retroUSB AVS Review - NES in HD! | RGT 85
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- The retroUSB AVS attempts to bring the NES into HD, with some modern touches as well. So how does the retroUSB AVS review? Let's find out!
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Also, small correction. The NES release of Castlevania 3 does not have extra audio channels. Only the Japanese version does as the Famicom has the pinout to accept more audio channels.
I was gonna say the exact same thing... I'll be ordering a Super Famicom cart soon
brentonius
Super Famicom?
+charvelgtrs errr Famicom haha. Was half asleep there
Thanks for the info. I'd love to hear and play the Famicon version. "Demon Seed" is still one of my most favorite NES tracks of all time. Talk about funky. LOL
charvelgtrs, Notice how he does not respond to your correction response but he responds 1 post down lol. Thanks for correcting him.
I can't wait to get mine! Watching this video makes me want one more!
You convinced me to get my own. Now all I gotta do is wait for my paychecks to come in this week, and I'll secure a pre-order. Finally an NES that doesn't require you to blow your cartridges, and with better hardware. I am so stoked. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Hope you enjoy it bud!
7 years later...... I finally ordered one. It's gonna be sweet. Thanks for the video!
I play NES games on a CRT. But, this would be great to own to bring over to a friend's house that doesn't have a CRT.
Really appreciate the review! I've had my eye on this system for quite a while!
Thank you for watchin bud!
Great vid Shawn..and retroUSB AVS was smart to send you this system for review purposes; I did not know of this system's existence until your video! And yes, I want one now. Game on.
It's a great console! Thanks for watching buddy
Man you really cover all the ends of a product review. Great work dude 👍🏼
+Onesimus R thank you bud! I wanted to go all out on this one. Lol
So excited. Can't wait until mine arrives!
You will love it
I’ve owned mine for 7 years works perfect to this day with my ever drive
Just happened to order this two weeks ago. Good to know my money has been well spent.
Yeah you will enjoy it
Congrats homey... you're really blowing up if RetroUSB sent you a review unit. I just watched Pat the Nes punk, and he was asking to have one sent to him. Great review! By the way, while on the topic of new NES games, have you heard/tried Legends of Owlia yet? It's a pretty solid game with a very professional feel to it.
It seems like they have ties to Nintendo Age and Nintendo Age hates Pat. Probably why he didn't get one...
Yeah I remember some falling out. Which is strange, because NintendoAge are legit dudes. His loss. hehe. And I want to get Legends of Owlia! It's on my list.
How is the pin quality on the AVS? Do the pins feel sturdy as compared to the Retron 5? Any warping? How is the grip on carts? Thanks!
That homebrew game looks like a ton of fun to get drunk and play with four friends hahaha
love how you keep teabagging the boss in Kid Dracula lol
AVS looks wayyyy better for CV3!
Right! It's too damn bright on the Retron. Looks like a different game.
I'm definitely getting one of these, I was before I saw this video but you only confirmed what I was expecting.
Thanks for watchin!
Kid Dracula looks amazing. Need to get an AVS. Great console and very well built. Great review!
Thanks bud. Kid Dracula is awesome.
Pat and Ian talk about it...you bring it to us...thanks!
:) No problem!
Can't wait! This thing looks so awesome.
It's pretty awesome
yes i want one
Very well done! just found your channel a couple of vids ago... glad I subscribed. funny, I was just watching Pat "the nes punk's" podcast video on this system. He was talking about how he would love a demo unit for review. I scroll down my subscription list a bit and see your video actually reviewing the unit? (and both vids were publishished on the same day.) Impressive. Keep it up!
+Florida To Maine Connection :) thank you bud.
I just got the AVS and love it. It was a great solution to a problem. Having so many systems I didn't have any room to set up my Famicom. AVS replaced the NES in my living room and I have my Famicom disk system set up. Game changer.
One thing I found weird is it changes some of the colors in the Namco Star Wars game. Like making the sky purple and changes the color of the Jawa's sandcrawler.
I didn't notice that, I might have to check that out!
Girtana1 absolutely. that's what sold me.
Girtana1 it is expensive, just think about the fact that it plays both NES and Famicom games. the cost of both those systems would be over $100. plus plays pal, HDMI input, 4 controller ports. this a high quality made product, made with love. not like all those other cheap multi systems. when the time and money is right you should pull the trigger.
Girtana1 i didn't either at the time. just threw my girlfriend super hints and she got it for me for Christmas.
Personally I like the look of the RetroN5 when you did the side by side, but that said, the AVS looks great in its own right!
That's fair, the Retron has brighter, but artificial, colors.
RGT 85 Yeah. Idk why, but my eyes just seem to like brighter colors. Which is especially funny when you consider my eyes are sensitive to light. LOL
thanks for the review. I just ordered this system and can't wait to get it. I hope it plays nobunagas ambition II
Yup. I've got to get one. When Felix came up, I was initially worried that it was recording or displaying dark, but I'm not familiar with the game, so that's likely just how it is. The rest of the games look great. I'm sold. Now I just gotta scrape together the cash for it.
Yeah Felix is a little dark.
Wow this is amazing. I am not a big NES collector, I have slowed down on retro stuff. A SNES of this would be great.
Once patents run out you might start seeing premium SNES systems.
Awesome review Shawn! This system looks amazing, I'll definitely have to pick this up in the future. That's crazy the difference between this console and the Retron 5 graphics is like night and day.
+mtshark7 yeah the colors look dumb on the retron.
It looks awesome. I definitely NEED to pick one of these up.
it's a sweet little console!
my cousins still have 50+ nes games from back in the day and our top loader has stopped working so getting an nes clone with hdmi would be awesome
How does the japanese Castlevania 3 run with the VRC6 chip
Perfectly
Good review. One thing I noticed is that the image looks stretched. Can you adjust horizontal and vertical width. Also, a 60fps test would be nice.
Yeah you can adjust a bunch of stuff in the video settings
I'm not even a NES collector but I still think this looks awesome.
It's pretty sweet for sure!
Batman is a great test for music accuracy and I can say it sounds damn near identical to my original NES playing this game.
I'm really impressed.
+charvelgtrs yeah I love the OST to that game.
Is there anyway you can test lag?
How good are you at Mike Tyson's Punch Out? I ask that because its probably the best NES game to test lag, especially when fighting harder opponents.
I liked the darker color with the AVS. I don't know if I would pick it but I think it's a good by for quality of the build and performance.
It's a great console for sure.
Really good video. It's not my kind of thing, but it's great to see such a great looking product coming out. The NES is really getting some amazing love in 2016.
+Fluffi Buni it really is
nice review bro! enjoyed the video!
+SquadSeven thank you bud
13:17 Just wanted to correct you on a small detail you slipped up on. The US version did have a special sound chip in it that did have more audio channels (MMC5) but the NES never had the capability of taking advantage of that, so only the Japanese version used those extra audio channels from another chip (VRC6) on the Famicom. It sounds like in the background audio of your video that it is indeed the US Castlevania 3 so it does not have any extra sound channels. Nonetheless, great video, great review, great side by side comparison and thank you for showing video footage of the AVS. I'd like to try out an AVS someday, it's most certainly better than what the Retron 5 has to offer for playing NES games in HD.
Thank you buddy!! And yeah I realized that after the fact. lol
I'm glad I preordered this system. Looks great!
+EvanBNW it's going to be a big seller for them. Hope they have lots of supply.
I don't have any retro games at the moment, don't know if I'll ever go that far back, but it's good to know that there is an option for physical retro games other than the mini NES.
For sure. IT's a nice system.
+RGT 85 It sure looks like it
I figured out Quadrolords. It's Breakout and Warlords mixed into one really. Quite clever. System looks awesome.
It's kind of addictive, way more than it should be. lol
At 13:38 min. look at the wall in the background; the retro displays it as brown colored bricks. The wall is almost entirely black on the AVS.. Seems like there's a very high contrast setting in play with the AVS - or does the original NES "blackcrush" the wall as well..? This way detail can get lost with the AVS, in darker areas.
Great vid thanks!
Thanks for watchin bud. I honestly think the strange Retron 5 brown bricks are a result of the emulation, because playing on a CRT TV with an NES didn't have that.
+RGT 85 okay cool thanks for responding :) I think the AVS looks really good, I'm impressed by the IQ.
Would love to have seen the other video options in game though! I saw a scanlines option, which could be awesome. I have a real passion for emulators myself and often use a (75%) scanlines filter to get a really nice retrolook.
I was tempted to get one of these, but I had already invested so much in an XRGB-mini and I've been happy with that. If my NES ever dies I may need to pick one of these up though.
First off, good review. I got my console yesterday and so far I'm loving it as well. I was also thinking that the flicker is a bit worse on the AVS, I haven't tried to adjust any setting though. I have been playing Bettlejuice this October and there is definitely more for that game. Funny thing, the first game I tried did not work, thought my system came in defective. Had to "clean" the game but all others (NES & FC) work first time. Lastly, I do have trouble with my 8Bitdo receiver & controller connecting to one another on this console. I am unsure why or if its the AVS or 8Bitdo product.
Keep up the good work.
+Kevin Brennan glad you enjoyed the vid brother
I would love this because I hate the extra cords behind my tv that go through my nes just to get to my hd tv, so I would love an hd upscale of the nes
It's an awesome console dude.
you could buy the hi-def nes mod for 120 but you have to install it yourself. i bought one but im still waiting for it to arrive :(
definitely considering getting an avs
I just ordered a retroUSB AVS last week just waiting for it to arrive.
I know its been 3 years but do u like your AVS?
@@wornout_joystick Dude I freaking love it, It's a amazing machine.
How is the overall build quality of the system? Is the plastic of good quality?
I pre-ordered a few days ago, but I really wanted to know the above. Either way, I'm still getting it because this thing is a godsend. I can't wait! I'm gonna start back collecting NES carts now. It's been awhile.
I saw Analogue announced the mini NT earlier, but I don't know if I can justify that price tag. That thing is expensive.
In overall looks, I like the way the AVS looks compared to the NT. It's got that classic look to it with its NES style color scheme, NES style power/reset buttons and the cartridge flap.
Yeah I honestly think the NT is kinda ugly. Super solid console, but not worth the pricetag to me. I'm pleased with the overall build.
I want it so badly. it's not that expensive for the quality you are getting. Maybe I'll get for Christmas lol. Glad to see this
+Spartan Sarge ask Santa!
+RGT 85 more like ask the wife lol
Looks awesome! I am a casual NES player, so may not be for me. I wish they would do a PC Engine Duo/TurboGrafx Duo HD console, I would be all over that. It's probably my favorite retro console to play and collect for.
You think it would make games even more rare and hard to collect for?
very nice review! I want to know how it handles Tyson where every frame matters.
I actually play Tyson based on sound (weird I know) but I had zero lag.
Portland Retro Gaming Expo hosts the world Tetris championships each year. I saw some of the best tetris players in the world play on the AVS, at levels I only wish I could comprehend...when they were done, we asked about the lag. They all agreed there was ZERO lag they could tell. If they won't notice, I won't notice :)
I don't have a big collection, but I am a collector and love these type consoles. I do have the Messiah Generation Nex, but this looks way better. I have a CRTV for all my consoles and just picked up a new tv for this console. Can't wait to get it and add more games to my NES and Famicom collection and play them on this!
+copedipper97 you'll love it dude. It's a fantastic console.
Cool! I am really looking forward to it!
awesome video i am going to have to check out this retro console
thanks for watchin bud
thanks for watchin bud
It is flawless, I will pick one up for sure.
You'll enjoy it
The AVS is now on Amazon for those who want that option.
Nice, I didn't know that!
I don't really need as I'm content with the Retron 5, but I want it. They did an excellent job with it.
+SaviorGabriel it's pretty awesome
Wish this let you load roms off a sd card (best reason to own a retron), no reason why it couldn't. Would the system work with a flash cart? Using FPGA it should work with any flashcart the nes does, if it was programed correctly.
Thanks for your review on the Retro USB AVS. I will get this console to replace the NES I have.
Thank you for watching!
In case anyone doesn't know yet, Quadralords is basically Warlords. You can play it on your Atari 2600 if you have one. Supposed to be a great party game.
It's really fun. Surprisingly addictive!
looks really good n really well made i didn't grow up with the nes i chose the sms however i just got the sr3 it like the retrousb is not emulation but sadly doesn't have hdmi output but for what it does it does very well and i'm just curious what you think about the sr3 compared to this retrousb as both are hardware based clones, keep up the great work appreciate all you n a select few others do for the retro gaming community
I have the AVS and the RetroN 5 both...I can assure you that both work/play great. AVS has a slightly better picture quality because every square pixel is represented as it was back in the day....however, the RetroN 5 smooths out the square pixels to "round" out all the corners so to speak.
All in all looks really damn nice, the built in features through the menu are pretty damn cool as well as the fact that it's basically a region free Nintendo. Wish the fucker was a bit cheaper though but if it comes down in price I'll try to scoop it up whenever
+AlphaOmegaSin it's pretty legit for sure. Thanks for watchin bud.
love love love the AVS. I was so hyped on it when I first heard of it and boy did it live up to it. Fair to say I'm an NES fanatic with a good collection of carts. However, if you are a NES fan with no collection, the AVS and a Flash card will do the job real nice.
I am usually on the side of sticking with original hardware, but I have to say, this has to be one of the most impressive clone consoles I have ever seen. It makes me rethink my choice in sticking with official hardware. If I was going to make this switch though, I would have to know that systems of the same caliber were also on the way. I have heard enough bad things about the Retron to know it is absolutely not a replacement for official hardware, so if Retro USB can make an SNES, Genesis, or Turbo Graphix as impressive as the AES, I might have to finally throw out my CRT.
That'd be siiick
Great review. Thanks for putting the AVS through its paces. Also, Quadralords appears to be an homage to the 2600 classic paddle game Warlords with some added variety to the playfield.
Thanks for watchin!
Great stuff dude. I already have a few perfectly working NES systems, but the built in Famicom port and auto look-up Game Genie codes built in? All in HD? Man, this is a total buy for me. Did you happen to test if the Famicom games had any Game Genie codes in the system?
Yes Kid Dracula did!
5:40 just curious as to what Auto play is. Would this be to have the game automatically boot into the cartridge when you turn it on or is it something else?
That Quadralords game looks fun, reminds me of Warlords on the Atari.
And as far as Nintendo claims are concerned, I highly recommend using scanlined footage for thier games. I did a let's play of the original Star Fox on SNES, claimed if it is capture as is from an emulator, but adding scanlines it had no claim, even with audio present. Not to mention IMO it looks better that way since these old system game designers had designed around the limitations of TVs at the time.
As far as the Castlevania comparison, the AVS does appear to have better colors going on, but the aspect ratio appears to be off, did you adjust your settings for that? As far as the special sound chip, it's actually only in the Famicom version, the NES version sadly doesn't have it because for whatever reason Nintendo of America blocked out the ability to use the special sound chips. I actually watched a video with a guy that talked all about it recently. Makes me want to hunt down a copy of the Famicom game since the added chip makes the game sound phenomenal.
The autoplay boots the game without the menu. I did have to adjust the the ratios to get them side by side so it got a little skewed. lol
Great video. Can you make a comparision between the AVS and a NES hook up with SCART to HDMI to see the differences?
+pekalion I still need to get a scart to hdmi. I know I know. Lol
Haha, don't worry, I know is a bit of a thing to ask, but it will be fucking awesome to see that comparision. Beside of that, would you still recomend the AVS over a NES? Considering the high price of the AVS
Looks cool might have to pick one up
Nice!
It looks pretty badass. I might get one eventually. The price is making me hold out. If they made a SNES version though I would buy it in a heartbeat.
+RetroGamesVinylandBeer yeah it'll be interesting to see if an SNES type console ever happens.
Awesome picks for games man. Felix ,Castlevania 3, and Kirby are definitely in my top 10 nes games. Kid Dracula is #1 on my list of famicom games to pick up too.
System looks pretty nice. Looks like a good quality piece of equipment. The colors on Castlevania did look bettter on it as well. I don't see myself needing one, but I have a couple of friends who will be very interested.
Feel free to share with them :)
Don't know if my message got through this may be a duplicate. But I just had one question when you compared the side by side how did they do the 16:9 enhancement? It didn't look stretched as most emulator software I use makes it looked stretched out and crappy, but this system didn't look like that was the case. Regardless awesome vid!
There are lots of different ways to tinker with the video in the settings. It's pretty nice!
So glad you got this and covered it! Thanks! Are you able to check with Mega Man or something and see if there is any slowdown? I'm really curious on if there will be slowdown or not.
I'm in the middle of packing so all my games are tied up, I had to take these out. lol. But I'll see what I can do and let you know.
No problem, thanks!!
Quadralords is a port of the Arcade/2600 game Warlords.... It was also released as an 8-Bit Xmas game years back.
Noice! It's pretty fun with other players.
Oh I know I will :) They still havent shipped mine out yet tho...I REALLY hope that they ship it soon so I can get it by the weekend!
haha it's a small operation. I've seen his living room, it's a mountain of AVS consoles. It's pretty.
@@RGT85 Quite an impressive product for such a small operation. This thing has the best FPGA based NES core I have seen out of all the other options out there thus far, even better than the Kevtris core imo. Has better accuracy from what I have seen, specially in the sound department.
WATCH OUT ! youre about to be smashed by that giant car sized nintendo looking thingy right behind you
Indeed looks better than the retron5, the package doesn't include a control so sad, but the quality is amazing and the design is awesome, the price is high but the quality justify the cost. I'm a happy owner of a retron 5 , this one is tempting me, hope they makes one for the snes too. Great video 👍🏻
Thank you for watching!
love how much it looks like a modern NES. I think they could have put the AVS name on the outside front flap in the NES style. Just looks a little empty. That is a very minor criticism though. thing looks sweet. Great overview shawn
thanks bud!
Does it take advantage of the extra sound channels for games like Castlevania 3? The vid mentioned the sound chip, but the famicom version had those extra voices. Just want to clear that bit up.
+Izlude Tingel mylifeingaming played it and it does
RGT 85 cool, will definitely grab one on payday
I just received one of these in the mail yesterday. It seems to be powering up fine, but the cartridges do not lock into place and the system does not seem to be recognizing them. Did you have any problems with this?
Great review. I have the Anolog NT and the retron 5, but I hate the later so I'm looking for an option for my kids room (he has an NES but no CRT) I think this is perfect for him. The price is right too.
It's pretty awesome
I recently bought a pristine condition NES with a new 72pin slot for a peach of a price. I almost want to buy this and say "Can you put one on hold for me as I save up for it? I'm good for it! I swear!" lol
Honestly, RetroUSB's rep is tops in my opinion. So getting something they put out, you know it's going to be something good and quality. I have a few adapters from them back when they were operating out of their kitchen and they're still going strong.
They don't cut corners for sure
Yeah.
Also: LOL "Nazi KKK man" That's hilarious. I wonder if they meant that or if that symbol is simply the one they use for a more positive Japanese connotation and it was just an unfortunate pairing with a familiar looking character in the game.
Yeah it's actually a ghost with the kanji for eternity on his head. People back in the day would've flipped had the game actaully came out in the US, because everyone would think KKK Nazi. Actually, I'm not even sure it could come out today uncensored honestly.
They added scoreboards? I wonder if it would be at all possible to make a NES console that had online multiplayer like emulators do but its a console.. similar to shareplay on ps4 just give a virtual controller to someone and play with them
@1:01 you say that it has "all original hardware". By this, do you mean that it is original famicom/NES hardware, or that they made new "original" hardware? Because if it is the later, I don't really consider this to be the ideal.
+GN0LAUM FGPA
Great video and interesting system. How is the move coming along?
So far so good
Awesome review. Can you verify if those cheap 9999 in 1 cartridges work on the system?
They should
very nice video, as a PAL user, do you know if you can switch between PAL and NTSC modes? Specifically, could you play an NTSC game in PAL mode, and vice versa?
You can, but some games will crash and what not.
This system is fucking awesome I plan on picking one up eventually it's a big chunk of change when I steady have a nes but I love this system thank you Shawn for your video!
It's a dope console for sure. Thanks for watching buddy!
that looks awesome. im going to see how much itll be to get one here. im guessing this isnt being released on the scale of the retron 5?
Yeah it's a smaller company so it'll be a smaller scale thing. Hopefully it's successful though so they can get some more units
+RGT 85 fingers crossed. it looks very good either way 👍
If I would not already have a Super Retro Trio (which is a pretty good system) I would definitly get this one. Looks dope!
+Ranson Curbersmith it's a really great console for sure
This seems to be one of those consoles that I probably should have and then track down all the games I want to. Yes, including some of those Tengen ones.
It's pretty awesome!
How would the picture and sound come out on an original NES if you used standard composite video to and HD converter to an HD TV?
Something like the Framemeister that upscales it makes it great. Common ones, not so much.
Does it utilize the zapper?
Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley are classics, but I wonder how they might work in a non crtv.
Nope, gotta have a CRT to do light gun games.
I think this is a great product if you are a hardcore NES fan, but for me, I would say the Retron 5 is where it is at. You simply get so much bang for your buck, and once you get used to using it, playing games from literally 10 different consoles is seamless.
Fair for sure. I do love my Retron 5 as well.
sold great system review I'm picking this up thanks
Thanks for watchin!
I need this!!!! $180 is ok for a retro gamer if they want to play it the right way and have a crispy clean screen. I want to buy one, when is the release date?
I agree. Comes out middle of next month.
Looks awesome! I'm curious if you can force English translations with the system for Famicom games? I know that's asking a lot, but I think it would really boost interest in owning games for the system.
To my knowledge you cannot as this isn't emulation like the Retron 5 is.
+RGT 85 I was hoping for some wizardry seeing how awesome it is, but I guess I was hoping for a bit too much. Still really impressed.
Kind of specific question but do you know if it can play Famicom Disk System games? It looks like the form factor might not be right but was just curious. Also any idea if unlicensed or bootlegged software is compatible?
+Mike TheGamerGuy I've been told it does and has a port on the console for it
The AVS video is stretched the Retron5 was original 4:3 box. Is that from the console or did you have the tv set to stretch mode? I'm not a fan of stretched video.
I think that's just me not being a great editor and I stretched the image when putting them side by side.
What do you mean AVS had no glitches? The sprite disappeared when it got hit and blinks right on the screen when you were saying that.
Sprite flicker happens on the original NES, too, because it can't output more than 8 sprites on the same line
Didn't the Japanese CV3 have an extra channel, for drums or such? I wonder if that works. Also, I remember Kirby having quite a serious slowdown on occasion, similar to Super Mario Bros. I wonder if those extra sprites would fix that?
+Jari Heiska yeah it could for sure. It varies from game to game.
Hi isn't the Famicon version of Castlevania 3 the one with the advanced sound chip?
+Matt Hardwick yes I misspoke.
Man, that's a really compelling buy. The Famicom slot may sell it for me. I'm using an adapter I scavenged out of a Gyromite cartridge to run Famicom games and it's kind of a pain in the ass.
lol I could imagine
this is awesome man
+Venegas Albino it's pretty sick!
Great video!
Thanks bud
anytime!