The biggest problem I had with the Retron 5 was the lag. I turned off all filters, set my tv to game mode, etc, and the lag made platformers all but impossible to play. games that don't rely on split-second timing(RPG's, RTS's, etc) played terrific, though. Even shooters were mostly okay. But stuff like Punch Out or SMB, were a real challenge.
I sold my Retron 5 a while back and honestly haven't missed it.
The biggest problem I had with the Retron 5 was the lag. I turned off all filters, set my tv to game mode, etc, and the lag made platformers all but impossible to play. games that don't rely on split-second timing(RPG's, RTS's, etc) played terrific, though. Even shooters were mostly okay. But stuff like Punch Out or SMB, were a real challenge.
I sold my Retron 5 a while back and honestly haven't missed it.
From the sound of it looks like I'd rather go with NOAC's than I would retron 5.
the Retro Duo that I have its box packaging says its a Master version or whatever where you can play Sega Genesis games too but you have to go buy a RetroGen attachment thing to play Genesis games on the Retro Duo.
Fine with me but i was never into Sega Genesis games that much back then anyway. I was more into the Super Nintendo back in the day.
Sega got annoying with them bragging about the stuff the Genesis supposedly could do yada yada.
the Retro Duo that I have its box packaging says its a Master version or whatever where you can play Sega Genesis games too but you have to go buy a RetroGen attachment thing to play Genesis games on the Retro Duo.
Fine with me but i was never into Sega Genesis games that much back then anyway. I was more into the Super Nintendo back in the day.
Sega got annoying with them bragging about the stuff the Genesis supposedly could do yada yada.
I think that's one that comes with the genesis to SNES adapter. And you can use it on any snes/clone. Thought about buying one for my FC twin cheaper to do that than buying one of the trio/retron 3 clones.
You guys, your problem is that youre all using Retrons especially a Retron 5 which I have heard its horrible.
I have a Retro Duo console. Its way better. It plays NES and Super Nintendo games which is supposed to do
...
the Retro Duo that I have its box packaging says its a Master version or whatever where you can play Sega Genesis games too but you have to go buy a RetroGen attachment thing to play Genesis games on the Retro Duo.
Fine with me but i was never into Sega Genesis games that much back then anyway. I was more into the Super Nintendo back in the day.
Sega got annoying with them bragging about the stuff the Genesis supposedly could do yada yada.
Even the ones people say aren't crap -- they're really just crap!
Played a Retro Duo this weekend at a different flea market. I saw SNES Mortal Kombat II for a moment before I plugged-in Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt. He had it connected via S-video.
The SNES video output looked OK, if I recall correctly. It didn't strike me as S-video quality.
The NES output through the S-video cable looked HORRIBLE. Everything was washed-out and there was a nasty pattern. The same cable had a composite connection that was disconnected on both ends, so I disconnected S-video on each end and connected composite instead. After that, the colors were bright (maybe too bright), but most items on the screen had a strange glow around them (radioactive!). Ugh.
Crap crap crap.
Then I got to the controllers. One of them had the cord pulled out and you could see the wires. I know the flea market vendor, so we took the controller apart. It looked like the cord had never been wrapped around the tension-relieving posts. It's like Retrobit cloned the posts from an SNES controller, but didn't know what they were for. They did the same thing with a Retrobit dogbone controller I bought once out of curiosity. Even if you wrap the cord around the posts, the post doesn't mate with the other half of the controller and the cord will slip over it.
Garbage!
Positives? The controller felt pretty good. It would still sense diagonals too frequently and make me walk when I'm trying to crouch, but the NES Classic Edition is actually worse about that.
Vendor was asking $80 for it.
AVS is really the only exception for consoles you can still buy new. Everything else is an emulator (Retron 5) or NOAC (everything else). If any compatibility issues are discovered with AVS, it can be fixed with an update.
I don't think any NOAC-based system can get past level 2 in Battletoads. There's a handfull of other games that just don't work correctly on a NOAC. I really can't stand when people start saying "[this NOAC-based system] is better than [that NOAC-based system]" and it's really just same junk.
[edit]
Oh yeah: Playing SMB, there were at least a few times when enemies and hammers passed through me without harm.
I remember having a clone console for a very short time before i returned it. I believe it was the retro duo, and while it worked fine it just seemed... well off
I'm a masochist, so I've used the following clones, with varying results.
Retro Duo (white and blue model) - good for SNES, horrible washed out image for NES. Controllers are pretty close to SNES, but I bet the pads are cheap (haven't opened one to look yet.)
Retro Entertainment System (red and white) - had two of these. One died after a few months, the other still works. Controllers are non-standard and cheap, round D-pads and turbo buttons. Choked on Mig 29 and Blade Buster, but other than that it played, looked and sounded decent with most games. Compatible with standard OEM controllers, so I used those.
Retron 1 (red and white) - still sealed in box, otherwise is the same as the RES as far as I can tell.
Gamerz Tek 8-Bit Entertainment system - sound is WAY off on several games. Did play Blade Buster, but Mig 29 froze after a few seconds. Controllers look OEM, but have cheap pads that wear out. Could probably get near-OEM replacement pads and they'd be okay. This clone's major claim to fame is the ability to play Castlevania III, which it does, but it's not 100% compatible by any means.
AVS - only one game has an issue, Xexyz, that does play on the others. It's probably my individual cart, though, or a future firmware update that is needed. Plays Blade Buster, Mig 29, and all my other games fine. Plays my Famicom games fine. Everything sounds fine and looks spectacular.
NOAC clones are basically cheap junk for non-gamers who just want to relive their childhoods by playing a few games of Super Mario and won't care about the flaws. (Others might try them out of morbid curiosity.) The new Nintendo plug and play will fill that niche as well.
Weren't for the horrible Genesis like pads, this one would be better than the original NES.
But then Gradient HAD to copy the Genesis pad design, and made it worse and less responsive... Playing Battletoads on that thing was a nightmare.
But it would run anything you threw at it, didn't have the 10NES chip and was a hardware clone of the system.
I wish I could build an adapter to use the original NES controllers on mine, because that thing rocks.
Is that still manufactured and sold new today?
Only used copies at MercadoLivre.
Gradiente went bankrupt, but before that, in 1994 they formed with Estrela, a toy company, the Playtronic company and released the NES and the SNES officially in Brazil, which killed the Phantom System.
I remember having a clone console for a very short time before i returned it. I believe it was the retro duo, and while it worked fine it just seemed... well off
I was much happier when i bought the real thing
I think it's modeled off of the Master System's "Phaser."
The system itself looks like an Atari 7800 in all-black.
NES clones have ALWAYS been called "famiclones". There are good ones like Micro Genius, but there are not good ones you can buy new today that I know of. And showing one of the most common ones (certainly the most common noac) is not an "extreme example".
Why are they called Family Clones? And why would you replace the abbreviation for computer instead of the abbreviation for family? Clone Computer makes much more sense than Family Clone.
NES clones have ALWAYS been called "famiclones". There are good ones like Micro Genius, but there are not good ones you can buy new today that I know of. And showing one of the most common ones (certainly the most common noac) is not an "extreme example".
Why are they called Family Clones? And why would you replace the abbreviation for computer instead of the abbreviation for family? Clone Computer makes much more sense than Family Clone.
It's a play on words. "Clone Computer" doesn't give any tell about what console it even refers to... or even that it refers to a console. Family Computer, Famicom, Famicom Clone, Famiclone. This kind of thing is common in Japan (Family Stadium baseball became "Famista")
NES clones have ALWAYS been called "famiclones". There are good ones like Micro Genius, but there are not good ones you can buy new today that I know of. And showing one of the most common ones (certainly the most common noac) is not an "extreme example".
Why are they called Family Clones? And why would you replace the abbreviation for computer instead of the abbreviation for family? Clone Computer makes much more sense than Family Clone.
It's a play on words. "Clone Computer" doesn't give any tell about what console it even refers to... or even that it refers to a console. Famicom, Famicom Clone, Famiclone. This kind of thing is common in Japan (Family Stadium baseball became "Famista")
He's being facetious. It's kind of his schtick. Take everything he says as sarcastic.
From the experience I had (picked up an FC Twin from the local Salvation Army for $1) at first I thought this thing looked a lot like the SNES jr. But that's the only positive praise I can give it after trying to play it. Everything from the controller that's packed in to the sound quality to even the way things look internally. I'm honestly surprised the thing didn't catch my home on fire. I hung onto it though even after I gotten a legit NES and SNES and eventually it just sat around collecting dust. I did end up selling it off though, only console I had no regrets of letting go.
I remember having a clone console for a very short time before i returned it. I believe it was the retro duo, and while it worked fine it just seemed... well off
I was much happier when i bought the real thing
The blaster looks very familiar. Similar to the Master System's "Light Phaser" gun. I got one of those from a thrift store a long time ago. Never used it though.
It's a clone console and a counterfeit game. The color shown here is meaningless. There's a lot more wrong with it than the color.
I think the game might not be counterfeit. I vaguely recall hearing something about Acclaim or Activision officially releasing that and some other titles for an NES clone in some regions. I wish I remembered where I heard that.
It's a clone console and a counterfeit game. The color shown here is meaningless. There's a lot more wrong with it than the color.
I think the game might not be counterfeit. I vaguely recall hearing something about Acclaim or Activision officially releasing that and some other titles for an NES clone in some regions. I wish I remembered where I heard that.
It's counterfeit. It's not Activision, Acclaim, or HAL, and there would be no reason to design the shell as close as they did and risk a lawsuit over infringing design from their partner, Nintendo.
It's a clone console and a counterfeit game. The color shown here is meaningless. There's a lot more wrong with it than the color.
I think the game might not be counterfeit. I vaguely recall hearing something about Acclaim or Activision officially releasing that and some other titles for an NES clone in some regions. I wish I remembered where I heard that.
It's counterfeit. It's not Activision, Acclaim, or HAL, and there would be no reason to design the shell as close as they did and risk a lawsuit over infringing design from their partner, Nintendo.
That is indeed counterfeit and was produced by Gradiente iteself.
There are some pretty in depth articles about the NES clone market in Brazil out there. I will try to link to some tonight.
Are there any decent ones that take at least NES/SNES with wireless controllers? I'd like to use it on our living room TV so me and my old lady can play games together
Comments
I sold my Retron 5 a while back and honestly haven't missed it.
The biggest problem I had with the Retron 5 was the lag. I turned off all filters, set my tv to game mode, etc, and the lag made platformers all but impossible to play. games that don't rely on split-second timing(RPG's, RTS's, etc) played terrific, though. Even shooters were mostly okay. But stuff like Punch Out or SMB, were a real challenge.
I sold my Retron 5 a while back and honestly haven't missed it.
From the sound of it looks like I'd rather go with NOAC's than I would retron 5.
I have a Retro Duo console. Its way better. It plays NES and Super Nintendo games which is supposed to do
You guys, your problem is that youre all using Retrons especially a Retron 5 which I have heard its horrible.
I have a Retro Duo console. Its way better. It plays NES and Super Nintendo games which is supposed to do
Yeah there's some really good and really bad clones. I hear that Duo and the FC twin are about the best as far as dual console ones go.
Fine with me but i was never into Sega Genesis games that much back then anyway. I was more into the Super Nintendo back in the day.
Sega got annoying with them bragging about the stuff the Genesis supposedly could do yada yada.
the Retro Duo that I have its box packaging says its a Master version or whatever where you can play Sega Genesis games too but you have to go buy a RetroGen attachment thing to play Genesis games on the Retro Duo.
Fine with me but i was never into Sega Genesis games that much back then anyway. I was more into the Super Nintendo back in the day.
Sega got annoying with them bragging about the stuff the Genesis supposedly could do yada yada.
I think that's one that comes with the genesis to SNES adapter. And you can use it on any snes/clone. Thought about buying one for my FC twin cheaper to do that than buying one of the trio/retron 3 clones.
You guys, your problem is that youre all using Retrons especially a Retron 5 which I have heard its horrible.
I have a Retro Duo console. Its way better. It plays NES and Super Nintendo games which is supposed to do
...
the Retro Duo that I have its box packaging says its a Master version or whatever where you can play Sega Genesis games too but you have to go buy a RetroGen attachment thing to play Genesis games on the Retro Duo.
Fine with me but i was never into Sega Genesis games that much back then anyway. I was more into the Super Nintendo back in the day.
Sega got annoying with them bragging about the stuff the Genesis supposedly could do yada yada.
Even the ones people say aren't crap -- they're really just crap!
Played a Retro Duo this weekend at a different flea market. I saw SNES Mortal Kombat II for a moment before I plugged-in Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt. He had it connected via S-video.
The SNES video output looked OK, if I recall correctly. It didn't strike me as S-video quality.
The NES output through the S-video cable looked HORRIBLE. Everything was washed-out and there was a nasty pattern. The same cable had a composite connection that was disconnected on both ends, so I disconnected S-video on each end and connected composite instead. After that, the colors were bright (maybe too bright), but most items on the screen had a strange glow around them (radioactive!). Ugh.
Crap crap crap.
Then I got to the controllers. One of them had the cord pulled out and you could see the wires. I know the flea market vendor, so we took the controller apart. It looked like the cord had never been wrapped around the tension-relieving posts. It's like Retrobit cloned the posts from an SNES controller, but didn't know what they were for. They did the same thing with a Retrobit dogbone controller I bought once out of curiosity. Even if you wrap the cord around the posts, the post doesn't mate with the other half of the controller and the cord will slip over it.
Garbage!
Positives? The controller felt pretty good. It would still sense diagonals too frequently and make me walk when I'm trying to crouch, but the NES Classic Edition is actually worse about that.
Vendor was asking $80 for it.
AVS is really the only exception for consoles you can still buy new. Everything else is an emulator (Retron 5) or NOAC (everything else). If any compatibility issues are discovered with AVS, it can be fixed with an update.
I don't think any NOAC-based system can get past level 2 in Battletoads. There's a handfull of other games that just don't work correctly on a NOAC. I really can't stand when people start saying "[this NOAC-based system] is better than [that NOAC-based system]" and it's really just same junk.
Oh yeah: Playing SMB, there were at least a few times when enemies and hammers passed through me without harm.
Weren't for the horrible Genesis like pads, this one would be better than the original NES.
But then Gradient HAD to copy the Genesis pad design, and made it worse and less responsive... Playing Battletoads on that thing was a nightmare.
But it would run anything you threw at it, didn't have the 10NES chip and was a hardware clone of the system.
I wish I could build an adapter to use the original NES controllers on mine, because that thing rocks.
I remember having a clone console for a very short time before i returned it. I believe it was the retro duo, and while it worked fine it just seemed... well off
I was much happier when i bought the real thing
Retro Duo (white and blue model) - good for SNES, horrible washed out image for NES. Controllers are pretty close to SNES, but I bet the pads are cheap (haven't opened one to look yet.)
Retro Entertainment System (red and white) - had two of these. One died after a few months, the other still works. Controllers are non-standard and cheap, round D-pads and turbo buttons. Choked on Mig 29 and Blade Buster, but other than that it played, looked and sounded decent with most games. Compatible with standard OEM controllers, so I used those.
Retron 1 (red and white) - still sealed in box, otherwise is the same as the RES as far as I can tell.
Gamerz Tek 8-Bit Entertainment system - sound is WAY off on several games. Did play Blade Buster, but Mig 29 froze after a few seconds. Controllers look OEM, but have cheap pads that wear out. Could probably get near-OEM replacement pads and they'd be okay. This clone's major claim to fame is the ability to play Castlevania III, which it does, but it's not 100% compatible by any means.
AVS - only one game has an issue, Xexyz, that does play on the others. It's probably my individual cart, though, or a future firmware update that is needed. Plays Blade Buster, Mig 29, and all my other games fine. Plays my Famicom games fine. Everything sounds fine and looks spectacular.
Weren't for the horrible Genesis like pads, this one would be better than the original NES.
But then Gradient HAD to copy the Genesis pad design, and made it worse and less responsive... Playing Battletoads on that thing was a nightmare.
But it would run anything you threw at it, didn't have the 10NES chip and was a hardware clone of the system.
I wish I could build an adapter to use the original NES controllers on mine, because that thing rocks.
Is that still manufactured and sold new today?
Weren't for the horrible Genesis like pads, this one would be better than the original NES.
But then Gradient HAD to copy the Genesis pad design, and made it worse and less responsive... Playing Battletoads on that thing was a nightmare.
But it would run anything you threw at it, didn't have the 10NES chip and was a hardware clone of the system.
I wish I could build an adapter to use the original NES controllers on mine, because that thing rocks.
Is that still manufactured and sold new today?
Only used copies at MercadoLivre.
Gradiente went bankrupt, but before that, in 1994 they formed with Estrela, a toy company, the Playtronic company and released the NES and the SNES officially in Brazil, which killed the Phantom System.
But it was one darn good clone.
^that blaster actually looks pretty sweet!
I remember having a clone console for a very short time before i returned it. I believe it was the retro duo, and while it worked fine it just seemed... well off
I was much happier when i bought the real thing
I think it's modeled off of the Master System's "Phaser."
The system itself looks like an Atari 7800 in all-black.
Was Ghostbusters always a black cart game?
Can't speak for elsewhere, but here it was this:
Licensed games in the US were gray, except for the first runs of the two Zelda games.
NES clones have ALWAYS been called "famiclones". There are good ones like Micro Genius, but there are not good ones you can buy new today that I know of. And showing one of the most common ones (certainly the most common noac) is not an "extreme example".
Why are they called Family Clones? And why would you replace the abbreviation for computer instead of the abbreviation for family? Clone Computer makes much more sense than Family Clone.
NES clones have ALWAYS been called "famiclones". There are good ones like Micro Genius, but there are not good ones you can buy new today that I know of. And showing one of the most common ones (certainly the most common noac) is not an "extreme example".
Why are they called Family Clones? And why would you replace the abbreviation for computer instead of the abbreviation for family? Clone Computer makes much more sense than Family Clone.
It's a play on words. "Clone Computer" doesn't give any tell about what console it even refers to... or even that it refers to a console. Family Computer, Famicom, Famicom Clone, Famiclone. This kind of thing is common in Japan (Family Stadium baseball became "Famista")
NES clones have ALWAYS been called "famiclones". There are good ones like Micro Genius, but there are not good ones you can buy new today that I know of. And showing one of the most common ones (certainly the most common noac) is not an "extreme example".
Why are they called Family Clones? And why would you replace the abbreviation for computer instead of the abbreviation for family? Clone Computer makes much more sense than Family Clone.
It's a play on words. "Clone Computer" doesn't give any tell about what console it even refers to... or even that it refers to a console. Famicom, Famicom Clone, Famiclone. This kind of thing is common in Japan (Family Stadium baseball became "Famista")
He's being facetious. It's kind of his schtick. Take everything he says as sarcastic.
^that blaster actually looks pretty sweet!
I remember having a clone console for a very short time before i returned it. I believe it was the retro duo, and while it worked fine it just seemed... well off
I was much happier when i bought the real thing
The blaster looks very familiar. Similar to the Master System's "Light Phaser" gun. I got one of those from a thrift store a long time ago. Never used it though.
It's a clone console and a counterfeit game. The color shown here is meaningless. There's a lot more wrong with it than the color.
I think the game might not be counterfeit. I vaguely recall hearing something about Acclaim or Activision officially releasing that and some other titles for an NES clone in some regions. I wish I remembered where I heard that.
[edit]
Right here: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=166783
It's a clone console and a counterfeit game. The color shown here is meaningless. There's a lot more wrong with it than the color.
I think the game might not be counterfeit. I vaguely recall hearing something about Acclaim or Activision officially releasing that and some other titles for an NES clone in some regions. I wish I remembered where I heard that.
It's counterfeit. It's not Activision, Acclaim, or HAL, and there would be no reason to design the shell as close as they did and risk a lawsuit over infringing design from their partner, Nintendo.
It's a clone console and a counterfeit game. The color shown here is meaningless. There's a lot more wrong with it than the color.
I think the game might not be counterfeit. I vaguely recall hearing something about Acclaim or Activision officially releasing that and some other titles for an NES clone in some regions. I wish I remembered where I heard that.
It's counterfeit. It's not Activision, Acclaim, or HAL, and there would be no reason to design the shell as close as they did and risk a lawsuit over infringing design from their partner, Nintendo.
That is indeed counterfeit and was produced by Gradiente iteself.
There are some pretty in depth articles about the NES clone market in Brazil out there. I will try to link to some tonight.
Edit: http://www.redbull.com/en/games/stories/1331829250246/the-history-of-video-games-in-brazil This one at Redbull is a pretty good one.