Review of Analog Pocket: A foundation for the future
Our Verdict
A distinctly premium device designed for enthusiasts, the Analogue Pocket achieves everything it sets out to do with flying colours. A gorgeous screen, premium feeling device, and a plethora of features make this the best way you could ever hope to play Game Boy games. But whether you can deal with the price or the wait is entirely up to you.
- Top-tier retro gaming
- Fantastic form factor
- No emulation
- Retro only
- No ROM compatibility
Over time, retro gaming has only gotten better as a number of high-quality third-party devices have reinforced what was previously a rather specialized activity, enabling users to play and enjoy vintage games in contemporary ways. Analogue may be at the forefront of this movement.
The retro-oriented firm concentrated on portable gaming after finding success with products like the Analogue Super NT and the Analogue Mega Sg, which play SNES and Mega Drive titles natively, respectively. The Analogue Pocket appears, a gorgeous gadget that is obviously modeled after the original Game Boy and has native support for playing real cartridges using real hardware. You can now make your old Game Boy, Game Boy Colour, and Game Boy Advance games come to life like never before with this creative way of thinking.
But the fun doesn't end there—you can buy cartridge adapters to use Atari Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket, and Game Gear cartridges on the same device. The stunning 3.5-inch, 615 ppi LCD screen, which operates at ten times the resolution of the original Game Boy, is the primary selling feature of this device in addition to its convenience. It gives beloved games a vivid, pixel-perfect makeover that is really amazing. However, is $219.99 (before shipping or any other costs like the dock) worth it? Perhaps more importantly, is the wait worth it? To discover out, let's dig into our Analogue Pocket review.
To be clear, Analogue did not provide us with an Analogue Pocket for evaluation. Rather, I pre-ordered one in December 2022 when they first went on sale, and my unit arrived on or around December 20, 2023, more than a year after I placed my purchase. It is understandable that waiting periods are a problem given that this is a premium item and a difficult machine to replicate, especially given the rapidly increasing demand. But with so many other portable gadgets available, it's something to think about.
Because I'm elderly and really grew up in the 1990s, I already have a rather large library of Game Boy games. Since I had a full year to add to my collection when I ordered the Pocket back in 2022, you can be sure that by the time my order arrived, I had amassed a sizable collection of GB, GBC, GBA, and Game Gear titles that were all eager to be put to the test.
This is, in my opinion, something that should be noted right away. Do you still play the Game Boy consoles to this day? Do you own a large library of games? Are you really playing them? If so, the Analogue Pocket could be right for you, but it will be much harder to convince someone who isn't an aficionado to buy it. Let's start by discussing the things that the Analogue pocket accomplishes well.
The primary attraction of the Pocket, which is difficult to portray in images, is definitely its pristine 3.5-inch Gorilla Glass-protected LCD screen, which boasts a resolution of 1600x1440 and flawlessly expands Game Boy games to ten times their original quality. The first game I loaded up was Pokémon Red, and I was blown away by how clear it was. The quality of the pixels makes it seem like the finest way you could ever expect to play a Game Boy game, even if the whites may be quite brilliant.
It's unlike anything else, and given the shape of the Game Boy, it also really appeals to all the nostalgic senses. Playing games in black and white naturally produces a picture that is highly contrasted, but Game Boy Colour titles have an amazingly vibrant and detailed visual style that really captures my attention. I wish I was kidding, but playing Pokémon Crystal on the Pocket almost brings me to tears.
Moving up the generations, the addition of color to the sometimes bland GBA games also helps them tremendously. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap and Metroid Fusion, in particular, seem like they could be released on current technology today exactly as they are. Games that were gloomy and dark on original GBA hardware are now vibrant and saturated visual marvels. Pixel art will always be enhanced by the GBA era, and the Pocket allows these titles to reach their full potential.
A problem with GBA games is that their aspect ratios vary, therefore the Pocket enlarges the top and bottom of the screen with black bars. There isn't a good method to fill the screen with GBA games without sacrificing the game's graphics, despite the fact that you can alter how the pixels are shown to stretch or compress the picture. It's a minor annoyance, however, if Analogue had to make this compromise in order to produce the best Game Boy gadget.
The screen is one thing, but the functionality of these games will be of interest to die-hard Game Boy enthusiasts. First and foremost, let me stress that the Analogue Pocket does not use any kind of emulation for cartridges. The performance is as good as it can be as the gadget plays them using hardware. Cartridges for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Game Gear all function flawlessly and play like dream machines, according to my testing.
In other words,Since almost every kind of game offers choices to change the visual and sound, the Analogue Pocket also has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. For example, you may play Game Boy cartridges in a range of display modes and color palettes, such as standard greyscale or ones that resemble the palettes seen on the Game Boy Colour.
You can change the brightness and clarity of Game Gear and GBA titles, albeit there aren't many comparable settings. Although I didn't use it, I can appreciate that every system has the ability to switch between a pixel-perfect visual mode and one with scanlines to mimic the original technology.
The Analogue pocket dock, which does exactly what it says on the box, is another choice if you want to shell out the additional money to play it on TV. Because of the gadget's excellent performance, this is a perfect method to play Game Boy games on a large screen. Docking the device and syncing it with Bluetooth controllers like the 8BitDo Pro 2 or the Ultimate is also quite simple. It's not necessary for everyone, but if that's what you want, it works well.
That's all the Analogue Pocket is good for, then. It's crucial to remember, however, that it does almost everything almost flawlessly. The form factor of this device, which is smaller than the original grey brick but larger than the Game Boy Lite and Pocket, is obviously intended to be based on the Game Boy Colour in an attempt to create the ultimate Game Boy experience. This is the best modern device for playing Game Boy games from a distance.
Although the Analogue Pocket is well constructed and has a genuine weight to the materials, it is much heavier and may become uncomfortable during extended play sessions. While the four buttons on the device's face are excellent for correctly playing GB and GBA games, the shoulder buttons are a little lacking in functionality. They need a strong push to activate, and they are too thin to be comfortable lying on. If they protruded just a little bit further, they would be much more comfortable, and I wish they were a little bit "clickier."
Furthermore, even though using one of the cartridge adapters, such as the Game Gear one, shouldn't be too problematic, it rests on top of the shoulder buttons and makes them inoperable. I'm not sure how to get around this given the width of the cartridges, and in theory, none of the games that utilize the adapters should use the shoulder buttons, but it's still annoying.
Along with the delivery time, there is also the price to take into account. It is less of a problem if you live in the US, but because I work in the UK, I had to pay £70 in customs fees on top of the hundreds of dollars I had spent on the device, the dock, and the Game Gear adaptor. Since this is a luxury item, I advise you to first question yourself whether you really need it by taking a close look at yourself in the mirror.
Lastly, because the Analogue Pocket is based on FPGA technology, users have developed cores that emulate many gadgets and games. Anyone can use emulation to play Mega Drive, SNES, and other platform games with a little effort. Because of its beautiful screen, the Analogue Pocket is a great method to play a number of these games, and being portable also greatly enhances the experience.
I'm completely smitten with my Analogue Pocket after over a month, but I also know that it has shortcomings. But any game that makes use of the shoulder buttons makes things much harder, and moving your hands makes the already weighty gadget awkward to carry for extended periods of time. If you purchased one, you can always turn it on the Doc, although it could be little more enjoyable to play GBA games. However, given the device's success, an analog pocket GBA will probably be released in the future.
Still, there's never been a better time to play Game Boy games, and browsing through my old collection on that gorgeous screen is invaluable. It's a blessing to have the option to put the gadget to sleep and resume gaming later, and it's even better in a portable size factor.
How devoted you are to the Game Boy library will determine whether or not you need an Analogue Pocket. Although this gadget is expensive for something that is meant to perform just one or two things, if you like playing GB games, it is a wonderful opportunity to relive some of the classics and an absolutely must investment. I'm not sure how much I can suggest it to someone with a modest interest because of the price and waiting periods, but somebody who enjoys portable gaming and has a ton of games to play would be in gaming nirvana.