Oh Sega. We love you for your desire and willingness to try new things and grace the world with gaming products unlike any other company. The Genesis was a smash success in North America, and will forever be remembered as the underdog who took the Nintendo giants head-on. Sega did everything they could to extend the life of the Genesis game system. They tacked on a Sega CD to get a jump on the compact disc competition. They slammed a mushroom tip (32x) into the game cartridge of your favorite game system. They released 3 different versions of the Genesis. So why not make a portable handheld system? Oh wait, that’s called the Game Gear. I’m talking about a Sega Genesis… IN YOUR HANDS… IN YOUR CAR… EVERYWHEEEEERRRREEE…

Released in October of 1995, Sega officially released the Sega Nomad, a portable handheld Sega Genesis. This little machine was fully equipped to play nearly any Genesis cartridge* anywhere that you pleased, but it is not compatible with any of the Genesis’ add-ons such as the Power Base Converter, Sega CD, or Sega 32x. With a fair debut price of $180, Sega still failed to generate the level of sales they had hoped for, and it is rumored that approximately one million units were sold. The Nomad saw a limited release to North America although there is some fan speculation that PAL regions were slated to receive a Mega Drive version of the Nomad.

Power Supply

This traveling monster-of-a-handheld features an LCD full-color backlit 3.25 inch screen that thrives on the finite life of Duracell and Energizer batteries. Don’t even think about a generic brand because you’ll be begging for mom to stop at the next gas station. The Nomad itself does not have a battery compartment, but instead requires its users to attach a battery pack (slam packed with 6 AA batteries) onto the back of the machine. With some decent batteries, gamers can get approximately 3 to 5 hours of gameplay before the batteries die.

Alternatively, Sega did release a rechargeable battery pack called Genesis Nomad PowerBack! “Provides hours of play – and saves money on batteries!” states the Nomad box. This little battery pack goes in place of the standard pack-in battery pack and boosts gameplay by a couple of hours (much needed for any lengthy road trip!). Both battery packs have their pros and cons, but all-in-all, a full arsenal for a long road trip would include the standard AA battery pack plus a fully charged PowerBack pack. Combine the two for 10 hours or more of continuous gameplay (well… continuous except for stopping to swap battery packs. Joy.).

The battery pack is generally thought of as the biggest downside to owning a Nomad. Using a fully loaded standard battery pack is frustrating on all fronts. Instead of touching up on all the pros and cons, let’s just take a quick look at the negatives in relation to the battery pack.

Battery Pack Cons:

• It adds a lot of weight, making the Nomad feel very heavy and uncomfortable.
• It is bulky and can get in the way of true portability.
• It isn’t latched in all that well and if you accidentally bump the battery pack the wrong way, it can slide out of the back, cutting your game off.
• It absolutely DRAINS the batteries, 6 AA batteries to be exact.
• Batteries can become an expensive thing to get if you are forced to buy them often.

There are alternatives to the battery packs, and those include 2 power supply options that utilize the AC adapter plug located in the top of the unit. Any standard Genesis model 2 power block will suffice and is the preferred method by most gamers. The reason for wanting to use the power block is obvious… the battery pack sucks balls. I lost my battery pack during my last move 8 months ago. How? Fuckin’ gnomes… that’s how. So while I may not have the same versatility that I did before, I STILL take my Nomad, AC adapter, and a handful of games with me anytime I have to stay at a hotel.

Lastly, there is one more alternative to the battery packs and the AC adapter, the car adapter. This power supply needs little to no explanation, but let it be known that with a car adapter and wall plug, you might have all that you need! The car adapter has a nice long cord so that it can reach the back seat with ease (since most cars from the early/mid ’90s only had 12v lighter plugs in the front).

Be a real man and get the full set: battery pack, PowerBack, Genesis model 2 AC adapter, car adapter. Boom. You’re a true champion.

 Display

As mentioned earlier, the Sega Nomad features a fully colored, 3.25″ LCD screen that is backlit fairly well. Compare that to the original Game Boy and the Game Gear which feature screen sizes approximately 2.5″ and 3.2″ respectively. While Sega makes claims on the Nomad box like, “Full Genesis graphics and action in a portable game system!” I can’t help but consider this to be only slightly accurate. I will admit that the screen is a pretty damn good size considering how close one would have their stupid face to the system, but it’s just not the same. Any game that requires exceptionally fast screen movements (such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3) results in “ghosting” (no, not ghosting like in After Earth) and “trailing.” There are obvious resolution issues that technology just wouldn’t allow for such a small package at any affordable cost. The ghosting issues are MORE than noticeable and bother me more than they should, but that’s likely because I’m a bit of a high-definition snob and videophile.

Despite my minor anal-retentiveness towards the slight ghost trails in fast gameplay, the display is fantastic for 1995 and is still very sufficient and great today. I’ve owned one of my Nomads since the late ’90s (thanks mom!) and I recently got another one (to have one without a huge crack in the screen). One thing I’ve noticed about the one I just bought is that the color and dimness are a lot worse than the one I grew up with. I can’t say exactly why, but my speculation is that the screen is fading due to overuse; something I have seen in a few Game Gears and one of my Atari Lynxes. This is something you might encounter when you buy yours, but know that there MIGHT be a lesser-used Sega Nomad out there somewhere!

The backlight does its job just like it should, it lights up the screen so that it can be seen in darker areas. This is one of the main reasons for the extreme battery drainage, but Sega must have thought it was worth the price of a $5 boxed lunch… every 3 to 5 hours… Anyway, the backlight doesn’t seem to illuminate the screen evenly as the edges seem to receive a bit more light. This doesn’t detract from gameplay at all, but it does affect the display somewhat.

If playing your Sega Nomad on the little screen doesn’t quite do it for you, Sega was kind enough to include an AV out port in the top of the handheld, which is compatible with Genesis model 2 RF/AV plugs. When translated over to your television via the AV out port, there is no noticeable difference between a Nomad or an actual Genesis console (which means NO GHOSTS!). But you will still have to use the Nomad as your controller.

Sound

The sound is pretty decent for a small handheld of the time, but is noticeably worse than playing it on your television. The ONLY way to get the full gaming experience is to wear the headphones below:

Just kidding. You don’t have to wear those, but those were the standard simple headphones of the mid-90s before Candied Skull earbuds and Mr. Doc. Dre Beatz HearPhonez were the rage. Wearing the headphones replaces the substandard speaker on the Nomad. Genesis games were designed to have their sound played through TV speakers. Game Gear games were designed for the Game Gear speaker. These games were not designed to be played on such a small speaker, yet Sega somehow did a better-than-expected job and Nerd Bacon commends them. Sounding pretty good for a small speaker doesn’t mean it sounds “great.” The biggest issue with the sound is that it sounds really small. Yea yea, it IS small. But it doesn’t have any oomph or power behind it, which is one area the Game Boy was actually really good. Overall though, the sound isn’t great and it’s not terrible either.

Additional Features

The Sega Nomad had a fairly short life cycle of around 1 year and saw retail only in North America. Since the Nomad failed to generate much of a buzz, there was little-to-no reason for any third party developers to make any accessories for this machine. Sega was kind enough to produce a really gnarly carrying case the size of a man’s “carry bag” (aka manpurse), which was very useful for hauling around all of the items necessary for a long road trip with a Nomad.

The Nomad featured 6-buttons, making it primed for most of the Genesis’ later releases that utilized one or all of the additional 3 buttons (X,Y, and Z). On the bottom of the unit, there is a Genesis controller port which allows for a 2nd player. You and the second player can huddle around your 3.25″ screen and play Mortal Kombat, or you can hook it up to the TV anywhere you go. Just remember to bring your cords!

DIY Projects

There are tons of crazed fans out there who love to tinker with the Nomad brick, I mean system. Modifying these retro machines is more popular now than ever, and the odder the machine the more fun it is to modify. One of the modded projects that really stands out is replacing the screen. The image below shows what a brand new modded LCD screen looks like. This particular person paid only $65 for the mod, which is a bargain if you ask me! Especially considering that your screen might fade out after a while. Other mods include hooking up a 32x, case mods, battery pack mods, and plenty more. Have some fun and surf the web!

Bottom Line

Overall, the Sega Genesis Nomad game system is a fine venture into 16-bit handheld video gaming. Oddly enough, the Nomad was far ahead of its competition in terms of sheer power and capabilities, but the system was released way too late in the Genesis’ lifespan. While officially advertised as a handheld portable gaming system, this thing is a massive brick and takes up a lot of space when traveling. It is roughly the size of a standard red house brick (length, width, depth)  and the Genesis cartridges are considerably larger than Game Gear or Game Boy cartridges. Combine the Nomad with a handful of games, giant battery pack, AC adapter brick, additional batteries, and maybe a car charger and you’ve got yourself enough crap to fill a large microwave. The extra large size of everything takes away from TRUE versatile portability, but it technically is portable.

In the mid to late 90s, the Sega Nomad was a gnarly little beast. Most of my friends had never even heard of it, but I was lucky to get a used one after a steep price drop in 1996 or 1997. So, the big question you’ve been dying to ask… is it worth getting one today? If you’re a 16-bit fan, yes. If you’re a retrogaming fan, yes. If you’re a Sega fan, then why the hell don’t you own one yet?! If you are just a casual gamer, no. If you just want to play some Genesis games on the go, there are alternatives such as this Sega-Arcade-Ultimate-Handheld gaming system at Wal-Mart. There are numerous handhelds out there that feature tons of built-in games. That one particular unit at Wal-Mart has 80 built in games. There are even some handheld units that allow you to put Genesis cartridges in the top, much like the Nomad.

Go get you a Sega Genesis Nomad or don’t. I don’t care. But the fact is this machine is a piece of gaming history that has been somewhat forgotten by even the most enthusiastic gamers. Rock on Sega.

Reviewed by Nerdberry

 

*A very small number of Genesis games were known to either not work at all or not function properly all the way through the game.