Atari has done an excellent job of mining its illustrious past in recent years, giving us the Atari 2600+ and the Atari 7800+ – as well as a selection of brand-new carts to play on them.

The company's big release for Christmas 2025 takes a slightly different approach, however; rather than give us an entirely new 'Plus' console this year, Atari has taken the original 2600+ and given it a Pac-Man lick of paint and bundled it with one of the most remarkable 'retro ports' we've seen in a long time.

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The Atari of 2025 may not be the same company that spearheaded the arcade and home console revolution of the '70s and '80s, but it's doing a commendable job of keeping those glory days alive through a selection of updated games and licensed hardware.

We've already seen the 2600+ and 7800+ consoles (produced in conjunction with Plaion), as well as a series of systems produced by My Arcade, a company that has also worked with the likes of Sega, Namco, Capcom, and Taito to produce a range of affordable, plug-and-play retro gaming devices.

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Dual-screen handhelds which ape the form and function of the Nintendo DS and 3DS aren't a new thing – AYANEO produced the Windows-based Flip DS and Flip KB at the start of 2024 – but we've seen a formidable second wave appear in 2025, with AYN joining AYANEO at the dual-display party via its Thor.

AYANEO has returned to the concept with the Android-based Pocket DS, a device which is very similar to the Flip series in terms of size and form factor.

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The Evercade EXP and Evercade VS are now a few years old, but both have already had a redesign in 2024, swapping out the white colour scheme of the original models for a grey-and-blue approach, known as 'Neon Retro'.

Manufacturer Blaze has now given both machines a third spruce-up, this time adopting a grey-and-red colourway ('Classic Retro') which, for me at least, calls to mind the design of the NES.

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Not content to hit consumers with a new wave of emulation handhelds on a yearly basis, Chinese firm AYANEO has now established a sub-brand called KONKR which is focused on budget-friendly devices – which means we'll be seeing even more devices from the company over the next few years.

The first product in this family, the Pocket Fit, is notable for offering a Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 chipset (or Snapdragon 8 Elite, depending on your budget) and a starting price of $239, making it a little friendlier on your wallet than some of AYANEO's previous offerings.

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Not too long ago, I reviewed the Anbernic RG ARC. Available in a Saturn-style colour scheme and boasting a button layout based on that console's iconic controller, it was all set to become my dream system – until it became glaringly apparent that it couldn't run Saturn games very well, and its D-pad had serious manufacturing issues which only became obvious over time. It was crushed, because the Saturn is one of my favourite consoles of all time.

You can imagine, then, why I was so excited when Retroid announced the Pocket Classic 6, a Game Boy-style emulation handheld which not only offers the power to run pretty much all Saturn games at full speed, but also has a six-button layout – and is available in a colourway which mimics that of the Japanese Saturn.

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I've long said that the handheld emulation sector is saturated with devices which all basically do the same thing, with only minor increases in processing power setting them apart – well, that and design inspiration, which usually involves cloning the look of a famous portable from decades ago, like the GBA or GBA SP.

The MagicX Zero 40 (available for under $100 from MechDIY) is a refreshingly new approach that doesn't attempt to ape the look of classic hardware, but instead uses a bespoke design to offer a laser-focused means of rediscovering Nintendo DS games.

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Sir Clive Sinclair's ZX Spectrum is one of the most talked-about and influential home computers the world has ever seen, despite its commercial reach being mostly limited to the United Kingdom. With around five million units sold during its lifetime – and playing host to thousands of games – the ZX Spectrum launched the careers of countless bedroom coders and created a generation of devoted gamers.

We've seen multiple attempts to capitalise on the deep-rooted nostalgia that exists for this venerable home micro – including the ill-fated ZX Vega+ and the somewhat more successful Spectrum micro-console – but arguably the most promising revival of this legendary system is the ZX Spectrum Next, an FPGA-powered replica that began life in Brazil over a decade ago before coming to market via Kickstarter in 2017.

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As somebody who has limited space beneath their television (and an increasingly limited amount of spare time to play video games), Playmaji's Polymega modular retro gaming system was a breath of fresh air for me when it arrived a few years ago. Here was a system which could house my curated physical gaming collection (in digital form) on a single, unified hardware platform, complete with creature comforts such as save states, HD output and the ability to use original accessories.

The fly in the ointment with Polymega is the amount of time it has taken Playmaji to fulfil orders; I was lucky enough to get an early review unit (albeit one that isn't the final production spec and has already been back to Playmaji's HQ once for a firmware update that couldn't be applied over the internet), but my Hookshot Media colleague, Ant Dickens, ordered one and had to wait a considerable amount of time before his system arrived. Others are apparently still waiting.

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While HyperMegaTech's Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition has been attracting all of the attention recently, it's important to remember it's not the only new addition to the lineup that launched this month – there's a Data East-themed Super Pocket, too.

Pre-loaded with 18 games and sporting what I personally think is the best colourway of the lineup so far, this £49.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 handheld supports Evercade cartridges, opening up access to over 600 different games.

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Blaze's HyperMegaTech brand has been pumping out Super Pocket handhelds for a while now, working with companies like Taito, Atari, Capcom and Technos to deliver budget-friendly and super-portable ways of leveraging the massive Evercade library.

However, it's fair to say that the Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition is one of the most eagerly awaited additions to this lineup so far. Part of a bold collaboration between Blaze and Saudi-owned SNK, this £49 / $69 / € 59 device comes with 14 pre-loaded Neo Geo titles and is compatible with the Evercade range of cartridges, giving potential access to over 600 titles.

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It feels like we're drowning in GBA SP-style clamshell emulation handhelds these days, and PowKiddy is adding yet another one to the mix: the V90S, an update of its earlier V90 effort.

Boasting a larger footprint and massively improved specs, it's certainly a step up—but is this $50 device really worth a look when the market for this type of device is so saturated?

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The GBA SP's iconic clamshell design has already been cloned by emulation handheld makers via the Miyoo Flip and Anbernic RG35XX SP. Now, the latter company is back with the confusingly named RG34XX SP, which is a smaller, sleeker take on the GBA SP with analogue sticks and a revised screen.

Chances are, if you're interested in a device in this form factor you've probably purchased one of the above handhelds already—so is the $70 RG34XX SP worth a look?

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Anbernic is a company which is famous for releasing multiple emulation handhelds every year, but it's gone through something of a quiet period of late.

The Android-based RG557 is its first release in a few months, and it isn't even a 'new' product, really—it's an iterative update of the RG556 powered by a Dimensity 8300 chipset, which replaces the Unisoc T820 seen in the previous model.

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In a world where analogue control is now seen as more important than digital, we've recently seen some emulation handhelds (AYANEO Pocket S, we're looking at you) get their input layout completely wrong, placing the all-important D-pad below the left-hand analogue stick—which might be the accepted practice on the Nintendo Switch, but makes far less sense on a device where you'll be focusing on digital control first and foremost.

Thankfully, PowKiddy is more sensible with its new X35H handheld; the D-pad is exactly where it belongs, sitting above the analogue stick, precisely where your thumb naturally rests.

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Last year, I was lucky enough to go hands-on with a prototype of the Octopus TR Fight Stick, an all-in-one arcade stick which eventually raised over $150,000 via Indiegogo.

That particular sample came in a 3D-printed case, but it nevertheless left a very positive first impression. I've now got my hands on the final version, which has not only undergone a redesign but is also made from aerospace-grade aluminium, offers broader system support and much, much more.

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While Steam Deck's humble sales have illustrated that the handheld gaming PC market is smaller than many believed, that doesn't mean there's not an appetite for these monstrously powerful portable beasts.

Before Valve entered the market with its aforementioned device, we'd already seen several examples from the Chinese firm AYANEO, and the company has been a truly innovative force in this sector of the market since then, producing handlers with sliding keyboards and dual screens.

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The world of emulation handhelds has given us numerous clones of the Nintendo Game Boy, but Sega systems have been curiously underrepresented. Sure, Anbernic gave us the Saturn-style ARC, but we haven't had all that many devices that take inspiration from Nintendo's bitter '90s rival—until now, at least.

The $99 Game Kiddy Bubble ($99 from MechDIY) is clearly inspired by the Game Gear, Sega's answer to the wildly successful monochrome Game Boy. Released in the early '90s and based largely on the 8-bit Master System hardware, the Game Gear offered a full-colour illuminated screen but suffered from the same shortcomings as the Atari Lynx and NEC PC Engine GT: battery life.

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The Sega Nomad wasn't a commercial success, yet it remains one of the best ways to experience Genesis / Mega Drive games; it can be used in portable form but also connected to the TV—almost like a Nintendo Switch, but two decades ahead of time.

The big issue with the device back in 1995 was the fact that it required a whopping six AA batteries, and those would only deliver around three hours of gameplay—and they had to be placed inside an external battery pack which bolted onto the rear, making an already bulky device even larger.

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Namco's Pole Position is rightly regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time. The first racing game to feature a real-life circuit and a qualifying lap, it was also notable for offering a degree of realism that previously hadn't been encountered in arcades, combining large sprites viewed from 'behind the car' viewpoint and a smoothly-scrolling track.

As such, Pole Position is the perfect game to launch My Arcade's new mini-cab range, dubbed the 'Racing Player'. This new design comes with an analogue steering wheel and gear lever and will be reused when My Arcade releases its OutRun cab later this year.

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When it comes to creating appealing emulation handhelds, one typical objective seems to be to make the device as similar to a previous system as possible. This is a solid tactic; nostalgia is a powerful tool, and consumers are more likely to take a punt on a product that reminds them of a beloved piece of gaming hardware.

To this end, we've seen many classic Nintendo portables cloned by Chinese manufacturers, with Anbernic in particular producing imitations of the Game Boy (RG35XX) and Game Boy Advance SP (RG35XX SP).

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The market for pocket-sized Game Boy-style emulation handhelds is pretty saturated right now, with devices like the Miyoo Mini Plus and Anbernic RG35XX already offering solid performance at a reasonable price. You wouldn't think there was any room for other options, but the TrimUI Brick (which starts at $80) proves that, with the right approach, it's always worth being open to alternatives.

TrimUI isn't a company that has the fame of rivals such as Anbernic and Retroid, but it produces solid products nonetheless – and the Brick certainly feels like a cut above many other alternatives when it comes to design and build quality. The multi-colour LED lights on the front and rear are truly eye-catching, and the unit has a solid feel to it that isn't often present in handhelds in this price range. The back panel, for example, is made of metal.

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Accessory maker Genki has a track record for identifying gaps in the market and producing handy gadgets which are both innovative and reasonably-priced. The ShadowCast 2, for example, is something I carry around in my laptop bag at all times, as it allows me to capture HD video and screenshots from any HDMI-ready device with the minimum of fuss.

The company's next trick is the SavePoint. Compatible with Steam Deck, Windows, iOS and more, it's essentially an M.2 2230 SSD enclosure which connects via a super-fast 10Gbps USB-C cable. It also offers 100W passthrough charging, allowing you to quickly top up your device's battery at the same time.

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For an entire generation of British gamers, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum remains a legendary machine.

Host to hundreds of classic games and a hugely important stepping stone for many European developers, the rubber-keyed wonder's influence cannot be understated – so it's little wonder that there's a lot of interest in Retro Games Ltd's latest micro-console system, which is based on the Speccy.

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AYANEO already has a few Android-based gaming handhelds under its belt in the form of the Pocket Micro and Pocket S, but it's fair to say that its next effort in this arena has attracted the most interest out of all of them.

The AYANEO Pocket DMG is shamelessly inspired by the Nintendo Game Boy, right down to using the same colourway (on the model I reviewed, at least) and even having a boot screen which mimics the pea-soup LCD display of the original 1989 DMG-01.

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