The WonderSwan is playable both vertically and horizontally, and features a unique library of games, including numerous first-party titles based on licensed anime properties, as well as significant third-party support from developers such as Squaresoft, Namco, Capcom and Banpresto.

Retrospective feedback praises the potential of the WonderSwan despite its low sales and briefly holding its own against Nintendo in the marketplace.

After the failure of the Virtual Boy, however, he left the company in 1996 in order to create his own engineering firm, Koto Laboratory.

[5] Bandai chose the name of the system to highlight its aesthetics and technical capabilities because the swan is recognized as an elegant bird with powerful legs that aid its graceful swimming.

[6] The company promised a 30-hour battery life, a low retail price, and a launch lineup of roughly fifty games.

These colors were chosen through an online poll at Bandai’s website, with the metallic and pearl white models being discontinued on July 22 to make room for the special two-tone editions.

[7] In 2000, Bandai signed an agreement with Mattel to bring the handheld to North America, but ultimately decided against a Western release.

[3] The exact reason for this is unknown, but the crowded handheld video game console market has been suggested as a factor.

[10] Before the WonderSwan Color could be released, however, Nintendo announced the Game Boy Advance, which featured superior hardware.

[3] A redesign of the WonderSwan Color, titled SwanCrystal[c], was released in Japan on July 12, 2002 for ¥7,800,[11][12] ¥1,000 less than the Game Boy Advance.

[7] It also allows players to record their personal information, such as their name, birth date, and blood type, which can then be accessed and used by the game.

[3][22] In addition, the handheld can be connected to a PocketStation, a memory card peripheral for the PlayStation console, through a device known as the WonderWave.

[3] To compete with Tetris, Gunpei Yokoi developed a puzzle game for the system ultimately named Gunpey in his honor.

The departure of Squaresoft as a developer and its return to Nintendo has been cited as a factor in the WonderSwan's diminishing sales in later years.

[7] Selling 3.5 million units,[6][15] the WonderSwan only picked up 8% of the marketshare in Japan and was ultimately outperformed by Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.

Writing for USgamer, Jeremy Parish considers the WonderSwan the ultimate expression of Gunpei Yokoi's design philosophy and notes its modest impact on the market, but blames Bandai for its lack of success: "While WonderSwan ultimately will be remembered as a highly localized blip in the history of handheld games, as a platform it genuinely held its own... the system's obscurity resulted more from poor timing and Bandai's strangely meek strategy, not from any inherent flaws in the design of the machine itself".

[7] Luke Plunkett from Kotaku praised the WonderSwan's challenge to Nintendo, saying that "it tried some pretty unique and interesting things, and put up a much sterner fight than most other handhelds ever managed".