Page 28 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #39 FREE Edition

ANALOGUE POCKET REVIEW
THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE OF HANDHELD RETRO GAMING
In continuation of the company’s modern revision of classic video game consoles, Analogue
brings the Analogue Pocket, a beautiful handheld that pays an incredible homage to the Game Boy. Analogue’s portable is more than just a remake, though, as it has many features that excite any retro gamer.
The Analogue Pocket gives its
users three different options to play games on it, even if the games are not initially from a handheld. The first option is utilizing the Pocket’s cartridge slot, allowing you to play your physical Game Boy, Game
Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games, just like you would on the original handhelds. Analogue bolsters the cartridge route even further by selling additional cartridge adapters that allow the use of Game Gear, TurboGrafx-16 HuCards, Neo Geo Pocket, and
Atari Lynx cartridges. The Pocket makes playing incredibly easy for anyone with a massive library of handheld games. These games look especially great on the high-quality LCD screen of the Analogue Pocket, which is one of the clearest displays I’ve seen on a handheld device in quite some time. In what I would consider a “hybrid” route, handheld console flash carts also work perfectly on the Analogue Pocket.
CORE VALUES
The 3rd route players can utilize
to play games involves Analogue’s OpenFPGA OS process. With this process, a user can install “cores” programmed to work at a hardware level of emulation of original consoles, such as the NES, SNES, or Genesis. A massive selection
By Mike Mertes
of cores is available to download, allowing you to play near-frame accurate emulations of many consoles, handhelds, and even computers like the Amiga. Arcade cores also exist, permitting you to play Capcom CPS2 titles like Street Fighter 2 and Darkstalkers. The versatility of the Pocket cannot be ignored, especially with how nicely the unit looks, feels, and sounds. It certainly doesn’t feel like Analogue skipped on the feature set of this handheld.
DOCK IT!
Sold as a separate accessory,
the Analogue Pocket Dock takes the Pocket to the next level and allows you to hook it up to your big screen via the dock’s HDMI cable. Displaying a crispy 1080P picture output, the Dock will also enable you to use several screen filters, including a fantastic Sony Trinitron scanline output. I am generally
not one for scanlines, but seeing games with the Trinitron-style scanlines on a 4K TV is impressive.
The Pocket Dock comes equipped with two USB ports to plug in
wired variety controllers. The Pocket Dock can utilize almost any Bluetooth or 2.4g 8bitDO controller for those seeking wireless controller support. You can also use multiple controllers, meaning that if a core or game supports up to 4 players, you can utilize the dock to take advantage of that feature.
THE PERFECT POCKET
The Analogue Pocket was released in late 2021, but it seems like the last six months has indeed been the time for the handheld and
its dock to shine. With the many gaming options available on the handheld, combined with the display power of the dock, this is undoubtedly a setup I could live with if I were forced to give up my console collection and only had a small amount of space available to play games. It’s easily one of the most bang-for-your-buck gaming purchases, even at the more premium price of $219.99.
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OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE • ISSUE #39