Magic Pockets is, or was, a fairly old (released circa 1990) arcade-style side-scroller game released by the Bitmap Brothers, with music by Betty Boo. Originally released for Atari ST PCs, although versions for DOS and Windows also exist. The protagonist is a shades-wearing, reversed-baseball cap-adorned youngster with bottomless pockets in which he keeps his toys; the plot, such as it is, revolves around said youngster entering the world defined by his pockets in order to retrieve four "Big Toys" stolen by his pockets' denizens. The protagonist's weapons are also drawn from his pockets, and differ by level; in lake levels, for example, the protagonist throws large ice cubes, which have the ability to freeze bodies of water. Other weapons have similar abilities.

The gamne's sprite style is fairly cartoonish (as befits the plot) but fairly advanced for its time, and the game is absolutely packed with Easter eggs and fairly useless but highly entertaining features. Each Toy, for example, confers a different special ability upon the protagonist, which frequently allows access to secret areas and sometimes is necessary to complete a certain level.

The game is highly difficult, especially if one does not make use of the rather difficult-to-find level warps; the final "boss," as it were, is completely impossible to defeat, making beating the game dependant on a trick (and not at all intuitive) combination of powerups.

Problems with the game include slow pace and high consumption of computer resources (for its time; modern computers, of course, would eat it for breakfast). Some may also find the cartoonish style irritating rather than lighthearted. On the whole, however, it's a fairly solid contribution to the world of retro gaming.