Modern Retro Handheld Game Players thread

[yakumo]

6 minutes ago, bradigor said:

 

Steam Deck is the answer. 

 

I did get VT from Dreamcast on my RG351m also. But not the greatest performance.

Yeah I can't imagine wanting anything else than a Steam Deck for emulation, the only negatives would be battery life is poor on the Deck and it's not small.

[bradigor]

8 minutes ago, yakumo said:

Yeah I can't imagine wanting anything else than a Steam Deck for emulation, the only negatives would be battery life is poor on the Deck and it's not small.

 

I still love my 351 for 8 and 16-bit and want a vertical for handheld systems

[earlymodernsteve]

Dreamcast works well on Retroid Pocket 2+ (and presumably 3). I'll still use my Pocket for the portability factor once I've got a Deck but can see why just having the Valve beast would be a viable option.

[Paulando]

1 hour ago, Ftsthe said:

Are there any devices that can run the Virtua Tennis games? 
 

I don’t have a device at the moment or a pc to download roms but would love to try that game as a huge tennis fan

Yeah, there should be quite a few now. The Linux-based 4:3 devices would struggle to hit 60fps without frameskip I think, but virtually all of the 16:9 Android devices would manage. The Retroid 3 should handle DC pretty comfortably and it isn’t too expensive. There’s also a more powerful Plus version out soon.

 

And yeah, the Steam Deck is the holy grail of handheld emulation, but it’s massive (which is why I own a few of these handhelds too), not the cheapest, and overkill for DC stuff. Amazing device if you’d use it for other stuff too though.

[Paulando]

https://www.goretroid.com/en-gb/collections/frontpage/products/retroid-pocket-3-handheld-retro-gaming-system-1?variant=43622652608736
 

Actually, the Retroid Pocket 3+ is up for pre-order tomorrow. Seems to be a pretty nice spec bump over the RP3, but probably not enough to play PS2 and GC perfectly.

 

 

 

[Ftsthe]

On 07/11/2022 at 19:45, bradigor said:

 

Steam Deck is the answer. 

 

I did get VT from Dreamcast on my RG351m also. But not the greatest performance.

I thought that might be the case! Sadly a Steam Deck is out of my price range for the foreseeable future. Have you tried it on there?

 

I did have an RG351m too but as you said, it didn’t run well

[Ftsthe]

On 07/11/2022 at 20:55, Paulando said:

Yeah, there should be quite a few now. The Linux-based 4:3 devices would struggle to hit 60fps without frameskip I think, but virtually all of the 16:9 Android devices would manage. The Retroid 3 should handle DC pretty comfortably and it isn’t too expensive. There’s also a more powerful Plus version out soon.

 

And yeah, the Steam Deck is the holy grail of handheld emulation, but it’s massive (which is why I own a few of these handhelds too), not the cheapest, and overkill for DC stuff. Amazing device if you’d use it for other stuff too though.

great! Thank you. I’ll look into the Retroid 3! I had presumed all of the devices outside of the steam deck would really struggle to do Dreamcast at a decent performance 

[bradigor]

40 minutes ago, Ftsthe said:

I thought that might be the case! Sadly a Steam Deck is out of my price range for the foreseeable future. Have you tried it on there?

 

I did have an RG351m too but as you said, it didn’t run well

 

Yeah, I played it yesterday in the back of your post. Ran really well 

[Paulando]

I pre-ordered a Retroid Pocket 3+ yesterday 

 

Shipping on the 18th. It’s the same chip as the Powkiddy X18S, which can run N64, DC and PSP with ease, and can do certain PS2/GC stuff apparently, but I have my Steam Deck for that.

 

Got it in the clear blue colour obvs, which reminds me of this:

 

 

Think it looks like a lovely little pocketable device for some late 90s/early 00s retro gaming, for which the Steam Deck is a bit overkill.

[bradigor]

Are the powkiddy systems any good? 

 

Keep seeing the RG20S(I think) promoted in tiktok and I am tempted by a smaller vertical for the kids at Christmas.

 

 

 

[AK Bell]

12 minutes ago, bradigor said:

Are the powkiddy systems any good? 

 

Keep seeing the RG20S(I think) promoted in tiktok and I am tempted by a smaller vertical for the kids at Christmas.

 

 

 

Yeah, it reviews pretty well as one for the kids. Powkiddy tends to be a bit more on the cheap and tacky side but if you can get it for a decent price that's fine.

 

I have their older, smaller v90 and again it's a cheap thing fine for the kids that I end up playing more than my big handhelds. 

 

 

[bradigor]

Good to know thanks! 

[hollowman]

That Retriod 3 is a thing of beauty, is there a site anyone would say is the best to use to preorder to be sure it’s here before Xmas? I’ve looked around and they all differ so much, 

[bradigor]

I generally use Droix and have always had a good experience

[AK Bell]

Retroid Pocket 3+ is out soon and seems a much better spec in a similar build for not much more money. Worth researching.

[bradigor]

Question about MAME on these systems. What is the limit of what they can run? Will things like the Tekken games run? 

 

Talking about the 353 Anbernic systems and above.

[Paulando]

Received my RG353VS yesterday. Was underwhelmed with the display at first as it looked a little too contrasty and warm, especially compared to my Miyoo Mini, but I changed a few parameters in the image adjustment shader in RetroArch and got it looking lovely.

 

I went back to the Miyoo to compare, and actually that looks too green now, and the motion blur was distracting (the RG353 doesn’t have this - I think it’s a 120Hz display?), so I think it’s just what I was used to 

 

Anyway, it feels gorgeous to hold, real quality device, and the form factor is wonderful. Especially good for SNES games and other 16-bit stuff I reckon, and the sticks work well for PS1 games.

 

A great way to test these devices is to test with the Super Mario/Donkey Kong ‘hold run with the tip of your thumb and press jump with the bottom of your thumb’. This is quite uncomfortable on the Miyoo, and I find it difficult to play SMW well on there, but it’s super comfortable on this.

 

[AK Bell]

On 14/11/2022 at 16:30, bradigor said:

Question about MAME on these systems. What is the limit of what they can run? Will things like the Tekken games run? 

 

Talking about the 353 Anbernic systems and above.

 

I've not used MAME much, tbh. Always seems a hassle and doesn't run as fast as other emulators. I think because they try to be accurate.

 

I don't have an equivalent but I'll have a mess about with MAME on my Odin. Something I've been meaning to try. 

[Paulando]

Been playing the RG353VS more, and I love it so much. I really love the d-pad and buttons, and it’s quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever played 16-bit stuff on (genuinely!). Wonderful for Neo Geo stuff too.

 

The vertical form factor just does it for me. Because the controls are all hidden away at the bottom, it really makes the display pop. It’s like when you buy a great pair of headphones and it’s makes you want to listen to your music collection again 😄

 

[AK Bell]

@bradigorI can't even get the roms to work on any of the MAME cores on RetroArch. I hate MAME. 

[bradigor]

Fair enough. I tried Tekken 2 and it ran at 15fps so guessing it is just much older stuff still.

[AK Bell]

16 hours ago, bradigor said:

Fair enough. I tried Tekken 2 and it ran at 15fps so guessing it is just much older stuff still.

 

I got Tekken 3 running on a version of MAMEdroid and it ran great on Odin. It's about the only thing I got running on anything else. Maybe you'll have better luck if you know how to MAME proper with proper rom sets and their versioning. 

 

But looking at the console ports, on emulators I can stand and run fast, 353 starts to struggle on PSP and PS2 stuff it doesn't look good for 4 and up anyway. 

 

I think I'm just going to take MAME off. FinalBurn Neo works great despite being stuck on older stuff. But at least I can get them to work without any faff.  

[bradigor]

Yeah I also had no sound on one of the Tekken games. I have a clean Romset, can't remember which though, I may need to update what I have. 

 

I'm not sure what I have on FBN again will need to check I think. 

 

 

[AK Bell]

1 minute ago, bradigor said:

Yeah I also had no sound on one of the Tekken games. I have a clean Romset, can't remember which though, I may need to update what I have. 

 

I'm not sure what I have on FBN again will need to check I think. 

 

 

I couldn't find anything 3D on FBN, never mind Tekken. 

[bradigor]

I don't even want to play Tekken, so not sure why I am so bothered by it

 

I think it is just one of those curiosity things. 

 

I did play some Turtles last night though, still plays well such a fun game. Then wasted a couple of hours on Puzzle Bobble 4 

[Paulando]

 

Oh my actual god.

 

(via Portmaster)

 

Playing it on a device like this is truly magical 

 

Also had a lot of success with a bunch of (2D) arcade games - but only when I’ve placed them in the arcade ROMs folder and not the mame folder, oddly.

[Qazimod]

On 27/08/2022 at 08:50, Qazimod said:

GPD Win 4 leak game is underway. Some renders are out that make it look like an expensive PSP, and claims about it being faster than Steam Deck are circulating.

 

It's all a bit meaningless at the moment - faked images of new consoles are nothing new and anyone can make claims about specifications - but maybe an official announcement will be on the way.

 

 

[bradigor]

7 hours ago, Paulando said:

 

Oh my actual god.

 

(via Portmaster)

 

Playing it on a device like this is truly magical 

 

Also had a lot of success with a bunch of (2D) arcade games - but only when I’ve placed them in the arcade ROMs folder and not the mame folder, oddly.

 

Hmmm I just get a black screen. 

[Paulando]

1 hour ago, bradigor said:

 

Hmmm I just get a black screen. 

I heard that’s an issue with stock OS. This is running JelOS, which has PortMaster built in 🙂

[bradigor]

3 minutes ago, Paulando said:

I heard that’s an issue with stock OS. This is running JelOS, which has PortMaster built in 🙂

 

Yep I am running JelOS so not a stock issue