Nintendo Pokemon Console

For anyone who owned an original Gameboy in 80/90's and has allowed it, like I did, to laungish in a dark cupboard for a decade or so whilst you left your childish persuits behind and pretended to be an adult, got a mortgage, 2.4 children and a four legged furball; I have but this advice. Get it out, feed it batteries, play with it... and then buy a Gameboy Colour.

The Colour is lighter in weight, smaller and generally a more compact beast. Slightly harder to get used to compared to its bigger elder brother, but that feeling lasted approx 30 seconds after turning it on. The Colour I bought recently is working brilliantly i.e. as well as the GB ever did - if you owned one, you know what I mean - and is in tip top condition. Very reliable, the colour also can use a mains adaptor if you buy it some rechargable batteries.

The play is much the same as the GB, with slightly improved graphics on the carts (but hey, don't expect Doom style game play) and 10 minutes after turning on your Gameboy, I guarantee your heart will be thudding from the delicious frustration that comes with losing you life (again) on SuperMario and getting irritated with yourself that you just KNOW how to do this and the memory of how you spent hours spent getting a little circular indentation on your right thumb pad from the A/B buttons will be all too real.

As my parents, sensibly, refused to buy me a GB Colour after forking out the then exorbitant price for the GB, getting my hands on the Colour was, to my 12 year old self, akin to locating the Holy Grail. The joy, therefore, of playing SuperMario on colour was immense.

I have nothing but praise for a little piece of gaming history, as valid now as it was then. The freedom that these little handhelds offered is available now in much glitzier plastic casing, with more options and even virtual pets. However, despite all this the GB still holds its own against the DS lite and other handholds as it holds no pretentions - it's simple to use and understand; the platform games take weeks/months, not years to master and small fingers can easily hold and control the device.

Get one while you can and relive a bit of history!