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We have a thread about retro-clone consoles somewhere, right?

John

John

(he/him)
I first got an NES clone back in the late 90's, the Super 8.

latest


It's a passthrough console, plugs into a SNES to hijack the power and video signal. It works with both NES and FAM carts, but they all look and sound like crap since it was one of the first NES-on-a-chip bootlegs. It was still kinda novel to have both NES/FAM and SNES in the same console, a power base converter of sorts. They made a three-in-one console for the N64, emulated NES/SNES on top of the native N64 port, but I never saw that one in the wild, and I'm sure the emulation quality's about the same. That one's super expensive now, the one copy I see on Ebay going for $900.

Nowadays I'm more apt to just go with a MiSTer instead of dedicated hardware, or use a hacked 2DS/3DS for Nintendo emulation, but I did like the novelty of running games on systems that weren't designed to run them.
 
Sarge

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
I definitely obsessed over the mini consoles as I got them. SNES was the first one, and in my mind it's still the best. Nintendo's canoe emulator is really good - very low latency compared to the others, so for any game that it supports, I make sure to use it.

I think the Genesis and TG-16 Mini are a step below, but still good. The TG-16 is important because it has a big selection of games that cost an arm and a leg. More latency, but emulation quality is very good, and it's just a snazzy setup all around. I think the Genesis Mini is also excellent, and it has the advantage of being hackable, something you can't do with the TG-16 Mini (and might not ever be able to safely).

NES Classic is... fine. Probably on the same level as the above, but the sound latency really gets to me there - the NES is the system I'm most familiar with, and I want those plinks and plunks to be where they should be!

At the bottom by default is the PS Classic. Good idea, bad execution. PCSX is a solid emulator, but picking half of the titles as PAL-region games was... a choice. But modded, the thing is fantastic. Yeah, you can probably stomp it with a Raspberry Pi 4 now, but it's still a very appealing-looking system that will run PSX and under with aplomb.
 
Phantoon

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
Sarge said:
NES Classic is... fine. Probably on the same level as the above, but the sound latency really gets to me there - the NES is the system I'm most familiar with, and I want those plinks and plunks to be where they should be!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I find Mega Man's feet especially bothersome
 
Sarge

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Phantoon said:
Yeah, I find Mega Man's feet especially bothersome
Click to expand...
Yes! That might be the one sound that bothers me the most!

It's still a really good little system overall, especially if you're willing to use RA cores instead because I don't believe you're losing anything in the latency department over Nintendo's official emulation. And it looks really good on a shelf, haha. ;)
 
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