Retron 4 (console for snes\nes\genny etc)

[Andromeda Stardust]

Biggest issue with 240p content on an HDTV is sprite flicker. Any sprite that flickers at 30Hz will display tiny horizontal venetian blinds, which makes most Atari2600 homebrews look like ass. Other than that, my SNES displays glorious square pixels on my 2006 Sanyo HDTV if I use the S-video cable. Still there's a small amount of perceived lag which caused a lot of cheap deaths while playing my imported SFC Parodius games. Thing is, some sets are just bad for gaming, and playing native HDMI on a laggy set is just as bad.

 

FYI, a lot of upscalers don't properly handle flicker either, creating the afformentioned venetian blinds effect. Also some upscalers just add lag in addition to the HDTV. Each additional scaler in the chain will add lag, so it's possible that 3rd party scalers could make the issue worse.

[Austin]

Biggest issue with 240p content on an HDTV is sprite flicker. Any sprite that flickers at 30Hz will display tiny horizontal venetian blinds, which makes most Atari2600 homebrews look like ass. Other than that, my SNES displays glorious square pixels on my 2006 Sanyo HDTV if I use the S-video cable. Still there's a small amount of perceived lag which caused a lot of cheap deaths while playing my imported SFC Parodius games. Thing is, some sets are just bad for gaming, and playing native HDMI on a laggy set is just as bad.

 

FYI, a lot of upscalers don't properly handle flicker either, creating the afformentioned venetian blinds effect. Also some upscalers just add lag in addition to the HDTV. Each additional scaler in the chain will add lag, so it's possible that 3rd party scalers could make the issue worse.

You're preaching to the choir.

[Atariboy]

Each additional scaler in the chain will add lag, so it's possible that 3rd party scalers could make the issue worse.

Not if you set the scaler's output to match your tv's native resolution.

[+Ripdubski]

Saw Retron5 at 2nd and Charles (second hand / new retailer) for $139 this weekend. Considered picking it up. Didnt. They also had new 2's and 3's. Was not sure of the differences.

[goldenegg]

They're everywhere. I took this photo at my local Rescue Mission Thrift store...

 

 

Why do people always think what they see around them applies to every one else? Thrift stores in my area haven't allowed CRTs to be donated for years.

[jferio]

 

Why do people always think what they see around them applies to every one else? Thrift stores in my area haven't allowed CRTs to be donated for years.

 

It's the same thing here. A few of the thrifts still have CRTs from time to time, but even those really don't want to take them because they don't really move well anymore. The classic videogamer that only wants a CRT and turns up noses at flatpanels are really too much of a niche. And even Grandma now has a nice second flatscreen to show the latest Disney flicks on to keep the grandbabies entertained.

 

Honestly, my back THANKED ME for dumping out the CRT once I got a flat panel. Light gun games aren't worth the incredible weight and space considerations for me, which was the only reason I even considered keeping the tube. I traded in a considerable armory of lightguns and games when I made the choice.

 

That's what makes the Retron 5 such a wonderful piece of tech here. All in one, plug 'n' play. Yes, we actually HAVE an upscaler (Framemeister), but it's nice to have a piece of tech "ready to go" almost instantly.

 

Plus, to be bluntly honest, even for the "purists", the days of being able to pick up a cheap CRT at a thrift are incredibly numbered. Inside of five years, I'm expecting they won't even bother putting them onto the sale floor, even when they're basically forced to take them by people who "don't want to lug them elsewhere." And no, we don't have the space to keep around that many CRTs worth gaming with, so please don't suggest it. There's barely enough room for our two flat panels and over 70 gaming systems.

 

Oh, and further advantages to this HDMI only device: Save States. Ability to copy off most save files for posterity. You can actually use that excellent first-party controller on the competitor's titles. Or get into using that obscure third party arcade controller.

[cimerians]

I kept one 13" Toshiba CRT around and I have some classic systems hooked up to it, mainly anything between the N64/PS1 and PS2/Dreamcast.

 

In my opinion anything before the N64\PS1 is fine on an HDTV......especially Atari games.

 

The Trio is really cool and I would have gotten one, I still may someday but I heard various issues with video and sound with S-Video and I consider AV absolute shit even on a CRT so that's why I decided not to get one.

 

I don't know I like my Retron 5, the only thing thats missing is flashcart support. Looks fantastic on my 1080p set. Pixels and all.

 

[DaytonaUSA]

Really want a retro trio now. Just got a master system and I could care less about gameboy support. So I don't really see the advantage of the retron. HDMI is great but not if it won't work.

 

Hey. Can anyone tell me if the trio can play games like starfox and super Mario RPG?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Super Retro Trio is one of the better clones ever made. The glitched games are very few. FYI, the NES can't do S-Video, and it looks flawless on SNES/Genny. Most newer HDTVs ditched the S-video jack but composite was and is still the gold standard of retro consoles.

[Andromeda Stardust]

@DaytonaUSA: A very small percentage of NES games (like 2-5%) have graphics or audio glitches. Super Retro Trio has damn near 100% compatability with Genesis (all regions) and SNES (NTSC). SA-1 and FX are no problem. Virtua Racing does not work but there is a mod available bridging two pins together. NES, SNES, and Genesis Everdrives work. NES PowerPak does not work. Castlevania III does not work but oddly enough it runs on NES Everdrive with audio issues. There's also a mod available for CVIII but it's more involved than the Virtua one. Famicom and SMS run via pin adapters (PowerBase Mini by Stone Age Gamer). Game Boy works with Super Game Boy. Retrobit provides a clone GBA adapter which plugs into the SNES port and outputs AV natively through the SRT. So Game Boy Color is the only system that works on Retron5 that's currently not available on the Trio. Please bear in mind that repros, pirates, or homebrew are not likely to work on Retron5, especially NES, as games must be added to the database in order to work.

[Andromeda Stardust]

^^For clarity, homebrews, repros, pirates, and Everdrives work fine on SRT btw. Can't edit posts on a 3DS, sorry.

[DaytonaUSA]

I saw a pic of the trio with Famicom and super fami carts in it without adapters. Are you sure you need that sold out adapter? SMS doesn't matter too much to me. I have a SMS

[dashv]

Repros and homebrew are playable in the Retron 5. Many just show as Unknown Game. But they play.

 

Only games that invented their own mappers or unique hardware don't work. The compatibility is very high over all.

[Andromeda Stardust]

NES games need to be in the database to work. "Unknown" SNES and Genesis games may work, but NES games have to be in the database so that the Retron5 knows what mapper to use to properly dump them. Real NES carts do not have "headers". Retron5 needs this header info to dump and emulate the cart.

 

I saw a pic of the trio with Famicom and super fami carts in it without adapters. Are you sure you need that sold out adapter? SMS doesn't matter too much to me. I have a SMS

Trio needs adapters to play Famicom and Master system. They do not use the same pinout as NES and Genesis. Power Base Converter might work if it would fit.

[DaytonaUSA]

And super fami on the trio? Adapter needed or no?

[goldenegg]

And super fami on the trio? Adapter needed or no?

No adapter needed.

[DaytonaUSA]

Great. Thanks.

[Andromeda Stardust]

8-bit Famicom needs adapter. 16-bit Super Fami does not need adapter. SFC also run flawlessly on an NTSC SNES with the tabs removed. Certain PAL SNES games may have issues since the console itself is NTSC timing. PAL SNES not guaranteed to work. Genesis/Mega Drive works all regions with selector switch. SMS works with Genesis b/c using an adapter. GB works with Super Game Boy accessory. GBA works with Retrobit branded Super Retro Advance adapter. Everdrives, Homebrew, and Repro/pirates work flawlessly on SRT.

[dashv]

NES games need to be in the database to work. "Unknown" SNES and Genesis games may work, but NES games have to be in the database so that the Retron5 knows what mapper to use to properly dump them. Real NES carts do not have "headers". Retron5 needs this header info to dump and emulate the cart.

 

 

Trio needs adapters to play Famicom and Master system. They do not use the same pinout as NES and Genesis. Power Base Converter might work if it would fit.

The database the Retron 5 uses is based on checksums of the dumped rom cross referenced with the database they maintain. You can see this when you look into any of the cheat XML files.

 

Any unrecognized checksum will show "Unknown". This is why some of the more popular games that had multiple production runs have had the "Unknown" come up. Often times there were minor updates that cause the checksum to not match what they expected so they have to add multiple checksum entries for the "same" title.

Edited June 17, 2014 by dashv

[yell0w_lantern]

One video review talked about a darkness problem on the NES portion of SRT. Is that still an issue?

[jferio]

Nice. I found out tonight that they got the Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles lock-on combination working in one of the updates. This is a fairly important game for some people out there, and it's nice that it does work, even if "Knuckles in Sonic 2" doesn't yet work. It did take me two tries to get it to load as the combination, though.

 

I also found out that Super Street Fighter II for the Genesis is so large that it uses bankswitching in the cart, the only one that apparently does. The Genesis effectively only safely addresses 4MB of data, SSFII is 5MB. The orange screen is actually the cart software failing the checksum, apparently the Retron 5 doesn't (yet) support the bankswitching, and can't get to at least 20% of the ROM.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

 

Why do people always think what they see around them applies to every one else? Thrift stores in my area haven't allowed CRTs to be donated for years.

Exactly lol. In this small Canadian city even the thrift stores and pawn shops don't bother with CRT anymore. Hey if that doesn't apply to you or they are cheap and abundant in your area GREAT, doesn't do ME shit because around here you cannot find them.

Edited June 17, 2014 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[Andromeda Stardust]

One video review talked about a darkness problem on the NES portion of SRT. Is that still an issue?

The brightness was fine on both of my TVs tested, one LCD 720p HD and one SD CRT. Satoshi Matrix swears NES side of the SRT was too dark and needed a mod to fix it. To me it looks fine and I found little difference between the colors on my NES and the Trio. Maybe the saturation and brightness aren't 100% identical, but I didn't notice anything wrong with the picture on any of the three consoles. NES side of the SRT is obviously not compatible with S-video; neither is a real NES.

 

FYI, there are brightness, contrast, saturation, color, and sharpness controls on nearly every TV ever made, CRT or flat panel. Maybe instead of modding the console to make the screen brighter, anyone with display issues could take two minutes to adjust their display using the built in menu. Not all TVs give a perfectly balanced picture with all controls set at 50%. Sometimes you need to raise or lower the black level, or do other settings adjustments. After all, they are analog signals. Even an HDTV with all digital inputs still outputs analog sound and picture in a manner percievable by the viewer (variable sound pressure levels from the speakers and variable light intensity from each RBG pixel).

[Andromeda Stardust]

Nice. I found out tonight that they got the Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles lock-on combination working in one of the updates. This is a fairly important game for some people out there, and it's nice that it does work, even if "Knuckles in Sonic 2" doesn't yet work. It did take me two tries to get it to load as the combination, though.

 

I also found out that Super Street Fighter II for the Genesis is so large that it uses bankswitching in the cart, the only one that apparently does. The Genesis effectively only safely addresses 4MB of data, SSFII is 5MB. The orange screen is actually the cart software failing the checksum, apparently the Retron 5 doesn't (yet) support the bankswitching, and can't get to at least 20% of the ROM.

Wierd they fixed Sonic 3 + Knuckles but not Sonic 2 + Knuckles. Sounds like a lack of foresight. Which version of Super Street Fighter II is affected? Also I though Genesis could address 8Mbytes like SNES.

[jferio]

Wierd they fixed Sonic 3 + Knuckles but not Sonic 2 + Knuckles. Sounds like a lack of foresight.

 

I expect it's because of the ways it masks that game, versus Sonic 3. Reports are also that you still can't do the "other game to access ball worlds" trick.

 

Which version of Super Street Fighter II is affected? Also I though Genesis could address 8Mbytes like SNES.

Everything I see implies that SSFII is larger than the "safe" addressable space on the Genesis. Technically, it can access 10MB, but apparently that assumes you don't have a SegaCD or 32X connected up. It's quite possible that the 4MB address safety limit is in part because of accommodation for accessories, which might occupy part of that address area in the same way the Commodore 64 overlaid ROM addresses on top of RAM addresses to get around the addressing limits of the processor.

 

I'm not sure which version of SSFII I have for the Genesis. I did pop it open with a gamebit, but there wasn't a lot of enlightenment, and I don't have time this morning to look up PCB code information.