Best portable Super Nintendo?

[kai123]

There seems to be only two to choose from. The Supaboy and the Retro Duo Portable. I am looking for compatibility, screen quality and probably most important controls. So which one do you guys recommend? I already have a portable Super Nintendo with my shield handheld but I am looking to get one of these for my daughter. Thanks for the help!

[Jorpho]

but I am looking to get one of these for my daughter.Surely some form of emulation solution that does not require lugging around gigantic, difficult-to-replace cartridges would be much superior?

[kai123]

Surely some form of emulation solution that does not require lugging around gigantic, difficult-to-replace cartridges would be much superior?

Well she is 4 and I am sure I can get one used somewhere and I am not really wanting it to have any internet access. I know I can disable it and all of that but I just want it to be as easy as possible for her to just turn it on and go. You know like game systems used to be. ;) No other bull crap setup or any of that. She only has a few SNES games but she really enjoys them and I thought this would be a fun present for her. Just trying to get some use out of the stuff I already have. Like I said I have a shield handheld and I would get her one but these seem to be cheaper and I wouldn't be upset if this broke versus a $150 or more hand held.

[The Adventurer]

A GameBoy Advance SP?


Seriously though, I wouldn't trust a 4 year old with a Supaboy or the like, I suspect its a bit brittle like most clone consoles.

[kai123]

Yea, I have thought of that as well. I wasn't sure of the build quality of them. I understand they are cheap and probably cheaply made. Just wanted to get some opinions on them.

[CRTGAMER]

I have the Supaboy 2.0. Great portable and can also be hooked up to a regular TV. A solid unit, but too big and heavy for a 4 year old who would probably accidentally drop and break it. A used GBA 101 is cheaper and lighter and there are many inexpensive GBA/GBC/GB games for it.

The Supaboy has great compatibility and can even run Starfox FX as well as SFC carts. The SNES Mouse can also be used for quite a few games that might surprise you of the Mouse support. Of note, the controller ports are only active when the video cable is connected.

SNES Supaboy Review : http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=843354#p843354

[Guntz]

The Retro Duo Portable 2.0 is the best. The original already had great compatibility and features, but the 2.0 adds a security chip which enables SA-1 games like Mario RPG and Kirby Super Star to work as well.

[Tanooki]

My vote is on the Supaboy v2, but to be fair, there are a few games it won't run (Very few) but there are all the SA1 games that won't run some of the time unless you bypass them with a reset button trick and another cart.

One thing should be noted both the Supaboy and the RDP have very poor d-pads that don't work right and would most definitely trip up a kid. Both fool companies didn't bother to put a middle post on the inside of the d-pad for either system, as such you can press all 4 directions, at least very easily 2 at the same time which causes games to do some epic screwy stuff because they're not coded to realize that as there was no need to. My Supaboy v2 I modded with an electrical wire twist cap, used it as a 5th leg after sanding it to the appropriate height, and my system uniquely plays like a real SNES would.

Both systems have problems running games, some that run on one won't run the other so it's a mixed bag. Definitively the Supaboy v2 will not run Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SDD1), some FX games (Yoshis Island locks up, Stunt Race FX resets after precisely 5 minutes) yet stuff like Starfox and DOOM are fine, and SA1 games most the time won't run but can, but if you pop in a normal game and power it on then hold reset and while holding it swap in a SA1 game it works perfectly fine. Build wise the Supaboy is more durable than the RDP either version, comfort is up to you on that end though, and I think the Supaboy had a better screen going for it.

[Az]

I have the Supaboy 2.0. Great portable and can also be hooked up to a regular TV. A solid unit, but too big and heavy for a 4 year old who would probably accidentally drop and break it.

Agreed on the size issue, it's definitely a meaty handheld that would probably be too big for a child to hold comfortably.

I ordered a Supaboy from Amazon about 2 months ago and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. The screen is nice and I like the bulkiness of the unit. It's large but is shaped so you can hold it comfortably for long periods, unlike any flavor of GBA, DS, or PSP which are engineered to be compact and a not held by adult male hands.

I will say that on my Supaboy I was quite happy with the d-pad. I had read up on all the issues and was fully prepared to do some work on it but I'm content with it right out of the box. It's nice and stiff and although pretzel motions like Geese's Raging Storm might not be easily pulled off the regular quarter and half circle moves work just fine. I don't even have problems pulling off Muscle Power's 360 degree spinning leg drop. My only complaint so far about the d-pad is that it seems to be a bit too large, making it hard to comfortably move your thumb on moves like that since you've got to cover more physical area on the pad to pull it off.

Still 1000% better than the cheese grater pad on the PSP. Fuck that.

[MeTmKnice]

As to not make an additional "same" thread.. So, Supaboy the way to go? Or RDP? This will be for my personal use as an adult male collector/gamer. Not for a child, although there may me occasions where my accident-prone gf might use it..

Thanks.

[WCP]

I was reading somewhere that SNES emulation on the "new" Nintendo 3DS, is actually quite good. Supposedly, some particular SNES emulator is up and running on the new Nintendo 3DS via some special firmware. I'd love to see in person how good it actually works, but I'm not going to buy a new 3DS to experiment with it.

[FieryReign]

Retroarch. I plan on putting the homebrew on mine as soon as I get the chance. Also unlocks the stupid region blocking N wants to impose. Their loss for being idiotic with their VC.

[Tanooki]

I've got a new 3DS and now I'm curious.

[MadaoBob]

I've got a new 3DS and now I'm curious.

Head over to gbatemp's 3ds thread for info.
But to start, make sure you have one of these things: your N3DS is <9.3 firmware; you have cubic ninja; you have a sky3ds.

[FieryReign]

You don't need cubic ninja. Just google smealum.

[retro junkie]

Both systems have problems running games, some that run on one won't run the other so it's a mixed bag. Definitively the Supaboy v2 will not run Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SDD1),

My Supaboy v2 runs Street Fighter Alpha 2 with no problems. But still, the system is still too big and chunky for a 4 year old. and as mentioned the directional pad is so problematic. Doing some of the special moves in SF Alpha 2 sometimes becomes frustrating. I say a GBA SP 101 would be the best route or a DSi XL maybe. Both have a great library of games to choose from, but with the GBA SP you get games like original GB, GB color, and GBA games. I would lean more toward the GBA SP due to the size and little hands. You can also find many of the 1st party remake of SNES games available for the system. Like Super Mario World, Donkey Kong, Yoshi's Island, etc. I am a real fan of the SP. I have around seven different colors, two of the 101.

Hmmm.... I just noticed how old this original posting was. I guess I am talking to my self. But with that being said,
For adult hands, what I like about the Supaboy is playing Super Famicom games. I have a Yobo FC 16 Go, but I prefer the Supa due to the Famicom capabilities. The FC 16 has a better D-pad. The Supa has a better screen. Both have their plus and minuses.

[Tanooki]

Stupid sad reality of it is the v1 supaboy runs sfa2 but the revision I have doesnt. The dpad on it and the retrobit one are both crap as they have no center post to regulate it from doing double direction pushes. Shooters and fightters suffer the worst forr it. I modded mine using an electrical plastic wire cap I sanded down to the right height so mine uniquely works correctly thankfully. I put a how to in the forum some years back.

The 101 GBA is ggrret for a few SNES ports but not the same but given the emulation power its awesome for nes GB GBC and tg16.

[MeTmKnice]

SO, I gather that unless I REALLY want one that it's not really worth buying? I have a DS Lite that has a few of my EMU and roms one it.
As a kind of side note to this thread then, any specific EMU that people recommend? Don't re call what I currently have, but open to suggestions.