@@DVDfeverGames Many reviewers are overly positive since critical ones are less likely to get products from that company for review. I wish it wasn't like that but happens more often than you'd think.
Jesus is being a little nitpicky about the display and a couple other things but some reasonable complaints here. I guess at the price range there are probably better options. Still came off a little mean though.
Wanted to say that, just scrolled down to be sure somebody didn't said it before me. We KNOW it's the same NOAC that every clones have been using since the 90s, don't try to tell us it's to "keep cost down", you were just lazy and cheap. Those chips have been around for so long, they're probably paying like 10 cents for each, you can literally find 5$ handhelds on AliExpress with the same chip, selling those for 80$ is a disgrace, they could have used emulation for the same price.
I think for 80 dollars it’s still a cool device, despite the negative things he mentioned. The only thing my OCD wouldn’t be able to cope with is when part of the picture is not visible (what he showed with text/numbers falling off).
LOL, I wonder if there is more to the story here. It almost seems like something that was tooled out and ready to produce cheaply in like 2003-2004ish, but the company folded, and then MyArcade bought the tooling and parts many years later and ran with it. It's simply bizarre for a modern device, even a dirt cheap one.
I love the honesty of your reviews. You're a very fair guy with your criticism, and I'm happy you don't use any theatrics or click bait with it either. I mean, I've been subbed for years now, but it's still refreshing to see haha.
Speaking as someone who works for a small company, I totally sympathize with these guys. They’re probably doing the best they can with the resources they have. Good review though!
I genuinely feel like there are a lot of hardware options popping up that don't really offer all that much in comparison to what we already have. It's a decent price and it's great that retro gaming is getting this kind of support but it's started to feel a bit saturated.
@@robertjames9547 @games made one a bunch of years ago, and they have a bunch in HK where I live that are mega drive ones. The Pandora boxes heavily out number any retro machine.
16:9 screens are common and widely available. 4:3 screens are no longer common and would have to be custom ordered, so they'd likely be quite a bit more expensive.
While I get why most use widescreen displays, it would be nice if more of them would hide most of that behind a bezel or something. It may just be me, but when playing a 4:3 game on a 16:9 display the large amount of screen real estate that goes unused kind of bugs me to look at. I don't even mind leaving some more screen exposed than is needed to display the game, so that way there's room to make adjustment to settings and whatnot, but it would be nice if there were a little bit of it covered up.
7:50 In their defense, nobody uses handhelds on the bus. Well, not that thing anyway. I think the size alone says "home use and novelty". Handhelds are always advertised ad being used on the bus, in a waiting room, at the park with your friends, etc. The truth is that the OVERWHELMING use of all handhelds is in the home while laying on a bed/couch or taking a dump. I'd literally put it at about 95%. Nobody in their right mind sees that giant decide and thinks "I'll take this with me to the park! Yeah, I'll carry a bunch of old carts with me and play Mario Bros 3 while I wait for the bus!" Nobody haha All that said, I agree that many of those choices just don't make sense.
Thanks for the new uploads recently. They've been great reviews on products and your new place. I'm glad you were able to move and are happy at your new place.
"Needs some sort of lever or button to release the cartridge" What's the "release" button right next to the cartridge slot? That looks like maybe if you push that it will "release" the cartridge from being locked? Or is that a release for something else? Edit: I went back and looked the release is to open the cleaning kit. My bad :) I'll leave my comment so I look dumb.
This would be good for taking to flea markets and seeing if games worked before you buy them. Its almost like it came straight out of the 80s, with all the design problems. They built it like it was 1989.
@@grabbity 9bits makes the claim that "can't expect too much from this, it doesn't have the OG hardware" Which is a nonsense claim. It heavily implies that he believes OG hardware is required to accurately render NES games. If this were true, he'd have to either have low expectations for the NES mini, or believe that it had NES OG hardware in it. I'm not making a serious claim that he believes that. I'm pointing out the logicial conclusion of his statements and showing how nonsensical it is.
@@grabbity Why is it required for cartridge based systems? what about putting a cartridge reader on an emulator makes in inferior to an emulator without a cartridge reader? You telling me if I hook up one of those rom dump things to my computer and run the game directly off the cartridge it's gonna make nestopia suck?
Back in the '90s this might have done well, but as much as I think Jesus was a tad too harsh, he is right. They should have went with better graphics and put the same d-pad that's on the controller in the console.
Something like this in the 90s would have cost a fortune though. I could see if it was just a console that had two slots for nes famicom and snes . Which may have existed by the 90s cause by ps1 n64 days. Plug and play nes systems existed
PSP with CFW can help to any one who pre ordered this pice of plastic.Hope one day this console will grow up in price on e-bay like ouya ) Very bad experement in 2020.
Can you hook a Famicom Disk System ram adapter in the Famicom cartridge slot? I know it would be kind of redundant because you would have to carry a huge disk drive everywhere you go but I still think the idea would be kind of amusing.
I have no skin in the game here but man, it seems like you guys were looking for every reason possible to hate this console. It’s $80.00! What do you expect for that price point?
Probably his preference of playing. I partake in fighting games and any time i've had to use a game pad I do "claw" style. Friends who were unfamiliar looked at me oddly until i explained why i do it.
But isn't the retro champ just playing the games from the cartridges as the game would look on a normal TV through an original nes? I don't really see the issue in that. They still play the same.. Isn't that a truer representation of the games?
I LOVE the chris Cornell pic in your intro, it was the one they made for the tribute tour, was near tears at that when I realized it was the last time you will ever see soundgarden play on stage
Thank you so much for reviewing this! I've been waiting a long time for a review of the Retro Champ. It's really a shame that it didn't turn out better. The NES is my favorite retro console.
7:24-8:24 Okay, watching this segment made me want to puke, not as a gamer, but as somebody who grew up with a father who studied and made engineering his entire life's career. Like, who the---Who would design ANYTHING like that!? Like, I mean, my god!
I think the real purpose of that design is to make sure you can't have two carts plugged in at the same time(signal conflicts and whatnot). That peice of plastic they included was just somone's silly idea and completely unneccessary.
When you did the side by side comparison with the NES Classic, I noticed that this actually looks a bit more like how the original NES looked on my TVs back in the day, so I got a bit of nostalgia from that, for what it's worth. My top-loader is in the cabinet though while my Classic is hooked up to the TV, so yeah...
I can see this as more of a tool for collectors to take along to conventions, flea markets or even resale game stores so that one would have a way to immediately test any games out. Its got the cleaning kit compartment to do some on the spot cleaning, and the screen quality wouldn't matter too much if you just plug the game in to see if it works. Idk if an $80 price point would be worth it just for that purpose, but yeah if the screen output, sound and controls were better then i would totally spend $100-$110 to play physical media on the go. Easier than setting up my consoles every time i want to play NES.
First impressions, thing looks way too bulky for any real portability . There's a list of reasons why I wouldn't purchase this but number one would that I'd be scared to damage any of my more collectable games. Great video and thanks for reviewing this giant hunk of plastic but it's a definite no for me haha.
Even if they aren't collectible, you still wouldn't want them damaged. This is like having a CD-Rom drive that slightly scratches your disks every time you press the eject button.
@@txcforever lol. not that bad and nowhere near that relatable. CDs are way too fucking easy to fuck up. My Double Dragon 2, ninja turtles, all the Mega Man cartridges plus some more, have all lasted since I got them as a kid. Falls, stepped on. Having to wedge two in the nes because it doesn't seat right and that's the only way I could get it to read properly. Many light frisbee throws to the game box..since I was a kid to recently...at age 35. As long as you aren't literally trying to break it, your cartridge will be fine from the snug little spot it's sliding in and out of for this thing.
I think I got it. They were marketing for the ACTUAL 90s kids. We didn't care back then. Low res? We didn't know. It was a game. press the buttons and make the ninja kick or the man jump. Cartridge stuck? Shit, my nes was in a way where I had to purposely wedge it in with another cartridge just so it could work properly. My sega, that I still use...as well as my n64..won't allow me to seat the cartridge all the way in. Have it barely touching ..so when my kids jump around too much in the area..I'm ready for the game to just cut off. Seems like they were making DAMN sure that the cartridge wouldn't just flop out. Get knocked loose or what not. And I can appreciate that. No matter how long you're on the bus...which if it's more than 3hrs, this thing won't last anyhow...So in those couple of hours..are you really just CONSTANTLY switching games? I agree that newer gamers would rather not deal with this. And I also would rather not..but eh. It's not really a big deal.
I love this channel. Metal, video games, and a cool group of friends hanging out. I'm in my mid 30`s and in my area people in my age group laugh at my collecting games. So it's nice to see there are others still having fun.
6:17 The way his friend uses the lower part of his thumb on the D-pad rather than the tip of his thumb is so unusual! Seems like it would be a lot less tactile.
Yeah, just about any 8- or 16-bit game first designed for home consoles (ie, not PC ports) has graphics that were designed specifically for "soft" CRT displays. The screen on this thing is definitely not great, but I'd be perfectly OK with something along those lines because it feels more authentic to me. Honestly, I sometimes have a hard time playing super-crisp/upscaled retro games, particularly Genesis, because they just look wrong in a "pixel perfect" presentation.
If you have the extra cash you should look at some pvm monitors. The 9 inch ones are only round $100usd if you just want a little tv that looks awesome. Or just get a 5 dollar crt tv off of Craigslist haha
This is intriguing, most of the negatives I could live with but the d pad could be a deal breaker. Though for $80 might give it a shot. Looking forward to a sega version of this for sure.
Sounds like it has a few flaws but the graphics and sound thing aren't really a issue for me so for the price I'll probably pick one up to replace my retron
There is upscaling going on, it’s just not optimized for 240p gaming. Also, the composite video is because the original NES PPU is known for outputting composite-only. While there is a digital RGB signal, it is hard to convert it back to analog without heavy modding.
😂 Duuuude, I feel ya. I felt that way for years and sometimes still do even now. The handful of people in my circle are all into games but we like different stuff besides a few commom games, and so no one will talk about the same stuff for more than a few moments. It's sad.
Bro, check out Geometry Wars for Wii. It’s an arcade shooter. But it’s insanely cool, and one of the biggest hidden gems I’ve come across. Great video btw! I just needed to tell you about this game.
Geometry Wars is a great game. But I wouldn't really call it a hidden gem. It's been ported to every machine under the sun, had several sequels, and sold millions of copies. Everybody I know that likes shooters has played GW on one machine or another.
Great Video MJR! Man... I totally laughed out loud when reggie went to use the tool to remove the game! 😂😂😂😂😂 I know you weren't trying to be funny but your reactions in this video was hilarious!
To be fair, you can find a lot of good Android consoles and they're all better than a PSP, especially for SNES and N64 (most can even emulate PSP and DS now), but is it worth it to replace a PSP with one of those? Not really, it's still good enough for a lot of people (and I'm one of those people, except I now use a Vita, its screen is so much better than my PSP Go and the joysticks are really nice for PS1).
I bought a Vita for a handheld emulation device and it was pretty terrible for various reasons, the emulators being bad and very limited and uncustomizable and not working correctly, apps just stopping working and needing to be installed again, not enough buttons to emulate some consoles like the PS1 or N64, the terrible and expensive proprietary SD cards and chargers that are only going up in price because they're no longer being manufactured, the whole rigmarole of installing all the jailbreaking stuff in the first place because I had a very awkward OS number, and how you install everything depends on which OS update number you have. It literally took months to jailbreak it, while making at least a couple of posts a week to /r/vitahacking and nobody there could work out what was wrong with my Vita and why it wouldn't connect to my pc, even when I bought brand new cables for it. Then it just stopped working entirely. It turns on but none of the apps open anymore, not the emulators, not the basic apps like the Internet app or any games etc So I bought a GPD XD+, and it's miles better. I was put off at first because of the price and that's why I got the Vita first but yeah. It's basically just an android tablet with physical buttons, and closes shut like a DS. Android emulation is by far my favourite, it's even better and simpler than doing it on a PC and the emulators are incredibly customizable with stuff like button configurations and adding a save state and load state button and altering the speed of the fast forward etc which the Vita emulators lacked, and I'd emulated a lot on my android tablet so I knew going in I'd be able to do anything I wanted on it, it can run any app on the Play store. And it has HDMI output which is one of my favourite things about it. So now it's a perfect complement to my switch. I can play games on the go and then plug them into my TV with both devices, and the GPD thing covers all the old games that haven't been re-released to the Switch yet or probably never will for various reasons. I buy games when they're available, like I have all the mega man collections, but for the stuff that isn't on the switch I can just emulate them on this instead. And GBA games look incredible on a big modern TV, and the GPD thing is cheaper than the GBA consolizer except it can also do all the other consoles on top of that too. I've been playing Warioland 4 on my big TV which is amazing because I always thought that game looked beautiful and so it's even better blown up. And I'm playing metroid zero mission for the first time, after having just beaten super metroid on my Switch for the first time, so there's some continuity there. And also GB and GBC and game gear games look so cool on a big screen, I've never had the chance to do that before. And I have a mega drive mini and SNES mini but I tend to use this thing instead now, plus of course playing PS1 games on the big TV is better than the PlayStation classic, and I can play n64 games on a TV for the first time (never played an actual n64 console before). Plus of course you can use standard micro sd cards, and standard charger cables cos it has micro USB. And the thing is faster than my shitty Samsung J4+ phone so I tend to use it for say browsing the Internet, buying stuff on amazon, quickly watching TH-cam videos etc because my phone is so damn laggy. It's expensive but it's one of the best purchases I've made in a while.
From what I can see, that plastic "ejector tool" looks like one of their Famicom/NES adapters but without the actual converter circuit board. It's a cool product, allowing you to insert Famicom carts into a frontloader NES.
I just got mine and I have no complaints. The d-pad I started getting use to it where I got comfortable with it. I think there is a release button switch that makes it a little bit easier to pull carts out. Then noticed I pulled carts out easier when I lock device with my knees then pull cart out. The sound wasn’t off on mine at all. You can even use headphones. I also tried out a 150 in one was cool. Then tested out Transformers on Famicom. That Silver Surfer was hard. Maybe the hardest game on Nes. I think noticed some cars on Spy Hunter look a tad darker than I think they should be.
All moved in, and now we get a new intro and vids resume upload. NOICE! And the tower with Sega CD, Genesis, 32X, Japanese Sonic & Knuckles wit foreign Sonic 1 locked in was a gaming testament of epiclesian proportions!! Only thing to make it more epic would have been a Game genie though. :P EPIC!
BUt yah, no surprise of the thing being disappointing. Unless I can get a handheld to play any genesis and other cartridges at 1440p and connect to a Tv like a switch, I am not game.
Heh, visuals actually look an old CRT TV we would've played this on in the 90's. And what's up with the external controller having so many buttons for NES games? There's like five face buttons and four shoulder buttons. I guess for the future SNES device? But still too many.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you review something you ultimately didn’t care for. I’ll be honest, I kind of thought you cherry-picked things to review in order to stay positive.
I'm encouraged that they actually decided to attempt this, and the sub-$100 price point is the right idea, but they definitely need to go back to the drawing board for a second version. +Hire some time with the caliber of guys who work with RetroRGB, they're superb. +Improve the video output from the internal hardware to use better quality by whatever means necessary. +Improve the D pad along with the overall ergonomics. +Drop the Famicom slot and offer a $10 adapter instead. Use the bottom slot for Genesis instead :) +Improve the sound reproduction and speakers. +Add SD for cart to flash storage, this would make traveling with your library a thousand times easier, and safer than carrying valuable carts. +Have a multi-out port that gives Composite, Scart RGB, and S-Video, perhaps using the Genesis 2 mini port to make sourcing cables easier. +Other ideas? I mean it's cool that this company normally known for some cheap knockoff retro nostalgia junk at Walmart has decided to at least try more legit hardware capable of running actual carts, and I'd hate for this to be such a disaster that they simply don't try to improve it and give it a go with community feedback. If possible, give them some constructive feedback.
They should have had the NES carts insert flush with the bottom edge with FC carts protruding from the top since Famicom carts have so much variability in size and shape. Anything taller than the basic FC cartridge shape would cause issues with the kickstand.
The cleaning kit seems like a bad idea as well. Like, you're gonna have this device on your bag etc, so it'll be moving around a lot. I can't imagine having an actual little bottle filled with liquid at all times in there. It's just an accident waiting to happen.
I think the trouble you got with 4.3 ratio is that they add borders on both sides to get rid of glitchy scrolling in the corners. I know some emulators have that feature too
So it'll be good if we rip it apart and use it for a raspberry pi handheld housing? Actually it's so big I wonder how a lenovo m93p might fit in it lol.
I'm actually looking to pick up a handheld system to play nes/ snes cartridges so I can use it when I go to retro game conventions to playtest the ones I plan on buying. What would you recommend?
I suppose it’s a good device to take to retro gaming fair and shops to check games work before purchasing them (especially with the cartridge cleaning kit).
The only thing I don't like about the retro champ is that is freaking huge and that the NES cartridge is just sticking out and the screen is 16:9 which it makes it bigger -_-
This is a great video. Really never ceases to amaze me with how consistently entertaining and well done your vids are. You touch on all the right details so I get the perfect impression you and your buddies got from this uh...brick.
One thing I immediately noticed is the placement of the A and B buttons, both on the console and on the external controller, and I'm surprised that this wasn't brought up in the review nor in the comments. The angle that the A and B buttons are offset to makes it impossible to press both at the same time with the right thumb, and this is a problem in the Super Mario games when you need to hold B and the D-pad to run. Also, in SMB3 World 6-5, you need to hold onto a Koopa shell with B while repeatedly tapping A to fly to find the real exit, so unless you use your thumb at a very weird angle or lay the console flat and use two fingers, this button placement is actually a game breaker. Nintendo evidently understood this when making Super Mario All Stars, so when playing the NES Super Mario remakes, the SNES controller is mapped to make X/Y=NES B and A/B=NES A.
•Product provided by My Arcade for Review
•Gives a completely honest opinion, highlighting the negatives when prominent
…Yes.
This is what I like about this channel
Yeah good for him for being honest, hopefully they’ll take it to heart and v2 will address a lot of the concerns.
@@DVDfeverGames Many reviewers are overly positive since critical ones are less likely to get products from that company for review. I wish it wasn't like that but happens more often than you'd think.
Last time they get him to do anymore reviews, if they're still in business.
I don't think they're going to send him their new system that plays SNES & Genesis games.
I love how everyone else is kinda diplomatic, and Reggie is straight up having none of it!!! Keeping it real!!
Reggie’s “Are you SERIOUS?” face cracked me up! LOL
MetalJesusRocks I was just going to post that Reggies unsatisfied face was priceless.
Put a time stamp here, I need to touch it multiple times hahaha! Thanks for the vid.
You & Reggie should look at Madlittlepixel Review of this ....
7:45 For proper build up of the are you serious moment.
Wow this thing is a good concept but definitely trash reggie your face cracked me up lol
It’s a bit of a stretch to call this a “portable” device. I mean, yes, you can literally carry it... but would you?
Only in the early 90's. In my dope ass Jansport
@@ber-js5we lol
I mean, it could be the same size as the game and wouldn’t be small enough to people of today’s standards
unless you still wear cargo pants prolly not lol
That fact you can use it without the need to connect to a TV or outlet makes it portable.
I love Reggie's face when how insane the eject mechanism is.
Yeah- like dammit, really ) You need to use the force Luke ?
Always use the force....
“Hey, wanna try out another game?”
“Sure, just let me grab my TOOLBOX to get this cartridge out!”
Looks like a V-Tech Learning Handheld
Well, today I learned not to buy this thing.
Turrebo ahahaha
Looks more of a Leapster Explorer
So, Honda makes handhelds? Do you learn how to drive with them?
The captions for this made me laugh straight away...
"Hey guys, little Jesus here"
You just reminded me I forgot to order Closed Captions for this video! I'll do that right now
@@MetalJesusRocks I didn't read the captions, and on first listen i actually heard "little Jesus", lolol.
Hahaha
@@MetalJesusRocks dont be sad you can play this game on retron 5 and you enjoy
That’s is good remeber that there are folks out there Deaf and need captions
This feels like 90s prototype vaporware that finally made it to production
right?
Nintendo's feeble answer to the Nomad!
It's a start
Jesus is being a little nitpicky about the display and a couple other things but some reasonable complaints here. I guess at the price range there are probably better options. Still came off a little mean though.
"In order to keep the cost down"
Translation : We're using the same NOAC chip than everyone else, so we have no choice.
What's a noac chip?
@@TheJrockfreak nintendo on a chip chip
@@NotSoCheezyYT oh ok
The same chip than everyone
Wanted to say that, just scrolled down to be sure somebody didn't said it before me. We KNOW it's the same NOAC that every clones have been using since the 90s, don't try to tell us it's to "keep cost down", you were just lazy and cheap. Those chips have been around for so long, they're probably paying like 10 cents for each, you can literally find 5$ handhelds on AliExpress with the same chip, selling those for 80$ is a disgrace, they could have used emulation for the same price.
My Arcade: "We'll send Metal Jesus a review copy and get lots of views. Cool!"
(MJR reviews system)
My Arcade: "Oh no!"
They'll still gains sales, his criticism didn't really bothered me.
I think for 80 dollars it’s still a cool device, despite the negative things he mentioned.
The only thing my OCD wouldn’t be able to cope with is when part of the picture is not visible (what he showed with text/numbers falling off).
Him: this is the HDMI
Me: Oh that looks gr-
Him: it looks horrible!
Me: off with its head!!
I thought that as well but tbf I don't use that game in particular
Ocean Man lmao so true
@K4SET I think the Super Mario Bros comparison right after that was using the HDMI out. I could be wrong though.
I thought the HDMI boat version looked great as well...Who knows maybe if your in person to see the side by side comparisons would be better..
It's retro in that it seems like someone designed it 30 years ago. It's kind of cool in that regard.
LOL, I wonder if there is more to the story here. It almost seems like something that was tooled out and ready to produce cheaply in like 2003-2004ish, but the company folded, and then MyArcade bought the tooling and parts many years later and ran with it. It's simply bizarre for a modern device, even a dirt cheap one.
@@thorrollosson Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.
I love the honesty of your reviews. You're a very fair guy with your criticism, and I'm happy you don't use any theatrics or click bait with it either.
I mean, I've been subbed for years now, but it's still refreshing to see haha.
Same here!
Speaking as someone who works for a small company, I totally sympathize with these guys. They’re probably doing the best they can with the resources they have. Good review though!
10:49 Kinsey is like "Eh, I'm done."
I genuinely feel like there are a lot of hardware options popping up that don't really offer all that much in comparison to what we already have.
It's a decent price and it's great that retro gaming is getting this kind of support but it's started to feel a bit saturated.
Why hasn't anybody made a Sega Genesis portable yet a modern portable????
@@robertjames9547 You mean a Sega Nomad?
@@bubbythebear6891 no besides the Nomad I'm talking about a modern-day system!
@@bubbythebear6891 they keep making systems for Super Nintendo and Nintendo smh no love for the Sega Genesis portable
@@robertjames9547 @games made one a bunch of years ago, and they have a bunch in HK where I live that are mega drive ones. The Pandora boxes heavily out number any retro machine.
That cleaning kit was absolutely brilliant
Now on the other hand, everything else is just meh or down right disappointing
No, having a bottle of liquid inside an electrical device is not brilliant at all!
Why do so many of these retro devices use a widescreen display if every game it's intended to play is in 4:3
You have to custom order those, while 16:9 ones are a lot cheaper to buy off the shelf.
@@sloppynyuszi okay that makes sense.
16:9 screens are common and widely available. 4:3 screens are no longer common and would have to be custom ordered, so they'd likely be quite a bit more expensive.
While I get why most use widescreen displays, it would be nice if more of them would hide most of that behind a bezel or something. It may just be me, but when playing a 4:3 game on a 16:9 display the large amount of screen real estate that goes unused kind of bugs me to look at. I don't even mind leaving some more screen exposed than is needed to display the game, so that way there's room to make adjustment to settings and whatnot, but it would be nice if there were a little bit of it covered up.
@@Sin_Alder Totally agreed with you there. There's a reason I still own a CRT for my game room. Gotta love that native 4:3 screen.
7:50
In their defense, nobody uses handhelds on the bus. Well, not that thing anyway. I think the size alone says "home use and novelty". Handhelds are always advertised ad being used on the bus, in a waiting room, at the park with your friends, etc.
The truth is that the OVERWHELMING use of all handhelds is in the home while laying on a bed/couch or taking a dump. I'd literally put it at about 95%. Nobody in their right mind sees that giant decide and thinks "I'll take this with me to the park! Yeah, I'll carry a bunch of old carts with me and play Mario Bros 3 while I wait for the bus!"
Nobody haha
All that said, I agree that many of those choices just don't make sense.
I don't play my handhelds on the buses or trains here in Chicago because I would eventually get robbed...lol
Thanks for the new uploads recently. They've been great reviews on products and your new place. I'm glad you were able to move and are happy at your new place.
Oh my gosh that Ganon Ghost shirt at 4:08 is amazing
"Needs some sort of lever or button to release the cartridge" What's the "release" button right next to the cartridge slot? That looks like maybe if you push that it will "release" the cartridge from being locked? Or is that a release for something else?
Edit: I went back and looked the release is to open the cleaning kit. My bad :) I'll leave my comment so I look dumb.
Yep. That is for the Cleaning Kit. Although...one could argue if they put a release button for the kit, they might include one for the cartridge too!
I like your edit hahahah. Gotta have a sense of humor about stuff. Have a great day!
Did you try inserting the famicon cartridge in the plastic thing
That camera shot down Kinsey's shirt had me laughing :P
Yeah.. See... There is no shot "down Kinseys shirt"
@@ApolloVIIIYouAreGoForTLI k
@David McCormick I saw the camera going straight to her chest and I was like "wtf are you doing?!?" And then he showed it a second time.
“Cleavage Cam”... LoL
Y'all guys are fucking weird and sex deprived losers
0:56 awesome chris cornell picture
This would be good for taking to flea markets and seeing if games worked before you buy them. Its almost like it came straight out of the 80s, with all the design problems. They built it like it was 1989.
Well of course can't expect too much from this, it doesn't have the OG hardware, besides the cartridges. Its like an NES clone.
...do...do you think there's actual NES hardware in the NES mini?
@@Strawberry92fs why would you assume that? They said nothing of the sort.
@@grabbity 9bits makes the claim that "can't expect too much from this, it doesn't have the OG hardware" Which is a nonsense claim. It heavily implies that he believes OG hardware is required to accurately render NES games. If this were true, he'd have to either have low expectations for the NES mini, or believe that it had NES OG hardware in it. I'm not making a serious claim that he believes that. I'm pointing out the logicial conclusion of his statements and showing how nonsensical it is.
@@Strawberry92fs it is required for cartridge based systems. (outside of fpga) what's a clone system that's actually good, outside of analogue or AES?
@@grabbity Why is it required for cartridge based systems? what about putting a cartridge reader on an emulator makes in inferior to an emulator without a cartridge reader? You telling me if I hook up one of those rom dump things to my computer and run the game directly off the cartridge it's gonna make nestopia suck?
Seems like the best thing about it, is you can take it with you to buy second hand games to test their working
Meh.. there are better options but they come with a higher price tag.
That device to push out the famicom games is priceless!!! I just couldn't stop laughing. Who thought this was a good idea???? lol
Yeah better would be sold this shit separetely ....special edition like limited run for Reggie )
Back in the '90s this might have done well, but as much as I think Jesus was a tad too harsh, he is right. They should have went with better graphics and put the same d-pad that's on the controller in the console.
Something like this in the 90s would have cost a fortune though. I could see if it was just a console that had two slots for nes famicom and snes . Which may have existed by the 90s cause by ps1 n64 days. Plug and play nes systems existed
I love the old fuzzy graphics, nes that are too sharp don’t make me feel nostalgic.
@@dasboom7133 Me too.
Hes not even mentioning that those gamepads have NO center pivot, I got 2 for my wii u.
Yeah he was way too harsh IMO.
Loving Reggie rocking the patriotic hat. My man's looking fit too.
mrpotatohead161 Reggie is the man 🤘
Reggie was a marine (or is a marine, cos once a marine always a marine or however the saying goes)
6:44 Jesus: I'm just gonna get a close up on the Rack, err I mean Retro Champ now Kinsey (wink)!
It's like the first prototype and they went eh, that'll do and released it 😄👍
PSP with CFW can help to any one who pre ordered this pice of plastic.Hope one day this console will grow up in price on e-bay like ouya ) Very bad experement in 2020.
I tend to not expect much from these items.
In the 90's it would have eaten 6 or so AA every 5 hours like the Game Gear....lol
Can you hook a Famicom Disk System ram adapter in the Famicom cartridge slot? I know it would be kind of redundant because you would have to carry a huge disk drive everywhere you go but I still think the idea would be kind of amusing.
God damn that intro is good.
Like always.MJS intro still rock with any video compilation on it )
I have no skin in the game here but man, it seems like you guys were looking for every reason possible to hate this console. It’s $80.00! What do you expect for that price point?
6:13 - why is Reggie using the D-Pad so weirdly? Instead of using the pad of his thumb, he’s using the knuckle pit.
I have a friend who does the exact same thing, driving me nuts haha!
Probably his preference of playing. I partake in fighting games and any time i've had to use a game pad I do "claw" style. Friends who were unfamiliar looked at me oddly until i explained why i do it.
But isn't the retro champ just playing the games from the cartridges as the game would look on a normal TV through an original nes? I don't really see the issue in that. They still play the same.. Isn't that a truer representation of the games?
5:30
ROAD FIGHTER is the name!
thank you!
finally I got it
Play this game all my childhood.On chineese famiclone, but beat all levels like a pro and without stupied cleaning kit and cartidge slot pusher.
Looks very similar to Spy Hunter.
I LOVE the chris Cornell pic in your intro, it was the one they made for the tribute tour, was near tears at that when I realized it was the last time you will ever see soundgarden play on stage
That mural is on the front of Silver Platters in Seattle. Great record store!
I feel reluctant to even carry my switch sometimes because of it's size.
Couldn't agree more. That thing is way too big for a portable system. I just use a blutooth controller with my phone.
Thank you so much for reviewing this! I've been waiting a long time for a review of the Retro Champ. It's really a shame that it didn't turn out better. The NES is my favorite retro console.
Have you contact John Hancock on what is wrong with him blocking people for negative criticism?
0:56 I love that you have this little bit on the intro. Love forever.
The screen quality actually reminds of how the games used to look on the TV.
Im surprised that the sound on the Retro Champ is wrong because the sound emulation on My Arcade’s individual Arcade Player devices is very accurate.
7:24-8:24
Okay, watching this segment made me want to puke, not as a gamer, but as somebody who grew up with a father who studied and made engineering his entire life's career. Like, who the---Who would design ANYTHING like that!? Like, I mean, my god!
I think the real purpose of that design is to make sure you can't have two carts plugged in at the same time(signal conflicts and whatnot). That peice of plastic they included was just somone's silly idea and completely unneccessary.
When you did the side by side comparison with the NES Classic, I noticed that this actually looks a bit more like how the original NES looked on my TVs back in the day, so I got a bit of nostalgia from that, for what it's worth. My top-loader is in the cabinet though while my Classic is hooked up to the TV, so yeah...
Wow. Another portable NES🧐
I think I speak for most of us when I ask, “Where’s my portable N64?” 😭
I can see this as more of a tool for collectors to take along to conventions, flea markets or even resale game stores so that one would have a way to immediately test any games out. Its got the cleaning kit compartment to do some on the spot cleaning, and the screen quality wouldn't matter too much if you just plug the game in to see if it works. Idk if an $80 price point would be worth it just for that purpose, but yeah if the screen output, sound and controls were better then i would totally spend $100-$110 to play physical media on the go. Easier than setting up my consoles every time i want to play NES.
That is a good use for it. Great idea.
First impressions, thing looks way too bulky for any real portability .
There's a list of reasons why I wouldn't purchase this but number one would that I'd be scared to damage any of my more collectable games.
Great video and thanks for reviewing this giant hunk of plastic but it's a definite no for me haha.
Even if they aren't collectible, you still wouldn't want them damaged. This is like having a CD-Rom drive that slightly scratches your disks every time you press the eject button.
@@txcforever lol. not that bad and nowhere near that relatable.
CDs are way too fucking easy to fuck up.
My Double Dragon 2, ninja turtles, all the Mega Man cartridges plus some more, have all lasted since I got them as a kid. Falls, stepped on. Having to wedge two in the nes because it doesn't seat right and that's the only way I could get it to read properly.
Many light frisbee throws to the game box..since I was a kid to recently...at age 35.
As long as you aren't literally trying to break it, your cartridge will be fine from the snug little spot it's sliding in and out of for this thing.
I think I got it.
They were marketing for the ACTUAL 90s kids.
We didn't care back then.
Low res? We didn't know. It was a game. press the buttons and make the ninja kick or the man jump.
Cartridge stuck? Shit, my nes was in a way where I had to purposely wedge it in with another cartridge just so it could work properly. My sega, that I still use...as well as my n64..won't allow me to seat the cartridge all the way in. Have it barely touching ..so when my kids jump around too much in the area..I'm ready for the game to just cut off.
Seems like they were making DAMN sure that the cartridge wouldn't just flop out. Get knocked loose or what not. And I can appreciate that.
No matter how long you're on the bus...which if it's more than 3hrs, this thing won't last anyhow...So in those couple of hours..are you really just CONSTANTLY switching games?
I agree that newer gamers would rather not deal with this. And I also would rather not..but eh. It's not really a big deal.
The cleaning kit on the go idea is really cool, aside from that? Egh, so much missed on this thing.
bruv
What game are you playing at 4:43 some one pls reply
I love this channel. Metal, video games, and a cool group of friends hanging out. I'm in my mid 30`s and in my area people in my age group laugh at my collecting games. So it's nice to see there are others still having fun.
6:17 The way his friend uses the lower part of his thumb on the D-pad rather than the tip of his thumb is so unusual! Seems like it would be a lot less tactile.
When it comes to pure retro gaming, nothing beats like playing on a CRT television, because I've been looking for one for a while now.
Yeah, just about any 8- or 16-bit game first designed for home consoles (ie, not PC ports) has graphics that were designed specifically for "soft" CRT displays. The screen on this thing is definitely not great, but I'd be perfectly OK with something along those lines because it feels more authentic to me. Honestly, I sometimes have a hard time playing super-crisp/upscaled retro games, particularly Genesis, because they just look wrong in a "pixel perfect" presentation.
Shiro-Luna Looking for a CRT TV?
People literally give them away on Kijiji.
If you have the extra cash you should look at some pvm monitors. The 9 inch ones are only round $100usd if you just want a little tv that looks awesome. Or just get a 5 dollar crt tv off of Craigslist haha
This is intriguing, most of the negatives I could live with but the d pad could be a deal breaker. Though for $80 might give it a shot. Looking forward to a sega version of this for sure.
I agree, the d-pad is the only hing that bothers me.
"It can be hard to get it out."
- Metal Jesus, Feb 7, 2020
Sounds like it has a few flaws but the graphics and sound thing aren't really a issue for me so for the price I'll probably pick one up to replace my retron
Same for me!
@@KimulatorsFilms I've had mine for a while now and I really love it
@@TheJrockfreak I just bought it, I should receive it in a week, I will use it for my live stream with my girlfriend!
Uff it hurt me seeing you use that golden Zelda Cartridge like that to remove the famicon cart
What game is that at 9:26? Looks cool
"This is a portable device"
Shit's almost as big as my monitor.
Now XBOX one Duke controller crying in the corner, NEO GEO AES is nervous a little bit in the attick ,one ATARi LYNX broke down to the end.
not to mention carrying around those huge nes cartridges would be insane
9:25 Solomon's Key! Awesome music in that game
it looks like something that would have come out in the 80's.
It really does.
8:09 MY FUCKING SIDES HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Reggie's reaction was the highlight in this video
1:37 to all the Kinsey fans. You're welcome
There is upscaling going on, it’s just not optimized for 240p gaming.
Also, the composite video is because the original NES PPU is known for outputting composite-only. While there is a digital RGB signal, it is hard to convert it back to analog without heavy modding.
I wish I could find a friend group like yours 😂 Everytime I start talking to my friends about gaming, i usually just get shut down lol
😂 Duuuude, I feel ya. I felt that way for years and sometimes still do even now. The handful of people in my circle are all into games but we like different stuff besides a few commom games, and so no one will talk about the same stuff for more than a few moments. It's sad.
Bro, check out Geometry Wars for Wii. It’s an arcade shooter. But it’s insanely cool, and one of the biggest hidden gems I’ve come across. Great video btw! I just needed to tell you about this game.
Geometry Wars is a great game. But I wouldn't really call it a hidden gem. It's been ported to every machine under the sun, had several sequels, and sold millions of copies. Everybody I know that likes shooters has played GW on one machine or another.
hwogrillo but.... this one’s on the Wii.
@@patrickarnold237 This one goes to 11
"Are you serious???" That face he made LOL. I freaking love Reggie xD
Great Video MJR! Man... I totally laughed out loud when reggie went to use the tool to remove the game! 😂😂😂😂😂 I know you weren't trying to be funny but your reactions in this video was hilarious!
All these years later and nothing still beats a soft modded psp. smh
a soft modded vita
To be fair, you can find a lot of good Android consoles and they're all better than a PSP, especially for SNES and N64 (most can even emulate PSP and DS now), but is it worth it to replace a PSP with one of those? Not really, it's still good enough for a lot of people (and I'm one of those people, except I now use a Vita, its screen is so much better than my PSP Go and the joysticks are really nice for PS1).
I bought a Vita for a handheld emulation device and it was pretty terrible for various reasons, the emulators being bad and very limited and uncustomizable and not working correctly, apps just stopping working and needing to be installed again, not enough buttons to emulate some consoles like the PS1 or N64, the terrible and expensive proprietary SD cards and chargers that are only going up in price because they're no longer being manufactured, the whole rigmarole of installing all the jailbreaking stuff in the first place because I had a very awkward OS number, and how you install everything depends on which OS update number you have. It literally took months to jailbreak it, while making at least a couple of posts a week to /r/vitahacking and nobody there could work out what was wrong with my Vita and why it wouldn't connect to my pc, even when I bought brand new cables for it.
Then it just stopped working entirely. It turns on but none of the apps open anymore, not the emulators, not the basic apps like the Internet app or any games etc
So I bought a GPD XD+, and it's miles better. I was put off at first because of the price and that's why I got the Vita first but yeah. It's basically just an android tablet with physical buttons, and closes shut like a DS. Android emulation is by far my favourite, it's even better and simpler than doing it on a PC and the emulators are incredibly customizable with stuff like button configurations and adding a save state and load state button and altering the speed of the fast forward etc which the Vita emulators lacked, and I'd emulated a lot on my android tablet so I knew going in I'd be able to do anything I wanted on it, it can run any app on the Play store. And it has HDMI output which is one of my favourite things about it. So now it's a perfect complement to my switch. I can play games on the go and then plug them into my TV with both devices, and the GPD thing covers all the old games that haven't been re-released to the Switch yet or probably never will for various reasons. I buy games when they're available, like I have all the mega man collections, but for the stuff that isn't on the switch I can just emulate them on this instead. And GBA games look incredible on a big modern TV, and the GPD thing is cheaper than the GBA consolizer except it can also do all the other consoles on top of that too. I've been playing Warioland 4 on my big TV which is amazing because I always thought that game looked beautiful and so it's even better blown up. And I'm playing metroid zero mission for the first time, after having just beaten super metroid on my Switch for the first time, so there's some continuity there. And also GB and GBC and game gear games look so cool on a big screen, I've never had the chance to do that before. And I have a mega drive mini and SNES mini but I tend to use this thing instead now, plus of course playing PS1 games on the big TV is better than the PlayStation classic, and I can play n64 games on a TV for the first time (never played an actual n64 console before). Plus of course you can use standard micro sd cards, and standard charger cables cos it has micro USB. And the thing is faster than my shitty Samsung J4+ phone so I tend to use it for say browsing the Internet, buying stuff on amazon, quickly watching TH-cam videos etc because my phone is so damn laggy. It's expensive but it's one of the best purchases I've made in a while.
From what I can see, that plastic "ejector tool" looks like one of their Famicom/NES adapters but without the actual converter circuit board. It's a cool product, allowing you to insert Famicom carts into a frontloader NES.
3 to 4 hours battery life. This whole thing is a mess.
I just got mine and I have no complaints. The d-pad I started getting use to it where I got comfortable with it. I think there is a release button switch that makes it a little bit easier to pull carts out. Then noticed I pulled carts out easier when I lock device with my knees then pull cart out. The sound wasn’t off on mine at all. You can even use headphones. I also tried out a 150 in one was cool. Then tested out Transformers on Famicom. That Silver Surfer was hard. Maybe the hardest game on Nes. I think noticed some cars on Spy Hunter look a tad darker than I think they should be.
I still want one ☝️
Can't wait to see a video of the metal Jesus crew in your game room man, that'd be a lot of fun!
It's so frickin huge lol
All moved in, and now we get a new intro and vids resume upload. NOICE! And the tower with Sega CD, Genesis, 32X, Japanese Sonic & Knuckles wit foreign Sonic 1 locked in was a gaming testament of epiclesian proportions!! Only thing to make it more epic would have been a Game genie though. :P EPIC!
BUt yah, no surprise of the thing being disappointing. Unless I can get a handheld to play any genesis and other cartridges at 1440p and connect to a Tv like a switch, I am not game.
Not really a product I would buy.
Heh, visuals actually look an old CRT TV we would've played this on in the 90's.
And what's up with the external controller having so many buttons for NES games? There's like five face buttons and four shoulder buttons. I guess for the future SNES device? But still too many.
I'm early for once. :)
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you review something you ultimately didn’t care for. I’ll be honest, I kind of thought you cherry-picked things to review in order to stay positive.
I'm encouraged that they actually decided to attempt this, and the sub-$100 price point is the right idea, but they definitely need to go back to the drawing board for a second version.
+Hire some time with the caliber of guys who work with RetroRGB, they're superb.
+Improve the video output from the internal hardware to use better quality by whatever means necessary.
+Improve the D pad along with the overall ergonomics.
+Drop the Famicom slot and offer a $10 adapter instead. Use the bottom slot for Genesis instead :)
+Improve the sound reproduction and speakers.
+Add SD for cart to flash storage, this would make traveling with your library a thousand times easier, and safer than carrying valuable carts.
+Have a multi-out port that gives Composite, Scart RGB, and S-Video, perhaps using the Genesis 2 mini port to make sourcing cables easier.
+Other ideas?
I mean it's cool that this company normally known for some cheap knockoff retro nostalgia junk at Walmart has decided to at least try more legit hardware capable of running actual carts, and I'd hate for this to be such a disaster that they simply don't try to improve it and give it a go with community feedback. If possible, give them some constructive feedback.
They should have had the NES carts insert flush with the bottom edge with FC carts protruding from the top since Famicom carts have so much variability in size and shape. Anything taller than the basic FC cartridge shape would cause issues with the kickstand.
The cleaning kit seems like a bad idea as well. Like, you're gonna have this device on your bag etc, so it'll be moving around a lot. I can't imagine having an actual little bottle filled with liquid at all times in there. It's just an accident waiting to happen.
Not a problem if you close the bottle.
I think the trouble you got with 4.3 ratio is that they add borders on both sides to get rid of glitchy scrolling in the corners. I know some emulators have that feature too
The first thing I thought of when you mentioned Famicom games on the bottom are those taller games like Final Fantasy 1+2.
So it'll be good if we rip it apart and use it for a raspberry pi handheld housing? Actually it's so big I wonder how a lenovo m93p might fit in it lol.
I'm actually looking to pick up a handheld system to play nes/ snes cartridges so I can use it when I go to retro game conventions to playtest the ones I plan on buying. What would you recommend?
I suppose it’s a good device to take to retro gaming fair and shops to check games work before purchasing them (especially with the cartridge cleaning kit).
Wow....you just game me a reason to actually consider this if I can get a deal one.
Though when some vender sees it takes 2 people to pull the cartridge out they probably won't let you test any more games...lol
Wasn’t RetroUSB developing an NES handheld? I think they were calling it the AVP. Anyone know what happened to that?
Unless you use the Everdrive cartridge... what good is a portable system when the cartridges are NES sized??
The only thing I don't like about the retro champ is that is freaking huge and that the NES cartridge is just sticking out and the screen is 16:9 which it makes it bigger -_-
This is a great video. Really never ceases to amaze me with how consistently entertaining and well done your vids are. You touch on all the right details so I get the perfect impression you and your buddies got from this uh...brick.
One thing I immediately noticed is the placement of the A and B buttons, both on the console and on the external controller, and I'm surprised that this wasn't brought up in the review nor in the comments. The angle that the A and B buttons are offset to makes it impossible to press both at the same time with the right thumb, and this is a problem in the Super Mario games when you need to hold B and the D-pad to run. Also, in SMB3 World 6-5, you need to hold onto a Koopa shell with B while repeatedly tapping A to fly to find the real exit, so unless you use your thumb at a very weird angle or lay the console flat and use two fingers, this button placement is actually a game breaker. Nintendo evidently understood this when making Super Mario All Stars, so when playing the NES Super Mario remakes, the SNES controller is mapped to make X/Y=NES B and A/B=NES A.
I've found 3 portable snes devices that use carts. What do you reccomend?