Your experience with the Retron 5??

[Tanooki]

Sad thing is no one here is going to agree on this thing as the opinions and fact are set in stone. This is an old gamers site, things like this tend to not be looked upon all that well, nor are things that won't allow warezy level stuff to work either because let's face it, if you're into old games and running them still you're probably into swiping and using ROMs too. Then you have all the fools who are playing the politician role but verbally being an arm chair lawyer with no damn clue and no stake in the case over where some of their source code came from. All that said you either like it (or the company) or hate it. A place like this, a rom discussion (w/out links) site like a gbatemp, and other retro places who dig this deep into it will never have an honest look at it from the side of the mass market ooooh I remember mario type buyer of these things.

[ibain]

I bought mine on launch day, no issues so far. The few things that annoyed me have been patched.

The biggest advantage for me, besides all the obvious stuff, is the ability to language patch games. I've easily saved what I spent on the system by not buying repro carts of Japanese RPGs that never made it to the US. Plus, some are just cheaper over there.

No complaints or regrets.

[Leo_A]

Did they ever introduce 3rd party controller support? Seen quite a few requests for Dual Shock 3 support for instance.

While I love original wired controller support, I'd also love the option to use a high quality wireless controller as well.

[YoshiM]

Anyone ever try the Genesis version of Populous on the Retron 5? If so, how did it play, look, etc.?

[T2KFreeker]

I finally got my hands on one of these systems. It's awesome. I don't care what anyone says, for what it is supposed to do, it does it and does it well. Famicom support is outstanding and the control pad works quite nicely if you don't have original controllers. Everything we threw at it worked fine. No Multi carts or Flash Carts were used, so wouldn't know, but official stuff worked just fine. It's well worth the money. Hyperkin did a really good job on this one, in my opinion. Oh, and the construction is quite solid. It doesn't feel cheap in my hands at all. Very impressed there.

[Koop]

I bought mine on launch day, no issues so far. The few things that annoyed me have been patched.

The biggest advantage for me, besides all the obvious stuff, is the ability to language patch games. I've easily saved what I spent on the system by not buying repro carts of Japanese RPGs that never made it to the US. Plus, some are just cheaper over there.

No complaints or regrets.

Yea the patch feature is really slick. I enjoy my retron 5, it does what it does well and brings interesting features like this to the table.

[T2KFreeker]

On a side note, when I was reviewing stuff, the Hyperkin stuff was much nicer than much of the other clone stuff I reviewed. Yobo was meh and Innex was just, well, I'll just say they weren't the best. Hyperkin at least seemed to care about the quality of the items they were manufacturing. I know, cheapest stuff they can find made in China, but the stuff always seemed to be solid. Again, say what you will about it not being first party stuff, but it was still well put together stuff and the Retron 5 is no different. VERY well built. It's a tank. Just saying. Also, the carrying case for it is really nice too. A nice little addition for a clone system, if you haven't seen it.

[Emperor Megas]

Anyone ever try the Genesis version of Populous on the Retron 5? If so, how did it play, look, etc.?

Yeah, it doesn't load at all. Not on my machine, anyway. Let me try it on my X'Eye to make sure it's not the cart...

. . .

Hmmm, it doesn't load on my X'EYE either. I wonder, do I have a wonky cart, or is there some chip or hardware configuration that prevents other systems from running this game? My Genesis console are packed away in a tote somewhere, so I can't test it on one of them right now.

[Gameguy]

Hmmm, it doesn't load on my X'EYE either. I wonder, do I have a wonky cart, or is there some chip or hardware configuration that prevents other systems from running this game? My Genesis console are packed away in a tote somewhere, so I can't test it on one of them right now.

It won't run on a console with a lockout chip, basically only on the first version of the Genesis. It's one of the few early unlicensed games made for the system. Unless you have a Game Genie to bypass it, which may or may not work.

[Emperor Megas]

I have a Genesis Game Genie. I've never used it or any other game Genie, so I guess it's as good a time as any to test it out. Let's see.

. . .

Hmph, I'll be damned. It loads on the JVC X'EYE with the Game Genie, but it still doesn't load on the Retron5. Well, I learned something new today.

[Tanooki]

the R5 probably is trying to dump the Game Genie instead of the game.

[lendelin]

It was in July when I asked the Q about the R5, finally last week I bought one. It took me some time to start the reorganization of my gameroom (reason: laziness), but now I have the Retron 5, next buy is a WiiU and then a PS4.

Her is so far my experience with the system.

It is good. Actually, very good. I'd buy one again, but still it didn't fulfill the big expectations I had. It is a great supplementary system, but certainly not a replacement of the original consoles.


The images are fantastic, no doubt. The vivid colors, color saturation, contrast, the sharpness to the last pixel, the images are just great. I'm a bit disappointed with the images of the SNES games, they look very pixely (in contrast to the NES games and most Genesis games) and require one of the image filter which I don't like to use. But I think this is actually not the fault of the Retron 5 but of my 50inch HDTV. Not only for the SNES games but for all games I think the system is best played on a smaller screen, probably on a 32inch TV.

Why am I then a bit disappointed? For one, it is the overall feeling which didn't give me the authentic experience. This overall irrational reason has actually a very rational aspect. The games play slightly different, very slightly in some cases and hardly noticeable, but still there is a difference between the original consoles on a standard CRT and the R5 on an HDTV.

I played and compared around 10 to 15 games. For games like Zelda (NES and SNES) a more sluggish feeling and a possibly hardly noticeable input lag is not important. But for heavy action games like Ninja Gaiden and the Castlevanias it is. Ninja Gaiden came very close to the original, but the difference was enough to cost me some lives. The same goes for the first and third Castlevania. In order to make sure that these are not the rusty game skills of an old man I played immediately the same game on the original console. The difference was undoubtedly there, I rushed through my beloved Ninja Gaiden (well, at least the first four stages, you know that later on it gets more difficult ) The jumps and slashes of the whips were a tad lighter and more responsive. A very slight differnce, but a difference.

One thing surprised me. I have a couple of German games, and they did not play so well. The input lag was there (not really bad but noticeable), and overall it was slower. I put the TV on Game Mode, and made changes to the settings (forced 50Hz, changed the region from automatic to Europe), but to no avail. I tried this with the first Castlevania and the first Mega Man. Faxanadu, however, showed no difference between the German and American Version.

This is important to me because I intend to buy the three Parodius games which came never out in the US. (I found it terrible since I first read in a game magazine in the 90s about the Parodius games) Did someone of you had similar experinces with Japanese games?

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the Retron 5. It is agreat option to play the 8bit and 16bit games in HD glory and discover some 'true' colors and structures in games although the objects and characters have less 'volume' and appear to be 'flat' but I knew that from my experience 15 years ago with the Nesticle. (Didn't try out the Gameboy games) But I would always prefer the original consoles on a standard CRT, even (and that might surprise a lot of you) when it comes to image quality alone.

Has someone of you tried RGB for the older consoles? (Scart and Scart to HDMI converters) Are the images of RGB very similar to the Retron 5? Is it worth seriously thinking about putting older systems on RGB?

PS: I forgot to mention that Gamestop started to sell the Retron 5 for an introduction price of $100. Luckily, I discovered that just before buying one. Amazon sells it for $125. I also forgot to mention that so far I didn't succeed to upgrade the system. The version is the newest, but the application data I couldn't upgrade. (At first I had on the SD card the request file, didn't work on the website, I deleted it on the card, and now the system just gives me an error message when I try to get the upgrade request file on my SD card.) I mention that because I didn't get the cheat options which would certainly increase the fun of the system for difficult games of which I never saw the last stages.

[Tanooki]

If you used the R5 and the 10-15 game son the original hardware on the same TV, it's 100% completely in your head faking yourself out. The system itself has no input lag at all when you're using your own controller vs bluetooth which has a little. It's 1:1 as it should be with an original system, the only time it may not is with some games if you're using multiple graphic filters it can slide on the frame rate slightly, much like a frame skip you'll get off an emulator.

The pixel effect you're thinking is a negative on the SNES, that's up to the TV size you have. Any system will do it, and all are equally noticeable too because it's taking the raw feed and displaying it with perfect sharpness you'd expect on a computer LCD/LED screen from an emulator with no filters active so it's just very very crisp.

The german stuff (PAL) it's possible it could be running off since they're made for 50hz not 60 which is NTSC so you can get speed issues or at least the music will run at the wrong pacing. I've had the PAL Parodius cart in the past and it would run the music a bit quicker, maybe the game too, can't compare now as I just have the Famicom cart, but it also did cut off the score (but not the options bar) at the bottom partly.

I'll say this much if you do Gameboy, I'd suggest if you are that afraid of chunky and blocky, play it in the original aspect ratio in a box or you'll get really annoyed by it fast. GBA games look the blockiest due to the higher color/depth of visuals it has over earlier 16bit consoles and 8bit as it falls in line but far worse in your impression of the SNES output.

[Leo_A]

GameStop has it for $140 right now online.

Was that an in-store price?

[Tanooki]

Isn't $140 the normal price? Others sell it for less according to a fast google search. NewEgg/Thinkgeek at $128-130 range. Gameinstock.com for $120.

Here's ebay new $110 free shipping. (Gray, BIN sale)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hyperkin-Ret...kAAOSwDNdV6D5P

Or black for $125 also a BIN.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Hyperkin...QAAOSwcBhWVB-E

If you don't mind used but still CIB, seems they go for around $70.

[Az]

I'm a bit disappointed with the images of the SNES

That was probably the biggest issue I have with gameplay on the console, all SNES games look too blocky. Like you I'm perfectly fine playing all the other systems without any filters and I actually prefer a sharp, well defined pixel image, but their SNES output...yeesh. It's not TV size either because I've got mine hooked up to a cheap 22" 16:9 HDTV and the results are the same. A game like Mortal Kombat II with digitized images looks shockingly awful. Due to the way the SNES image is displayed I always use a filter, and none of the available ones are quite to the level I prefer. It seems like even the "weakest" filter is too much, and why anyone would even play with the stronger ones is beyond me.

I started getting into high score attacks a few carts like pinball and classic arcade era ports so I've been enjoying the automatic save states immensely here lately. It's great to be able to save high scores in Crue Ball and Jaki Crush with no effort.

[lendelin]

If you used the R5 and the 10-15 game son the original hardware on the same TV, it's 100% completely in your head faking yourself out. The system itself has no input lag at all when you're using your own controller vs bluetooth which has a little. It's 1:1 as it should be with an original system, the only time it may not is with some games if you're using multiple graphic filters it can slide on the frame rate slightly, much like a frame skip you'll get off an emulator.

The pixel effect you're thinking is a negative on the SNES, that's up to the TV size you have. Any system will do it, and all are equally noticeable too because it's taking the raw feed and displaying it with perfect sharpness you'd expect on a computer LCD/LED screen from an emulator with no filters active so it's just very very crisp.

The german stuff (PAL) it's possible it could be running off since they're made for 50hz not 60 which is NTSC so you can get speed issues or at least the music will run at the wrong pacing. I've had the PAL Parodius cart in the past and it would run the music a bit quicker, maybe the game too, can't compare now as I just have the Famicom cart, but it also did cut off the score (but not the options bar) at the bottom partly.

I'll say this much if you do Gameboy, I'd suggest if you are that afraid of chunky and blocky, play it in the original aspect ratio in a box or you'll get really annoyed by it fast. GBA games look the blockiest due to the higher color/depth of visuals it has over earlier 16bit consoles and 8bit as it falls in line but far worse in your impression of the SNES output.

The problems I had with Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden were there, they weren't imagined. I'm very critical in this regard, and I know if people say 'I'm not sure, I think it's better or worse', in almost all cases this is imagination.

I had probs with Ninja Gaiden I never had before, very slight problems, but since I know the game well, it made me mistrustful at first. I continued playing for about 20 minutes, and had the same feeling overall. I thought I might have imagined it, therefore I played right away the game on the CRT with the NES, and immediately I noticed the difference. The jumps felt lighter, the slashing was just a tad more accurate. I went back to the R5, and noticed the difference again. Same goes for Castlevania. However, the difference was almost not there for Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3, same goes for Mega Man 3 and 4. However, I noticed (and checked) the difference for Mega Man X (didn't test X2 and X3).

It might also be that it is the TV. Are HDTVs in this regard different than CRTs? Are older games played best on CRTs? I have no clue, just spculations. I should have played the original console on the HDTV as well.

That the games were a bit sluggish when it comes to my German games, that was very obvious. (Not a big thing, mind you, but it was there for sure) And the changed settings (Game mode, 50HZ, region) didn't help. The first Mega Man and Castlevania felt different, the first boss fight in Castlevania (the big bat) felt very different and I noticed that it was actually a big difference when I did the Boss fight on the original console.

I didn't try the Gameboy games becasue I have only ten anyway, and I'm very satisfied playing them on the Gamboy Player with the GameCube (component in progressive scan), and they look incredibly good! A bit pixely and blocky, but still very good and sharp. That's why I didn't plug them in.

Why most Genesis games don't look so blocky like the SNES games, I really don't know. When I use the filter 'Scale2x' it looks good. For all the other games a filter is not necessary, they look just fantastic!

Oh, one exception: Donkey Kong Country! I don't know why, but the first DKC (didn't plug in the other two) don't look good; might be the different rendered technology the Rare brothers developed?

But overall it is a very good system, I'm really glad I have it. I compared the same game screens on the CRT and the HDTV, it is a HUGE difference. However, I have to say, I was more impressed with the images of the Dreamcast when I put it two weeks ago on VGA (and then on an HDMI upscaler because unfortunately almost all newer TVs don't have a VGA input anymore). I never played Dreamcast games with such great images, the difference to S-Video is BIG. So, for all of you who are hesitant, buy a VGA Box (best: Hanzo) and an HDMI upscaler (with some cables you need it will cost about $100 altogether), and I promise you you'll be a very happy Dreamcast gamer. It is very easy to do, and the result is awesome.

[lendelin]

GameStop has it for $140 right now online.

Was that an in-store price?

Yes, it was an in-store pre-order, about two weeks ago. The manager of a Gamestop talked to me about collecting and older games and mentioned that GS starts to sell the Retron 5 for 100. I was glad that I didn't order it from Amazon the same morning.

[lendelin]

Isn't $140 the normal price? Others sell it for less according to a fast google search. NewEgg/Thinkgeek at $128-130 range. Gameinstock.com for $120.

Here's ebay new $110 free shipping. (Gray, BIN sale)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hyperkin-Ret...kAAOSwDNdV6D5P

Or black for $125 also a BIN.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Hyperkin...QAAOSwcBhWVB-E

If you don't mind used but still CIB, seems they go for around $70.

Yeah, for the last six months I saw it only for $140. It seems that in the last couple of weeks the price went down to about 120 to 125. If Gamestop still sells it as an in-store order for $100 I do not know.

[lendelin]

That was probably the biggest issue I have with gameplay on the console, all SNES games look too blocky. Like you I'm perfectly fine playing all the other systems without any filters and I actually prefer a sharp, well defined pixel image, but their SNES output...yeesh. It's not TV size either because I've got mine hooked up to a cheap 22" 16:9 HDTV and the results are the same. A game like Mortal Kombat II with digitized images looks shockingly awful. Due to the way the SNES image is displayed I always use a filter, and none of the available ones are quite to the level I prefer. It seems like even the "weakest" filter is too much, and why anyone would even play with the stronger ones is beyond me.

I started getting into high score attacks a few carts like pinball and classic arcade era ports so I've been enjoying the automatic save states immensely here lately. It's great to be able to save high scores in Crue Ball and Jaki Crush with no effort.

Interesting, even on a smaller screen it looks blocky and too pixely? I assumed on a smaller size screen the effect would disappear.

I had almost the same image quality when I played recently the PS1 'Castlevania Chronicles' on my PS3. First thought: Why oh why don't I have the space in my gameroom for my old 32inch HDTV from 2007? (which still has S-video and a VGA input)