HyperMegaTech Super Pocket Rare Edition review: 14 classic Rare games in your pocket

Blaze Entertainment's seventh Super Pocket device lands with a Rare-themed twist — 14 built-in games spanning the British developer's history from 1983 ZX Spectrum titles all the way to Banjo-Kazooie, rebuilt to run natively on the hardware. At $69.99, it sits comfortably alongside its predecessors in terms of value.

The hardware is unchanged from previous Super Pockets: a compact Game Boy-sized handheld at 3.07 x 4.92 x 0.98 inches, weighing just 0.36 lbs, with a 2.8-inch IPS display running at 320x240 in a 4:3 ratio. Display options cover Original, Pixel Perfect, and Full Screen modes, plus shaders and scanlines. Brightness isn't adjustable, but the screen holds up in sunlight — though the glossy cover picks up glare. The 3000mAh battery delivers around four hours of play. Controls are membrane-based with a satisfying soft click, and the dual-speaker setup sounds decent at volume. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack; Bluetooth audio won't arrive until Blaze's upcoming Nexus handheld.

The 14 built-in games pull from five platforms — ZX Spectrum, NES, SNES, Game Boy Color, and Nintendo 64. The lineup includes Jetpac, Knight Lore, Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Gunfright, Battletoads, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, R.C. Pro-Am II, Slalom, Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, Solar Jetman, Cobra Triangle, Conker's Pocket Tales, and the headliner Banjo-Kazooie. Rare — now owned by Microsoft — built its reputation across exactly this kind of eclectic range, from scrappy 8-bit British computer games to the polished 3D platformers that defined the N64 era. Having Banjo-Kazooie rebuilt natively rather than emulated is a meaningful touch for a device at this price point. The Super Pocket also accepts any Evercade cartridge, which significantly extends its library beyond the built-ins.

For anyone already in the Evercade ecosystem or looking for an affordable retro handheld with genuine heritage behind its game selection, the Rare Edition makes a strong case for itself. The small screen may give pause to older players dealing with fine text, but for the price and the breadth of the library, it delivers.