What's the best Nintendo handheld?

[Einhander]

I'm asking because I have never owned a Nintendo handheld. Would you say 3ds or 2ds is better than Gameboy Advanced?

Also, do you think NX will be a handheld hybrid? I don't know why.. Not exactly having that much fun with PS4 (I mean it's okay...) and am just looking for something new like a handheld, which I never tried. I bet there are a lot of simple and fun games. But I'm also considering mobile or tablet and I have never tried those types of games either. I just never understood why people would want to play on their phone or handheld. But maybe it's just because of the gadget and simplicity?

[Arseen]

Currently I would get 2:

New 3DS XL for all DS stuff
Original GBA with the light modification.

Latter can be switched to NGC + GB Player and SNES pad + NGC adapter.

[monjici]

Currently I would get 2:

New 3DS XL for all DS stuff
Original GBA with the light modification.

Latter can be switched to NGC + GB Player and SNES pad + NGC adapter.

... with AGS-101 screen

[kzbolin]

Never owned a nintendo handheld.... Once one is acquired, regardless of which one, you need Pokemon, Pokemon and Pokemon!

[TDIRunner]

Currently I would get 2:

New 3DS XL for all DS stuff
Original GBA with the light modification.

Latter can be switched to NGC + GB Player and SNES pad + NGC adapter.

I agree with this statement except that I prefer the GBA SP over the original (with backlit screen). 

[Arseen]

Currently I would get 2:

New 3DS XL for all DS stuff
Original GBA with the light modification.

Latter can be switched to NGC + GB Player and SNES pad + NGC adapter.

I agree with this statement except that I prefer the GBA SP over the original (with backlit screen). 

But sir, original GBA is much more ergonomic.

[Megatron]

But the screen is in between your hands...I can't be the only person who hates that.  (yes, I am aware this feature is pretty common among handhelds.  I still don't like it.)

[RealPlumpBox]

I think the DS Lite.  You get the amazing DS and GBA library on a fantastic screen.

[shenske]

The Gameboy Micro was probably the best handheld I've seen commercially released. Great screen, great button resistance, rechargeable battery, small form factor and the cart fits completely inside of the machine.

I am also a big fan of my original GBA w/ the GBASP backlight screen installed 

[TDIRunner]

Currently I would get 2:

New 3DS XL for all DS stuff
Original GBA with the light modification.

Latter can be switched to NGC + GB Player and SNES pad + NGC adapter.

I agree with this statement except that I prefer the GBA SP over the original (with backlit screen). 

But sir, original GBA is much more ergonomic.

For me, it's not.  I grew up with the original Game Boy, and I like my hands below the screen.  But that's just me.

I prefer the SP over the original because it has a rechargable battery and either a backlit or frontlit screen without modification.  It's also backwards compatible which is why I prefer it over the Micro.  But at the end of the day, I play 100% of my GB/GBC/GBA games on my Game Boy Player anyway. 

[alexenochs]

i personally like the feel of the original ds but liked the brightness of the screen on the ds lite..the best of both worlds? get one of the final models of the original ds and run flashme if its one of the models close to when the ds lite was coming out flash me will enable the same brightness feature that was on the ds lite however I do also like my gba sp brighter screen model because it can play the entire Gameboy library and looks beautiful I guess if your ok with pirating games you own you could pirate gb and gbc games  THAT YOU OWN on the ds and have the functionality of the ds aswell tho I can be picky as emulation is never perfect  

[palmer6strings]

For stock hardware, GBA SP for the win. Can't find a better and solid library on anything else in my opninion.
For "modified" hardware, I'd actually say the PSP I the best even though it's not Nintendo.

[Einhander]

Man this is too many handhelds, I'm confused. So for the 3ds, will it cover everything except for Gameboy?

[Arseen]

Man this is too many handhelds, I'm confused. So for the 3ds, will it cover everything except for Gameboy?

New 3DS plays DS, DSi, 3DS and New 3DS games.
No Game Boy slot so no GB, GBC or GBA games, hence my recommentation of light modded original GBA.

[TDIRunner]

Man this is too many handhelds, I'm confused. So for the 3ds, will it cover everything except for Gameboy?

Hopefully this makes sense.  

This is a list of each Nintendo handheld with a list of what types of games the system will play.

Portable System (Games Played)
Game Boy  (GB)
Game Boy Pocket (GB)
Game Boy Light (GB)
Game Boy Color (GBC / GB)
Game Boy Advance (GBA / GBC / GB)
Game Boy Advance SP (GBA / GBC / GB)
Game Boy Micro (GBA)

DS (DS / GBA)
DS Lite (DS / GBA)
DSi (DS)
DSi XL (DS)
3DS (3DS / DS)
3DS XL (3DS / DS)
2DS (3DS without 3D functionality / DS)
New 3DS (3DS / DS)
New 3DS XL (3DS / DS)


***EDIT***
While not handhelds, these are still worth mentioning:
Super Game Boy (GB)
Game Boy Player (GBA / GBC / GB)