This Premium Glow-in-the-Dark Game Boy Plays All the Classics

Looking for a reliable way to play classic Game Boy games? The Analogue Pocket is a polished third-party handheld that plays the full range of old-school Nintendo Game Boy games—and the latest rendition adds a glow-in-the-dark finish, just in time for Halloween.

Revealed Monday, the Glow in the Dark version of the portable console can glow for up to eight hours when charged with a light, Analogue claims. It will be available in “highly limited quantities,” according to the company, with sales beginning September 1 for $249.99, and shipping set to start on September 5.

The Analogue Pocket was first announced in 2019 and began shipping in 2021—and it’s been very difficult to get a hold of until now. The system was long backordered after its initial release, and Analogue tweeted today that all remaining previous Pocket pre-orders will be fulfilled this week.

What’s the point of the Analogue Pocket? While classic Game Boy consoles are still floating around secondhand shops and online marketplaces, Nintendo stopped manufacturing the original hardware in 2003. The third-party Pocket provides a way to play the full range of classic Game Boy games—and then some—with modern amenities.

The sleek hardware features a 1600x1440 display that’s 10 times sharper than the original “green screen” Game Boy, plus it’s full color and capable of playing all Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. That’s over 2,780 total games, per Analogue, plus it has a built-in music synthesizer and sequencer.

It’s also not running the games through emulation, which can produce unexpected issues or variations from the original experience. Analogue sourced the same kind of components needed to play old-school Game Boy cartridges natively, and packed it into a polished form that charges via USB-C cable and offers a sleep/wake option.

It can play many more games too, thanks to optional plug-in adapters that enable compatibility with cartridges made for Sega’s Game Gear, the Atari Lynx, and SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket Color.

At $220 for the base model and $250 for the glowing edition, the Analogue Pocket isn’t cheap for what’s essentially a modernized Game Boy—but it’s a high-end option for die-hard retro gaming fans, many of whom have been trying to get their hands on the hardware over the last couple years.