Astro City Mini

[Zoyous]

3 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I also only have the 3 button variant for the MD Mini to use with it. Having said that, I will know tonight because DHL just sent me notice that it is now being delivered today?!

 

But yes I would imagine that pretty much only the fighting games are going to need the 6 buttons. Everything else will likely work fine with just the three.

 

I just got the same notification! Pretty amazing speed coming from Japan. I'll post impressions of the arcade stick, hopefully tonight!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

It was actually just delivered a bit ago. I only got the Astrocity mini itself. I didn't get the stand or the controllers for it. I'll likely just use my Genesis mini controller for most of the games anyway or later on get the separate pad controller.

 

[Steven Pendleton]

8 hours ago, Zoyous said:

That's excellent that the MD Mini controller works! Although I have the 3-button variant, so I wouldn't be able to use it with all games, but certainly most. Come to think of it, what games on the Astro City Mini actually use 6 buttons?

 

Virtua Fighter looks really good on this. Are the characters are rendering at a higher resolution than the original game?

6 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I also only have the 3 button variant for the MD Mini to use with it. Having said that, I will know tonight because DHL just sent me notice that it is now being delivered today?!

 

But yes I would imagine that pretty much only the fighting games are going to need the 6 buttons. Everything else will likely work fine with just the three.

 

There are quite a few games that use more than 2 or 3 buttons, as pretty much everything that can benefit from a turbo button (shooters) also has a turbo button on the top row. Space Harrier also has a button that lets you reverse the y-axis at any time as well. Unknown about Virtua Fighter, as I don't play fighting games and am extremely unlikely to ever play Virtua Fighter.

 

[Tanooki]

So ok be blunt or not, be detailed at least.

Recommend?

 

At least from MY point, I don't give two craps about shimmer.  I like playing those NES games on GBA either official or using PocketNES, so I don't care about that. If it plays right, the audio isn't ear rape, and it runs consistently so I don't foul up when I know I shouldn't I call it a win on stuff like this.  I love the NeoGeo Mini as it hits it right and I've got the cabinet in hands reach so I have a right to compare and complain pretty easily there for example... same with the 2 NIntendo mini's vs their real world counterparts too.  Sega's Genesis mini is a solid run that's for certain, parity with the harder to come by 2019 AT Games Genesis with the non-fouled up emulation too.

 

So is this some weird myarcade and pick any earlier year atgames dumpster fire, or something to enjoy?

 

I've been keeping an eye on this, and also to find out about that Capcom one too which appears to be a multi-system emulator (CPS1/2, SNES, Genesis,etc) which is fantastic if it works right.

[Steven Pendleton]

29 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

So ok be blunt or not, be detailed at least.

Recommend?

 

At least from MY point, I don't give two craps about shimmer.  I like playing those NES games on GBA either official or using PocketNES, so I don't care about that. If it plays right, the audio isn't ear rape, and it runs consistently so I don't foul up when I know I shouldn't I call it a win on stuff like this.  I love the NeoGeo Mini as it hits it right and I've got the cabinet in hands reach so I have a right to compare and complain pretty easily there for example... same with the 2 NIntendo mini's vs their real world counterparts too.  Sega's Genesis mini is a solid run that's for certain, parity with the harder to come by 2019 AT Games Genesis with the non-fouled up emulation too.

 

So is this some weird myarcade and pick any earlier year atgames dumpster fire, or something to enjoy?

 

I've been keeping an eye on this, and also to find out about that Capcom one too which appears to be a multi-system emulator (CPS1/2, SNES, Genesis,etc) which is fantastic if it works right.

Sure. Just be sure to get a controller for it.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Okay, so I've spent a good hour and half just a bit ago checking this thing out and these are my thoughts. 

 

Pros

- It is built really well. Much better than my initial thought of it would be as it feels quite solid.

- The games all seem to play quite well on it so the emulation seems to be spot on

- The screen is very nice on this mini with the colors vibrant and clear

- 2 Save spots per game to save wherever you happen to be in the game

- Joystick and buttons on the mini itself work very well or at least they felt nice to me when playing

 

Cons

- Doesn't come with a power adapter just a USB A to micro usb cable for use with common phone chargers. However I had lockups and sudden blank white screens when using an older Samsung phone charger. Switched to an iPad charger and didn't have any issues. So make sure you have a decent charger that you use on this as the Samsung one was +5 at .7A (700mA). So it must need like a 1A or better charger for it

- The Megadrive/Genesis mini controllers...do NOT work on this. Or at least my two 3 buttons controllers I got with my Genesis Mini doesn't register at all on it. I tried a PS4 controller as well and again nothing. So I'm only have to use the controls on the mini itself. Good thing they work nice.

- The sound from the mini is very tinny and some sounds actually come across sounding distorted. I noticed this with my gunshots on Crackdown as an example. I'm guessing it would sound much better on the HDMI out which I have NOT tested yet

- No built in battery to charge it up so it has to be plugged into external power at all times to operate

- While the emulation seems to be excellent and the screen is a nice size for a mini of this size, the tate (vertical) games like the shooters can be really difficult to see the enemy bullets. Scramble Spirits really makes you aware of this

 

Overall I'm quite glad to have gotten this but now I do wish I had gotten the separate controller pad as that would have made it much easier to play these games for longer extended periods. If any one finds a controller that does work, be sure to mention it here because again the Genesis mini 3 button is a no go and doesn't register anything.

 

[Steven Pendleton]

4 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

- The Megadrive/Genesis mini controllers...do NOT work on this. Or at least my two 3 buttons controllers I got with my Genesis Mini doesn't register at all on it. I tried a PS4 controller as well and again nothing. So I'm only have to use the controls on the mini itself. Good thing they work nice.

Interesting. The Japanese MD Mini controller worked for me. Might be because it has 6 buttons. I also just realized that I forgot to test the Retro-Bit Saturn controller in its alternate mode. There's the red mode and the blue mode and I have no idea what those colors signify, but some stuff works only in blue mode and not the default red. I'm not home right now, but I'll try it again when I get back and also test the MD Mini controller again.

[Zoyous]

So mine arrived quite late in the evening... almost 10:30pm, I'm surprised the delivery driver was still out. The external box was mostly opened already, but everything was present and undamaged.

 

I'm not going to play much this evening, but I went straight to the arcade stick and plugged it into my PC. It does show up as a properly named plug-and-play device with Windows, so that's great. It is solid and heavy, I'd guess close to 7 lbs. with a metal base and heavy plastic upper shell and sides. It's about as wide as a PS4 or Xbox One. The joystick is clearly microswitch, while the buttons feel and sound more like leaf spring buttons to me. They're not as clicky as the buttons on the cabinet. I'm not an expert, but I did a simple mod several years ago where I replaced some loud microswitch buttons with leaf spring buttons so I think that's what they are. Personally, I prefer them for my games of choice (such as Joust) because you can feather them rapidly. I like it a lot ~ I do have a MAME cabinet but I've never had a proper arcade/fight stick before so I'll enjoy using it.

 

Regarding the base and stool... They set up the base with a real, full size coin slot so you can use it as a piggy bank. It snaps on firmly with six contact points and feels perfectly secure, and can be removed easily. The stool is cute... all plastic though the legs look like chrome. It also comes with a display plaque that can mount to the top of the cabinet and would be used to show graphic art and instructions for the game that is installed. It comes with two sheets of stickers with miniature reproductions of several games (Virtua Fighter, Shinobi, Alien Storm Arabian Fight, Columns, etc.), so if you want to, you can choose one to affix as your permanent game to display. They have different shapes and sizes, maybe corresponding with different eras of games. VF is the only one that completely fills the plaque shape. They look cool but I'll need a magnifying glass to study the details.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Zoyous

[Hydro Thunder]

Just chiming in to say I got mine with the gamepad.  Wish I would have gotten the Stand and Stool now seeing how neat they are from you peeps.

I really like it so far and echo what others have said in the positive; Virtua Fighter in particular is gorgeous and better than expected.  Love the arcade stick and buttons on the machine.  Haven't tried it on the TV yet but definitely going to give that a shot for long sessions of GA: TRODA.

 

[Steven Pendleton]

I have confirmed that the Japanese MD Mini controller definitely works. Retro-Bit Saturn 2.4GHz does not work in either mode. Sadness.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

4 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I have confirmed that the Japanese MD Mini controller definitely works. Retro-Bit Saturn 2.4GHz does not work in either mode. Sadness.

Makes no sense really. And I've read that the standard 6 button USB retro-bit won't work either. So what is so different about the JPN megadrive controllers vs the others besides the number of actual buttons on them? I tried a few others I had on hand and none of them worked. Sigh.. at least with my DL replicade it doesn't have any issues with most controllers plugged into it so I don't get why this Astro City mini has to be so different.

 

On the flip side, I did plug it in via HDMI to my AV setup in the game room and on that it looks amazing! It might only be 720p but it looks really good overall and the shooters that are difficult to play on the small LCD on the Mini itself are playable on a larger screen when you can see the bullets finally. 

 

I will advise sticking to use the micro usb to usb a cable that comes with it with whatever adapter you decide to use. I had more solid white screen lockup issues with mine last night using a different cable that was a tad bit longer. I finally used the cable that came with my PS4 controllers and those seem to work fine with my adapter, but yeah others not so much. So I'm wondering if it actually requires a full charger+data type cable and not just a charger only cable? Either way, that is my only real annoyance besides the lack of controller support.

 

[Zoyous]

I compared with Virtua Fighter running in MAME - yes, VF on the Astro City Mini is running at 720p, whereas the original coinop was a Model 1 game (496×384). It looks incredibly sharp!

 

So far I've been playing a lot of Cotton. Super cool and creative, but also very difficult. I had to read a guide to understand the story a bit better, because the cutscenes are very entertaining but the text is mostly in Japanese. Essentially, Cotton the witch reluctantly agrees to help the fairy Silk, only when Silk promises her Cotton's favorite candy, "Willow," in return.

 

I also enjoyed trying Arabian Fight, a super-scaler brawler. I can see how it would be visually overwhelming with four players, but as a single player game it's easy to visually parse what's going on and it has some great graphics and clever cinematography.

 

It looks like many of the games are using a nearest-neighbor technique to increase the resolution to fill the screen when using the HDMI out. The result is that pixel sizes and shapes will slightly vary, but they're very crisp. It's not ideal, but it keeps the processing overhead low.

[Tanooki]

21 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Sure. Just be sure to get a controller for it.

So you truly feel the installed on mini stick and buttons aren't good enough?  I'm not like super picky, some sure, but I enjoy using my neo geo mini without the use of the nicer controller they made.

 

 

Zoyous sounds like the cotton on there is the same one that ported to all those handhelds and consoles, and in that case you're right.  Her fairy friend Silk bribes her into action through her favorite sweets willow.  I've over time had the game on NGPC, Super Famicom, TG CD, and something else too I forget.  I've got it again ordered fro a very limited physical Switch run next year too.  Cotton is hard, but it is a fun one once you figure it out and get used to it, I'm no longer used to it.

[Steven Pendleton]

8 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Makes no sense really. And I've read that the standard 6 button USB retro-bit won't work either. So what is so different about the JPN megadrive controllers vs the others besides the number of actual buttons on them? I tried a few others I had on hand and none of them worked. Sigh.. at least with my DL replicade it doesn't have any issues with most controllers plugged into it so I don't get why this Astro City mini has to be so different.

Yeah, I have no idea. I'm especially surprised that the wireless Saturn controller won't work since it was specifically designed to work on the MD/G Mini. The MD Mini controller works, so I really see no reason that the Retro-Bit controllers don't. They are even official Sega controllers, as well, which means they could have made the decision to support those controllers. How strange.

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

So you truly feel the installed on mini stick and buttons aren't good enough?  I'm not like super picky, some sure, but I enjoy using my neo geo mini without the use of the nicer controller they made.

The buttons and stick are excellent, especially the buttons. It's just that using them becomes awkward after a few minutes in my experience.

[Zoyous]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

So you truly feel the installed on mini stick and buttons aren't good enough?  I'm not like super picky, some sure, but I enjoy using my neo geo mini without the use of the nicer controller they made.

I've got the Neo Geo Mini as well... if you like those controls, you should have no problem with the Astro City Mini. They're just slightly larger than the ones on the Neo Geo Mini.

[Yakumo1975]

In this video we check out the actual Emulation quality of the Astro City Mini. 60fps in 1080p

 

 

 

[roots.genoa]

Yesterday I ordered it on a whim at an import web site, which seemed trustworthy for me because it looked like it was based in France. At first it also looked slightly cheaper than Play Asia, but it was in fact slightly more expensive because they added a PayPal fee at the last minute. And I haven't paid one of those for the last decade I think... ?

 

And later, on the same Discord server I found out about it, someone told me you always get custom taxes from Japan these days unless you buy from Amazon, which is also cheaper (sorry, you told me many times to buy from Amazon, I stand corrected). And that's when I discovered you can't cancel an order on that shitty web site if it's already paid (and I don't see how you can order without paying anyway). You can just send them messages (which is not that easy if you didn't create an account) and of course you have to wait for 48 hours to get an answer. With my luck, if they cancel my order, the thing won't be available at Amazon anymore. ?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

When I first found out about the Asto City Mini, the only link and place I knew to order was from Amazon.jp so that was the route I took. It was expensive still but I feel it was worth it the price in the end. Since I haven't any of the controllers that can work with this, I've just gotten used to playing on the mini itself.

 

Cotton is a really fun shooter with bouncy music to match. The PCE version is really really good though for a home port and I own that as well to compare. I mainly bought mine to Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder as that was one the last games I was playing a lot in the arcades in the early 90s just before arcades basically fizzled out of existence here along with the D&D arcade games. The current MAME emulation that I have played of the game still had some graphical issues so it has been excellent to play this game pretty much as I remembered it nearly 30 years ago.

 

[roots.genoa]

On 12/19/2020 at 1:18 PM, Steven Pendleton said:

I have confirmed that the Japanese MD Mini controller definitely works. Retro-Bit Saturn 2.4GHz does not work in either mode. Sadness.

Not only does it work but allow access to the debug mode by holding Z+Mode while switching on the Astro City Mini!

[Tanooki]

23 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

The buttons and stick are excellent, especially the buttons. It's just that using them becomes awkward after a few minutes in my experience.

 

23 hours ago, Zoyous said:

I've got the Neo Geo Mini as well... if you like those controls, you should have no problem with the Astro City Mini. They're just slightly larger than the ones on the Neo Geo Mini.

That's basically all I need to know.  Let's be clear, I wouldn't sit on one of those for over an hour, rarely I do on a real cabinet either at this rate.  So if long term comfort is a problem, it won't bother me.  So if they're like sized or better than NGM, and are very nice and responsive, which I imagine with click microswitches it is (and more so than NGM) it sounds ideal.

 

I've thrown around the idea of a controller for my mini, if I wanted to stuff it into the TV, but I keep realizing I'm too lazy to care as it's a kickass little desk toy (as would that Capcom one if it comes out an doesn't blow) so that's what I'd do with such things.  I basically gave up on those LCD based walmart only basic fun mini arcades as they are very hit and miss, just have 4 of them I retained.  I could easily lose them other than the Pac-Man my kid got me so she wouldn't get upset and use that shelf space on these more premium gems that have good stuff that doesn't suck.

 

My only other concerns are these cheapass stunts not including AC adapter blocks, just USB cables.  I was fairly concerned only after seeing that Konami so poorly built their PCE/TG mini if you're like .1 amp or volt, whatever it was, off spec, the entire thing blows up internally and dies as it's that flimsy.  I don't know if the Sega one is that pissy, or it's more friendly like my Neo Geo which I ended up using an old HTC (5V, 1AMP) adapter on.  Would THAT also work on the Blast City??  Hell would that work on the PCE mini even?  I have a couple I've scrouged up at goodwills over the years and they seem to be a wicked catch all.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Not only does it work but allow access to the debug mode by holding Z+Mode while switching on the Astro City Mini!

Interesting, I have tried some searching but cannot find more info, do you have specifics on exactly what debug mode allows in this instance? Will for example, it allow the addition of more games to be added ? Any info on the debug mode options would be appreciated thanks. 

[roots.genoa]

3 hours ago, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

Interesting, I have tried some searching but cannot find more info, do you have specifics on exactly what debug mode allows in this instance? Will for example, it allow the addition of more games to be added ? Any info on the debug mode options would be appreciated thanks. 

Unfortunately I don't know much. The info comes from here and you can see what it looks like:

 

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

24 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Unfortunately I don't know much. The info comes from here and you can see what it looks like:

 

Hey cool, well I am sure we will learn more, we always do. Thanks for the response. ?

Ah OK I zoomed in watching the whole video, seems like just a diagnostics test program but it may leads to more. 

Edited December 21, 2020 by OldSchoolRetroGamer
update

[Steven Pendleton]

Yes, it's just a diagnostic from what I can tell, and it seems to be in Chinese, as well. It seems that I'm not able to bring up this menu with the actual Astro City Mini controller and I have yet to actually find a way to turn the thing off without disconnecting the power cable when it's in this mode.

[BitMerge6502]

Anyone have any luck finding a USB controller that works with the SEGA Astro City Mini cabinet?

So far, I've tested: Several wired official Nintendo Switch controllers, Wii-U pro (using USB cable), Sega Genesis Mini (3 button USA), Turbo Grafx 16 Mini, Playstation Classic, various 8BitDo controllers (via USB dongle), RetroFlag (SNES & Megadrive both using D-input & X-input modes), RetroBit SEGA Genesis 6 button (two wired [blue/pink], & one wireless [black] via dongle), Mocute, and a few other generic Chinese USB SNES/NES controllers ("Next" branding). None of them appear to be compatible. I also tried a couple Powerpoint style wireless USB pointers, & a Logitech keyboard (just for the shell of it). 

As you can see from the extensive list above, I have quite a collection of USB controllers, and don't want to have to buy another if I can find an alternative. I also would prefer a SEGA Megadrive style over the Astro City controller for confort. I saw a YouTube video of someone using the Japanese Megadrive Mini 6 button USB controller, but seems suspicious to me as to why the North American 3 button or officially licensed 6 button controllers from RetroBit would not also be compatible.

I've also thought about disassembling my Astro cab to test the USB power/data lines to see if they receive proper voltage & such. I know this was the case with the Playstation Classic, (A resistor had to be swapped). Curious to me why no other controller is being recognized at all.