There are a lot of ways to play Tomb Raider nowadays (even handheld) including the remastered verison on Switch, PC and console. The Evecade way just takes you back to the past. Also the game cases make great display pieces especially for those empty spots on your game or book shelf.

This is the original games not the remasters so you get the old school graphics. The controls are a little jank, just like back in the day but after a few minutes you get back in the groove.

Playing on the Super Pocket handheld is fun and gets the job done. A big part of the experience is the physical aspects of using an og cartridge based system. I'm certainly enjoying my time playing retro and now Raiding Tombs once again.

This weekend I can proudly say I've become a member of the Evercade retro family. My Technos Edition Super Pocket arrived this Saturday morning making me feel like a kid again. For those who don't know, the Evercade compatible systems all take the same physical cartridges for playing retro and indie titles. What's cool is you can go from a handheld to a console using the same carts. It's a great way to get back into physical collecting and retro gaming.

The Super Pocket handhelds come preloaded with games that are based on a specific brand like from Atari, NeoGeo, Rare (Banjo Kazooie) etc. The Technos Edition is mostly brawlers like the Double Dragon series, River City Ransom and Super Dodgeball with some stuff like Block Out and Dr John's Adventure to break things up a bit. This handheld comes with 15 arcade and 8-bit console classics. It has a 2.8in IPS display, usb-c 4+ hour rechargeable battery, headphone jack and is Evercade Cart compatible.

I've been reluctant to jump on the Evercade bandwagon as I have a large collection of handhelds from original hardware to emulation handhelds. There aren't many games I can't already play but Evercade offers a new way to play and collect physical media.

My first impression of the Super Pocket? It feels like a well made handheld. It has some weight to it though not heavy. The controls are responsive, the front facing sound is solid and the screen looks good. I was worried that a 2.8” screen would be too small for my old eyes but I didn't even notice it. The games look great. The system gives me that old school, OG Game Boy feeling everytime I pick it up.

Something I've found refreshing is having a limited number of high quality games verses my other handhelds with large libraries. At times I get overwhelmed by having too much to play so having a more focused experience has been very enjoyable. My favorite game on the Technos Super Pocket so far has been River City Ransom. The weapon system is so good and wielding a baseball bat to beat down the baddies just doesn't get old. I also like that you have a button that simulates putting quarters into the arcade cabinet to add credits. Plus having a few modern conveniences like save states is a nice addition. The UI is clean and easy to use. The Super Pocket has a great start up screen that gives me that feeling of starting up a retro console.

Would I reccomend a Super Pocket handheld made by Blaze? YES! Wholeheartedly! For a handheld in the $60ish dollar price range and new game carts for $29, it's a no brainer. I've already ordered a carrying case and the Tomb Raider 1-3 Collection. Everytime I pick up the Super Pocket, I get hit with those nostaglia vibes of days gone by and Saturday’s spent engulfed in gaming. I look forward to introducing my grandson to this new-old way of gaming.

If you decide to take the plunge then let me be the first to say… Welcome to retro gaming! Welcome back to owning and collecting physical games! Welcome to the Evercade family!

Are you itching to play the upcoming Wolverine game? You could be slashing bad guys now while you wait for the release. Rating 8/10 (PSP version)

Mendel Palace was released in 1989 for the NES. It's a action puzzle game created by Game Freaks which inspired them to create the Pokemon series. Mendel Palace is an odd puzzle game where you move around a grid and shove/flip tiles while being chased by bad guys. You can stop the bad guys by shoving tiles and catching them between the tile and the wall. But you need to leave some of them on the board as you flip tiles to uncover stars for points. If you wipe out all the bad guys the level ends and so does your score. It's simple yet very creative and addicting gameplay. Thankfully, Nintendo has released this for the Switch 1 & 2 as apart of their Nintendo Library (subscription required) for ease of access. Rating 9/10

UPDATE: Played the demo and love the game. It’s very, very simple yet addicting. Great, catchy retro chip music, art style and theme. Every dungeon run is different with hidden rooms, lots of interesting potions, monsters and chickens (no clue why). So long as they keep the price on the lower end then I’ll pick it up day one. It’s not for everyone but fans of retro dungeon crawlers will enjoy it. Great game to have on a Steam Deck or pc handheld for a quick game.

Steam description: “Roguecraft is a casual yet challenging turn-based roguelike, crafted for fans of classic dungeon crawlers and inspired by Lovecraftian horror. Explore procedurally generated dungeons with mysterious potions, scary chickens, and secret rooms waiting to be discovered!”

Roguecraft DX Demo on Steam

1. Phone/Tablet - believe it or not your phone/tablet are great gaming devices and not just for mobile games. You can use a bluetooth wireless controller or a wrap around controller to turn it into a full gaming console. I highly recommend GameSir and 8bitDO for quality budget controllers. It is a very powerful emulation device which allows you to play retro consoles like NES, PS1, N64 and more! Just search YouTube for guides by searching for phone emulation. You can also stream games to your phone with services like Amazon Luna and Xbox Game Pass. If you have an Amazon subscription you are already paying for their base service with games like Dispatch, EA FC26, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hogwarts Legacy, Lego, Tomb Raider, Skyrim, Fallout and more! You can also claim free pc games with this as well for your Epic/GoG accounts. There are also some great buy/own games on mobile like Titan Quest, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance; BattleChasers, Dicey Dungeons and more! We are also just beginning to see the first signs of playing pc games natively on android using Steam so stay tuned!

   Luna / Xbox Game Pass

   You can pick up a cheap tablet to game on if you have an older phone or just want a dedicated device.

   Walmart ONN Tablet Gaming Guide

2. Amazon Fire Stick 4k - with a 4k Fire Stick plus a wireless controller you can now play game streaming services such as Luna and Xbox Game Pass without the need for expensive hardware. You can buy a 4k Fire Stick for $30 (as of this writing) if you already have a wireless controller. Or you can buy a Fire Stick plus Luna Controller bundle for $99. Plus you can play some mobile titles built into the Amazon store as well. Streaming isn’t the most ideal way to play because it does require a monthly subscription and you don’t own any of the games which cycle in/out but it is an inexpensive option.

3. Retro Consoles - are another great option for budget gaming with systems like Xbox 360, PS3/4, Wii and many others and still some cheap games though rarer stuff can get expensive.

4. Retro Handhelds - are a very cheap way to game. I own a lot of them mainly because I like to tinker with them but also to replace my original hardware. For example, I have a Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo DS and a Sony PSP but they are very old and becoming more fragile. So I’ve found new hardware that allows me to emulation my collection and take that experience back out into the world without risk of damaging my original hardware. Many of the retro handhelds I own are under $100 with most of them under $60. My favorite company is Anbernic and I own at least a half dozen of them. My favorites being RG35XXSP (GBA SP replacement), RG DS (DS replacement) and RG VITA (PSP replacement). You can play them as is right out of the box or load up custom software. If all else fails these will carry me through Ramageddon! And checkout Russ at Retro Game Corps for tons of great videos on retro handhelds from review to guides.

   Anbernic

5. Evercade - has been booming since Sony announced they were ending physical media by 2028. Evercade creates new systems and cartridges with multiples game on them from Atari collections to the new Tomb Raider remasters. You can check them out on Amazon, Funstock or Evercade websites. They make both consoles and handhelds that all use the same cartridges. Another great way to budget game!

6. PC’s - I know it sounds counter intuitive with Ramageddon upon us but there are still some great deals to be had on current stock. You can also go refurbished machines that are older stock but still very capable for gaming. Checkout places like NewEgg and Amazon for deals on a pc. Also take a look at Toasty Bro on Youtube as they have a lot of videos dedicated to budget pc gaming.

7. Analog Gaming - my crew has turned to gaming that doesn’t require any electronics such as Collectable Cards Games CCG (Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh), table top wargaming (Warhammer 40k) and Table Top Roleplaying ttrpg (old school Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, Star Wars). Even though most of these require family and friends there are some solo experiences for dungeon crawling as well such as One Card Dungeon or Tech Dweebs CRYBT (video) / CRYBT print version. For ttrpg’s you can hit up your local bookstore or checkout digital options from DriveThru RPG. Great thing about these hobbies is you can create your own games! Dice are great, cheap and readily available and all you need to make an analog game.

   

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHMVNAtcP-S4

If you ever wanted Genshin Impact but without the gacha then this is your game! Count me in!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4570720/DragonSword__Awakening/

I recently played the Duskfade demo and this game is incredible! AAA studios are cooked! This does NOT feel like an Indie game. It hits all the right marks from emotion, design, atmosphere, gameplay and music. Top tier 3D action combat, platformer. This is a must buy for me!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4023080/Duskfade_Demo/

Great looking screen, solid controls, quality build and one of my new favorite handhelds. Hard to beat for just under $100.

Finally my search is over! Love my OG hardware but it's getting finicky. I feel like I have a solid lineup with my Anbernic SP for GBA, Anbernic RG DS for DS and now Anbernic RG Vita for PSP.

Probably my favorite tool is the website Deku Deals to track console and pc deals across multiple platforms. Deku Deals tracks sales on PC, Nintendo, Sony and Xbox games and monitors over a dozen different vendors. It tracks deals on Steam, Fanatical, Amazon, Best Buy, Game Stop and more. It runs the gambit from big box stores to online retailers. The only thing it’s missing is they don’t track Epic Store or GOG. You can track your library, create wishlists that alert you when games go on sale, and shop their massive collection of sales. They even track whether the sale is good by showing you what it’s been on sale for in the past! This is my favorite tool for finding deals for my Switch and keeping an eye on my pc sales.

Deku Deals!

If you happen to be on X then you may want to check out Wario64’s feed as he posts a ton of great deals on games, peripherals, handhelds, Blu-ray DVD sales and more. Where Deku Deals is very targeted, Wario64 is very random but fun to look through.

Wario64 on X

Do you like free stuff? Every Thursday Epic gives away free game(s) for pc and mobile…kind of. The pc games you just login with your Epic account and add them to your Epic collection. The mobile you have to use their mobile epic app store on your phone so it isn’t very convenient. There app is ok but who needs yet another app to keep track of.

Epic Store

If you pay for an Amazon Prime subscription you may be missing out on some free games! Most are aware that you get a lot of extras with your Prime sub like streaming on demand, live tv (over 100 channels), music streaming, and eBooks but many don’t realize you also get games with that. Prime Gaming (also branded Luna) gives away several games per week (every Thursday) for GOG, Epic and Amazon accounts. I love this feature as it has helped my build up my GOG account very quickly. They will keep those giveaways around for you to claim for about a month (scroll to the bottom of the page). They also give you access to a limited library of AAA/indie games you can stream to your pc or phone. It was kind of fun playing Skyrim on my phone though I recommend using a blue tooth controller and not the virtual controls on screen.

Prime Gaming / Luna

Special Mention: You can see if there are any free promotional giveaways on Steam. These don’t cycle out very often so only worth checking once a month.

Steam Promotional Giveaways

Keep checking out our Free! page linked at the top of the website as we post all the free stuff we find and links to everything I posted here in the article. We post everything from video games, comics, streaming movies/tv and more!

Dread Delusion on Steam

Beginners Guide: https://superstarreviews.tech/dread-delusion-tips/