Rare is partnering with retro games brand Evercade on the Super Pocket Rare Edition: an old-school handheld console that looks like a Game Boy and includes 14 classics preloaded onto the machine, including the surprisingly wholesome game that eventually led to lewd-as-heck platformer Conker's Bad Fur Day.
The Super Pocket Rare Edition comes from one of the best retro handheld makers around and essentially lets you carry a selection of retro Rare games in your literal pocket for the modest price of $70/£50 or one modern AAA game, available June 30.
And while one of the best platformers of all time in Banjo-Kazooie headlines the selection, what sticks out to me the most is a little something called Conker's Pocket Tales, a game that's been stuck on the Game Boy for 27 years and didn't even see the light of day in Rare Replay, the iconic developer's celebratory 30-game collection.
Conker's Pocket Tales is notable for actually being the first game in the series, having come out a few years before the orange squirrel became a bad-mouthed, hungover mascot in Conker's Bad Fur Day. Considering the fact that the series is even today remembered for its poop-based bosses and big-bosomed sunflowers, it might surprise you to learn that Conker's Pocket Tales was a strictly family-friendly affair.
The 13 other titles on the Super Pocket stretch back 40 years to Rare's time as a computer game developer, as well as games made during its acclaimed stint as a Nintendo hitmaker. You can check out the handheld here or order it on Amazon.
Here's the full list of games built into the Super Pocket Rare Edition:
- Atic-Atac (1983)
- Jetpac (1983)
- Lunar Jetman (1983)
- Knight Lore (1984)
- Gunfright (1985)
- Slalom (1986)
- Cobra Triangle (1989)
- Snake Rattle'N'Roll (1990)
- Solar Jetman (1990)
- Battletoads (1991)
- R.C. Pro-Am 2 (1992)
- Battletoads In Battlemaniacs (1993)
- Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
- Conker's Pocket Tales (1999)
Last time I wrote about the miserable squirrel, it was because pop star Doja Cat put him in front of more eyeballs than he's ever been used to via a delightful Halloween costume. Maybe next time it'll be for a new game, fingers crossed.
For now, check out the very best N64 games of all time.
