Retro gaming handhelds

[blueST]

Has anyone any experience with these cheap retro gaming from the likes of Ambernic and Miyoo? Do they work well, or just a load of hassle? I’m thinking of putting one on my Xmas list and then to use when I’m away on business.

[essayer]

Yeah they’re pretty fun for the money. I had one with Megadrive, Neo Geo, SNES etc. Came with more games than you could probably play in a lifetime! Broke after a year (USB port came off)

This one I think
https://amzn.eu/d/gfZMfEX

We also have this one: NES only, mix of known and unknown games, not quite as fun but a bit more robust
https://amzn.eu/d/akTirSL

Edited by essayer on Sunday 12th November 21:10

[Mercury00]

The Anbernic ones are fantastic. I have the RG350, and it feels just as well built as my Switch. Just drop your files onto the SD card in the right folder, that's it basically.

[ATG]

My kid spent something nuts like £12 on amazon for a little "sort of Gameboy". It works amazingly well, albeit with the build quality you'd expect for 12 quid. It came with a second controller for 2 player games and it can be plugged into a TV via some phono sockets (composite video maybe?). And all of that stuff just works. It claims to have 400 pre-installed games. amongst them are very high fidelity ports of arcade classics like Galaxians, Pacman and Defender, plus various Mario games. God knows what the licensing is or isn't on that stuff, but it's clearly all direct ports of the original software. The quality of the original Mario games is an eye opener. I was never much of a fan of them as a kid back in the 1980s, but looking at them now, the attention to detail in the animation and the game play achieved are really impressive. An awful lot of my kid's limited screen-time quota gets spent playing Mario.

[blueST]

I’m leaning towards one of these. I think the 64g and 128g versions come with lots or even more lots of games pre-loaded respectively. Sounds like it’s worth a punt for a bit of nostalgia.

https://anbernic.com/en-gb/products/rg35xx?variant...

[dundarach]

blueST said:

I’m leaning towards one of these. I think the 64g and 128g versions come with lots or even more lots of games pre-loaded respectively. Sounds like it’s worth a punt for a bit of nostalgia.

https://anbernic.com/en-gb/products/rg35xx?variant...

It's great, plays up to PS1 perfectly and I've stuck quite a few other systems on it:





Reddit is a useful resource: https://www.reddit.com/r/RG35XX/

And I use the custom GarlicOS which most believe is the best one: https://retrogamecorps.com/2023/01/03/anbernic-rg3...

[Berger 3rd]

To save starting another thread, my OH expressed an interest in wanting to play Crash Bandicoot from the PS1 again the other day, so I figured one of those retro games sticks as a stocking filler would be the best bet, but I don’t want handheld I want one you plug into a TV, ideally with something resembling PS1 type controllers.

Does anyone know of a not too expensive one (as she’ll probably play it for two minutes and get bored of the novelty) that specifically has CB from the PS1 already on it? And if not, one that would be easy enough for my tiny brain to download onto one?

Edited by Berger 3rd on Monday 13th November 09:40

[blueST]

dundarach said:

blueST said:

I’m leaning towards one of these. I think the 64g and 128g versions come with lots or even more lots of games pre-loaded respectively. Sounds like it’s worth a punt for a bit of nostalgia.

https://anbernic.com/en-gb/products/rg35xx?variant...

It's great, plays up to PS1 perfectly and I've stuck quite a few other systems on it:





Reddit is a useful resource: https://www.reddit.com/r/RG35XX/

And I use the custom GarlicOS which most believe is the best one: https://retrogamecorps.com/2023/01/03/anbernic-rg3...

The Ambernic site says it comes with Garlic OS, but everything else I've read says I'd need to upgrade. A bit confusing.

Any thoughts on the best place to buy? Direct from Ambernic, Aliexpress or somewhere else? There's quite a big mark-up buying from Amazon UK or other UK sellers even accounting for the possibility og getting stung for taxes, but maybe worth it for the customer service if something goes wrong.

[dundarach]

blueST said:

dundarach said:

blueST said:

I’m leaning towards one of these. I think the 64g and 128g versions come with lots or even more lots of games pre-loaded respectively. Sounds like it’s worth a punt for a bit of nostalgia.

https://anbernic.com/en-gb/products/rg35xx?variant...

It's great, plays up to PS1 perfectly and I've stuck quite a few other systems on it:





Reddit is a useful resource: https://www.reddit.com/r/RG35XX/

And I use the custom GarlicOS which most believe is the best one: https://retrogamecorps.com/2023/01/03/anbernic-rg3...

The Ambernic site says it comes with Garlic OS, but everything else I've read says I'd need to upgrade. A bit confusing.

Any thoughts on the best place to buy? Direct from Ambernic, Aliexpress or somewhere else? There's quite a big mark-up buying from Amazon UK or other UK sellers even accounting for the possibility og getting stung for taxes, but maybe worth it for the customer service if something goes wrong.

The shame - I paid over the odds and bought from Amazon!!

It was something like £80 and was here the next day, but I understand if you'd rather buy elsewhere.

Newer ones come with dual Garlic, I bought another card and flashed it with clean Garlic, for another fiver do that.

On archive.org is a set of games called tinybestsetgo, or just grab full sets from the same site.

[darth_pies]

I bought the Anbernic RG35XX last week as a birthday gift for my 12 year old son.

65 quid from Amazon plus 15 quid for a good quality 128gb MicroSD.

Spent a few hours upgrading it to latest Garlic OS and replacing the games that came with it.

Nothing too technical in terms of setup - just downloading files and burning images to the cards with free software. Tons of guides available on YT. Worked fine out of the box and then even better once the new cards/OS/Roms were in.

Plays PS1, Gameboy, SuperNES, Mega Drive etc etc flawlessly. Blew his mind when he fired it up to find 2k games ready to go, and he absolutely loves it (plus I get to indulge in retro gaming in order to "educate" the lad about the best of the 80s/90s!)

A few Arcade/MAME games don't quite run right (mainly audio glitching) but confident I can fix those with some fiddling in Retroarch. Plus I need to see about getting ScummVM on there....

But based on a week's experience, can recommend!

[Steven_RW]

Berger 3rd said:

To save starting another thread, my OH expressed an interest in wanting to play Crash Bandicoot from the PS1 again the other day, so I figured one of those retro games sticks as a stocking filler would be the best bet, but I don’t want handheld I want one you plug into a TV, ideally with something resembling PS1 type controllers.

Does anyone know of a not too expensive one (as she’ll probably play it for two minutes and get bored of the novelty) that specifically has CB from the PS1 already on it? And if not, one that would be easy enough for my tiny brain to download onto one?

Edited by Berger 3rd on Monday 13th November 09:40

Could buy a second hand PS3 £40 and download PS1 crash bandicoot from the PlayStation store. The PS3 emulates/runs PS1 games. I have crash bandicoot on mine. The PS3 controller is close enough to a ps1. That's the best option I can suggest immediately.

[The Count]

blueST said:

Has anyone any experience with these cheap retro gaming from the likes of Ambernic and Miyoo? Do they work well, or just a load of hassle? I’m thinking of putting one on my Xmas list and then to use when I’m away on business.

I'm in the the same boat as you, but its a bit of a minefield out there. You pop Anbernic into Amazon and all these different variances come up.
It's a weakness of mine; I haven't really touched anything post Amiga, but had a misspent youth in the 80's arcades...Golden Axe, Double Dragon etc and have spent many an hour imagining going up to Leeds to this place, but in the meantime would love a cheap retro console.

Is a 3.5inch screen big enough? Am i overthinking this for 40/50 quid?

[blueST]

I live near Arcade Club in Bury, it’s great! One of the reasons I started looking at these. If you can go, we’ll worth it.

I’ve decided to definitely get an RG35XX. There’s only one version, lots of sellers, but it’s all the same item as far as I can see. The only difference is the colour and whether or not you get the extra SD card with more games. I’m not going for the extra card as apparently the quality of the supplied cards is crap. I’ll just start again, new cards, download the Garlic OS and the games using the info provided by poster above. There tonnes of help on YouTube and the web as well.

[The Count]

blueST said:

I live near Arcade Club in Bury, it’s great! One of the reasons I started looking at these. If you can go, we’ll worth it.

Ahhh, i'm very jealous. Can i ask, as you pay a fixed fee to enter (i think its £17) and the games are then free, as it were. Do you have a time limit on each one?

blueSTI said:

I've decided to definitely get an RG35XX. There’s only one version, lots of sellers, but it’s all the same item as far as I can see. The only difference is the colour and whether or not you get the extra SD card with more games. I’m not going for the extra card as apparently the quality of the supplied cards is crap. I’ll just start again, new cards, download the Garlic OS and the games using the info provided by poster above. There tonnes of help on YouTube and the web as well.

Thanks for the advice, im going to give it a go with the RG35XX

[blueST]

The Count said:

blueST said:

I live near Arcade Club in Bury, it’s great! One of the reasons I started looking at these. If you can go, we’ll worth it.

Ahhh, i'm very jealous. Can i ask, as you pay a fixed fee to enter (i think its £17) and the games are then free, as it were. Do you have a time limit on each

Once you're in you can spend as much time as you want on anything you want. If you go in school holidays it's likely to be packed and you might have to wait to get on the more popular ones. Having said that, the kids aren't that bothered for really old school stuff that I like. During the week in term time it's likely to be pretty quiet. The food and drink prices are reasonable too.

Edited by blueST on Wednesday 15th November 11:56

[Berger 3rd]

Steven_RW said:

Berger 3rd said:

To save starting another thread, my OH expressed an interest in wanting to play Crash Bandicoot from the PS1 again the other day, so I figured one of those retro games sticks as a stocking filler would be the best bet, but I don’t want handheld I want one you plug into a TV, ideally with something resembling PS1 type controllers.

Does anyone know of a not too expensive one (as she’ll probably play it for two minutes and get bored of the novelty) that specifically has CB from the PS1 already on it? And if not, one that would be easy enough for my tiny brain to download onto one?

Edited by Berger 3rd on Monday 13th November 09:40

Could buy a second hand PS3 £40 and download PS1 crash bandicoot from the PlayStation store. The PS3 emulates/runs PS1 games. I have crash bandicoot on mine. The PS3 controller is close enough to a ps1. That's the best option I can suggest immediately.

I appreciate the suggestion, thank you, I will have a look into that.

[RB Will]

Berger 3rd said:

Steven_RW said:

Berger 3rd said:

To save starting another thread, my OH expressed an interest in wanting to play Crash Bandicoot from the PS1 again the other day, so I figured one of those retro games sticks as a stocking filler would be the best bet, but I don’t want handheld I want one you plug into a TV, ideally with something resembling PS1 type controllers.

Does anyone know of a not too expensive one (as she’ll probably play it for two minutes and get bored of the novelty) that specifically has CB from the PS1 already on it? And if not, one that would be easy enough for my tiny brain to download onto one?

Edited by Berger 3rd on Monday 13th November 09:40

Could buy a second hand PS3 £40 and download PS1 crash bandicoot from the PlayStation store. The PS3 emulates/runs PS1 games. I have crash bandicoot on mine. The PS3 controller is close enough to a ps1. That's the best option I can suggest immediately.

I appreciate the suggestion, thank you, I will have a look into that.

Dunno if you already have access to a recent PS / Xbox / PC but you can get a remastered Crash which is the original game tarted up a bit with some additional levels and Crash 2 and 3 too. Kept me happy for a while.

[Super Josh]

I bought one of the Anbernic RG35XX consoles and have been really pleased with it

Installed Garlic OS and a shed load of games. The only problem seems to be it doesn't appear to charge, I've connected a laptop charger to the USB-C port and even after a whole afternoon charging the on-screen battery indicator is still showing red. Does an LED illuminate to indicate charging?

Cheers,

Josh

[blueST]

I have read that they can be fussy about the charger. A basic USB A to C cable from a basic plug in wall block seems to be the recommendation.

Just seen the RG35XX Plus was released yesterday. For £10ish more seems like a nice upgrade, although there are no reviews yet. Think I’ll be ordering next week.

[rider73]

Don't these come with games installed?