The best handheld conversions of all time
Brilliant games that shouldn't have even been possibl🌸e
Converted from: PC (1993)
Converted to: Game Boy Advance (2001)
There is one major plus-point when it comes to converting games to handheld.The screen is smaller, sothere's less image for the processor to d🐼raw in each frame. But what if you reduced the resolution again? Low-res on a low-res screen? That's exactly how id got Doom to run on GBA. Look:
The backgrounds are cl🐻early grainier than the health/ammo overlay. But in fairness, we're zoomed in up there. Look what happens when you see it at its normal GBA screensize...
It doesn't look so bad, does it? And so what if the backgrounds look like they're running through Photoshop's mosaic filter - this is proper first-person a🌠ction on handheld and every key element is present and correct. The fact that it's smoother than the Saturn version and more detailed than the 32X port is just icing on the cake.
Of course, it may have been a few years before we could actually see the damn thing.God bless the DS Lite.And GBA Micro, for that matter - we 💦still carry Doom around in a GB Micro when we're on long press trips. What better recommendation could there be?
Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Converted from: Arcade (2005)
Converted to: PSP (2006)
On its release, we bemoaned the fact that it was Tekken that ✱got the handheld conversion and not its slicker, prettier stablemate ꧟Soul Calibur. But two years on, with Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny finally sitting on store shelves, it's Tekken that still rules the handheld roost.
Above: On the fourth day, Namco looked at PSP and saw that it was good
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Not only does it fit PSP's controls better than any other fighting g🐼ame on the system (thanks to its input strings for combos as opposed to d-pad dexterity), it's smooth, slick and packed with characters. The customisation options have made it across too, so you can spend hours dressing up Lily without the hassle of having to change the TV channel every time someone walks in.
On the rare occasions where a special effect was too adventurous for the PSP to pull off convincingly, alt𝄹ernative effects make the game look even better. A fine case in point is the last boss, Jinpachi, whose purple flames from PS2's Tekken 5 have been repla❀ced with orange flames in a stage of biblical hellfire.
Above:The Jinpachi fightlooks better on PSP (left) than on PS2 (right)
Sure, PSP isn't technically that much weaker than PS2, so the quality of the conversion may not seem quite as impressive♐ as others on our list. But the fact is the game is superior in content to PS2's Tekken 5. Even visually, we'd argue the PSP's smaller screen makes the action look better.
Above: Tekken's treasure trove level is one of PSP's finest hours
Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equa๊lly after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.