Totally funded by Epic. Lake tried for over a decade to get anyone to want to publish it, it no one was interested. Not only did Epic put the money up, they had a clause of profits over a certain amount going only to Remedy.

It is a fact. We’d never have Alan Wake 2 without Epic picking up the bill!

Re-told …again

I’d give so much for a Metroid Prime 2 remaster, with the same level of care they put into the first. It is such a great game to play on my Switch (I think I’ve done so 3 times now)

But sadly with how blandly average 4 was, I don’t see Metroid being a focus for Nintendo going forward

Dont forget you can check ProtonDB and see how users have found it on the Steam Deck! The site is a great resource for checking in advance:

https://www.protondb.com/app/243470

There’s 30 separate reports there for you to check over!

How did I know you’d be mentioning RomM :P

Then consider this your reminder to get to it!!!

Well worth it, and if you get the Nightdive 2022 remaster, don’t forget to completely ignore their new graphics mode and opt for the original!

Oh I’ve been singing Cloudpunk’s praises for years now! I even chatted to the devs 12 months or so ago about interviewing them, but that never panned out (sadly).

I think of this one in the ‘perfect for Steam Deck/handhelds’ territory, it suits it so perfectly…both in gameplay and in the vibe (very cyberpunkish) too. Have you seen they have a sequel of sorts coming up? Or at least a game in the same universe, called Nivalis!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1488490/Nivalis/

While not technically cyberpunk, or even at all, it is a fantastic film done by Ridley Scott in 1989. The neons and night time of Japan will remind you of Blade Runner!

https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/4105-black-rain

Definitely worth watching the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Gv1C8dPGs

Oh my God I was scrolling past and thought this was like…gore! Something had gone awfully wrong!

The relief as I zoomed in after paying attention to the title is enormous

The company got in touch with me to review.

I had to decline though. The C64 era is far, far before my own. I think I’d just be doing it a disservice covering it, since I review modern handhelds the inevitable comparisons I’d draw against this wouldn’t be fair!

I do love the design, but these ones aren’t for me!

You can send me a DM if you need any help!

I’m on Discord with the username perfecteddark, or you can always reach me here if you need any pointers or assistance :)

You made the right call, you might go into this expecting to focus on one or two systems, but having the power and capability to run so much more is never a bad thing.

(I’m in Australia, so if you do write me, factor that time difference in)

You’re going to have the best time with this one, I promise!

The Pocket 5 is Retroid’s best selling handheld, the performance (and let’s face it, the design and looks being so nostalgic with that GameCube one!) just found its home with users.

• The amount of support for the drivers is crazily high. Being the Snapdragon 865 means you can play a ton of systems, some Switch gaming is even doable on it.
• The wonderful front-ends! Which are just all-in-one launchers for all your emulators, highly customizable and making it feel like a true ‘console’ experience. You can set one of these up and ignore the Android side, having it boot up straight into one of these. My fav is RetroHrai! - in fact you can find my interview with the developer of RetroHrai! here
• You can run it with ROCKNIX if you’d prefer it to be using Linux, too! Or Batocera also, for the same thing
• They have an official accessory which adds a pivoting second screen to the top of it, turning it into a 3DS if that is your thing
• The size is perfect too, very close to that of a Switch Lite…but to me feeling more premium than Nintendo’s own!

In fact if you are familiar with the Switch Lite size, and wanted to see how it stacks against it you can use this link to see them both on Retro Catalog:

You can typically find the Pocket 5 second-hand for a great price too!

Oh you’re super welcome! There’s something super nice about the metal construction handhelds. The premium feel comes at a cost of some added weight, but to me it is worth it and more. I can’t begin to explain how much I love the TRIMUI Brick Hammer! I’ve been playing Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution on there lately, and it just ‘pops’

Oh, my friend also makes a music app for it which I just love:

Lenovo that we know in the west just isn’t the gigantic umbrella corp that Lenovo is worldwide (or specifically here, in the east). Their name isn’t synonymous with computing elsewhere in the world, it is synonymous with things like toothbrushes, or even blinds. The manufacturing and ROM card of this are just handled by a 3rd party company licensing their name to make this. In China they’re not getting Nintendo’s lawyers knocking.

And I think the irony of this ‘bad press’ for us is that it is only increasing the sales!

You’re so welcome! I hope it’ll be sooner rather than later :)

Quite literally would not have existed had Epic not funded it. Lake shopped it around for the better part of a decade seeing if anyone would be interested in funding it, but no one besides Epic would.

So, again, this game would not exist if Epic wasn’t involved.

I just use a VPN server from my own country, which is annoying.

Then switch back to elsewhere when I’m not here.

Some still do, most don’t these days.

Specifically those using Snapdragon, the company has a policy of some kind whereby anyone using that chip for a retro handheld can’t sell those cards along with the device.

But aside from that, I can only think of one big-big company which does it now: Anbernic. TRIMUI is a smaller company which sells the ROMs on a card also, but now that these devices are such big business…most opt for discretion and don’t do the cards.

Official companies anyway, I’m sure you can throw a rock and hit an R36S with a card included these days.

I still have my Miyoo Mini V2 from 2022-ish! Actually, one better, I still have the inflate-y air pocket thing it was sent in, somehow still inflated and holding shape!

I have three! But…my three aren’t the typical three favs because I’m a bit weird.

First:

I love the Anbernic RG DS. This had a slightly controversial release, since when it launched all of us who review these had pre-release software issues. The main one being screen desync problems. But by the time it launched that was fixed and the public just…got a well working handheld. For me it is the nostalgia of the DSi LL shape/feel to it. But you also get 2x res DS games (all but 3, which require it to be 1x res), and there’s a ton of other firmware for it. You can look into GammaOS for a de-Googled OS option, or Rocknix if you want Linux. You can also opt for Anbernic’s own Linux build they were working on for a couple months and just released! Honestly, even stock does the job perfectly well.

Here’s a link to my written review on it!

Second:

The TRIMUI Brick Hammer! Fully metal build, this one feels SO premium. I run NextUI on it (friends with the dev team, they do wonderful work) and use it for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and some music! I have a friend who makes Songo#5, which is a music app for Linux, which these ones run.

It is wonderfully designed and even beautifully packaged. You can switch the ‘triggers’ on the rear of it because TRIMUI give you two different configurations to use, which is as easy as popping them off and pushing them in/on. The screen kicks major butt for whatever you play. If you’re looking for a smaller premium made Game Boy Pocket in 2026, opt for this one!

I mean, just look at it:

Here’s my review of this one too, if you’d like to read more!

Third:

The recently released Anbernic RG Rotate. I LOVE how this one is just…different. So many handhelds just end up looking the same now. Slabs of glass or plastic. Even my fav horizontal handheld, the Retroid Pocket 6 looks as feels so similar to the AYN Odin 3 (which I still use off and on!). The RG Rotate just opted for a crazy hardware design. Similarly metal bodied, I use mine for music and Pico-8 games now. I stand it upright on my shelf or desk (I am right now listening to Kylie Minogue’s Confide in Me on it!), then pick it up an hour or so later and flip it up for a game.

I hope this handheld’s success, and it is quite successful already, prompts these manufacturers to take some chances on hardware.

Annnnnnd finally my review on this one! Which was the second-last handheld I reviewed actually!

I hope these answers your question well enough! While I have some of the crazy powerful handhelds, like the Odin 3, RG 477V, Thor etc, these just make me happy :)

My Steam Deck is still what I use for heavier PC gaming (and still to emulate as well, using my fav option - RetroDECK!), and I have a Switch OLED which is chipped too. So when it comes to retro handhelds, I like the hyper-specific (RG DS), or well made for casual games on the go (Brick Hammer), or the super unusual (RG Rotate!)