Mattel
Mattel's early games included "Missile Attack" from 1976. The system had a lever that moved the missile launcher from side to side, a large "Fire" button, and an "on" and "off" switch. The name was changed to "Battlestar Galactica Space Alert" after NBC refused to air commercials for it since the missiles targeted a skyline of New York. Mattel also produced the first successful line of handheld sports games with football, baseball and basketball themes. The "players" were represented by tiny lines of light.
Nintendo
Nintendo's early handheld system was called the Game &Watch Multi-Screen. The system had four directional buttons and an action button for things like jumps. One of its early games was "Donkey Kong 2" from 1983. The game was essentially a sequel to the arcade hit "Donkey Kong," only the star was now Donkey Kong Jr. DK Jr. was trying to rescue dad from Mario. Other old Nintendo handheld games include "Boxing," "Egg," "Mario Bros," "Mickey and Donald," "Punch-Out," "Super Mario Brothers," and "Zelda."
Atari
Atari's first foray into the world of handheld consoles, the Atari Lynx from 1989, was not wholly successful. Though it was the first color handheld and had some functions previous games lacked, it was released around the same time as the Nintendo Game Boy. Customers chose the latter machine, which was smaller and about $90 cheaper. The Lynx did produce memorable games like "Shadow of the Beast." The game controls that allowed the player to jump, attack, and switch weapons were simple, but it was hard to change directions. Atari also produced the game "Cosmos," "Pro Ball," "Pro Darts," "Touch Me," and "Tronic 2."
Namco
The Namco handheld games had no save function. When a player lost a live, he returned to the beginning of the game. This meant Namco games were often a challenge to complete. One game produced by Namco was "Pac-Land," a spin-off of its "Pac-Man" series. Unlike the maze format of the original, this game had Pac-Man going left to right. Players had to use the four directional buttons on the left and the "catch" button on the right to guide Pac-Man around the usual dangers. Some other Namco handheld titles were "Baseball," "Bomber Man," "Digimon Analyzer," "Dragon Ball," "Ghosts 'n Goblins," "Grand Prix," "Fist of the North Star," "Inspector Gadget," "Kung Fu," "Pac Man Junior" and "Slam Dunk."