A Better Handheld SNES?! Hyperkin Supa Boy Black/Gold USB-C

In this episode, we unbox and test out an update to the Superboy from hyperkin, now with an important and very welcome update

It's weird to think that you could play Sega Genesis games on the go back in the day thanks to the Sega no man. It was a full-blown Sega Genesis, it even had a video output that you could connect to your TV and a port for a second controller for player two! While Nintendo never went down this path, hyperkin has with their super Boy handheld system. Designed to play both Super Nintendo and super famicom games, ntsc and pal, this has been the pseudo Super Nintendo handheld to play physical cartridges. One of my biggest criticisms of the original Superboy Black Gold was the fact that it utilized micro USB for power. Well, things have changed.

The SupaBoy Black Gold is designed to play your NTSC, NTSC-J, and PAL Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games. In addition, it is also compatible with the Super Game Boy. This gives the system a huge library that it can play.

The front of the SupaBoy features a 4.3 inch LCD display, front-firing stereo speakers, twin ports to connect external Super NES controllers to as well. All of the traditional Super NES style buttons and d-pad layouts are here. The A/B/X/Y buttons are all gold and all have the same shape. Since they are the same color I would have preferred if they would have gone with a concave/convex configuration here. The d-pad feels okay, but not great. Compared to the d-pad on the Hyperkin Scout and Cadet controllers, the SupaBoy's d-pad actually leaves a little bit to be desired.

The Superboy Black Gold is virtually identical in every way to the previous version, the main difference being the inclusion of a usb-c port for charging in power. The other minor difference is that it now includes a set of covers for over the controller ports in the front of the system, that way they don't get filled with gunk, dirt, or other grime from your hands when not in use. Simple, but appreciated.

The Superboy is essentially a super Retron and a different handheld case. It does feature an LCD display with backlighting that has good viewing angles, the aforementioned two front-facing controller slots, 4x3 or 16x9 aspect ratio switch, and an ntsc, pal switch. There's also an adapter cable that comes in the box that allows you to connect it to your television via composite video. Not the greatest, but it works in a pinch. Finally, a usb-c charging cable and a carrying pouch are also included, but you're left to your own devices for a power supply.

The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

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The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)