Analog pocket review: the old is new again

The era of the Game Boy video games has begun to age. While once, I used to have several consoles and Game Boy games crowded assorted drawers in my bedroom, most of my collection in recent years has been saved in a warehouse, or finally it has been sold. However, what I have found personally in recent years is that I have had the desire to acquire some of these older games. However, the only problem is that accessing these titles has become increasingly difficult and inaccessible for several reasons.

At a time when the emulation has probably become the easiest way in which many set games are experienced, Analogue seeks to counteract this trend in an important way with its new pocket hardware. The handheld device, which looks a lot like the original Game Boy, is compatible with almost all games that have reached the platform, including the Game Boy Advance. However, instead of simply being a new device that allows players to experience these games in a convenient way, Pocket improves the titles of this period of time in ways you need to see to believe.

The biggest point of sale of analogue pocket comes with your screen. The pocket screen is not only quite larger than Game Boy, Game Boy Color or even several models of Game Boy Advance, but also improves visual fidelity in 10 times compared to the original platforms.. The disconcerting thing about this is that the games themselves have not changed at all. You can simply connect any GB, GBC or GBA game directly in your pocket and work as expected. Pocket, through FPGA technology and high resolution screen, can make these old games look exactly as you remember them in your head, instead of presenting them as they really were. Basically, Pocket makes these old school games look at HD.

One of the most beautiful things about the analogue pocket is that it does not feel cheap in the least either. There is a weight on this handheld that did not expect when I raised it for the first time, but it is not as heavy as it is uncomfortable to hold it. Out of the screen, the other aspects of the pocket are also incredibly pleasant. The buttons and the D-pad, in particular, feel very firm and well done. This feels like something that could constantly use over the next few years, and it would still be in excellent shape.

The operating system found in the core of Analogue Pocket is relatively simple, but it comes with a series of interesting features that can change the way you experience the games on the platform. To begin with, you can put the pocket in a rest mode that will suspend your games, as expected from modern video game consoles. This means that the days of having to find a save point (remember those?) In many of these older games are now something irrelevant. You can also infinitely modify some display options so that they adapt to your preferred game style. So, if you really want the original Game Boy games come with that thick green filter that used to have, you can activate this option and play them as before.

Probably the most incredible part of the pocket is that analogue has developed it to do much more than playing video games. Napoleon, which is a piece of musical development software, has been incorporated into the pocket so that it can connect it (using an additional MIDI cable) to synthesizers and sequencers to create their own melodies with retro sound. I am not a musician in the least, so it is true that I have not tried this function at all, but the fact that it is included here is quite incredible.

Outside the pocket itself, analogue also sells many other accessories that can be used to complement the system. The most notable of them is probably the dock, which works almost exactly as the Nintendo Switch. Once connected to a TV or monitor, you can simply insert your pocket into the corresponding USB port on the Dock to view your games on a large screen with a 1080p resolution. Surprisingly, I discovered that these portable games look much better than expected when they are extended in this way. The Dock is also compatible with several modern drivers, including the Switch Pro Controller and DualShock 4 of PS4, which is very convenient.

Even if you do not want to play Game Boy games, Pocket is also compatible (or will be) with many other past portable platforms. At this time, Analogue is selling an additional adapter for Game Gear, which is the Sega handheld that was launched at the beginning of the 1990s. This adapter simply plugs into the back of the pocket and, from there, simply Insert Game Gear games and start playing. Analogue has plans to launch more adapters in the future for Atari Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket as well, which means that the Pocket Library will continue to expand. This is really meant to be a handheld that does not look like anything we have seen before.

If there is an aspect of the Pocket analogue that I find a bit annoying, it comes with the update process. At a time when practically all consoles can connect to the Internet to download new firmware updates, Pocket requires that you download these new patches on a micro SD card before inserting this card into the system. Once this is done, Pocket is updated by itself, but it is the steps that lead me to wishing me that the platform simply contained some form of Internet connectivity to speed up the process a little more. The Dock itself also requires new firmware updates from time to time and these patches must be downloaded into a USB memory. Once again, none of this is a major problem, but I wish all this Calvary were a little simpler.

The other thing that is a bit annoying is that many of the long-term characteristics that Analogue wants to implement with Pocket are not available here at the launch. Game libraries, certain development options and even additional driver support for Dock are all the things that Analogue has made it clear that it will add in the future, but they are not present at this time. Other tools, such as Quick Saves / Loads, arrived here at the launch, but only beta-form, which means that there is still work to be done. In general, I am happy to know that Analogue is committed to making sure that Pocket continues to improve over time, but I wish some of these things would have been included immediately.

Despite some small problems, Analog Pocket is a fantastic piece of hardware from start to finish. If you are someone who has been looking for an excellent way to play portable games from the past, this is, by far, the best device I have seen so far and that is specifically dedicated to the Game Boy library and beyond. And even when it is not simply playing, the additional features that analogue has added to this machine only solidify even more why it is a piece of technology so great. With the promise that Pocket will only improve as time with future updates, this is an easy recommendation for any retro games' enthusiast.

Rating: 4.5 of 5

The analogue pocket and all accompanying accessories are currently available to preorder through analogue's official website, with shipping dates to be determined. Analogue provided a pocket review unit and all its accessories for the purpose of this review.