The handheld gaming market is seriously starting to pop, but what are the best retro handhelds? This is a question we get asked a lot, so here's a list!
Do you have one of these? Do you use it? I want one but I’m afraid it’s going to end up another plastic brick in a drawer.
I am on the cusp of getting my playdate and I am very excited for it! Watching the devs in the community discord work is both inspiring and gets me excited for the creative games that are out for it and that are coming up.
I have the RG35XX + 128GB Sandisc SD card + GarlicOS + Best set go. As a toe in the water set up it’s awesome, 4 stops to have damn near everything PS1 and before worth playing, all for under a hund. Just add your few nostalgia hits that are missing and you’re done, like Worms hello?
I picked it over the Miyoo Mini Plus because it was cheaper on the day. They seem much of a muchness, for the most part the USP of either is meh to me, though I did use the mini hdmi for some level/life shenanigans once… I think I would have been happy with whichever one I got.
It certainly has its quirks with the menu button, I never tried analogue stick games with an external controller, because I’ve tonnes of games to get through before I think about Ape Escape.
Their comparison to the old school Gameboy screen is a bit ridiculous honestly. Sure it’s not backlit, but it doesn’t need to be, if there is any kind of light, you can really see perfectly.
I had a Gameboy and an OG GBA, I know what it’s like to desperately look for the right angle/lighting/contrast slider position to try and make sense of what the hell was on screen. Some games with poor contrast like Donkey Kong Land were torture.
Yeah, the OG pea soup gameboy screen is an engineering marvel for it’s time and the game boy pocket is even better, the GBA is too, but an utter failure at actually providing a good user experience.
I have a Retroid Pocket 3+ and an Ambernic RG351v.
The RG is a super Game Boy looking device that handles 8-16 bit very well as well as PlayStation 1 (if you can read the text). Runs Linux and I have a few Linux and DOS Box games installed such as a port of Commander Keen (Genius) and Epic Pinball as well as WinXP Space cadet pinball just cause.
The RP3 is a widescreen Android device that does that + PSP/Dreamcast/Saturn/N64 very well and some GameCube and PS2 (it’s picky). Also it’s android so native Android games can be played on it as well to an extinct. For some reason it won’t let me install the Android versions of Doom., But it can play CoD Mobile.
Honestly I would recommend the RG3XX for the low cost end as you don’t need that analog stick much and RG3+ on the higher end. If you need more, steam deck although you ain’t fitting that even in a JNCO pocket.
It’s an amazing system. Valve is now selling refurbished models for a 20% discount. Presumably they’ll continue selling them in the future when maybe you’ve got room for it.
I’ve got a Data Frog because it was so cheap. I’m sure there’s better out there, but I won’t buy one until it’s both cheap and capable of running Dreamcast games at full speed. (Possibly GameCube as well; I’d certainly appreciate that.)
Now before we go anywhere, the handhelds we are talking about are emulators. That means handheld consoles that use ROMS to emulate old retro games, so there’s no 3DS or PSP being featured here
… But an unlocked PSP can absolutely run old retro games through emulators
My thought exactly, I have read some pieces regarding the age of PSP and how the newer retro handhelds are stronger, but as I read further many of the handhelds aren’t powerful enough to emulate PSP …
Remember that one of the few positives the DMCA included was exceptions for interoperability. Also, these pieces of hardware are generally analyzed and reimplemented rather than copied - which steps outside of patents in general, as far as I know (IANAL). Many ship with roms and games included, though, which is generally not allowed in most countries.
Not sure how I feel about the ranking of the RG35XX compared to the MM+ (or how they called the RG35XX weak when it can emulate some DS and PSP through Koriki). Also, the 351V higher than the 353V? Tf?
I just learned about the whole idea of retro handhelds the other day and I had no idea there were so many options! These look like they would be really fun, but I would have no idea how to load games onto them (because it looks like they don’t use cartridges for the most part?). That’s beyond my tech knowledge, ha ha!
Emulators run ROM images of the cartridges. There are some rather arcane devices that can create these for you, but most people just download them (usually from a website or torrent).
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My 2DS is my retro handheld.
Some of those for sub-$100 don’t look awful.
I won’t ever use them instead of my steam deck though.
Agreed, but having a pocketable handheld is a nice side piece.
There are so many! The PlayDate and some of the clamshell ones look really neat!
I am on the cusp of getting my playdate and I am very excited for it! Watching the devs in the community discord work is both inspiring and gets me excited for the creative games that are out for it and that are coming up.
Group 4 went so quickly, and 5 has started strong!
Indeed, and you’re 1000 orders before me 😅
LOL yeah, but at the current rate that’s only a day or two difference!
I have the RG35XX + 128GB Sandisc SD card + GarlicOS + Best set go. As a toe in the water set up it’s awesome, 4 stops to have damn near everything PS1 and before worth playing, all for under a hund. Just add your few nostalgia hits that are missing and you’re done, like Worms hello?
I picked it over the Miyoo Mini Plus because it was cheaper on the day. They seem much of a muchness, for the most part the USP of either is meh to me, though I did use the mini hdmi for some level/life shenanigans once… I think I would have been happy with whichever one I got.
It certainly has its quirks with the menu button, I never tried analogue stick games with an external controller, because I’ve tonnes of games to get through before I think about Ape Escape.
Hey they’ve got the playdate in there!
Their comparison to the old school Gameboy screen is a bit ridiculous honestly. Sure it’s not backlit, but it doesn’t need to be, if there is any kind of light, you can really see perfectly.
I had a Gameboy and an OG GBA, I know what it’s like to desperately look for the right angle/lighting/contrast slider position to try and make sense of what the hell was on screen. Some games with poor contrast like Donkey Kong Land were torture.
Yeah, the OG pea soup gameboy screen is an engineering marvel for it’s time and the game boy pocket is even better, the GBA is too, but an utter failure at actually providing a good user experience.
I have a Retroid Pocket 3+ and an Ambernic RG351v.
The RG is a super Game Boy looking device that handles 8-16 bit very well as well as PlayStation 1 (if you can read the text). Runs Linux and I have a few Linux and DOS Box games installed such as a port of Commander Keen (Genius) and Epic Pinball as well as WinXP Space cadet pinball just cause.
The RP3 is a widescreen Android device that does that + PSP/Dreamcast/Saturn/N64 very well and some GameCube and PS2 (it’s picky). Also it’s android so native Android games can be played on it as well to an extinct. For some reason it won’t let me install the Android versions of Doom., But it can play CoD Mobile.
Honestly I would recommend the RG3XX for the low cost end as you don’t need that analog stick much and RG3+ on the higher end. If you need more, steam deck although you ain’t fitting that even in a JNCO pocket.
Steam deck is high on my shopping list. I would have bought it already if my phone and laptop both didn’t need to be replaced first.
Phones like 4-5 years old and laptop has problems with the keyboard and webcam.
It’s an amazing system. Valve is now selling refurbished models for a 20% discount. Presumably they’ll continue selling them in the future when maybe you’ve got room for it.
Yeah! I’m really looking forward to it.
Whats the biggest screen device that would play untiss psx and / or psp ?
I’ve got a Data Frog because it was so cheap. I’m sure there’s better out there, but I won’t buy one until it’s both cheap and capable of running Dreamcast games at full speed. (Possibly GameCube as well; I’d certainly appreciate that.)
… But an unlocked PSP can absolutely run old retro games through emulators
My thought exactly, I have read some pieces regarding the age of PSP and how the newer retro handhelds are stronger, but as I read further many of the handhelds aren’t powerful enough to emulate PSP …
I got the powkiddy X55. I only use it for ports. I really feel like the true power of these devices is in ports and native linux ARM games.
What good native Linux ARM games are there?
Ok we can categorise them:
Just look at portmaster for some inspiration.
Thanks, it looks like a pretty diverse range!
How are these not getting sued? Especially the fpga must be violating some hardware patents
Remember that one of the few positives the DMCA included was exceptions for interoperability. Also, these pieces of hardware are generally analyzed and reimplemented rather than copied - which steps outside of patents in general, as far as I know (IANAL). Many ship with roms and games included, though, which is generally not allowed in most countries.
laughs in China laws
This process is known as clean room design if anyone wants to do more reading about this
Yeah I mean fuck the DMCA in general but I can’t imagine the adhoc fuckery that would have replaced it.
I had a Miyoo Mini Plus for a while but just swapped to using my phone with a Backbone controller. Just seemed to make a lot more sense.
Not sure how I feel about the ranking of the RG35XX compared to the MM+ (or how they called the RG35XX weak when it can emulate some DS and PSP through Koriki). Also, the 351V higher than the 353V? Tf?
I just learned about the whole idea of retro handhelds the other day and I had no idea there were so many options! These look like they would be really fun, but I would have no idea how to load games onto them (because it looks like they don’t use cartridges for the most part?). That’s beyond my tech knowledge, ha ha!
Most of them come already full of games. Don’t worry about whether that’s legal.
Lol i like that they come with games bc its easier, but i feel like once the big companies catch on, that will be the downfall of the industry
Emulators run ROM images of the cartridges. There are some rather arcane devices that can create these for you, but most people just download them (usually from a website or torrent).