Cheerful Ghost had a booth at this years Portland Retro Game Expo and as part of that ran several NES Tournaments. It's a fun thing people enjoy and as we were winding down our first tournament and setting up for our second my NES died. Having your Nintendo die at a retro gaming convention isn't the worst timing I suppose but I wasn't sure if I should buy a replacement NES or get it repaired. I wanted to get it repaired but I didn't have time to track down some repair person at the expo so I decided to try something different. That day I had seen Hyperkin's RetroN 3 for sale and I was interested in trying it out in our tournament. The RetroN 3 plays NES, Genesis and Super Nintendo games and you can use the included Hyperkin controllers or use your own. After I bought it from a vendor I plugged it in and it worked like a charm.
After owning it for a month now I can finally say that it is a really great system. It's not a perfect choice for everyone but if you are looking for a good way to play old NES, SNES or Genesis games this is a great option.
What The RetroN 3 Gets Right
The RetroN 3 perfectly recreates the gameplay and feel of the original NES, SNES and Genesis. So far I've been able to play every game i've thrown at it and the games themselves feel great on it. You can plug in one Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Genesis game into the top of the RetroN 3 at one time making it nice to switch around from Mortal Kombat on Genesis back to Dr Mario on the Nintendo.
The RetroN 3 came packed well in the box and I didn't find it hard to unbox and setup. Sometimes packaging and setup can be frustrating, but it was really easy to understand. I had to lookup how to pair the wireless controllers to the system but after that was done everything else was a breeze.
Customer Support through Hyperkin is also amazing. My system shipped not able to recognize my original Super Nintendo controllers so I contacted Hyperkin and they quickly allowed me to return my RetroN 3 and took care of shipping. The whole process was seamless and I got my replacement system back in a week or so. It's often hit or miss when dealing with returning things back to the manufacturer so it's nice Hyperkin was so great to work with.
Things I don't Love About The RetroN 3
The included RetroN 3 controllers seems built for the Sega Genesis. As someone that only has two Genesis games and a ton of Super Nintendo games this was disappointing. The Genesis style controllers work well for Nintendo games but completely fall down on the Super Nintendo. The lack of shoulder buttons make playing SNES games on the included controllers a chore. So much so that I'd recommend using your original Super Nintendo controllers with the system. That all said the included wireless controllers are fine and work well on Nintendo and Genesis games I just seriously wouldn't recommend them for Super Nintendo play, which is too bad.
Things You Should Keep In Mind About The RetroN 3
The RetroN 3 only supports RCA analog video & S-video. If you are looking for a system that will output to HDMI I suggest you check out the RetroN 5. The RetroN 3 is a good system for older CRT TV's but nothing i'd recommend using with your zillion inch HD TV set.
After owning it for a month now I can finally say that it is a really great system. It's not a perfect choice for everyone but if you are looking for a good way to play old NES, SNES or Genesis games this is a great option.
What The RetroN 3 Gets Right
The RetroN 3 perfectly recreates the gameplay and feel of the original NES, SNES and Genesis. So far I've been able to play every game i've thrown at it and the games themselves feel great on it. You can plug in one Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Genesis game into the top of the RetroN 3 at one time making it nice to switch around from Mortal Kombat on Genesis back to Dr Mario on the Nintendo.
The RetroN 3 came packed well in the box and I didn't find it hard to unbox and setup. Sometimes packaging and setup can be frustrating, but it was really easy to understand. I had to lookup how to pair the wireless controllers to the system but after that was done everything else was a breeze.
Customer Support through Hyperkin is also amazing. My system shipped not able to recognize my original Super Nintendo controllers so I contacted Hyperkin and they quickly allowed me to return my RetroN 3 and took care of shipping. The whole process was seamless and I got my replacement system back in a week or so. It's often hit or miss when dealing with returning things back to the manufacturer so it's nice Hyperkin was so great to work with.
Things I don't Love About The RetroN 3
The included RetroN 3 controllers seems built for the Sega Genesis. As someone that only has two Genesis games and a ton of Super Nintendo games this was disappointing. The Genesis style controllers work well for Nintendo games but completely fall down on the Super Nintendo. The lack of shoulder buttons make playing SNES games on the included controllers a chore. So much so that I'd recommend using your original Super Nintendo controllers with the system. That all said the included wireless controllers are fine and work well on Nintendo and Genesis games I just seriously wouldn't recommend them for Super Nintendo play, which is too bad.
Things You Should Keep In Mind About The RetroN 3
The RetroN 3 only supports RCA analog video & S-video. If you are looking for a system that will output to HDMI I suggest you check out the RetroN 5. The RetroN 3 is a good system for older CRT TV's but nothing i'd recommend using with your zillion inch HD TV set.
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Wow, I heard you were going to post a review during the last Roundtable, but I wasn't expecting it so soon. I'm glad you really like it. From what I read, it seems like some games don't work as well on it. As for the controller, I sadly never owned a Genesis and finding a 6-button controller, I think, is difficult. Luckily, I do have NES and SNES controllers. I did buy a mini-Genesis years ago and the controllers look a lot like the RetronN 3's, except black.
I think hunting down some classic games and having this system would be awesome! That kind of stinks that there's no HDMI output. I think I have an S-Video cable somewhere around here.
I've only played NES games on it, but I agree that it worked fantastically for that! I really appreciate that you can use original controllers with it.
Get a 5 and review it! :)
Wow, the 5 does GB and GBA? Now I want one.
The 5 is all software emulation. I am definitely interested in it. But I hear the NES port feels like it is going to break your games.
> But I hear the NES port feels like it is going to break your games.
Ah right, that's something I forgot to put in my review. The connects are REALLY tight. It does feel like they are going to harm your games but don't seem to? I have serious reservations though so I don't really take them in and out very much.
> I don't really take them in and out very much.
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