No sooner has one Super Pocket arrived, than another one turns up, hot on its heels. Is the Atari Edition Super Pocket worth having? Let’s find out!

In my review of the Technos Edition Super Pocket, I noted that it’s not the best looking of the consoles, especially when next to the rather lovely translucent editions of the Capcom and Taito consoles.

An even bigger kick in the you-know-whats is that the Technos console is, so far, the only Super Pocket which doesn’t have a special edition!

The Atari Super Pocket I managed to snag is the limited edition version of the console, which was limited to 2600 units (if you know that the original Atari console ended up being known as the Atari 2600, that seemingly random number definitely makes sense) and which allegedly sold out within one hour of going on sale.

Of course, there is a non-limited edition version of the console available, in a black and red colour scheme, with the differences between the special and standard editions being purely cosmetic.

The Atari Evercade collections moved to Legacy status (Evercade lingo for ‘no longer in print’) some time ago, which is a real shame. It was understandable, however, given that Atari released the superb 2600+ console, which played new and old Atari 2600 and 7800 cartridges directly.

Why compete with an alternative platform offering a ton of games for a much cheaper price than a single cartridge, right?

Also, I think given the Evercade’s early Atari collections, including a pair of excellent Atari Lynx cartridges, it definitely made sense to think that there was a crossover in the customer base for the Atari 2600+, and that of the Evercade. Atari had also made a big effort to bring their games to modern consoles via their own retro compilation, undoubtedly the very best collection of retro games of all time, thanks to it’s phenomenal presentation, not to mention the sheer volume of games old and even new.

So when an Atari Super Pocket was announced, I was surprised, to say the least. Yet of course Atari themselves don’t have a dedicated handheld, or a way for their older games to be played on a handheld now that the Evercade collections had been retired.

So here we are. If you’re aware of the Super Pocket hardware already, nothing here will be a surprise. If you’re not, I’ll cover some of the main points for you.

The Super Pocket screen is a lower resolution than the Evercade EXP’s (it’s specifically 320×240, with a size of 2.8″, if specs are important to you), but for playing these especially old games on, it’s absolutely fine as it is. CRT filters can also be applied to games, to give them a more authentically old school look.

You won’t be concerned that anything looks particularly ‘wrong’, and you will probably only miss the TATE mode of the EXP (which aligns the screen across it’s longer edge, so you can play titles on a vertically rotated handheld console in their original screen orientation) for the few titles that look particularly small on the squarer screen of the Super Pocket.

The buttons and dpad do feel a little plasticky and less solid than those of the EXP too, but again there’s nothing here that causes any issues at all, and it all feels robust enough.

The rear buttons are in somewhat awkward places where they’re too easily pressed accidentally, but this doesn’t prove an issue unless you’re playing, say, a 32-bit game via an Evercade cartridge, which specifically uses what would normally be shoulder buttons.

On that note, yes, the Atari Super Pocket is fully compatible with all Evercade cartridges, so you aren’t limited to the games it includes. It’s a great gift for the more casual gamer in your life, particularly if they have a fondness or nostalgia for Atari games specifically. Having grown up owning an Atari 2600, as well as pretty much idolising the brand and their arcade titles in the 80s, that description definitely fits me too.

The sound is perfectly fine, and sounds good enough on the Super Pocket’s speakers without any noticeable tinny tones. It has an issue where you can’t quite turn it down as quietly as you might want to before it mutes entirely, but that aside the sound is perfectly adequate for the games it’ll be playing (and there’s that unnecessarily amazing bop of a menu track too, which I adore).

The console is charged via USB C port, and lasts for over 4 hours on a single charge. Though that doesn’t sound all that good, it’s surprising how long the battery lasts when you’re just grabbing the console for a quick bash on a game or two here and there.

Speaking of which, what games will you find on the Atari Edition Super Pocket?

There’s a nice variety of systems they’re drawn from; on here, you’ll find arcade games, Atari 2600 titles, Atari 5200 games, Atari 7800 and Atari Lynx titles too. In fact, this is the most packed Super Pocket yet, in terms of the number of games included; you’ll find a pretty jaw dropping 50 titles installed on this little beauty!

However, don’t be fooled by that number if you’re not familiar with the Atari back catalogue. The fact is that many Atari games, particularly from the earlier systems, may feel more basic and dated in nature than you remember if you’re revisiting them, and painfully simplistic if you’re checking them out for the first time. Games like the frankly ancient Canyon Bomber are in black and white, which is definitely likely to be a shock to the system for modern gamers!

Personally, being the owner of an Atari 2600+ and a reasonably sizable library of original and re-released cartridges, I tend to find a lot of the games appealing in their high-score-chasing purity. There’s nothing quite as immediately playable as a classic Atari game, and many great examples can be found here.

Plus, there’s some genuine rarities here that aren’t found on either the previous Atari Evercade cartridges, or even on the very comprehensive Atari 50. Which means that Atari completists may well be compelled to pick up this Super Pocket anyway.

It’s also a highlight to have a selection of Atari 5200 games, especially as it feels like it was sorely underrepresented even on Atari 50; though there’s only five games from Atari’s short lived 2600 successor, and they’re not all great, it’s definitely good to have access to them.

Atari 2600 classics that I couldn’t be without include Adventure, Aquaventure and Yars’ Revenge; they’re joined by the longest list of games for any of the featured consoles, including the technical marvels (by 2600 standards) Radar Lock and Solaris.

The Atari 7800 is strongly represented with a killer lineup; favourites of mine include Fatal Run and Ninja Golf, but Dark Chambers is perhaps the most underrated 7800 title of the nine included.

The Lynx gets a very eclectic selection of nine games, and a couple are sorely missed (Blue Lightning and Technocop aren’t here, for example), and while not every game is a hit, it’s still great to be able to play some unusual Lynx games, and on a handheld too!

Finally, there’s what is likely to be the biggest selling point for many: the arcade games. There’s 13 of them, and though many are from the early days of the arcade craze, they’re still decent. My picks for unmissable games are Berzerk, its sequel Frenzy and the iconic Missile Command (which was featured in Terminator 2, despite its age at the time of the film’s release).

Overall, the Atari Edition Super Pocket is a superb little console, a great addition to the Super Pocket range, and a nice way to enter the Evercade ecosystem (and enjoy its eclectic extensive ranges of cartridges), if you’re not a part of it already. Many, but nowhere near all, games featured were on the five (yes, five) Atari cartridges: Atari Collection 1&2, Atari Lynx Collection 1&2, and Atari Arcade 1, but all of these are now out of print, and sell for way more than RRP on the secondary market.

It’s actually cheaper to buy the Super Pocket than those cartridges. With the fact that those cartridges could be played across all hardware, whereas the Super Pocket’s built in games can only be played specifically on this console, your mileage may vary, but I think this console represents fantastic value for money, at a pretty amazing less-than-£1 per game, as well as being a cheap way in to the Evercade ecosystem.

If you aren’t particularly fussed about the Atari games but want to grab a Super Pocket, for me the Capcom Edition is the best one, with Taito a close second and Technos, despite a couple of gems, bringing up the rear (basically, go clockwise from top left in the image above for my recommended ranking of all four consoles!). One thing’s for sure; it’s such a great time to be a retro game fan, with so many ways to legally play a variety of old school titles; the Super Pocket really are lovely little devices which, while not perfect, do the job just fine.

There’s no fuss when it comes to the games actually working, and no need to search potentially dodgy websites for illicit and, at the very least, morally dubious game ROMs.

Priced at £49.99 RRP, you can buy the Atari Edition Super Pocket from Amazon here.