Best nintendo handheld?

New 3DS XL

Why you like it more than switch?

Entire DS library + 3DS library, best version of the 3DS.

Go with 3DS, Switch super uncomfy on hands with less interesting game selection and a lot of games not properly made for handheld with barely readable UI.

Very hard choice, but probably have to go with Switch.

Honourable mentions to Gameboy Colour & Advance (SP).

ags-101 or go home.

LOL trying to sneak another bathroom I see.

Anyway, my vote goes to...Gameboy Advance SP for it was truly revolutionary of a handheld Nintendo has put out at the and came in with rechargeable battery & build-in light inside that small pocket machine was one of their best hardware they work on. And from that point, we got Nintendo handhelds with rechargeable batteries & light inside is why Gameboy Advance SP was the best handheld.

Did you have an ags-101 or normal

Switch by a landslide... no other library comes close.

I am voting 3DS XL, folds up and goes in the pocket, was the perfect commuting gaming device.

Advance SP.

Gameboy Advance or 3DS. Leaning more to the Advance.

Nintendo DS. It just had the better library with superior third party support.

Never been big on handheld gaming, but played the GBA/SP way more than any others. Also got a lot of mileage out of the GBA adapter for the GC.

For me its the GBA. The quality of games is superb and unlike the DS or Switch, dont have a lot of shovelware or shit ports. Lots of JRPG like Golden Sun, Megaman Battle Network, FF1-6, Breath of Fire 1&2, Summon Night and many more. Excellent list of SRPG too like Tactics Ogre, FF Tactics Advance, Onimusha Tactics, Shining Force and personally still the best Fire Emblem games.

Btw if you separated the GBA/DS/3DS version to separate list, the switch does have a few editions like the Switch lite and Switch Oled.

Doesn't the 3DS play all DS games plus its own lib?

It does. But, I came from an era where no one counted the backwards compatible library (starting with Wii with GameCube games) in the case of forum arguments.

all of them where garbage

I'm giving it to the GBA. Incredible handheld. I don't count the Switch as a handheld, at least not mine, as it's not used as one. It's docked 99% of the time.

Fair enough.

I started out with 3DS (a gift from a polish fellow who seems to hate Nintendo) and it came with a few 2DS games that seemed to work fine.

Overall very impressed with it. More so than the Switch. Aside from the hyped launch games, mostly been a letdown that collects dust. 3DS comparively is still used now and again.

Never owned a Gameboy Pocket or Micro but owned all the rest. My vote goes to the Switch overall. Excellent system with a lot of great games on it.

This is like the most effort you put into an OP, TC lol.

3DS but switch is great, but as a handheld like 3DS more, true pocket console and plays older DS games. Get an R4 card and go to town.

DS for me.

DS was good, but I tried washing the screen with toilet water and only half of it works now.

I voted for the Switch, but the New Nintendo 3DS was pretty damn good.

Nothing can beat the amazing Switch.

I'd say GBA SP was my favorite. I liked the clamshell design and it had an internal battery. The Micro was cool too but I had issues with it's quality. I have a 2DS XL now and while the games for it are cool, I hate the hardware itself. Like, I hate the hardware so much that I actively don't play the system because of it. The buttons click so loudly that it wakes up my girlfriend if playing in bed, the game slot has this cheap plastic flap making switching games cumbersome, and I've never not had issues with the wifi on it.

I probably games on my DS the most.

It had a great Mario game, two great Zelda games, it had all the Ace Attorney games.

I'm still gaming on my DS lite today.

I was thinking GBA had the most impact, the best library, back when handheld titles were actually meant for handheld devices, so that's what I'd go with. I even bought a modern emulation device to serve as an improved stand-in for a GBA, with a higher res 480x320 screen (perfect 2x integer upscale of GBA content), a backlit IPS, better controls, SD card slot, etc.

Imagine a GBA with the horsepower to run most N64, Dreamcast, and PSP stuff, as well as everything PS1 and lower.

The GBA library was legendary.

Voted 3DSXL, it was the culmination of all lessons learned from the DS and normal 3DS with a bigger screen, yet still small enough to fit in a pocket and able to protect itself via clamshell. Plus BC and a huge library. Also came with an automatic headache-maker aka 3D effects.

The switch on the otherhand is a terrible handheld IMO: too big to fit in pockets, fragile without buying a hard case, and somehow still cramps my hands to use. The “hybrid console” idea is a failure in the way this thing is implemented IMO cause you’ve got a bulky fragile handheld yet a horribly underpowered console. Just design a proper handheld with a video-out port next time, Nintendo.

I'm glad we agree the switch is a handheld console. My vote goes to the switch.

Steam deck

If we discount BC then its a hard one to call between the DS and GBA SP. the DSLite was a very very nice bit of kit back in the day.

If BC is included then 3DS for me (New 2DS XL or new 3DS XL though. the release model was not very good). it has one hell of a collection of games.

The switch and nothing else is even close.

Ever give that switch a dunk?

Gameboy Advance SP, it was the right size, it had retrocompatibility, it was cool looking and it had rechargable battery.

Switch easily.

DS. Switch isn't comfortable for me as a handheld and it isn't convenient to carry around without a case of some sort. DS had ds and gba games, both of which had great libraries. I wish the 3DS had kept gba support. 3DS would be my second choice with Switch coming in 3rd. Switch may have been in the top spot if it were a bit more comfortable in my hands, but I don't know, the gba library was amazing.

I can't give it to Switch, because even though I play it mostly in handheld, I can't view it as a handheld. It's a hybrid. If we're talking handheld, it can't be connected to a TV. I went with 3DS XL. Shame they couldn't keep the BC going.

GBA SP is the oldschool best

Switch Lite = new best

Even though I voted Switch, I think it's a tie between that and the 3DS.

Hands down, the Gameboy Advance SP. A very well-designed handheld that had plenty of very good games in its library. It was also in the last generation which Nintendo gave two-shits about it's home console hardware.

Not like the joke of some overpriced proprietary on junk-tier hardware tablet they have now.

It's a trick question. The Switch is not a handheld, it's a portable console.