January 24, 2020|All Reviews, New Fangled Review, Retro Reviews
By Rob Leggo
Retro-bit is a company that has been known for many years for making new controllers for retro consoles, but in the last few years, they have dabbled in the consoles market. Most of these were systems that would play Genesis, NES and SNES games with an upconverted HDMI output, but in 2016, they made the Generations system, a small console that offered over a hundred SNES and NES games (including licensed games from Data East, Capcom, Irem and Jaleco) that was critically bombed for bad title, emulation and controls. And trust me…it was hot garbage, especially considering that the NES Classic had just come out, and showed everyone how a console like this can and should be done.
So, I was skeptical when the folks at Retro-bit announced they were taking another kick at the can with the Super Retro-Cade. Had they learned anything from their mistakes, or is this just another attempt to cash in on our nostalgia with a cheaply made pile of garbage? (cough cough Atgames cough cough)
The Unboxing
Inside the box, you get the Retro-cade itself, a 5 volt power supply (not USB unfortunately), 2 controllers with 10(!) foot USB cables, an HDMI cable and an instruction manual. I’ve got to say, two things impress me right off the bat…the 10 foot cables are really welcome to see, and including an HDMI cable is something that I’m not seeing all the time anymore either. The red and white colours look sharp, and everything has a more polished look about it than the Generations.
For input/output, we’ve got an HDMI connection, which outputs at 720p, and a composite connection for connecting to an old CRT television for that authentic retro look. Also, there’s the port for the included DC adaptor and a slot for an SD card for additional save state storage. And on the top, is a lone springy power button.
The Hardware
The Retro-cade is an Arm processor powered system on a chip, speculated to be running a version of the emulation frontend RetroArch, and various libretro emulation cores within (MAME for the arcade, SNES9X for the SNES etcetera). The Retro-cade is essentially a Raspberry-Pi like device, but I would speculate its specs are a little beefier, as emulation for both the console and arcade Roms is silky smooth, for the most part.
The controllers are greatly improved from the Generations, if still a little light for my liking. The D-Pad isn’t too squishy, and the buttons are clicky and responsive. Overall, these control great, and will work on PC as well. Which is good, because even though there are a few compatible 3rd party controllers, I wasn’t fortunate enough to have any of them.
** Future Rob here…I found that the version I have of the Retro-Cade is 1.0, and that all new ones released are version 1.1, and one of the features of the new version is a GREATLY expanded list of 3rd party controller support. There is also a few new games, such as R-type 1 and 2, with one game removed, Cobra Command. If you’re thinking of buying one, I’d strongly recommend getting the new version, as they have also added support for more systems emulators…check out the pic below, you’d want to look on the back, right where I drew the white circle…there will be a version 1.1 there if it is the new one…**
So….What About the Games???
There’s a plethora of games here, at over 90 (full list here on their website ( http://retro-bit.com/super-retrocade ) with a good mix of SNES, NES and arcade games from Capcom, Data East, Irem and Technos. I personally love the mix of games here, and appreciate that alongside the Ghouls and Ghosts and Mega Man games, there are lesser known great shooters like Boogie Wings (a game I’d never heard of, but might be one of my favorite arcade side shooters) and Varth: Operation Thunderstorm. I also really appreciate that Retro-bit had quite a few instances where they put in both the console and the arcade version of the game (Bad Dudes, Strider, Bionic Commando to name a few). Its great to see how the versions differed, and how console makers had to work hard to present the same experience with limited resources. Except for Bionic Commando…the NES version of that was 100 times better than the arcade version, resources aside!
Gameplay for the most part is silky smooth, with the very occasional hiccup in one or two games, like Double Dragon or Boogie Wings, definitely nothing which detracts from the experience. One major gripe, is that each of these games defaults to a full screen stretched resolution, as opposed to the original resolution, and you can’t make a mass change, you have to change each game back individually. Also, there are no scan lines or variable filters…you get what you get for video. There is a little bit of pixel smoothing going on, especially on the console games which causes a bit of blurriness, but I found it not anywhere near as bad as on the Generations. Still, options to turn it off would have been greatly appreciated.
**Future Rob here again…so, turns out that on version 1.1, they added the ability to turn off pixel smoothing on a per game basis too. So, one more reason to make sure that you pick up a 1.1 version if you are planning on getting one **
Strider, the arcade ROM (stretched to fullscreen)
Boogie Wings at original resolution. Here you can see some slowdown, but having never played the arcade version, I don’t know if that’s an emulation problem, or the way it always played.
And as always, if the list of games is not near enough for you, it is incredibly easy to add your own ROMs from your own 100% legitimate back up copies of games you absolutely own…by copying them to an SD card and inserting it in the back before you power it on. And they’ve got support for other emulators as well, like Turbografx 16 and Game Gear; a quick Google search can quickly get you rolling there. With your back ups. Yep.
The Verdict
So, is the Super Retro-cade worth your money? Well, at the 80 dollars Canadian right now on Amazon, I’d say yes. It’s got great controllers, solid emulation, and a great game selection, including the only legitimate way to play both Boogie Wings and Holy Diver here in North America. Add to that the ease of being able to put your own roms on this thing effortlessly, and you’ve got a pretty solid retro gaming experience, for a very reasonable price. In my opinion, it’s a great system and a solid retribution for the travesty that the Retro-bit Generations was. Just make sure that if you’re getting it, that you are getting the newer version, especially if you are buying it used…if you are picking this up new in a store, you should be ok, as Retro-Bit has been making the new version only since late 2018. (If you’re interested, and want to help us out at the site, you can check it out at the affiliate link here https://amzn.to/2GhHXB4 )
So, if Retro-bit can turn things around from an awful console, then maybe we can all learn a lesson from this story. Maybe anyone, no matter the grievous atrocities they have committed against the video game world, can have a retribution story, and deserve to be given a second chance? Maybe even….Atgames…
On second thought….screw those guys!
Rob Leggo really is a swell guy, once you get to know him. 20 years in the telecom industry has given him the social skills of a hermit however, so he spends a lot of his spare time with those “vidya games.” He’s a husband to a wife who is WAY too good for him, and a loving father to 3 wonderful kids.
The Grumpy Old Gamers 
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