ValuGamer

Gamers wanting a portable NES for the past 25 years have always had a few options — some legal and others not so much. Late in the GBA lifecycle Nintendo released the Famicom/NES classics collection which included some of the system’s greatest hits; the most notable marquee classics that were just as much a part of pop culture as they were fun games.

A couple of years before that there was the e-Reader, a punch-card style system that used tiny barcodes printed in 1200dpi. Depending on the layout each card could hold 2-4 kilobytes of data which meant a “booster pack” could hold a small NES game. Anyone who has used this bulky contraption will tell you that after a half dozen read errors the device loses any and all charm it ever had. It was a great gimmick and an inexpensive software format but even if it had been wildly successful it would have soon been eclipsed by more practical means of distribution.

Outside of portable ports there have been all manner of adapters for a wide range of handhelds. The “Cyber Familator,” which came from the future to protect John Connor from new games, is a pass-through cartridge for the Nintendo DS.

Another semi-popular NES portable is the Game Axe. Looking like the love child of the Game Gear and Sloth from the Goonies, the Game Axe plays NES and Famicom games from any region as long as you have a pin converter (apparently these are typically included in the box). Now in 2009 we have the FC Mobile II. This system is easily the most elegant of the portable Famiclone solutions I have seen and the price is also reasonable ($40-60 new online and in stores).

I have taken a few photos of my FC Mobile II so you can get a closer look. The photo above shows what the screen looks like. It is actually much brighter than that but I needed to use the flash from the camera. Click on any of the photos to see it in a higher resolution.

Like I said in the previous post the resolutions of the LCD and the games do not match so it isn’t a pixel perfect presentation. It is only a 2.5″ screen so unless your face is pressed up against it then the res mismatch is not a big deal.

This is the original model of the FC Mobile. I like the Famicom-style paint job but the whole thing looks like an old radio. The A, B, Start, and Select buttons are all in the wrong place in this version. This issue is almost impossible to ignore. Some genius also thought it would be great to place the reset button less than a centimeter away from the A button.

Button reversal is fairly common with Famiclone systems. The FC3, for instance, is not only missing a button in SNES mode, but it also has its A and B buttons reversed. I have heard tale of people rewiring the buttons in these backwards systems with mixed results.

Luckily the FCM2 fixes the B/A problem and also adds some turbo buttons. The translucent area in the center of the handheld is the wireless receiver. The system comes with two controllers (2xAAA batteries) and one faux-Zapper (3xAAA batteries). The system itself runs off 4 AA batteries or the included power adapter. The cartridge slot has a spring-loaded cover to keep out dust and NES games fit snuggly inside.

This side-by-side comparison shows there isn’t much difference between the two in size. If you have any questions about the FC Mobile or FC Mobile II please let me know.