I'm ashamed to say it -- I've always wanted a Super Nintendo but never got around to buying one. Yeah, I've got about everything else around here, so I figured it was time to pick up that system I've always wanted to own.
I thought about getting the official SNES hardware, but I wound up being a bit too tempted by the Retro Duo. Why? For one thing, it was pretty cheap -- I got mine off of eBay for $45 (including shipping) and picked up a "limited edition" one that's red and gold (snazzy!) Also, the Retro Duo plays both SNES and original Nintendo carts. I've got a top loader NES, see, and it's great (everyone knows the original, side-loading NES is notorious for breaking down, right?) That top loader, however, contains just regular old RF output, so you don't get the clearer picture the RCA ports provide.
The Retro Duo has both those standard yellow-red-white RCA plugs and S-Video (the S-Video output only works fine for SNES games -- very inconvenient unless you want to switch plugs out every time you move from and SNES game to an NES one). So I figured that one, inexpensive machine would provide me with both SNES compatibility and provide a clearer picture than my top loader. What a deal!
And, yes, folks -- it is a deal. The unit itself is lightweight and compact and uses standard SNES controllers. The two controllers provided are very light compared to the originals, but they are very responsive. When playing NES games, you're stuck with the SNES controllers as the ones for the original NES simply don't fit. That works well enough, but it's simply impossible to retain the same button layout used by some NES games.
The big question, of course, is how well does it work? Very well, actually. The SNES games I've thrown at it have played very well on the machine. However, there are some problems with the NES side of things.
Yes, some of the sounds aren't emulated correctly. Mostly that means that some of the tones will be reproduced at a higher pitch than they should be. There are times, however, when you'll run across a bit of music or an expected sound effect that just sounds awful. None of that really interferes with gameplay, however.
One thing that does interfere with gameplay is how tightly the machine grips NES cartridges. It grabs those things so tightly that I literally have a fear of breaking a cartridge one of these days. That might just be paranoia seeping through, but I can't help but think there's a faulty design at work here. I haven't torn up a game yet, but I'm waiting.
Also, the build quality is suspect on these units. They're banged out in China in the cheapest factory anyone could find. Mine works fine, but, this thing does have that cheap, "made in China" aura to it. I can't help but think that the quality control is a bit on the lax side.
Another issue is that most games work fine, but some don't. I haven't run across any games that don't work on this, but here's a list of them I found at good old Wikipedia:
PAL Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES) Secret Of Mana (SNES) Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World (SNES)
NTSC Paperboy (NES) Battletoads (NES)
Yeah, that's right. This machine will work on games that are in the European, PAL format. It supposedly runs most games for the NES and SNES released in North America, the U.S. and Japan -- Super Famicon games are included, to boot.
All in all, I have had very good luck with this machine. It's not perfect, but it's a great system for the money and one that I'm thrilled to own.
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