My review of the Retron 77

[dj_convoy]

All it did was cause me to cancel.

Well, if you look at the other thread, Hyperkin is lifting that limit.

 

They are actively listening to our feedback and seem to be dealing with us in good faith.

 

Maybe we should all at least think about acknowledging or even respecting that.

[Lordmonkus]

Indeed the current rom limit is a silly reason to cancel any intentions of buying one since everyone pretty much knows that will get "fixed" once it gets out to the general public.

[Keatah]

And since the console is built around stella emulator, expect other updates in the future. Games that aren't working now could work later - at least when run from roms..

[BassGuitari]

 

1. Sega Genesis controllers(3 button and 6 button) at this time did not work. Controllers were tested on Sega Genesis and double checked. I got a black screen when trying to select a game without a cart inserted.

2. Sega Master System controllers work, as do 7800 control pads and joysticks.

3. Most Third party joysticks that I had did work, Wico bat, flashback joystick, retrobit joystick and many more.

4. Spy Hunter controller holder and Track N Field Controller work.

5. Star Raiders and Kids Controller do not work.

...

7. Trak-ball does not work.

 

Most of the incompatibilities appear to be controller-related. Looks like the Retron 77 only likes joysticks and paddles.

 

1-3. Interesting that Genesis controllers don't work. It stands to reason that 7800, third-party, and generic joysticks would work (and Master System pads), but it's strange that Genesis controllers wouldn't. Then again, IIRC the Genesis controller has a little bit of extra circuitry going on.

 

4. Why wouldn't the Joystick Coupler "work" with the Retron 77? It's just a plastic bracket, isn't it? Or did you mean whether the re-shaped R77 joystick would fit? The Track & Field Controller is functionally just a joystick with the up and down directions removed, so it makes sense that it would work.

 

5. So basically, Keyboard Controllers don't work. Which also means no Brain Games, Codebreaker, Basic Programming, Hunt & Score/Game of Concentration/Memory Match, or Magicard. I'd be astonished if that were a deal-breaker for anyone, but it might be something to be aware of.

 

7. Probably has to do with the Trak-Ball's encoder hardware.

[jhammond]

I wish I knew how to put ROMs on the SD card on this Retron 77. Would anyone please like to explain?

[NISMOPC]

I wish I knew how to put ROMs on the SD card on this Retron 77. Would anyone please like to explain?

All I did was copy the *.bin file to the games folder. Worked without any issues. What are you having issues with.

[Keatah]

Some people will need step-by-step instructions on how to copy or move files. In this era of smartphones, such activities are a lost art.

[gorfcadet]

I was annoyed that the card was unreadable by my Mac. Had to dig out my old XP laptop.

[AAA177]

Thanks for the review, I appreciate the work put into it.

 

Is the Retron 77 in stores, or is it only available from the company? I'm not sure I can buy it currently, so I will ask if people here think this will sell out quickly and be hard to get if I don't act now?

 

Also, I remember there were a couple Hyperkin products that had strong chemical odors to them (I'm pretty sure it was Hyperkin that I am thinking of). Does this product by any chance have that issue? I would assume probably not, but I have to ask as I had to get rid of the units I purchased because it was just too strong for me. I have not had that issue with the Retron 5, thankfully.

 

The review mentions positives versus negatives, but I would agree the positives seem to outweigh the negatives. I hope, too, the cartridges aren't tough to remove (that issue remains for me with the Retron 5, but it's not as bad as previous units). I'm looking forward to having a 2600 of that size. (Too bad about Pitfall 2.)

[Lord Thag]

I've played around with swlovinist's retron. It's pretty cool, ordered one myself. Neat design, though compatibility seems to be not quite where it should be yet. According to the designer, the main issue seems to be the cart/decrypting software, but I imagine there will be a work around at some point. He's already posted a later release of stella that works in the other thread. Good support so far.

The joystick is brittle, but it seems you can swap the stick out of an original model and get it to work fine, so there's that.

In terms of controller incompatibility, I'm betting some of the Flashback Portable hacks that map functions to console switches like, say, Star Raiders will work as ROM files on this to allow us to play some of those games while we wait on community patches.

 

It's not perfect, but I'm pretty optimistic it'll get much closer than it is.

[StormSurge]

I was annoyed that the card was unreadable by my Mac. Had to dig out my old XP laptop.

 

Ugh. I wish had that option. Guess I'll have to find another SD card.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Ugh. I wish had that option. Guess I'll have to find another SD card.

Ask DirtyHairy, he has fixed the problem for himself.