The Last Game On Every Handheld Gaming Console

Not too long ago, I made a video about the last game to release on every home console. But in doing so, I also noticed that we had to leave out a significant chunk of games because they were on handhelds. So, now we’re back to talk about the last game to be released on every handheld console. For those of you who are new here, the rules are as follows: we are looking for the last game that was released anywhere in the world either physically or digitally on every mainstream handheld console – that DOES mean we will be missing some of the weird handhelds that only like 3 people heard about because they were irrelevant, so don’t be down there in the comments telling me I missed the Philips Bussyblaster 5000 (STOP IT, I SEE YOU, HEY!). The game also has to be an officially licensed game, so we’re not going to be considering games where some guy in a basement somewhere put a copy of his indie game on a Game Gear cartridge for memey internet points.

Nintendo Game & Watch – Mario the Juggler – United States October 16, 1991

First up, we have Nintendo’s Game and Watch series of systems, which were released in 1980. These predecessors to the GameBoy were little rectangles that only had one specific game loaded onto them. The last game to come out on this system was a game called Mario the Juggler, which was a kind of reworked version of their classic game called Ball, except this time it replaced the dolls and balls of the original with themes of Mario and friends. The object of the game is to keep juggling bombs, Stars, and hearts as Mario, but if you drop one of these items 3 times, then in true retro game style, it’s game over. Mario the Juggler released in 1991, a whole 11 years after the Game and Watch first hit store shelves. 

Atari Lynx – Super Asteroids & Missile Command – United States 1995

The Lynx was a handheld game console released by Atari in 1989, the same year as the Nintendo Gameboy. The Lynx holds the distinction of being the world’s first handheld electronic game with a color LCD display, and it’s notable for its forward-looking features, advanced graphics, and ambidextrous layout. Released in 1995, Super Asteroids & Missile Command was the last ever game to grace the Lynx handheld. It combines the classic arcade games Asteroids and Missile Command into a single game cartridge. For those of you too young to remember, Super Asteroids pits the player against a never ending supply of flying asteroids and UFOs hellbent on destroying your spacecraft. Meanwhile, Super Missile Command has the player defend various bases from incoming missiles, satellites, and enemy aircraft by firing your own missiles to intercept them.

SEGA Game Gear – The Lost World: Jurassic Park – European Union 1997

Does the Sega Game Gear need an introduction? I was lucky enough to have one of these as a child, but they ate through batteries like nobody’s business. It originally came out in Japan in 1990, and was a chonky boi with a 4:3 CRT style screen stuck in there. The last game on this magnificent, chef’s kiss of a handheld was The Lost World Jurassic Park in 1997. While the game came out on a lot of systems, the handheld version was a side-scrolling action game and the Game Gear version had its own storyline. Several organizations have sent hunting teams to Isla Sorna to capture the island’s dinosaurs and sell them. The player controls a hunter, who is sent to prevent these hunting teams from achieving their goal.

Bandai WonderSwan – Fire Pro Wrestling – Japan August 31, 2000

The WonderSwan was a short lived handheld console developed by Bandai Namco, or is it Namco Bandai… whatever, you know who I mean. It was released exclusively in Japan, and strangely, this original handheld was only in greyscale, even though it came out in essentially the PS2 era. It had these hideous double D-pad things and just…. [shudder]. The last game to come out for it was Fire Pro Wrestling in the year 2000. It’s a pro wrestling game series popular in Japan and known for its grappling system, which is primarily based on timed button presses and strategy. Basically, it’s Japanese WWE, WWF, WCW, or whatever acronyms were using now. 

Neo Geo Pocket Color – SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition – Japan September 13, 2001

The Neo Geo Pocket Color was SNK’s attempt to bring their arcade game prowess into handheld form in 1999. While it was quickly dropped in the West because it was a commercial failure, it did live on a little longer in Japan. It’s last game was SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition, which came out in late 2001. In the game, the player controls Rikuto, a high school student and up-and-coming card fighter. The game begins right after the ending of a card battle between Rikuto and a mysterious card fighter known as “Neomantle”, who steals his cards. Rikuto then sets out on an adventure to find Neomantle and get his cards back.

Nintendo Game Boy – Shikakui Atama o Maru kusuru: Kanji no Tatsujin – Japan March 30, 2001 

The Nintendo Gameboy needs no introduction. It was the grey menace that really popularised mainstream handheld gaming for an entire generation. But while most of us remember the Gameboy for games like Pokemon, the last game to ever release on the system was a game called Shikakui Atama o Marukusuru: Kanji no Tatsujin, which came out in 2001. No points for working out that it was a Japanese exclusive. Now, this is where I would usually provide you with a synopsis for the game, but you have probably seen on screen, I have absolutely no idea what is going on. This game is obviously some kind of Japanese kanji language game, but like Takeshi’s Castle, only the Japanese will truly understand what on earth is going on here.

Nintendo Game Boy Color – Doraemon no Study Boy: Kanji Yomikaki Master – Japan July 18, 2003

The Gameboy Color was the successor to the smash hit Gameboy. Coming out in 1998, it added a backlit color screen, and it was sleeker and thinner than the original. It was this system that really allowed handheld gaming to take off, capitalizing on the originals success and letting us see our pokemanz in splendid colours. The last game on the system released in 2003 in Japan and was Doraemon no Study Boy : Kanji Yomikaki Master. The game is an Action and Education game developed and published by Epoch. Doraemon is, of course, a popular anime protagonist in Japan dating back to the 1960s. He’s a robot cat who travels back in time to help a boy, which is why I suppose it’s particularly relevant in this case. 

Bandai WonderSwan Color – Dicing Knight Period – Japan May 31, 2004 

The WonderSwan Color was the follow-up to to Bandai’s previous handheld of the same name that only released in Japan, except this time it had a color screen. (It still had those awful d-Pad things though, JUST EWWWW). Saying that, can you believe this thing was only 60 bucks? Wild. Anyway, the last game on the Wonderswan Color was a game called Dicing Knight Period. In Dicing Knight, you assume the role of a nameless knight who has to fight through a series of randomly generated dungeons. The game has an overhead view that is similar to the early classic Zelda games, so no guesses where they got their inspiration [raise eyebrow]

Nokia N-Gage – Civilization – United States March 2, 2006

In a weird way, the Nokia N-gage was the first attempt at a smartphone that could play games as well as, well, making phone calls. Gah, remember those? This thing was absolutely hideous, but somehow they managed to squeeze a version of Civilization on there, which just so happens to be the last game to come out for the Ngage, coming out in 2006. It sounds ridiculous until you see footage of it, but they managed to make a pretty accurate version of sid meiers grand strategy game on this early handheld, which means you can argue with Napoleon and have Gandhi drop nukes on you on the go. And who said that game wasn’t realistic, sheesh.

Nintendo Game Boy Advance – Pixeline i Pixieland Denmark – December 6, 2008

The Game Boy Advance needs no introduction. An evolution of the Gameboy Color, the Gameboy Advance was, in fact, the best Gameboy system. Mainly because it’s the one I had the longest, but still. The last game on this handheld is a weird one. It’s called Pixeline i Pixieland and it was released in Denmark in 2008, which is wild. There’s not much to go on because I don’t speak Danish, but it seems that the story is about gnomes and fairies in a place called Pixieland. They haven’t spoken to one another for over a hundred years, and now the character Pixeline is planning to reunite both factions with a big party. It seems to be based on a fantasy animation of the same name, but hey, what do I know?

PSP – StreetKix: Freestyle – United States January 7, 2014

Sony’s PSP needs no introduction. It essentially took PS2 power and plopped it into our pockets for on the go gaming. But while it came out in 2005 in the West and had many handheld-specific titles from major franchises like God of War, Metal Gear Solid, and GTA, the last game for the system didn’t release until 2014, almost 10 years later. Coming out on the PlayStation store as a digital download, StreetKix: Freestyle is a ball juggling game where you have to keep hitting a football – or soccer ball if you are so inclined – to keep it in the air. It’s an intriguing mix between a traditional rhythm game and a one-on-one fighter. Two players duel over points, all while keeping that soccer ball in the air with increasingly complicated tricks. It’s mind blowing that the PS4 and Xbox One consoles were out when this released.

Nintendo DS – Around the World in 80 Days – European Union January 23, 2015

The Nintendo DS was instrumental in shaping the trajectory of modern handheld gaming with its dual screens and stylus. It spawned amazing game series like Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright. The last game on the Nintendo DS, however, wasn’t any of these. Coming out on the last model of Nintendo DS, the DSI, Around the World In 80 Days was released digitally in 2015. It was a match-3 game based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne (and possibly the movies but… just look at those graphics…). Anyway, players just match 3 shapes for a high score in different locations around the world and that’s the game. 

Nintendo 3DS – Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers – 2023 global

The Nintendo 3DS perfects everything the DS did by adding more power and a 3D effect that literally nobody used. And don’t tell me you did, come onnn. In a lot of ways, this system is still superior to the Nintendo Switch because you can, ya know, actually fit it in your pocket. Plus it had Street Pass and all that cool community stuff Nintendo seems to have forgotten about. In fact, I have a whole video about how the Nintendo 3DS is the last true handheld, so go watch it (shameless plug complete). Many think the last release for the system was Shakedown Hawaii, but a game called Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers actually came out 2 weeks before the eshop’s closure in March 2023. Deathly Delusion Destroyers tells the story of Gus, a long-time Silver Falls resident, who is looking for someone important to him who went camping in the woods but hasn’t been seen or heard from since. It’s got spooks, scares, and frankly a lot of jank by the looks of it, but hey – it’s the last game on the 3DS!

PS Vita – Jet Set Knights – 2023 – global

Last up, we have the PlayStation Vita. Ironically, as many like to point out, vita means life in Latin, but Sony gave it no life whatsoever – in fact, it was quite the opposite. There are an awful lot of people out there who think that this is one of the best handhelds and was abandoned far too early, and backing that up is the fact that it’s last game didn’t come out until June 2023. While Jet Set Knights came out on the PS4 as well, Play Asia published a physical retail edition of the game for PS Vita too. Jet Set Knights is an old-school arcade action platformer inspired by the classics. It’s kind of like Donkey Kong meets tower defense in a fantasy world of magic and knights. 

And that wraps up our look at the last game on every handheld gaming system. (Well, minus those weird little ones no one ever cares about but this takes a lot of time so sue me. Actually, don’t PLEASE–)  From the early systems right up until the PS Vita, there were a lot of surprises in this list, and many of the last games came out far later than I would have expected.