Bandai WonderSwan
English-friendly titles in this collection: 42
Tested with Mednafen (1.26.1)
File size (uncompressed): 79.7 MB
Format: .ws
Gunpei Yokoi was the well-known inventor of both the Game & Watch and Game Boy systems for Nintendo, but did you know that he eventually went on to create Bandai's WonderSwan handheld as well? Yup, he jumped ship after the failure of the Virtual Boy and started his own company to design this awesome little machine.
This bit of legacy was the last project he worked on before his passing - Sadly, he never lived to see its release.
The WonderSwan was a 16-bit system with a much larger battery life than the Game Boy Color and Neo Geo Pocket, but at a lower price point to edge itself into the market. One unique feature that set it apart was the ability to play both horizontal and vertical games due to its special button layout.
A pocket-sized game system with a serious cult following, the WonderSwan features a great library of quality games. Though it was a Japanese-only release, a good chunk of those titles are easy enough to play anyway.
Special items included: English-patched translations and titles not in English that are easy enough to play without being fluent in another language.
Items removed: Non-working dumps, duplicates, prototypes of games that eventually saw a full release, homebrew titles, games that require proficiency in another language to play, hacks, and WonderSwan Color games (those are in a separate collection).
Release notes: WonderGate unlocks - There used to be an online service for the WonderSwan through an adaptor called the "WonderGate" that let you connect and download additional content and features via your mobile phone! Of course, those original servers are now long gone, but there are two games in the Recommended Patches pack that include the content just by accessing the WonderGate menus in-game - It emulates the online service so you can still collect your goodies!