonMetropolis » December 5th, 2011, 2:36 pm

If you think the Game.com is the worst console ever, you've clearly never heard of the Tiger R-Zone.  This LED monstrosity actually succeeds in making the Game.com look wonderful by comparison.  Tiger was the king of crappy machines back in the '90s.


Michael Prymula

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby Michael Prymula » December 5th, 2011, 3:47 pm

I remember seeing commercials for this as a kid, it looked kinda cool, but the black and white graphics put me off from asking for one, I did get a Nomad though and I played the hell out of it.


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VideoGameCritic
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Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby VideoGameCritic » December 5th, 2011, 4:40 pm

I've had one of these systems for quite a while but have never gotten around to reviewing it.  I guess it's hard to get excited about the prospect of playing these games.  Hopefully I'll get around to it soon.

PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby PSX1 » December 5th, 2011, 8:05 pm

@Moon-- I actually happen to have an R-Zone as well- I'm a huge fan of NiGHTS and basically just bought it for the NiGHTS game alone.  But at least R-Zone plays exactly how you'd expect-- it's the same as all those awful $10 Tiger LCD handhelds from the early 90s... except that you strap it to your head.  It some ways those are actually more playable than Game.com.

@VGC-- I know you usually score games based on how they stack up against others on the same system, but it's gonna be tough not to give all these games an F.  I was really looking forward to Sonic Jam, but its zoomed-in camera makes it completely unplayable.  Mortal Kombat is awful, but surprisingly Fighters Megamix is actually decent (by Game.com standards only).  Resident Evil 2 controls horrendously, but it's actually pretty interesting for 15 minutes or so.  Centipede is a fine port.  But overall it's very hard to recommend any games for this thing.

Michael Prymula

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby Michael Prymula » December 5th, 2011, 8:10 pm

What about the Gizmondo?  Has anyone ever actually seen one up close?


PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby PSX1 » December 6th, 2011, 6:03 pm

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]I've had one of these systems for quite a while but have never gotten around to reviewing it.  I guess it's hard to get excited about the prospect of playing these games.  Hopefully I'll get around to it soon.
[/QUOTE]

If it's any concession Critic, Game.com reviews are pretty much non-existent online.  There are like 2 or 3 that were reviewed by IGN way back in '97 or so, and those are still online.  And there are maybe like 5 or so that have user reviews on GameFAQS.  But that's the only reviews I could find at all online when I was deciding which games to collect.  So, while it's hard to look forward to playing these games, you'd be filling a huge niche online if you had a Game.com review section.

porypowerhour

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby porypowerhour » December 13th, 2011, 11:52 pm

I got two Game.Com's, I have 11 of the games for it, so only 9 more til I got a complete collection haha

I won't write it off as bad, I had marginal fun with games like Quiz Wiz and such. Sonic Jam on it is horrific though. And yeah, the R-Zone is way worse, it's pretty much unplayable.

PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby PSX1 » December 15th, 2011, 2:31 pm

[QUOTE=porypowerhour]I got two Game.Com's, I have 11 of the games for it, so only 9 more til I got a complete collection haha

I won't write it off as bad, I had marginal fun with games like Quiz Wiz and such. Sonic Jam on it is horrific though. And yeah, the R-Zone is way worse, it's pretty much unplayable.[/QUOTE]

Have you (or anyone else) ever played Frogger on the Game.com? I heard it was one of the few good games on the system, and a GameFAQs user review gave it a 9.  Even the IGN review was positive.

But on my copy the animation is so choppy that it's completely unplayable.  I wrote the game off as a bust-- but then I tried Centipede-- it's the same developer as Frogger, and it played great.  So now I'm wondering if my copy of Frogger is defective.

MoonMetropolis

Tiger Game.com - handheld system

Postby MoonMetropolis » December 15th, 2011, 9:55 pm

If anyone is interested, allgame.com has Game.com reviews.  Lights Out - the game built into the console - is supposedly one of the best games available for it.


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