Retroid Pocket 3+ The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess
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Sounds like a fun project.
There have been a few hiccups so far, but so far so good. A lot of these devices come preloaded with games and all the software, but Retroid requires a lot of work, but that allows you a lot more flexibility when you work with the more powerful systems like GameCube and PS2. I probably got another day of prep before I start playing anything.
Just for scale, I wanted to show off the Retroid 3+. As you can see below the entire device is roughly the size of the screen of the Switch. That makes it just about the size of the PSP. Good enough size for me. Just small enough that it actually still feels like a handheld console, which the standard switch really isn't.
The only two complaints I have at this point are pretty minor. The start and switch buttons are on the top of the device. Right next to the r1 trigger. Kind of an odd place for them, and you really can't easily reach them while playing. Fortunately the times when you actually need to use those buttons are pretty rare so not a huge deal.
The other complaint is with the case itself. As you can see I chose the NES style case. It uses a plastic that while I won't say it feels cheap, it just doesn't scream out super durable. There was an option for an N64 style that uses the atomic purple plastic that Nintendo was so big on at the time. That is supposedly a more textured plastic that feels more comfortable. In hindsight I probably would have gone with that now.
Still, this is overall a solid device. Fits comfortably in the hands and lightweight. It hits that sweet spot where it's not too small for an adult pair of hands, but not so big that it's cumbersome to transport or even play for extended periods of time.
The only two complaints I have at this point are pretty minor. The start and switch buttons are on the top of the device. Right next to the r1 trigger. Kind of an odd place for them, and you really can't easily reach them while playing. Fortunately the times when you actually need to use those buttons are pretty rare so not a huge deal.
The other complaint is with the case itself. As you can see I chose the NES style case. It uses a plastic that while I won't say it feels cheap, it just doesn't scream out super durable. There was an option for an N64 style that uses the atomic purple plastic that Nintendo was so big on at the time. That is supposedly a more textured plastic that feels more comfortable. In hindsight I probably would have gone with that now.
Still, this is overall a solid device. Fits comfortably in the hands and lightweight. It hits that sweet spot where it's not too small for an adult pair of hands, but not so big that it's cumbersome to transport or even play for extended periods of time.
I've also finished the setup for all the emulators then I'll be using it this time. I've got the Saturn and N64 ones downloaded, but at this time I don't really know what I'd be doing with them so I didn't complete setup. There's just nothing on N64 that I need to play anymore, and I don't think I even have anything for the saturn. Plus even the very best Saturn emulators can't play even half of the library at a passable rate, if they can play the games at all.
With the exception of the PlayStation emulator everything went extremely smooth. For some reason the default PlayStation emulator they provided didn't want to work in the Retroid Launcher (the program that houses all the emulators in one group). Ultimately I just opted to set it up outside of the launcher. That's not really a problem, as most of the value the launcher offers is strictly aesthetic.
Just some early impressions after messing around with it but not seriously playing anything for an extended period of time:
With the exception of the PlayStation emulator everything went extremely smooth. For some reason the default PlayStation emulator they provided didn't want to work in the Retroid Launcher (the program that houses all the emulators in one group). Ultimately I just opted to set it up outside of the launcher. That's not really a problem, as most of the value the launcher offers is strictly aesthetic.
Just some early impressions after messing around with it but not seriously playing anything for an extended period of time:
- all of the 8 and 16-bit systems work like a charm. No surprise there.
- the PSX emulator has an upscaler on it, so it's kind of cool to see that little bump in graphical improvement for a few of these games
- the Dreamcast games play super smooth. Crazy taxi I'm super fast and didn't show any signs of slow down or tearing. It's so great to actually hear offspring's music while playing again.
- I've only tried out two GameCube games so far, but aside from a little bit of slow down on thousand year door, they were both shockingly good.
- PS2 games weren't quite as successful. I only spent extended time with Dragon Quest 8, and that seemed to be running it around 70 or 80% speed with occasional drops down to about 50%. So it's not great. There are some things I can do to optimize, so I'll spend some time with that and see if it works. It also pushes the system pretty hard and it gets kind of warm. I'll be curious to see what that actually feels like after 30 minutes.
Looks very much about the same size as a Switch Lite. I'd ask if it doesn't feel off that the two joysticks are so low, but remembered that Playstation has them in that backwards configuration too. 
Yeah, that's not an issue for me. 20 years of dual shock PlayStation controllers have grounded into my head that this is the correct position.
Oh, there's one other feature I forgot to mention. Because this is ultimately an Android device, you have full access to the Google Play store. In my case, I've been buying stuff off of there for 10 years. So I can actually play all of my games from there. I've tested Stardew Valley and it seems great. So it should be nice to have a handheld version of that with actual controller support instead of just touch screen.
So this weekend I spent a solid chunk of time with the PS1 "classic," Tales of Destiny. I really enjoyed this game when it was released. Everyone was making 3D games, and then along came this 2-D game that looked great, and still had a new innovative battle system.
But GOD DAMN!!!!! The encounter rate for the battles is just ludicrous. They really padded the fuck out of this game. I did a little homework on the game's history, and the game was criticized for that even back then when I encounter rates were the norm.
I think that's actually what killed my interest in it the first time. When ToD originally came out I know I played really close to the end and then just quit. Anyway I'm not sure I'll proceed much more with this. I've enjoyed revisiting it, but after 10 hours of these battles, I'm not sure I can deal with another 30.
But GOD DAMN!!!!! The encounter rate for the battles is just ludicrous. They really padded the fuck out of this game. I did a little homework on the game's history, and the game was criticized for that even back then when I encounter rates were the norm.
I think that's actually what killed my interest in it the first time. When ToD originally came out I know I played really close to the end and then just quit. Anyway I'm not sure I'll proceed much more with this. I've enjoyed revisiting it, but after 10 hours of these battles, I'm not sure I can deal with another 30.
You make me want to purchase this. I wish I had the extra income.
Edited: Mon, 05 Dec 2022 16:41:09
One of the nice things about these devices is that they drop in price fairly quickly because new versions pop up on a regular basis. The predecessor to my RP3+ was $99 during Black Friday and it's only been out for 4 months.
Last night, I dusted off one of the classic arcade beat em ups, The Punisher. The twists with all the weapons, and the overall presentation elevated this game to a completely different level from all the average beat em ups of that time. Really forgot how much I loved this game too.
Really makes me think that Marvel and Capcom need to get together and work out some licensing issues and maybe put out a Marvel collection of games, similar to what they did with the Disney Afternoon collection. Between the beat em ups and the 2D fighters, Capcom pumped out a lot of great Marvel games in the early and mid-90s.
Really makes me think that Marvel and Capcom need to get together and work out some licensing issues and maybe put out a Marvel collection of games, similar to what they did with the Disney Afternoon collection. Between the beat em ups and the 2D fighters, Capcom pumped out a lot of great Marvel games in the early and mid-90s.
My wife broke her foot last week and today she's having surgery done on it since it was a pretty nasty break. As a result I'm in the waiting room of the hospital right now playing The Thousand Year Door on the Retroid.
Overall it's very smooth. The sound hiccups and stutters of little bit, but that's really the only issue I've come across and that's not bad since I can't really have the sound on in the lobby anyway. I also have to admit I'm kind of giddy being able to play this on a handheld.
Overall it's very smooth. The sound hiccups and stutters of little bit, but that's really the only issue I've come across and that's not bad since I can't really have the sound on in the lobby anyway. I also have to admit I'm kind of giddy being able to play this on a handheld.
Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope she recovers quickly.
Nintendo really need to HD remaster The Thousand Year Door.
Nintendo really need to HD remaster The Thousand Year Door.
Edited: Fri, 16 Dec 2022 17:56:58
All of those early Mario RPG games were great, and I think for the most part they all hold up really well. Super Paper Mario is kind of the outlier there. But I'd love to see remakes or remasters at all of them.
In 1995, I got Chrono Trigger for Christmas. At this point in time, there's not too much left to say about the game that hasn't already been said. It's one of the best of all times. For some reason though, I don't think I've played it in over 20 years. So I decided I would give it a go on the Retroid.
My first thought was to boot up the SNES version. But after a few minutes of that, I remembered that the DS version existed. It had to cut scenes that were included in the PlayStation port and it had a few added features of its own. I never really spend any time with that version so I thought I would try that out.
The Retroid does play DS games well enough, but it's a little awkward having both screens positioned horizontally. It worked okay for Dawn of Sorrow, but it's a lot easier if you're just looking at one screen at a time. Chrono Trigger DS moved its menu to the second screen, and it's not that difficult to toggle back and forth, but it definitely slows things down. The DS version also took a hit on the original version sound which I thought was kind of odd. Because of those two issues, I didn't think I'd end up playing very long.
Then I remembered one last version that is out there. Years ago S-E made a mobile port that was very maligned, and considered a very low effort job. I purchased it, with the intention of maybe checking it out one of these days, but years later I never have.
Apparently when they released Chrono Trigger again on steam, they went back and fixed all the problems on the mobile version, so it's actually very playable now. Additionally, they added controller support to the game. For reasons I don't understand S-E does everything they can to not add controller support to their games. They're determined that mobile games can only be played with touch screen controls. Normally it's not a big thing, but it's not my preferred way to go.
Since the retroid fully supports Android games, I was able to play this with an actual built-in controller. I've now been playing it for the past 3 hours, and I've just been marveling at it. You forget just how good this game was even released in 1995. Additionally, it now has widescreen layout support, and the graphics have been touched up a bit. It's not mind-blowing, but I certainly played enough of the original that I can see how things have been smoothed up a bit. It's a genuine improvement.
At the end of the day, I would actually argue this is the ideal way to play this game in a handheld format, if not the ideal way to play it period. It looks great, sounds great, and you're not stuck with two screens or unfortunate touch screen controls.
My first thought was to boot up the SNES version. But after a few minutes of that, I remembered that the DS version existed. It had to cut scenes that were included in the PlayStation port and it had a few added features of its own. I never really spend any time with that version so I thought I would try that out.
The Retroid does play DS games well enough, but it's a little awkward having both screens positioned horizontally. It worked okay for Dawn of Sorrow, but it's a lot easier if you're just looking at one screen at a time. Chrono Trigger DS moved its menu to the second screen, and it's not that difficult to toggle back and forth, but it definitely slows things down. The DS version also took a hit on the original version sound which I thought was kind of odd. Because of those two issues, I didn't think I'd end up playing very long.
Then I remembered one last version that is out there. Years ago S-E made a mobile port that was very maligned, and considered a very low effort job. I purchased it, with the intention of maybe checking it out one of these days, but years later I never have.
Apparently when they released Chrono Trigger again on steam, they went back and fixed all the problems on the mobile version, so it's actually very playable now. Additionally, they added controller support to the game. For reasons I don't understand S-E does everything they can to not add controller support to their games. They're determined that mobile games can only be played with touch screen controls. Normally it's not a big thing, but it's not my preferred way to go.
Since the retroid fully supports Android games, I was able to play this with an actual built-in controller. I've now been playing it for the past 3 hours, and I've just been marveling at it. You forget just how good this game was even released in 1995. Additionally, it now has widescreen layout support, and the graphics have been touched up a bit. It's not mind-blowing, but I certainly played enough of the original that I can see how things have been smoothed up a bit. It's a genuine improvement.
At the end of the day, I would actually argue this is the ideal way to play this game in a handheld format, if not the ideal way to play it period. It looks great, sounds great, and you're not stuck with two screens or unfortunate touch screen controls.
I've loaded up Person 4 on the Retroid and overall the performance is very good. There's an occasional bit of slow down here and there when you save your game and on the rare occasions when there's a lot occurring on the screen. But those instances are pretty far and few in between, so it's actually a near console perfect performance.
And so far the game is pretty much as I remembered. It starts up painfully slow, but once you get a couple hours in, the game switches from constant tutorials to just tons of fun. Soundtrack is excellent too.
Anyway, Chrono Trigger got put on the back burner, and I will get back to one of these days, but I think this is going to be where my attention lies for a while.
And so far the game is pretty much as I remembered. It starts up painfully slow, but once you get a couple hours in, the game switches from constant tutorials to just tons of fun. Soundtrack is excellent too.
Anyway, Chrono Trigger got put on the back burner, and I will get back to one of these days, but I think this is going to be where my attention lies for a while.
Overall, Persona 4 played well enough on the Retroid. The early game was in fact pretty smooth, but once you started to interact with more of the main characters we're introduced. Combat could get get a little choppy, and any scene where the entire team was assembled also got slow. So long as not more than a couple people were on the screen though it was fine. And even when it was slowed down it was playable. I think I could have adjusted the settings a little bit, but it never got so bad that I felt I needed to do that.
At some point I think I will give Persona 3 FES a try. I'm definitely going to need to put some time in between the two games though. As it is I'm just a bit burned out on the formula, and the reality is P4 was the better game as far as how balanced all the aspects are. So going backwards is going to be a little bit rough, though it does have the better story if you compare the two.
As far as what's next I'm not sure. Supposedly there are several 3DS games that are handled pretty well so I might check out one of those. I may do a little more experimenting with some of the GameCube library or the PSP. Probably going to wait for the weekend though.
At some point I think I will give Persona 3 FES a try. I'm definitely going to need to put some time in between the two games though. As it is I'm just a bit burned out on the formula, and the reality is P4 was the better game as far as how balanced all the aspects are. So going backwards is going to be a little bit rough, though it does have the better story if you compare the two.
As far as what's next I'm not sure. Supposedly there are several 3DS games that are handled pretty well so I might check out one of those. I may do a little more experimenting with some of the GameCube library or the PSP. Probably going to wait for the weekend though.
This evening I did a little experimenting with the Retroid to see if I could get Chibi Robo to work. I've had some success with some GameCube games like The Thousand Year Door and Doshin the Giant, so I hoped this would work.
Unfortunately Chibi Robo pushed the GC more than I realized. The screens have a lot going on all at once so it's unfortunately too slow to enjoy.
Unfortunately Chibi Robo pushed the GC more than I realized. The screens have a lot going on all at once so it's unfortunately too slow to enjoy.
Definitely jealous you can play Saturn and Dreamcast well on your system. Mine came with several Dreamcast games but all run in slow motion. I may get one of these for use at home; the black one looks great. I primarily got mine to play at work during lunch.
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Foolz (8m)
The first observation I have is that at this point in time, the updated systems are coming out fast and furious. Back in August I thought about picking one up. The Retroid Pocket 3 was just about to be released, and the Retroid Pocket 2+ had a nice little discount on it.
Just a few weeks later though, they announced the 3+ was going to come out, and it was a far superior device with a lot more power and a hard drive about four times bigger. This apparently pissed a whole bunch of people off who had just bought the standard 3. There's even one big reviewer of these systems out there who while giving the 3+ a nice review adamantly said no one should buy it because of how quickly the turnaround was.
That seems to be the norm right now though. These handheld emulators are going to see minimum to updates a year for the immediate future. It won't last too long I don't think, but it looks like the developers are finding ways to easily refine the setups and they're getting access to better and better cards.
Anyway, I'll be setting this up for another day or so, but I'm going to try and give some regular updates just in case anyone might be interested in picking one of these up for their kids or younger family members.