Super Pocket Rare Edition Review: Banjo-Kazooie in Your Pocket

I've finally got the HyperMegaTech! Super Pocket Rare Edition in my mitts, and if I showed seven-year-old me this thing, their brain would melt into a puddle. This retro handheld costs $69.99, is smaller than an original Game Boy Color, and manages to run Banjo-Kazooie—an N64 game that felt cutting-edge when the Game Boy reigned supreme. It earns a 5/5 rating as a budget-friendly way to revisit Rare's legendary library.

Playing Banjo-Kazooie on the Go

The big question is whether you can actually play the bear and bird’s first adventure on a handheld that often costs under $60. The answer is a resounding yes. I was immediately impressed with the perceivable frame rates upon booting up the game. It targets 60fps, and in my experience, that holds true.

While I found the platforming controls manageable, the game could benefit from more granular input mapping. I found my stride by switching to the "retro" control scheme, which maps the Flap Flip to R2. Unfortunately, the port is slightly odd in its settings; it drops compatibility with the middle menu button. This means you lose access to save states and the option to enable scanlines, which would have helped with pixel separation. Despite these omissions, playing Banjo-Kazooie on a device that fits in your pocket is well worth the price.

More Than Just a One-Game Wonder

The Rare Edition comes with 14 other classics, including Conker's Pocket Tales, which was previously stuck on the Game Boy Color for 27 years. My personal highlight, however, is Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship. This 8-bit space shooter feels perfect for the vertical form factor. Its chaotic momentum physics—similar to Asteroids—make navigating narrow, spike-laden caverns a tense, rewarding experience. Unlike on a real NES, the Super Pocket allows for save states, making the punishing gameplay much more approachable.

The full list of included titles covers a wide range of Rare’s history:

• Atic Atac
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Battletoads
• Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
• Cobra Triangle
• Conker's Pocket Tales
• Gunfright
• Jetpac
• Knight Lore
• Lunar Jetman
• R.C Pro-Am II
• Slalom
• Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
• Solar Jetman: The hunt for the Golden Warship

If you aren't tied to the N64 collectathon, it might be worth checking out other flavors of the Super Pocket, but for fans of Rare's back catalog, this is a fantastic piece of kit.