The Video Game Critic

[QUOTE=Josh]One thing that I've consistently heard from various owners of the Retron 5 is how good the picture looks on a HDTV. Have any of you owners played Super Mario Kart for the SNES. I remember buying it off the Wii virtual console and then being seriously disappointed when I played it on my HDTV. It looked like crap - a bunch of disjointed pixels flying at you as you tried to focus on racing. I've kept a CRT just for retro stuff because of that experience.[/QUOTE]

While I don't own a copy of Super Mario Kart to test for you, I did the next best thing...popped in F-Zero and took that for a spin.  All I have to say is...WOW.  The game looked so good.  The tracks were super smooth, the racers looked nice.  I even noticed that Captain Falcon's head moves in the car when you turn left or right...something I never noticed back in the day.  The game looked great and sounded even better.  I really like some of the music in F-Zero and it sounded fantastic coming out of my little set up.  Those 16 bit music tracks really get you pumped up and ready for the white knuckled racing.

So while it's not Mario Kart...it is another mode 7 racer.  The Wii, with component cables can only output a resolution of 480p.  If you're using the regular cables that came with the system it's 480i...which looks blurry.  The Retron 5 is outputing the games at 720p and it makes a big difference in clarity.  It depends on the game...F-Zero is a very 'clean' looking game to begin with...so its jump to HD just enhances that fact. 

Another thing was the controls.  With my currently TV, if I were to hook up a SNES, NES or Genesis...there would be a noticable lag between controller inputs and what happens on the screen.  While playing with the Retron 5 I've yet to encounter any lag.  With a game like F-Zero that DEMANDS tight controls and super fast reactions the game played flawlessly.  I had so much fun, ripping around the tight hair-pin corners.  It was really a treat to play.

As for the codes - I haven't dabbled with them yet.  My understanding is that once you have the code database installed you can simply select cheats from a menu.  So far I've just been interested in playing the games and I've yet to even look at this function.

Yes Leo, that actually is a little more tasteful, but from what I'm understanding is that a new Retron 5 is in the works. The new Retron 5 should have the bugs fixed right, so shouldn't I wait for that one?

There's a production revision that has already been mentioned and it sounds like that's what JustLikeHeaven ended up with. Hopefully it wasn't all talk and that the higher price and changes will rectify issues that folks are having (Especially with the cartridge slots).

But no "Retron 6" has been announced. I honestly wouldn't expect to see a Retron 5 replacement until 2016 at the earliest, although I assume they will continue to make behind the scenes adjustments to the Retron 5. 

The only upcoming Retron that I've seen announced is the Retron x86. This mysterious system will have the capabilities to play MS Dos based games. But not much detail is yet known. It presumably won't retain the Sega & Nintendo compatibility of the Retron 5.

Awesome review!  Thanks for the write up.  Man, now I want one...

Any reason I should buy a Retron 5 over just hooking my laptop up to my TV with a 360 controller playing emulators for free? What advantage do I have? Just playing with the origianl controller? $200 seems pretty pricey to just be able to use the origianl controllers using the exact same emulator I have installed on my laptop for free. The 360 controller is a much better controller then the one included on the retron 5.

I'm just not seeing the value here. You have to pay $200 plus own the carts to play them and it's still just emulation the game you could experience for free via laptop to hdmi to tv setup.

I'm not a huge fan of emulation I do use it occasionally though to try out games I'm thinking about buying for my real hardware. As far as I can tell the Retron 5 is total garbage. For the price they are asking you cold literally just buy every retro console it emulates. Pretty lame imho.

How can you tell the difference from the first line of retron 5s and the second line? Thanks.

[QUOTE=Wallyworld]
I'm just not seeing the value here. You have to pay $200 plus own the carts to play them and it's still just emulation the game you could experience for free via laptop to hdmi to tv setup.

I'm not a huge fan of emulation I do use it occasionally though to try out games I'm thinking about buying for my real hardware. As far as I can tell the Retron 5 is total garbage. For the price they are asking you cold literally just buy every retro console it emulates. Pretty lame imho.[/QUOTE]

Actually buying retro consoles has increased drastically in price over the last few years.. A SNES goes for like $90... I think you're looking at the Retron 5 as being targeted to people looking to buy the original console. In my opinion, it seems like the Retron 5 is more for collectors who already own the consoles (thus they already own a decent library of games) and are wanting to play their games with the few extra perks the console offers:

1. Downsizing the number of setups needed to play your games.
2. No longer needing to replace internal batteries for their vintage games, since it saves to the console.
3. Getting emulation perks such as save states and stuff.
4. Allowing retro collectors to play their games on newer tv's without the need for adapters and cleaner graphics.
5. Still playing your games with the actual cartridge (even if it just burns the game and then emulates it).

I'm not saying that, that is what all people who buy the Retron 5 are looking for, but as a collector these are things that make the console appealing.

From what I can tell there are no different versions of the retron 5 as far as quality. The black and gray versions are identical. There was no second release of improved product