The best way to play classic handheld games
I’ve been a fan of handheld gaming ever since my first taste of Tetris on an original Game Boy, all the way back in 1989. While I now spend my days writing about the best Android games, I still carry great affection for a wide range of classic titles across handhelds like Lynx, Game Gear, and of course, Game boy. This obsession has resulted in an extensive collection of modded Game Boys in my never-ending search for the perfect portable. So when Analogue announced the Pocket in 2019, I knew I had to have one, seeing that this is a company well-known for re-recreating classic consoles using FPGA hardware emulation.
While I didn’t get into the first group of Analogue Pocket pre-orders, I did manage to get into the second. Having recently received my Analogue Pocket, I’ve hardly been able to put it down. The $220 asking price sounds high, but in the realm of modded handhelds, this is a bargain.
The Analogue Pocket is an FPGA hardware emulation device that mimics classic portable consoles to play their physical games, such as the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Atari Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket, and TurboGrafx-16.
The Analogue Pocket is built out of sturdy plastic, with a glass screen that sits (almost floating) on top of the plastic casing for a stylish modern look. Minimal is a good way to describe the overall aesthetic, with four face buttons (two concave on the top row and two convex on the bottom row), a d-pad with plenty of wiggle room (similar to classic Game Boy models), and start/select buttons sitting towards the middle bottom with an Analogue button wedged in between to pull up the system's menu anytime you wish.
On the left side, there's a power button and the volume buttons (when depressed together, they mute audio) below the left speaker. This power button can be used to put a game to sleep by tapping it, a convenient feature that lets you pause any physical game wherever you wish. The only caveat with this feature is that it does not work with flash carts (thanks to the way they boot to a menu before launching a game). And on the right side is the micro SD slot below the right speaker. There's also a headphone jack along the bottom, with a USB-C charging port and a Link Cable port for all of your Pokémon trading and multiplayer needs.
The rear of the Pocket features a wavy design that adds some much-needed grip. While you’d think the Analogue Pocket would be close to the size of a Game Boy Pocket, it’s actually closer to the size of an original Game Boy, just slightly thinner. The heft feels good in hand, and since there’s plenty of room inside the case, it sports a 4300 mAh battery offering 6-10 hours of life (depending on the games played).
Overall, the Pocket feels just as comfy to hold as an original Game Boy, and seeing that I have dainty hands, the size shouldn't be a problem for those that suffer from a similar affliction, and since the unit is much larger than an original Game Boy Pocket, those with large hands shouldn't be uncomfortable either. For all intents and purposes, the buttons, d-pad, and general build quality are comparable to classic devices that were built to take abuse from children. Anyone like me who’s gotten into Game Boy mods to find that sort of build quality and comfort should feel right at home holding an Analogue Pocket.
Having spent the last few years purchasing and building all manner of modded Game Boys, I’ve found many of the aftermarket screens differ in quality. One screen might flash white every time you enter a building in Pokémon Crystal (such as a backlit TFT for a GBP), while another might flash white every time a course loads in Mario Golf on a modded GBC with an IPS LCD. So I worried that Analogue would run into similar issues, as many games contain unique quirks that weren't visible on the Game Boy's original LCD.
I'm happy to say Analogue currently offers one of, if not the most accurate screen in handheld gaming. All of the issues I ran into with aftermarket replacements for Game Boys are either minimized or absent on the Pocket. By and large, games behave as they should, and there's even a workaround for transparency thanks to an optional frame blending feature built into the Pocket. Classic Game Boy games used the system's quirks to their advantage to create faux transparency (by blinking sprites on and off), and this is the first device I’ve seen that can replicate it.
So far, I've yet to run into any physical games that don't play correctly on the Analogue Pocket. The community documented a few at release, but they were quickly patched in the 1.0b firmware—that’s the kind of support we like to see. Flash carts are a different story: some work, and others don’t. While I can confirm both my EverDrive GB X7 and GBA Mini work fine, others haven't been as lucky with the same models, though the community is already discussing and implementing workarounds.
Of course, ROMs and how to utilize them on the Analogue Pocket is a hot-button topic. I don't condone piracy, though I can admit it's often the only way to play many classic games. Here's the thing: Analogue is known for opening up its systems after release, but that hasn’t happened with the Pocket. This device is still on bare-bones firmware, but official ROM support may still happen sometime in the future. In the interim, fans have devised a way to load ROMs on an SD card that boot in the device's GB Studio section, which exists so devs can test their games. Since flash carts can't take advantage of the Pocket's sleep function, this GB Studio trick is a life-saver for the legally-sourced ROMs you'd like to play while taking advantage of the optional sleep function.
As is, the Analogue Pocket is a work in progress. While Analogue has made some big promises for AnalogueOS, this software has yet to arrive. For me, this isn't much of an issue as I've been using modded Game Boys and flash carts up to this point, so the current experience is already a vast improvement., All the same, the incomplete software is something to keep in mind since Analogue still hasn't offered a date for the arrival of AnalogueOS despite numerous hardware delays.
The software that ships on the Analogue only has the bare essentials. The main menu lets you choose if you wish to boot a cartridge, plus there's a Tools section available and the device's settings. Things like save states, cover art, and playtime are nowhere to be seen, but at least they are planned for AnalogueOS.
The Tools section in the menu currently offers two tools, Nanoloop and GB Studio. Nanoloop is a GBA synthesizer/sequencer, and it's fun enough to mess with, offering the ability to store tracks on your SD card. You can create legit chiptune tracks with the tool, though it's somewhat cumbersome and unwieldy. Still, nobody said making music with a gaming handheld was gonna be easy. As mentioned above, GB Studio provides an area to test custom software, and it's also proven to be a handy place to load modded ROMs.
For me, someone who has been obsessed with handheld gaming since the first Game Boy, has dedicated their career to covering mobile games, and even spends their free time playing games after writing about them all day, the Analogue Pocket is everything I've ever wanted. And I don't say this easily, as I'm quite the cynic (imagine that!), but even in its current bare-bones state, the Pocket is the best way to play retro handheld games. Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles fill the entire screen, and while GBA games are a different ratio, you can stretch them to fit. That’s definitely appreciated, as there is no way to do that on modded Game Boys.
If your goal is to play physical Game Boy carts, the Analogue Pocket offers a modern way to do this without the need to buy an expensive mod or risk the trouble of modding classic hardware on your own. Analogue also sells optional adapters for playing Game Gear, Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket, and TurboGrafx-16 games, but only the Game Gear adapter has been available up to this point.
Right now, there's still a long queue to acquire a Pocket, and that's a definite roadblock unless you have a large wallet to overpay on eBay. Availability is the Pocket's primary issue, and sadly, there's little to be done about it. Analogue doesn’t leave hardware sitting on shelves, preferring to create bespoke consoles in low quantities. While I would hope the company has plans to spin up manufacturing, Analogue isn't very well known for meeting demand — not historically, at least.
Still, if you have the means and the patience, I definitely recommend picking up an Analogue Pocket, especially if you're into classic handheld games. The FPGA emulation easily stacks up to classic hardware, even surpassing them, thanks to the HD screen that rarely falters no matter what games you throw at it. Yes, some of the issues inherent to decades-old titles remain, but Analogue has done an admirable job replicating the original experience with software tricks like frame-blending transparency. Plus, the unit feels good in the hand, with controls that easily compare to the originals. There's nothing else out there that stacks up, especially at $220.
The Retroid Pocket 2+ is the latest entry in the Retroid Pocket line, sporting a 4:3 screen that's excellent at emulating classic console games, though classic handheld titles won't fully fit the screen since they range in ratios. The Retroid packs many features, like rumble and analog joysticks, but if playing Game Boy games is your target, these features are superfluous.
ANBERNIC offers quite a few emulation devices, though the RG351V is clearly designed similarly to classic Game Boys, with a portrait profile. Despite this design choice, the screen is 4:3, so it's more suited to playing classic console games instead of classic handheld games. Sure, handheld games are perfectly playable; they simply won't fill the entire screen, which is precisely where the Analogue Pocket shines.
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Matthew is a furious nitpicker and something of a (albeit amusing) curmudgeon. A person who holds an oddly deep interest in Android and advancing the state of gaming on the platform. Some may say a ridiculous task, but it is one he is willing to take on from the comfort of his armchair.
