I’m really enjoying my latest attempt at beating a Pokémon game, but I never suspected that I’d be playing it on a mini arcade machine.
In case you missed it, towards the end of last year, IMP came out with a brand new mini arcade machine, appropriately named the Mini Arcade Pro.
It’s a small arcade controller compatible with Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 devices, where your input in a game can be mapped to various buttons on the machine to make it feel like a small arcade.
Featuring eight fast-action arcade buttons and an 8-directional joystick, it’s obviously best suitable for arcade games like Pac-Man or Street Fighter.
What I didn’t expect, however, is that I’d be using it for my latest Pokémon attempt.
As I detailed in my recent half of GAMINGbible’s Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen dual review, my latest playthrough of Pokémon FireRed has been my third attempt at beating this game, and the first time I may actually end up completing it rather than give up.
My secret? I’ve been playing it on IMP’s Mini Arcade Pro. It feels wrong to play a Game Boy Advance game on this thing, and yet the setup may be perfect.
GAMINGbible
I have the IMP Mini Arcade Pro set up on my desk, right next to my PC. During my break, I inevitably grab my Nintendo Switch 2 and slot it into the machine. I boot up Pokémon FireRed, and start playing with the machine.
Since Game Boy Advance games only require use of the D-Pad or a single joystick, it makes games like that perfect for the IMP Mini Arcade Pro.
Technically, you can play games that need two joysticks on this thing too, as there’s a switch you can flip to toggle between both joysticks in case you need it. It means that something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is technically playable on this baby, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Pokémon FireRed though, it feels like a perfect fit for this machine that is otherwise mainly aimed at fighting and racing game arcade buffs.
I’ve enjoyed playing the game at my desk during my lunch breaks (and—don’t tell my boss—in occasional 5-minute reliefs throughout the day), not having to keep my arms elevated to hold the Switch 2 in my hands but instead being able to play it at a more relaxed posture.
GAMINGbible
Obviously, I made sure to also try this with a few other games. It works incredibly well with anything on the emulation side, like the growing classics library that is available with any Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
I had a great time playing F-Zero on it, for example, and it is quite possibly the best way to experience these long forgotten classics. Even some newer titles, like Hollow Knight Silksong and Celeste, are pretty good on this thing, if a little too fast paced for my liking.
But it’s really come to my attention how well the response time is on this thing. When you’re playing a fast-paced game like Street Fighter, a game which lives and dies by how fast your reactions are and how quickly you can translate that to a button combo, the controller you’re using has to have a good response time.
And as far as I can tell, there have been no issues with delayed response time. I was able to play fighting and racing games just as well as I could with a regular Switch controller (and considering the button layout, it actually worked out well in my favour).
I also really like how easy the thing is to assemble. It’s basically a case of slotting in a few pieces of plastic onto the main unit, and then docking your Switch or Switch 2 to it to get it working. There were a few firmware hiccups that I struggled with during the initial setup, but once we were up and running, it was a surprisingly fun experience.
The IMP Mini Arcade Pro is on sale now, and you can grab a unit from any participating retailers listed on IMP’s website.