Forget emulators; this feels like the proper way to enjoy retro games.

Previously, the Super Pocket line from HyperMegaTech! included Taito and Capcom variants and has since expanded to also include Atari and Technos as well. Now, these two latest NEOGEO and Data East versions work the same way in that each handheld comes pre-loaded with a selection of games from the branded publisher, but the device also supports all Evercade cartridges as well. Given the price, build quality, game selection, and growing library of additional games, the value is off-the-charts for anyone like me who adores retro video games and game preservation.

The Super Pocket Handheld

Matt Gardner’s original review here on Forbes from when the Evercade Super Pocket devices debuted still applies, but I’ll offer my own praise all the same. As someone born in 1990, I grew up playing the Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance all very heavily. The Super Pocket is very similar in size to the Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color s[ecifically, which is an excellent form factor to land on.

In short, this device easily fits in your pocket and if you snag a slim carrying case or something like that off Amazon, you can bring the device, a few favorite carts, and a charging cable along without taking up anywhere near as much space as you would for something like a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch 2.

The vision for the Evercade ecosystem is a return to “games like they used to be” according to the official website. When you purchase an Evercade cartridge, you’re getting not only a physical cart with complete games on it, but it’s also packaged in a sturdy box and includes a full-color manual. Plus stickers.

These Super Pocket devices are of course not the only Evercade devices on the planet, they’re just the smallest and most affordable. In addition to those, there is also the EXP-R handheld, as well as the VS-R home console, and Alpha bartop arcade units to enjoy the classics on larger screens, including multiplayer.

And for those unaware, the brilliant thing about Evercade cartridges is that each cart will work on all Evercade devices. That’s true versatility and game ownership.

I think my two biggest gripes with these devices is that there is no way to connect them together as far as I can tell in any sort of officially capacity, despite most of the games clearly supporting multiplayer in their original format, and also the fact that the game selection screen is lacking information. I’d love for something similar to the way Nintendo handles its classics library in which you can toggle an information window that has screenshots, a game summary paragraph, and even genre classifications.

For someone like me who wasn’t familiar with most of the Data East games, it would have been nice to skim over the selection menu and figure out what I wanted to try based on genre and screenshots rather than relying on often misleading 80s and 90s arcade cabinet art.

It didn’t seem like any of the games I tried really used the shoulder buttons, thankfully, since they’re in extremely awkward spots. It’s not easy to find a spot for those that is both ergonomic and doesn’t ruin the form factor, but I feel like there must have been a better way. They’re probably mostly for other Evercade games such as the Legacy of Kain or Tomb Raider collections.

Evercade Super Pocket NEOGEO

The new NEOGEO Super Pocket from HyperMegaTech! comes pre-installed with 14 games and dare I say not a single one of them isn’t worth playing. I was of course very familiar with games like Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, and even Shock Troopers, but had never played the others. Turns out, I’m now a big fan of Mutant Nation and Blazing Star as well.

Here’s the full NEOGEO Super Pocket game list:

• Alpha Mission II
• Blazing Star
• Fatal Fury Special
• King of the Monsters 2: The Next Thing
• Last Resort
• Metal Slug X
• Mutant Nation
• Over Top
• Samurai Shodown II
• Sengoku 3
• Shock Troopers 2nd Squad
• Soccer Brawl
• The Last Blade
• Top Hunter Roddy & Cathy

Plus, since these are mostly arcade games, playing through them isn’t much of a problem since pushing the ‘Select’ button is just like popping in another quarter. Endless continues for everyone!

Evercade Super Pocket Data East Games

Admittedly, Data East is not a publisher I know near as well as the likes of NEOGEO, Capcom, or Atari, but after looking through the included library I realized it’s a company I was more familiar with than I realized. Bad Dudes and Burgertime alone are truly arcade icons.

I don’t think the game selection is as flush with consistent quality as the NEOGEO Super Pocket, but it’s still very good and nostalgia will always play a factor for each person specifically. For example, I’d never played the two Dark Seal games but really, really liked the isometric dungeon-crawler beat 'em up style.

Here’s the full list of all 18 included games on the Data East Super Pocket:

• B-Wings
• Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
• Breakthru
• Burgertime
• Burnin’ Rubber
• Chain Reaction
• Crude Buster
• Edward Randy
• Gate of Doom (Dark Seal)
• Joe & Mac Returns
• Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja
• Karate Champ
• Lock N’ Chase
• Peter Pepper’s Ice Cream Factory
• Spinmaster
• Super Burgertime
• Tumblepop
• Wizard Fire (Dark Seal II)

New Evercade Game Releases

The majority of Evercade releases have focused on arcade titles and releases from publishers that aren’t as active as they once were, but new indie games and classic console games are hitting the library lately as well. Just this month the Gremlin Collection 2 includes four original PlayStation games like Loaded and Hogs of War, not to mention prior collections that included Tomb Raider and more previously.

With over 500 games available now, Evercade is a growing and, somewhat surprisingly if you haven’t been paying attention, flourishing platform with new games and multi-game carts planned every month.

In addition to the two Super Pocket handhelds, the company also sent me three cartridges including Windjammers, Karnov, & Friends which just released this month with five total games: Windjammers, Karnov, Atomic Runner Chelnov, Vapor Trail: Hyper Offence Formation, and my personal favorite on the cart, Rohga: Armor Force.

The other two cartridges I got were the Goodboy Galaxy/Witch N’ Wiz indie game combo cart and the Toaplan Arcade 4 Collection which includes six games: Dogyuun, which was my favorite of this bunch, Grind Stormer, Knuckle Bash, Snow Bros. 2, Pip and Bibi’s, and Sky Shark.

And for what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed my time with these handhelds so much the last few days I went ahead and bought myself the first Duke Nukem Collection, which includes remasters of the first two Duke Nukem platformers, as well as Duke Nukem 3D. Next up, I’ll probably spring for the Metal Dragon/Life on Mars two-game cart from Kai Magazine Software and the first Sunsoft Collection since it includes Journey to Silius, Blaster Master, and Aero the Acro-Bat. I’m really eyeing the two Gremlin Connections as well.

A new game collecting addiction has definitely been awakened.

Final Verdict—New Evercade Super Pockets

Perhaps it’s because these are my first-ever Evercade devices I’ve had the pleasure of using for more than a few minutes at a convention, but I absolutely adore these little pocket-sized wonders. They feel great in my hands, buttons are responsive, build quality is better than you’d expect, and the expansive library of possibilities is intoxicating.

Ultimately though, it’s undeniable that you could get “more” by just buying a handheld emulator device, but those aren’t officially licensed products with officially licensed games. The Evercade ecosystem is a way to support the industry directly and play authentic versions of these games, many of which just aren’t accessible on home hardware for most gamers.

If you present me with the choice between never-ending decision paralysis via an over-inflated digital collection of games I’ll probably never play on a device that’s not even optimized to run those games specifically, or, a bespoke handheld experience with the flexibility to be much more, at an affordable price, with officially licensed physical game cartridges, I’m picking the latter every single time.

Disclosure: HyperMegaTech! sent me both the Data East Super Pocket handheld and NEOGEO Super Pocket handheld pre-release, as well as three Evercade game cartridges, to help facilitate this coverage.

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