October will see the release of two new retro handheld computers from Blaze’s HyperMegaTech label. This is the same team of people responsible for the Evercade and the Super Pocket range.
TheC64 and TheSpectrum are intended to be evocative of their respective systems, while reimaging them as handhelds. Sporting a clamshell design not unlike the Nintendo DS, they feature a 4.3” 840×480 IPS screen, a 3+ hour 2000mAH battery, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a MicroSD port for additional games, and a USB-A I/O port for external keyboards or joysticks.
For its control system, it uses a d-pad and four face buttons, along with four mappable function keys. The Spectrum has rubber keys, while THEC64 uses tactile plastic.
25 games are built into each, being a mixture of well-known titles and homebrew. “Lee” is presumably Bruce Lee with the license scrubbed.
The Spectrum: Head Over Heels, Manic Miner, Skool Daze, Tiny Dungeons, Archon: The Light and the Dark, The Great Escape, Bounder, Switchblade, Nightmare Rally, M.O.V.I.E, Avenger: The Way of the Tiger II, Bugaboo the Flea, Devwill Too ZX, Hammerfist, Hammer Knight, Penguin Attack, S1NCLA1R C1TY, Shovel Adventure, Snake Escape, Sorcerer Kid Adventure, Splat, Tourmaline, Where Time Stood Still, Zynaps, and Starquake.
THEC64: A Pig Quest, Sam’s Journey, Nebulus, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Super Boulder Dash, Paradroid, Hunter’s Moon Remastered, Knight ’n’ Grail, Aztec Challenge, Krakout, Lee, Druid, Encounter!, Galencia, Ice Guys, Metal Warrior Ultra, Millie & Molly, Planet Golf, Shadow Switcher, Spherical, Squish ‘Em, Steel Ranger, X-Out, Yeti Mountain & It’s Magic 2.
For those wanting to add their own games, the Speccy will support the following file types: Spectrum 48K, Spectrum 48K (NTSC), Spectrum 128K, Spectrum +2, Spectrum +2A, Spectrum +3, Spectrum +3e, Spectrum 16K, plus Spectrum CPU under/overclocking support.
TheC64, meanwhile, will play the following: C64 PAL/NTSC, C64C PAL/NTSC, C64SX PAL/NTSC, PET64 PAL/NTSC, C64 GS. I’m sure at least three people will be excited for Commodore 64 Games System support.
‘90s kids would have gone ga-ga for these two. Could you imagine playing Skool Daze while on the bus to school? Today, they’re still pretty cool, although the £109.99 price point makes them over twice the price of a Super Pocket.
Pre-orders are now live on Funstock and Amazon (affiliate links: TheSpectrum, TheC64) with Funstock also offering a limited edition set that includes exclusive gaming mags and hard cases.