Putting controller ports anywhere but on the front of a console is something that the video game world has long since moved past since the days of the Atari 2600. If a company is so careless or (*insert pejorative adjective*) to make a blunder like this for anyone to see on the outside of the system, what other failings are hidden beneath the "hood" of the RetroN 2?
The North American SNES is just not as cool looking as the Super Famicom or European SNES.
It was a completely pointless and unfortunate change.
This clone, however, is just plain fugly.
For me personally, it reminds me of a cake pan for some reason. It definitely doesn't help that the Jap/PAL ones use a much sleeker, cooler design and only NA got that redesigned case. Yellowing doesn't enter into it, as I thought it was ugly long before they started yellowing.Originally Posted by treismac
I've never got the hate that the SNES design receives. Is it the boxy rectangleness of it, the colors, or the faux-futuristic look? What?
I will say, I do like the NA cart design, though. The import ones look fairly plain, in comparison.
You got that right. The North American Super NES may not look as good as its European and Japanese counterparts, but at least it has some sort of visual appeal. The RetroN2, on the other hand, looks like someone made the thing out of Lego bricks. Look at it! It's got a boxy, thoughtless design reminiscent of something made out of Lego bricks. Absolutely no visual appeal whatsoever.
Now, when will someone post a video showing the RetroN2 in action? I want to see this clone in action (NOT E3 VIDEOS, those are completely useless), otherwise, I'll just take matters into my own hands and purchase one.
How's the NES Audio on it?
That's precisely what I want to know, but nobody has posted any videos of the RetroN2 aside from those E3 videos and I don't own a RetroN2. We'll have to wait.
Just wondering
Who decides what GOAC, NOAC, SNOAC goes in what system
Does Hyperkin, RetroBit, AtGames have any say in it??
I've had a Retron 3 for a little while now, and I'm pretty happy with it. On the NES end, the colors seem to be slightly dull, but otherwise, I can't complain at all. Having the Retron 3, I don't see much reason to buy a Retron 2 unless it offers a more accurate playing experience.
Odd that they removed the Genesis tho, don't you think?
Hell if I know. And by the way, there's no such thing as an SNOAC; Super Famiclones still use discrete components.
I'm assuming it was done for those who like Hyperkin's products and want just an NES and Super NES in one. Yobo Gameware, RetroBit and Tomee already have their own 2-in-1 NES/Super NES combo clones, so I guess seeing that and seeing how some people don't care for having a Genesis with the NES and Super NES, Hyperkin felt the need to make the RetroN2.
Thanks for the answer Ace
It's time to solve the mystery that is the RetroN2. I found one at my local flea market today and picked it up. I will now run some preliminary tests and post my findings.
Last edited by Ace; 10-05-2012 at 07:26 PM.
Thanks man, I appreciate it
Well... considering the price point of the RetroN2 being the highest of all NES/Super NES 2-in-1 sold locally, the RetroN2 has me asking questions. Initial impressions considering the system is the most expensive NES/Super NES 2-in-1 are mixed.
I'll start with the NES side, which is both a step up and a step down from the RetroN3. The NOAC is completely different, and I'm happy to report the NOAC is NOT one with reversed duty cycles, meaning the audio is about 90% accurate. Some of the square waves a little off and the DPCM is completely screwed up, but generally, it's more accurate than the RetroN3, though I will say the audio can get quite garbled depending on the game (Contra and Super C, in particular, can sound pretty bad, and Jackal has volume level spikes). HOWEVER, compatibility is inferior to the RetroN3. I'm sad to say Castlevania III does not work on the RetroN2. Rad Racer II and After Burner also have severe graphical errors with Rad Racer II having massively corrupted backgrounds and After Burner having no backgrounds at all. The PowerPak doesn't work, either, but that should come as no surprise as not even the RetroN3 works with the PowerPak.
NES video is actually really good. The video is sharp, the colors are bright and vibrant, it looks really good. Be advised, though, there are some games that have pretty severe vertical lines in the video, and in all games, there are scrolling diagonal lines. Also, like the RetroDuo and unlike the RetroN3, the NES side of the RetroN2 outputs in S-Video, and it's actually not half bad. It's blurrier and not as colorful as Composite, but it's actually not too bad, at least compared to the RetroDuo v2.0 which had pretty nasty NES S-Video. Of course, this S-Video is just Composite passed through the S-Video plug, but Hyperkin did a better job with NES S-Video than RetroBit did on the RetroDuo v2.0.
A small note concerning Famicom games with expansion audio: the RetroN2 is not wired for that, so if you were to play, say Akumajou Densetsu on the RetroN2, you will not hear any audio out of the VRC6.
The Super NES side is really what disappointed me. The Composite video is pretty good, but the colors are very dull. S-Video, though, is a mess. It's sharper than Composite, but the colors are just as dull, and the S-Video output has some MASSIVE sync issues. It's not too bad on my TV (Electrohome 27E510) where I get minor screen tearing and desyncing only on white screens, but on other TVs, S-Video might be almost completely unusable. I know for a fact that on my capture device, I get some pretty major screen tearing when passing Super NES S-Video into it.
Compatibility is almost perfect, though as per usual, SA-1 games which can detect the presence of a lockout chip in the console don't work at all. I couldn't get my Japanese copy of Super Mario RPG working on the RetroN2 no matter what I tried.
The audio, though, is what shocked me. It's good, but you know what? IT'S IN DUAL MONO!!! This is the FC3 Plus all over again; the audio is mixed together into a single audio channel before being amplified. The end result in Mono audio which gets garbled if games are loud (UN Squadron, in particular, falls victim to this). Now, while I haven't tested the Super GameBoy, I'm pretty sure the audio will be unbearable on the RetroN2 as on the FC3 Plus, the audio was very badly distorted. I couldn't believe this... the FC Twin and the RetroDuo (not sure about the Tomee C2) have Stereo sound and Hyperkin goes ahead and makes the Super NES side of the RetroN2 dual Mono. WTF?
As for the hardware, it's a mixed bag. The console isn't all that heavy, the plastic feels okay, but the paint makes it feel like it's unfinished. And that system selector switch feels so cheap, you'd think you're gonna break it. The controllers are a mixed bag, too. The NES controller feels hollow (but the plastic isn't all that bad), the cord is short and the D-pad can be pressed down in its entirety. The Super NES controller, though, is IDENTICAL to the FC Twin's controller, which has substance to it and is quite responsive, however on the RetroN2's Super NES controller, it feels unfinished, like you can feel the paint that was applied to the plastic. The Composite cable also looks like the same cheap crap I got with my FC Twin that will fray after a few days.
Oh, and get this: the console DOES NOT come with an S-Video cable. I think Hyperkin is attempting to hide the sync issues by not providing an S-Video cable.
I haven't tested very many old accessories, but I can confirm NES "brick" controllers and the Zapper work flawlessly on the RetroN2. I will test more controllers later on and report back.
Considering how the RetroN2, at least in my area (not sure if it's the same elsewhere), is the most expensive 2-in-1 NES/Super NES combo clone around, it's a bitter disappointment. Logically, you would expect the most expensive product to be the best, right? Well, for all the reasons stated above, Hyperkin defied that logic. The RetroDuo still remains the superior clone (and at a lower price, at least here), though it does have considerably worst NES audio, but all things considered, I wouldn't bother with the RetroN2 unless you want a 2-in-1 where you can use the original controllers for each system and not be limited to Super NES controllers. If you don't mind being limited to Super NES controllers and can rig up a controller adapter to use NES controllers via Super NES controller ports, get an FC Twin or RetroDuo. They're generally cheaper and can do just as much, if not more.
I'm seriously considering returning the RetroN2. This thing is $10 more than the RetroDuo v3.0 locally and has inferior NES compatibility and Super NES accuracy. This is what got me really worked up with the RetroN2.
I will post a full review and compatibility list later today or tomorrow depending on whether I do exchange the RetroN2 for the RetroDuo v3.0, which I will also evaluate in the RetroDuo thread.
Last edited by Ace; 10-06-2012 at 09:48 AM.
Thanks for taking one for the team.
I wonder what on earth is going over on that side of the Pacific. For a while, it seemed like a slow but steady upward progress on these clones. I was even deluded enough to think they may start working on a useful digital output solution (the tantalizing tidbit being the HDMI output on the NeoGeo X clone, though it still remains to be seen what the deal is on that thing yet).
Thanks for the review, Ace! Great work.
The NeoGeoX is not a clone. It's an ARM-based system with Linux+emulators.
Thanks ace. That saved me some money since I was looking for a nes/snes clone. Might as well be better off with a Real Snes + Super 8
By the looks of it, it seems to be the ideal combination. The Super 8 even passes the audio from Famicom carts with extra audio hardware in them, something only the FC Twin seems to do out of today's modern NOAC-based clones (and not very well, I will add, as the NOAC's raw audio output is so loud, the sound from your Famicom game is almost completely drowned out).Thanks ace. That saved me some money since I was looking for a nes/snes clone. Might as well be better off with a Real Snes + Super 8
That's just a mini-review. The full review will be posted tomorrow. I have to sift through all my capture footage I took from the RetroN2 and edit it all together to make RetroN2 vs. Original Hardware. I exchanged the RetroN2 as I was really not impressed by it. You'd think an extra $10 would go a long way, instead you pay $10 extra to go backwards. Exchanged it for a RetroDuo v3.0 Mascot Edition and even that has problems! The console has a faulty Super NES side which only work correctly with SIX of my Super NES games. All the others (I've got about 50-some odd games) either have varying degrees of graphical errors, things flying all over the screen, game-breaking glitches (UN Squadron in particular where your plane shoots to the bottom right corner of the screen and stays stuck there as soon as you press the D-pad), crashing, not booting up, missing graphics, it's a mess! Time to get a replacement RetroDuo v3.0, but right now, it's time to get the videos I recorded edited together and write up the full review of the RetroN2.Thanks for the review, Ace! Great work.
Very helpful, thanks for the review.
Good point, you're entirely right. Still very curious to see how that system turns out, especially given its price (too rich for my blood right now, but it is a tantalizing package).
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