People worrying about Saturn performance should know that the Retro Arena custom firmware currently in bera for this device has MUCH better Saturn performance.
I'm keeping my eye on it and might show how well it works when it's a little more complete and a bunch of issues with the current versions are ironed out. It's great to see some early development for the Arc, though, hopefully they'll be a good selection of custom firmwares down the line.
Yeah, I decided to hold off on it after checking it out over the last few weeks. It seems like there's a good level of interest in the Arc at least, so I'm sure there'll be a few good custom firmware options before too long. And I do know about the Jelos and some other CFW related drama.
I've been holding my money to buy a new retro handheld, the 6 button layout is ideal for retro fighting games but I guess I'll pull the trigger for the next Retroid RP4 Pro, looks promising.
The retroid pocket 4 looks good, but it's $200 before shipping. It's really a different class of device than this one. The 4:3 screen on the Arc and the Sega-like controls make it a solid buy for fans of the controller style and more correct aspect ratios for classic games 😁 Sure, it has the few minor flaws I pointed out, but I have used this more than any other indie handheld I've bought in the last ten years and I kinda love it! Plus you can grab the S for just $78 if you're OK with missing the touchscreen, android and extra ram... which doesnt affect gameplay anyway. Personally, I'm really glad I got one of these. If there's a revision down the line that has a better SoC and some physical improvements, I'll be first in line.
I wasn't disappointed, myself. I've used it way more than any other indie handheld I've ever had, and I've had these things back since the early days of GPD. If you know what the capabilities of the RK3566, what's there to be disappointed by, really? I had minor quibbles as detailed in the video, but overall I'm very happy with it.
@@InglebardGaming I'm mostly disappointed in the firmware and interface. Anbernic has done a better job in the past. I'm aware of the chips capabilities, this just feels rushed and kind of a cash grab. They got my money so....
Anbernic must not abandon this form factor and they must make a version 2 of this retro handheld that is 100% capable for running all SEGA Saturn games. Better hardware and maybe an addition of an analog stick would top it off to get those Dreamcast games more playable. This would be the ultimate SEGA retro handheld ever. I'm so tired of these reto handhelds only catering to Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft with the inferior 4-button layout.
Yeah, I'd like to see a follow up down the road that's more powerful and adds analog sticks. I've used a few Sega style controllers that manage to squeeze them in just fine. Also, they better keep those front firing speakers, lol. Work it out, Anbernic!
@@InglebardGaming Yeah it really is a nice design, keeping my eyes open hopefully they make it. These simple upgrades would be a winner for any SEGA fan.
@@croEdHunter I don't get it, it's a major flaw considering the design that it can barely handle Saturn. I hope for a 2nd version so tired of the Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation design. Sucks
Yeah, and sadly, it seems they're doing another device using the Allwinner h700 (same CPU as the SP and the other XX devices) which ALSO can't run Saturn games at full speed. It's generally worse for Saturn than the chip in the standard Arc here.
that would be cool if there was a way to make the ram off the arc d run completely off of lynx. It would get really good performance, but I am not too sure how the ram is truly distributed.
Thanks for the review. I, for one, would appreciate knowing which Saturn games do not run at all, even with frameskip. Do you have a list or do you know if there is a Reddit page with that info? Many thanks.
I haven't seen a detailed compatibility list yet, but I've kind of been waiting for other custom OSes to be released before I mess around with testing more saturn games. The one thing I can tell you is the recently updated Saturn.emu emulator is not at all worth installing on the Arc, it runs way worse than the current options. I'll definitely revisit Saturn emulation on the Arc when I see something worth covering.
Not a Sega fan and never owned any Sega anything, but the 6 button was interesting. I have a Miyoo mini plus and play a lot of fighting games like children of the atom, marvel super heroes, and all the other fighting games. I mapped the R1 as high kick and R2 as high punch and it works for me, I can press all three punch or kick buttons easily to do a special move. The buttons on the RG ARC are spaced out too much that i cant press all 3 punch or kick buttons. So I'm still thinking about getting this.
Personally, I love it for fighting games. Yeah, if you want to press a whole row of buttons you have to hold your hand above the buttons instead of just your thumb, but I guess I'm used to that from the Saturn era anyway.
This thing is amazing and I have a 512gb card filled with arcade, 32x, sega cd, genesis, saturn, dreamcast and 3DO. For some reason I cannot get 3DO to not stutter. Is there any way to fix that? No biggie as this is my main SEGA machine including all Sega Arcade games. But would be cool to play 3DO on it. :) Forget about Android. Stay on Linux, select the second theme and it looks like a mini Hyperspin. :) Also, we've been saying "Space bucks" for 15 years, glad to see someone else using it lol. I thought the resolution and colors were fine, especially for the era of games this was made for.🤷♂
I haven't tried any 3DO stuff on it yet, not one of my favorite systems. Still, I'm going to do a follow up to this video relatively soon and I'll give it a try, maybe in more than one OS.
Nope, never heard of this Anbernic, and yes, this looks like the model I've been waiting for! One of the Saturn games I'd definitely love to play again is Thunder Force V. How well does it run?
I'm very on the fence for this one. I have a miyoo mini plus that I really like, but the shoulder buttons are terrible to use. Basically make some playstation games that use them a lot a terrible experience and is basically useless for any 6 buttons fighting game. So I was thinking on get this one for this. And maybe try to play some saturn games that I liked like panzer dragoon and guardian heroes. Bu I still don't know. I don't remember how many reviews of this thing I watched and still don't know if I get one.
I don't know if it'll be much help, but I can tell you I've been using this much more than I've used any other indie handheld system I've had. I've had GPD systems (G5A, the original XD), the Ordoid Go Advance, the Retroid Pocket Flip and more and I like this probably as much as all of the others combined. Been playing SOME Saturn on it, lots of games won't run well enough, but as you've seen some are OK, a little DC, a lot of arcade stuff, some SMS, Game Gear, GB, GBA and NES, love all of it with these controls.
How are you running the 32X games? What OS are you using? Are you using a version of retroarch that allows runahead? In the stock linux OS 32X games are fullspeed without any issues for me. Side note: I'll be doing a follow up to this video relatively soon with a recent custom OS to see how it compares to the stock experience.
@InglebardGaming I had installed gamma on for it and running on the android side. I dis change the read ahead setting and it helped. I would like if there was a way to decide which version of retroarch gamma is uses. Anyways, may try and restore it to stock firmware. Not too thrilled with the battery life either. But it really is just such a great form factor for genesis and arcade fighting games.
@@legendodinson7082 i'm still waiting for mine so i can't speak from experience, but i would say ditch the android part altogether and use it only for android games and things that require touchscreen, like DS emulation. and use the linux side only. there are custom firmware for it as well, so you don't have to deal with the stupid anbernic frontend. you can choose between RetroArena and Rocknix. I will personally try Rocknix first, when my unit comes, and if everything is fine i will stay with it. (i ordered the S, so i can't try android tho) p.s. i'm sure there is a way to check the version in android. btw if the performance is not as other report and the battery life is also worse, there could be something wrong with your unit.
Sort of... if you buy the version with a micro SD card full of roms. Otherwise you have to do only very minor prep... you just stick a blank micro SD card into the second slot, after less than a minute it should write all the folders you need to the card. Then you put your own roms into the appropriate system folders.
If it comes with the memory, yes. However, there is always a high game count on any console just to "offer many games", but most of them are mame roms that are not good. If anything, you will be removing a lot of those and adding more of other consoles that dont have the complete romset. Like ps1. If you know nothing about emulation, ill work just make sure you buy it with the sd game card. If you know something about emulation, buy it without the card, then get a 256 or 512gb that is not chinese, then change the operative system and add your own games. Ill give you better performance and more settings to play with.
The Arc S is $78 when you buy direct from Anbernic. The Arc D is $98. Prices are different from other stores, but there's no reason not to buy straight from Anbernic.
i bought it about a week ago for $65 including shipping, with a 8 bucks coupon tho, so it was $73. from aliexpress. and that includes VAT, because i'm from europe. if you are from the US, it should be cheaper, since you don't pay VAT. but prices varies from store to store (even inside the same company - since there are many anbernic official stores) and they change with time as well. so you have to keep track. i was tracking mine for some time. i was waiting for the 40XXh to come out, and during that time the same listing was changing from $73 up to $95, for the same model.
I bought an Evercade VS. I kind of like it but I can't recommend it. The game collections are 95% garbage with a couple of decent games. I have a couple of RetroPi's so as much as I want to like the system it's just too weaksauce overall. This little system looks cool.
There is a setting in retro arch that fixes the simultaneous button presses on Android that you mentioned in double dragon.
I got the arc s loving it I reckon its the best retro handheld I've had yet
People worrying about Saturn performance should know that the Retro Arena custom firmware currently in bera for this device has MUCH better Saturn performance.
I'm keeping my eye on it and might show how well it works when it's a little more complete and a bunch of issues with the current versions are ironed out. It's great to see some early development for the Arc, though, hopefully they'll be a good selection of custom firmwares down the line.
There's a ton of issues with the RA CFW, it's not better.
Android side is horrible too. Hope something gets going for this device because as of now it's just a nice feeling Sega controller brick to me.
Yeah, I decided to hold off on it after checking it out over the last few weeks. It seems like there's a good level of interest in the Arc at least, so I'm sure there'll be a few good custom firmware options before too long.
And I do know about the Jelos and some other CFW related drama.
@@InglebardGaming The form factor is amazing, we just need a good firmware.
I've been holding my money to buy a new retro handheld, the 6 button layout is ideal for retro fighting games but I guess I'll pull the trigger for the next Retroid RP4 Pro, looks promising.
The retroid pocket 4 looks good, but it's $200 before shipping. It's really a different class of device than this one. The 4:3 screen on the Arc and the Sega-like controls make it a solid buy for fans of the controller style and more correct aspect ratios for classic games 😁
Sure, it has the few minor flaws I pointed out, but I have used this more than any other indie handheld I've bought in the last ten years and I kinda love it! Plus you can grab the S for just $78 if you're OK with missing the touchscreen, android and extra ram... which doesnt affect gameplay anyway.
Personally, I'm really glad I got one of these. If there's a revision down the line that has a better SoC and some physical improvements, I'll be first in line.
Mine will be delivered within the next couple days
Nice, I've been loving it despite the minor issues I mentioned. Played it a ton!
Brace yourself for disappointment....
I wasn't disappointed, myself. I've used it way more than any other indie handheld I've ever had, and I've had these things back since the early days of GPD.
If you know what the capabilities of the RK3566, what's there to be disappointed by, really? I had minor quibbles as detailed in the video, but overall I'm very happy with it.
@@InglebardGaming I'm mostly disappointed in the firmware and interface. Anbernic has done a better job in the past. I'm aware of the chips capabilities, this just feels rushed and kind of a cash grab. They got my money so....
Anbernic must not abandon this form factor and they must make a version 2 of this retro handheld that is 100% capable for running all SEGA Saturn games. Better hardware and maybe an addition of an analog stick would top it off to get those Dreamcast games more playable. This would be the ultimate SEGA retro handheld ever. I'm so tired of these reto handhelds only catering to Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft with the inferior 4-button layout.
Yeah, I'd like to see a follow up down the road that's more powerful and adds analog sticks. I've used a few Sega style controllers that manage to squeeze them in just fine. Also, they better keep those front firing speakers, lol. Work it out, Anbernic!
@@InglebardGaming Yeah it really is a nice design, keeping my eyes open hopefully they make it. These simple upgrades would be a winner for any SEGA fan.
Exactly my thoughts as well, i find such a shame this thing doesn't play Saturn well
@@croEdHunter I don't get it, it's a major flaw considering the design that it can barely handle Saturn. I hope for a 2nd version so tired of the Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation design. Sucks
Yeah, and sadly, it seems they're doing another device using the Allwinner h700 (same CPU as the SP and the other XX devices) which ALSO can't run Saturn games at full speed. It's generally worse for Saturn than the chip in the standard Arc here.
that would be cool if there was a way to make the ram off the arc d run completely off of lynx. It would get really good performance, but I am not too sure how the ram is truly distributed.
Thanks for the review. I, for one, would appreciate knowing which Saturn games do not run at all, even with frameskip. Do you have a list or do you know if there is a Reddit page with that info? Many thanks.
I haven't seen a detailed compatibility list yet, but I've kind of been waiting for other custom OSes to be released before I mess around with testing more saturn games. The one thing I can tell you is the recently updated Saturn.emu emulator is not at all worth installing on the Arc, it runs way worse than the current options. I'll definitely revisit Saturn emulation on the Arc when I see something worth covering.
Not a Sega fan and never owned any Sega anything, but the 6 button was interesting. I have a Miyoo mini plus and play a lot of fighting games like children of the atom, marvel super heroes, and all the other fighting games. I mapped the R1 as high kick and R2 as high punch and it works for me, I can press all three punch or kick buttons easily to do a special move. The buttons on the RG ARC are spaced out too much that i cant press all 3 punch or kick buttons. So I'm still thinking about getting this.
Personally, I love it for fighting games. Yeah, if you want to press a whole row of buttons you have to hold your hand above the buttons instead of just your thumb, but I guess I'm used to that from the Saturn era anyway.
This thing is amazing and I have a 512gb card filled with arcade, 32x, sega cd, genesis, saturn, dreamcast and 3DO. For some reason I cannot get 3DO to not stutter. Is there any way to fix that? No biggie as this is my main SEGA machine including all Sega Arcade games. But would be cool to play 3DO on it. :)
Forget about Android. Stay on Linux, select the second theme and it looks like a mini Hyperspin. :) Also, we've been saying "Space bucks" for 15 years, glad to see someone else using it lol.
I thought the resolution and colors were fine, especially for the era of games this was made for.🤷♂
I haven't tried any 3DO stuff on it yet, not one of my favorite systems. Still, I'm going to do a follow up to this video relatively soon and I'll give it a try, maybe in more than one OS.
Nope, never heard of this Anbernic, and yes, this looks like the model I've been waiting for!
One of the Saturn games I'd definitely love to play again is Thunder Force V. How well does it run?
I haven't tried TF V on it yet, but I will. I imagine at minimum the PS1 version will run fine.
what folder do i put scraped cover art in?
I'm not sure, I generally don't bother with the art myself. I'd check either the subreddit or anbernic site/forums.
@@InglebardGaming appreciate it man!
I'm very on the fence for this one. I have a miyoo mini plus that I really like, but the shoulder buttons are terrible to use. Basically make some playstation games that use them a lot a terrible experience and is basically useless for any 6 buttons fighting game. So I was thinking on get this one for this. And maybe try to play some saturn games that I liked like panzer dragoon and guardian heroes. Bu I still don't know. I don't remember how many reviews of this thing I watched and still don't know if I get one.
I don't know if it'll be much help, but I can tell you I've been using this much more than I've used any other indie handheld system I've had. I've had GPD systems (G5A, the original XD), the Ordoid Go Advance, the Retroid Pocket Flip and more and I like this probably as much as all of the others combined. Been playing SOME Saturn on it, lots of games won't run well enough, but as you've seen some are OK, a little DC, a lot of arcade stuff, some SMS, Game Gear, GB, GBA and NES, love all of it with these controls.
@@InglebardGaming it helpeded a lot. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I'm finding pretty bad performance with Segal 32X. 32x plays fine on my rg361v and 405v.
How are you running the 32X games? What OS are you using? Are you using a version of retroarch that allows runahead? In the stock linux OS 32X games are fullspeed without any issues for me.
Side note: I'll be doing a follow up to this video relatively soon with a recent custom OS to see how it compares to the stock experience.
@InglebardGaming I had installed gamma on for it and running on the android side. I dis change the read ahead setting and it helped.
I would like if there was a way to decide which version of retroarch gamma is uses.
Anyways, may try and restore it to stock firmware. Not too thrilled with the battery life either.
But it really is just such a great form factor for genesis and arcade fighting games.
@@legendodinson7082 i'm still waiting for mine so i can't speak from experience, but i would say ditch the android part altogether and use it only for android games and things that require touchscreen, like DS emulation. and use the linux side only. there are custom firmware for it as well, so you don't have to deal with the stupid anbernic frontend. you can choose between RetroArena and Rocknix.
I will personally try Rocknix first, when my unit comes, and if everything is fine i will stay with it. (i ordered the S, so i can't try android tho)
p.s. i'm sure there is a way to check the version in android.
btw if the performance is not as other report and the battery life is also worse, there could be something wrong with your unit.
I think the only reason I'd have to get one is to mess around with COTA some more.
Overall I love it despite the minor issues I mentioned, been playing it a LOT.
@@InglebardGaming It does look appealing. Lotta crossover with my 350 tho.
Games are playable right out of the box?
Sort of... if you buy the version with a micro SD card full of roms. Otherwise you have to do only very minor prep... you just stick a blank micro SD card into the second slot, after less than a minute it should write all the folders you need to the card. Then you put your own roms into the appropriate system folders.
If it comes with the memory, yes.
However, there is always a high game count on any console just to "offer many games", but most of them are mame roms that are not good. If anything, you will be removing a lot of those and adding more of other consoles that dont have the complete romset. Like ps1.
If you know nothing about emulation, ill work just make sure you buy it with the sd game card.
If you know something about emulation, buy it without the card, then get a 256 or 512gb that is not chinese, then change the operative system and add your own games. Ill give you better performance and more settings to play with.
$78 where the hell did you see that?
The Arc S is $78 when you buy direct from Anbernic. The Arc D is $98. Prices are different from other stores, but there's no reason not to buy straight from Anbernic.
i bought it about a week ago for $65 including shipping, with a 8 bucks coupon tho, so it was $73. from aliexpress. and that includes VAT, because i'm from europe. if you are from the US, it should be cheaper, since you don't pay VAT.
but prices varies from store to store (even inside the same company - since there are many anbernic official stores) and they change with time as well. so you have to keep track.
i was tracking mine for some time. i was waiting for the 40XXh to come out, and during that time the same listing was changing from $73 up to $95, for the same model.
I bought an Evercade VS. I kind of like it but I can't recommend it. The game collections are 95% garbage with a couple of decent games. I have a couple of RetroPi's so as much as I want to like the system it's just too weaksauce overall. This little system looks cool.
I'd just got the Retroid Pocket Flip about 6 or 7 months ago, but couldn't resist this one. Despite its minor flaws, I like it a lot!