The retro video gaming craze has sparked Hasbro to dig back into the 90s and revive the Tiger Electronics LCD handheld products.
The company plans on selling four versions of the product later this fall, each for $14.99. You’ll be able to choose from Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Disney’s Little Mermaid, Transformers Generation 2 and Marvel Comics’ X-Men Project X.
“Each game will bring gamers and die-hard retro fans back to the 90s with the design and technology created with the original game unit in mind,” Hasbro said on Wednesday in an email. The news was first reported by The Verge.
Today, anyone can easily access mobile gaming by downloading the titles to a smartphone, laptop or Nintendo Switch. But back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, consumers had fewer options when it came to portable gaming. Of course, there was Nintendo’s GameBoy and the Sega Game Gear, but the products were pricey at $89.95 and $149.99, respectively.
Enter Tiger Electronics, which Hasbro bought up back in 1998. The company specialized in developing handheld LCD products that were cheap to buy, which made them popular gifts to children. However, the hardware itself was pretty basic. Each model was unfortunately constricted to only one game that relied on a black-and-white LCD screen.
The graphics were also very primitive. You’ll find no pixel-based, moving images here, akin to Super Mario jumping on a Goomba. Instead, Tiger Electronics relied on using static images baked into the screen, which would light in up during the gameplay. For instance, your character would flash in one place while the enemies would flash in other parts of the LCD panel. You can check out what this looks like in the video above.
Although the gaming experience was far from ideal, Tiger Electronics ended up producing dozens, perhaps hundreds, of handheld LCD models based on various licensed brands over the years. You can actually still buy vintage Tiger Electronics handhelds on eBay. But Hasbro has decided to officially bring back the old school gaming hardware in time for the holiday season later this year.
The four upcoming products are currently up for pre-order on GameStop. Each unit requires two AA batteries, which won't be included. We’ve asked Hasbro if any changes have been made to the hardware, but have yet to hear back.
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