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What are the best portable retro consoles under 120 US dollars?
The idea is to get a console to play raging in complexity from the NES, SNES, up to Nintendo DS and PSP. Anything above that is not a priority or a necessity. But it would be nice to have a screen large enough to handle DS games in some form. Can I find anything decent in that price range?
Thanks :)
if you can afford ~$150 I’d recommend the retroid pocket 3. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive
3+ and its great and need a new SD card to go w/ it.
alternatively, if you have a decent phone, you could get something like the razor kishi to kind of turn your phone into something that can play some PS2/Gamecube/3DS and everything below
But if you want just 32bit/PS1 and below, the Miyoo Mini+ with this grip/case from etsy
Yup I've got a kishi for my s21 ultra. Pretty convenient retro setup that plays quite well for most games ive tried.
Button mapping is pretty easy in the emulators I've used and the controls are pretty nice for mobile gaming. I think I was able to snag my kishi for about $30 used off Amazon. If you've got a decent phone this is a nice cheap route to go with tons of versatility.
I faintly remember the flip being essentially the exact same thing with a different form factor? That looks quite interesting to me with its protected screen clamshell design and all.
I might get that, partially to also use it as a Moonlight receiver once my age old Steam Link dies.
Have you by chance used it as a streaming receiver before? As in, wire it up to a TV and run Moonlight on it with a bluetooth controller? Curious about whether it gets too hot over time or so.
As someone with a Steam Link that I'm a fan of, I'd caution against that as a recommended route unless you can plug it directly into Ethernet. I've had a slightly disappointing experience with mine on wifi (usually in the form of stuttering and noticable quality drops). It would have been great to see a v2 with better network hardware built in. I haven't looked into better replacements since my steamlink still does the job well enough (and the Moonlight app is pretty decent), but I feel like there's probably a better solution out there for streaming to a TV.
I have a retroid 3, PSP, and Vita.
All 3 are good options, but the RP3 is probably the best once you get through the initial setup.
I really enjoy the ability to use it as a small android tablet as well as a dedicated gaming device. Now when I fly I just throw some movies on the RP3 SD card and only carry one "fun" device with me.
I got my rather non-techie partner a 3+ and she loves it. She uses it almost exclusively to play Super Mario 2, so it was a questionable investment of funds, but she is happy with it for that purpose.
If you can find one inexpensively, the PSP is still a fantastic console, and dead simple to hack (you'll want to). Then you have a (IMHO) comfortable device that is solid, that will run homebrew, and the backups of the games you'll definitely buy with it, PS1 titles, Some N64, SNES, NES, GBA, GBC, Genesis, Master System, and so on.
There are MicroSD to Memory Stick Pro Duo converters out there, which you'll probably want, because Memory Stick Pro Duo cards are pricey.
It's still a very neat console, and if you find one in a Garage Sale / Flea Market / Car Boot Sale, I recommend snatching it up.
The PSP option is what I went with a few years ago. Though as things go life got busy and I haven't touched it after a few playthroughs of some Spyro games.
I'm not sure if OP is interested in that option or is technical enough to find/download/save games onto the system though.
You'll have a lot of options if you're willing to ignore N64 emulation, which is infamously messy and not nearly as easy to deliver as others. And of course GC emulation as well.
NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA... these are easy to pull off for the most part. DS less so.
If DS play is important to you... I recommend getting a Nintendo 3DS or 3DS LL from Japan via eBay. These can be had for under 120 USD. With a little time and a micro SD you can hack these systems to get them running custom firmware, which even if you don't want to pirate games is super useful bc it will allow you to change the system language + play games from any region. For a little bit more (150 USD maybe) you could get a New 3DS LL with a little more juice that can do better with SNES emulation. This is perfect for DS games because it doesn't even emulate, it runs them natively, and you can use the natural 2 screen design and stylus to play them as intended. But that'll also give you access to 3DS games as well. NES, GB, GBC and GBA games can be emulated or injected to play including Virtual Console releases. So can SNES games but again that requires a New 3DS system for VC releases, there's a port of Snes9X for old 3DS systems as well.
Finding a used retroid pocket or anbernic console would probably be your best bet.
Alternatively , if you're able to save for a new retroid pocket that be ideal. I recall there being a $10 coupon code as well at one point, not sure if it's still around. Would be close to $120 I think.
https://www.goretroid.com/
Gore-Troid sounds terrifying. I'm guessing nobody thought about that url much haha.
Reminds me of https://www.penisland.net/
A hacked PS Vita is what you're looking for! It can play everything you want apart from DS, and has its own little library of games too. Costs about £100, but it might be more or less depending on where you live.
Vita is great! On the other hand N3DS can do DS and has great library of it's own. It doesn't play PSP games but can do some PSX ones.
So... it's best to get just both. And maybe DSi too because resolution scaling on 3DS is miserable.
Good idea! I have both myself, but at the moment, my Vita is doing all the heavy lifting and the 3DS is relegated to being a DS emulator haha
I got the N3ds and roll my own VC injections. However it only really works great for emulating up to SNES, but does natively run DS/DSi and GBA titles with Twilight Menu++, which is awesome.
I switched everything to Steam RetroArch for cloud saving and to use it on my Steam Deck, but definitely think the N3DS is a great option.
Not to hijack the current recommendation thread, but in a similar vein, I've always wondered why a dedicated portable console is preferable to a last-gen Android device? The retroid pocket uses a substantially weaker chipset than the last-gen snapdragon and exynos chipsets, and it uses a custom Android OS that may or may not be maintained long-term. Not to mention you can pick up an android phone with a good amount of internal storage and, depending on the device, be able to keep it fairly updated through an aftermarket OS like LineageOS.
It would seem to me that you can pick up something like a refurb Google Pixel 6 for $160, flash it with LineageOS, and install RetroArch without ever adding google play services or turning the device into an actual phone.
Can someone whose considered the retro console market before explain why that isn't the better route than buying an underpowered dedicated device? I understand that some people may want to avoid the hassle of flashing a custom OS, but apart from that, what am I missing?
Flashing a custom OS onto these devices is preferable more often than not (e.g. Miyoo Mini → OnionOS), so I wouldn't even necessarily say it's to do with avoiding hassle. As a frequenter of /r/SBCGaming, it is somewhat of an obsession for many. Aesthetics, form factor, onboard controls, aspect ratio (e.g. 4:3), price, and pocketability are all key factors. Most would not find attaching a backbone controller to their phone an equivalent experience.
Besides that, you're not missing anything. You're correct that there are phones with better chipsets available, and they are likely to always outpace these devices, but for those invested in the space it is about those aspects rather than just a peformance benchmark between them and more modern Android phones. Most know they could pickup a more powerful phone instead of one of these dedicated handhelds.
Much of the dedicated portable space use some version of Linux but that aside, I would say the main advance of these devices is that they have actual physical buttons instead of purely touch screen experience you would get with an Android phone.
You can get something like a Razer Kishi or similar, which adds a controller to the sides of the phone.
Sure but I wouldn't really find it an equivalent experience. It's considerably more clunky and less integrated.
So mileage may vary, but I have a Miyoo Mini i'm pretty happy with.
It is NOT as powerful as most of the other stuff being discussed, but it's also much cheaper. I will noted that it's form factor means some games are harder to play, especially if you're someone who has trouble with controllers (i've dealt with it, but games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater can be a challenge).
There's also the miyoo mini plus which doesn't fit my needs (small is important to me), but is a little more expensive, a little larger, and I believe a little bit more powerful.
Miyoo Mini is a great device but the unfortunate thing is that it's been discontinued and the Miyoo Mini Plus is still somewhat difficult to buy. The closest device to this is now probably the Anbernic RG Nano
Probably a PS vita or an Android phone paired with a joystick
Check out https://retrogamecorps.com/. In my opinion, a hacked 3DS is the best for DS emulation. That being said, the best over all is either a hacked ps vita or a hacked psp. You can get either of these on eBay for around your price point.
The Chinese retro hand helds seem cool, but often lack good build quality, including some of the more popular ones like the miyoo mini.
Problem with the 3DS these days is finding one, especially the New models. I was looking earlier this week but I didn't realize they were out of production for so long. They're going for a premium if you don't catch a random used listing.
Maybe you’d have more luck getting a 2DS?
Even that's entirely sold out in most places, even used consoles. The regular, non-New, 3DS seems the easiest to get at the moment.
I'd say check out a retroid pocket 2+, but you'll have to utilize places like ebay to get one.
I have one from when they were current, and with a budget of 120 bucks you could probably grab one plus a sizeable SD card. It can run pretty much anything until you get to PS2/GameCube - that's the upper limit, where you can play some games but will need to fiddle a lot, and a lot simply won't be playable.
I've enjoyed the hell out of it because it actually fits in a pocket and the square aspect ratio is perfect for a lot of older games. You can also stretch stuff like psp titles if you need to. When I got mine, I put together archives of all the games I was even remotely interested in and loaded them up, a 256gb SD is probably enough to hold everything you could ever want, 512 is absolutely certain.
I even ran Morrowind on it with some mods thanks to folks working on the android app. And the little machine is just good enough that I could achieve a step up from what the original looked like (as in, groundcover, slightly up-res'd textures, etc).
The rp3 has the same soc and a little more ram iirc, so if you can't get a 2+ you could grab a 3 and have basically the same (if not a slightly better) experience with it. Can't recommend enough, it's a great little system.
Maybe I’m behind the times but I still feel like a hacked PSP/Vita reigns supreme for the cost. Hard to beat the build quality Sony put into them but obviously hacking and putting in your own software is more DIY than some of these out of the box systems they have now. Build quality is important to me but a lot of the cheaper Chinese emulator handhelds out there just never seem all that great. Shit even the expensive ones have mushy buttons, blown out mono speakers, or flickering screens sometimes.
There’s some better devices but they can get super pricey.
If you can find one in the price range (they've been getting a little bit costly lately, but not ridiculous if you aren't going for some rare limited edition version) a hacked "New" 3DS or 2DS is a good choice. It can about play everything up to simpler PS1 games and they're pretty simple to homebrew. Also the best way to play NDS games since you get the dual screens. I also find the non-XL ones have a really nice form factor.
How easy is it to hack a 3DS or 2DS? If I get one that was not hacked, is it guaranteed that I can do it myself?
It's pretty easy. https://3ds.hacks.guide/ has all the information you'll need.
You can hack any of them because there are some exploits that simply aren't patchable but how easy it will be depends on firmware, region, and model. Ideally, you want one that has not been updated to the latest firmware, which is 11.17.0-50, because it introduced a patch for the simplest and most popular method (months after they shut down the 3DS' online shop, may I add. Thanks for being incredibly pro-consumer, Nintendo). Any European or Japanese New-model system can be easily software hacked even on the latest firmware, though. It's a perfectly viable option since the hacks remove all region locks, and the Japanese ones are often cheaper to get anyway.