Retrogen Portable Review - Retrogen Genesis Handheld Review

[retrogamingfanatic]

Jack it in (that's what she said!)

[GizmoFan1]

Why does the color randomly give out?

[GizmoFan1]

I just got this with Strider!

[Obviously]

It's not going to work with the Master System converter because the way that worked is it basically had a special pin to tell the Genesis to run in Master System mode which this console on a chip isn't going to be able to do. It'd be hella-awkward anyway.

[bluehawk2121]

nice review man im subbing....one question can u hook up 2 controllers??

[Obviously]

@bluehawk2121

Unfortunately no :(

[LP13TV]

das video was made on my birthday

[wiilover55]

Sonic sounds way lower pitched on tv, it sounds distorted from the original...

[geno344]

Does the Master System converter work on it?

[kempet]

Is there somewhere an EU adapter available as well? I'm living in the EU and would like to purchase this as well, but the different type of Voltage could be a problem.

[RileySkye100]

how do you try to get stereo on Retrogen?

[bondovwvw]

Is the gen mobile better ? It kind of seems like it?

[GizmoFan1]

@bondovwvw The screen is FAAAAAAAR worse.

[SuperMLSA]

why does the screen keep switching from b&w to color??

[Deokishisu]

As much as I wanna play Moonwalker and Phantasy Star II on the go I can't live with that crappy sound emulation. Thanks for the upload tho.

[sonicsean89]

Was it just me, or did the music for Sonic sound really off?

[bogart266]

Damn the sound on that is ooooooooooooooooooooooooooff. Although I wish retrogen the best because I would like a new console that plays genesis games for the sake that the older consoles are just that, old and bound to eventually die.

[x1ic1x]

this kicks ass they live at least a hour or 2 hours from here!

[vintagevideogamegeek]

Cool hair.

[shebadfatty123]

Can you save games on the retrogen?

[Flexdawolf]

The GEN MOBILE is way better than the Retrogen............it comes with 20 licensed sega games such as Sonic and Knuckles,Shinobi 3, Altered Beast,Alex kidd, and many more rather than Retro Gen's unlicensed games that suck!

[devilmanakira]

Marble Zone on background, played on piano.

[SyzygyD]

I bought one of these while making out a Boxing Day order. The first thing I plugged in was Toki, worked fine. But one I was really looking forward to playing, the next one I plugged in, Zombies Ate My Neighbors. It stalls at the title screen. Before I went nuts trying to clean the contacts, I googled the two and via Amazon apparently that cartridge is incompatible. It's the only one I found but still it's too bad; that was one of my Genesis faves.

[PiedPiperOfHameln]

i think sound chip is crap in this device

[aryinc]

yeah and since the music is like one of the most important thing on the genesis,the music was real good in genesis games and is something that shouldn't be fucked up cause it will brake the play value.who want's to play sonic 2 with fucked up sound?.

[Scioneer]

It is a little off. I think its due to not having a z80. The Genesis 3 had the same issue. On all but two of my games, the Retro-Gen sounds dead on, but Lightning Force and Sonic 2 are slightly off key. Also, the internal Speaker is crap so headphones are your best bet. The Nomad's speaker totally owns the Retro-Gen's speaker. However, the Screen on the Retro-Gen is freaking awesome. Its very sharp, better than a GBA SP's screen. Overall, its not too shaby, but not the perfect Nomad Replacement.

[Ace9921]

If the Genesis wouldn't have a Z80, it wouldn't even work correctly. The Genesis 3 DOES HAVE A Z80. The only reason why it has compatibility problems is because the cartridge slot is missing some connections to the Genesis-on-a-chip(developed by Sega; Majesco made the motherboard and casing). It's a common misconception to say that the Genesis 3 has no Z80 because you can't see it, but it's integrated within the GOAC. The RetroGEN uses a Titan ARM chip with a crappy emulator put on it.

[Scioneer]

I wouldn't call it crappy. The Pocket PC( another ARM-Based platform) Genesis emulators are way behind the emulator on the Retrogen. Pocket PC emulators barely run and either have no sound, or slow down even more with sound.

[Ace9921]

Well at least, AtGames did SOMETHING right! But still, there's no excuse for Sega licensing this. If Sega wants to license something so that they can put their name on it, they should license something THAT ACTUALLY WORKS THE WAY IT SHOULD, not the piles of steaming crap AtGames churned out(Asian AtGames MegaDrive, European Blaze MegaDrive(these two suck even more - THEY WON'T EVEN PLAY SONIC 2 WITHOUT GRAPHICAL GARBAGE!!!), and the American hardware: FireCore, GENCore, RetroGEN, GENMobile)!!!

[asams1996]

that's because they use windows ^^

[xargos]

Ummm... the Genesis did support stereo even though you say otherwise. Not just two speakers playing the same thing, but true stereo. You also talk about the D-Pad being round as if that were odd, but the one on the original Genesis was, too.

[amed899]

you talking to much

[Mewzyc]

i want to play the MJ game

[boomshamwow]

come out with more reviews... gonna get sega just for pit fighter

[TeekyDangerTwin]

nice review...i was originally going to get the retro-bit, but u couldn't play with cartridges and it didn't have a rechargeable battery...now im gonna get the retro-gen...keep up the good reviews

[tehsonicmasta]

dude you suck at retro games. losing rings at the first bridge in sonic 1...(sigh)

[dasreviews]

Sorry, but I was trying to show sound details when I screw up. I am all about the flawless speed runs!

[Swimmingchao]

Don't worry about it man, some people just live to nitpick. Hell, I suck at Sonic 1, but I'm really good at Sonic 2. Also, I noticed the sound was a bit off in Sonic 1. Was that because you have a stereo TV and the game is mono or vice versa? I think Sonic 1 might have been stereo actually. It sounded like a layer of sound was missing. Great video by the way.

[aryinc]

when they come with an improved nomad i will buy it,this is a step in the right direction but where like 20 years ahead of the genesis it could be done better then this.i think the sound is one of the most important factors in the genesis.maybe there are mods to change thec sound and make it spot on,so far this looks pretty solid but the sound better turned out.

[GamerBoyGU82]

is it just me or is the sound off key?

[jwrocks13]

do a review of the genmobile and the gencore and compair them to the firecore and the retrogen please =)

[rexlex13]

I just bought one and every game i tried has froze- Has anyone else had this problem-- maybe i got a defect

[powerbook86]

I have this handheld. There is a lot of confusion about the SD slot. There is NO SD slot. They are making a cartridge with an SD slot for NEW games and downloadable games. I was disappointed that the built-in games weren't SEGA games but just a bunch of lame games. Oh well.

[mattt9998]

they can not include genesis games with out paying for licensing on them and that would have raised the price of the unit by at least $5 per game they included if not more

[Dncemnky]

looks cool, but i got a psp with cfw all the emulators i need :)

[jschelberger]

Will my Game Genie work on this?

[PimpUigi]

I can't believe he said they didn't support stereo.

My Genesis has a stereo AV cable.

[dasreviews]

The original Sega model 1 was RF switch included., separate AV's were almost impossible to come by. Sega model 2 on the other hand had the more available dual AV outputs. This unit is running on 1 output channel.

[hakemon]

@dasreviews AV cables are easy to come by, but are mono only. However, a special cable from radioshack goes from headphone jack to the stereo AV jacks on your TV or even amp, and you got wonderful stereo sound..

Retrogen btw IS in stereo sound, but on headphones only, kinda like model 1 Genesis.

[hakemon]

@dasreviews Or atleast, is supposed to be stereo, they list in the specs it's in stereo for headphones..

I just ordered my retrogen and won't ship out till later today.

[Dant2142]

@dasreviews Due to the design of the M1 Genesis's A/V port It can't output Stereo, HOWEVER, The Genesis has all of the necessary sound circuitry for Stereo sound.

The only way you could get Stereo out of an M1 Genesis is via it's headphone jack.

[ddhhT]

Well I can tell you that lock sonic 3 and knuckles don't work, it only boots sonic and knuckles,Ms Pacman won't work correctly,Zombies ate my neighbors don't work at all. Thats all I can say for now, I'll post future incompatabilities if I experience any more

[steveoee]

will uk megadrive games play on it ?

[Stereorage]

I HEARD that this handheld also supports an SD card? Am I right? Or is that another handheld genesis player I'm thinking of?

[anthony360]

i heard that to

[Stereorage]

Just checked another video, and it indeed does use an SD card. The only thing that was not specified, was if it would play actual roms. I doubt it would.

[diosoth]

I take it there is no normal headphone jack? Just the AV out?

[jango52577]

It's a shame the sound is so terrible. It's such a cool product. I may buy one anyway if I get some birthday money this year. Leave it to Sega to approve or release a lousy product... :-( I may buy a GN Twin with two extra controllers instead and a few NES games. I love Kirby's Adventure and Contra.

[sonicwashere]

How come you did not show us the acctual screen? Is it hardware or emulation because when you first did the vid at e3 you said it was hardware?

[lester4025]

is this actually made by SEGA?

[dasreviews]

This is allowed/endorsed by Sega however not actually produced by them.

[legatodark]

Nice now I can take my sega on the go

Maybe I'll get it for my b-day

[nathanallan1]

Good coverage-- please stop the b&w fading-- the retrogen's sound circuit could be better. Why not use a small equalizer board?? Or heck, why not a seperate board for it altogether? When I get one I'm going to try it out.

[yardwork2008]

u have the best hair on youtube;

good to have u back makin vids;

[speedy2davey]

Did you kill your friend!? ANSWER ME!!!

[varmtvand]

LOL 09.01-9.03 - > where is the coin going?.

Looking forward to see more oldschool reviews.

[MrPragmatism]

your first video and the opening of DasReviews :D

Good stuff ol skool fool!

[XSC3]

sound is pitched higher. music sounds really messed up in Sonic 1. shame on sega for not insisting on higher quality control. :(

Pity, guess I'll hang onto my nomad

[L8tN1teSaterdA]

will you show more yobo products?

[L8tN1teSaterdA]

that's cool, it takes the actual cartridge

[optimusmirf]

uhh why does the sonic sound suck? is it because of the lack of stereo?

[Ace9921]

No. It's because of a STUPIDLY PROGRAMMED EMULATOR THAT GETS THE SOUND PITCH ALL WRONG! This is not a real Genesis internally. It's a software emulator running off an ARM processor, not a properly reverse-engineered Genesis.

[optimusmirf]

oh really? that sux <:{

[erazor521]

I'm not impressed with the sound quality but I'll have an easier time getting my hands on one of these than I would with a Nomad. The battery life is no doubt superior as well.

[lordmace2001]

The sound is to slow not worth buying.

[jbmaru]

Thanks for the review, I've been looking forward to it.

I thought the hardware would be equivalent to the Nomad but it's just a different chip running an emulator... The sound inaccuracy is a big disappointment to me. Can you try the Thunder Forces / Lightening Force? If the sound doesn't work for those either I'm not buying one. Other handhelds may offer better emulation, including sound.

[Ace9921]

Thunder Force IV is MURDERED by this machine. Have a look at this video from 2:34 to see what I mean:

watch?v=rtjLGCK1ydI

[jbmaru]

Thanks for the vid mate, I don't understand why the FM sound emulation is so bad on a commercial console whereas it's perfect on PC. Streets of Rage II is even worse. I like the music in MD games too much to be bothered with the Retrogen. I'll pass on that one. Your vids look interesting, I'll watch - and listen. Cheers.

[Ace9921]

You wanna know what's the worst part of all this? Yobo, a known manufacturer of unlicensed clones, actually gets the sound 100% perfect on their FC3 Plus 3-in-1 clone. It really boggles my mind: Sega went to AtGames to license a piece of shit while they could have given the license to Yobo who makes the most accurate cloned Genesis hardware. The FC3 Plus uses real reverse-engineered Genesis hardware, while this just uses an ARM processor with a shoddy Genesis emulator.

[PersianImm0rtal]

FUCK YEAH Moonwalker is the shit!

[thebiolizard]

will this be available in britain?

[snkjack]

very nice, I'm definitely gonna get one. since sound really doesn't bother me I see no complaints.

[koolkitty8989]

Lots of Genesis games use stereo... It was a marketing selling point early in the Genes's life even. (with special deals for sterao speakers to plug into the headphone jack)

Though not until th emodel 2 did the AV port output Stereo. (as well as mono)

[dasreviews]

The early versions of the genesis had a Headphone Jack that was ripped from the second model. It was not true stereo but moreover bridged monaural channels. As you are right about the Model 2 outputting Stereo to separate speaker channels. The sound output on this unit is monaural.

[FFAnimeFan777]

looks similar in size to Sony's  PSP GO.

[koolkitty8989]

It's not just bridged mono through the headphone jack, there is panning, just like Stereo from a Model 2 (or CDX, Nomad, etc). Of course, not all games use stereo effects.

[maximus451]

The sound emulation on Sonic was a deal-breaker... :(

[jointhemasters]

stop playing with the black ang white filters, it looks unprofessional

[worldxjxtrw]

were could I buy this

[gutterguy720]

1. Will it work with the 32X or Sega CD? lol

2. Games look good in widescreen.

3. It's still bigger than a Genesis 3.

[Bylga]

Licensed by SEGA itself? Did they smoke crack when they test this item? Just listen when he play sonic. The sound is so off that segata sanshiro is turning in hes grave!

Show us more off the machine not the huge flat screen tv :(

[hybridRace92]

i thought i was the only one who spoted that, was hoping he show Golden Axe, SF II Champion Edition and Strider.

[Snestastic]

Hey man great video, ive been waiting to see a review of the retrogen :) shame you didn't show games running on the handheld though, would have been nice to see the quality on the retrogens screen :) and whats up with the B&W? bloody annoying lol :)

[samir0504]

Quiero una de éstas!

[sinistermoon]

Not liking the sound at all!  But still kinda cool.

[tommson1991]

Man, might have to get this.

Better than PSPGo.

[hagridandfang]

The sound emulation on Sonic wasn't great.... I guess I'll just wait for a better one of these...

[BohemianBlasphemy]

In 1990, being 10 years old, I discovered the miracle of rechargeable batteries. The original Game Boy didn't eat batteries like other devices, but used and abused it and I couldn't afford that many regular batteries (my dad gave me the Game Boy but made me pay for the batteries and work for the games).

The thing is, devices with a built-in rechargeable battery are quite nice, but rechargeable batteries aren't new for me.

[eric30032]

Cool!

[CMKGraphics]

With Sonic, it sounds like the sound went down an octave.

[coolc101]

good job!!!!

[uncle95]

why did it sometimes lose colour????

[popiBROS1]

wow the sound is messed up

[marvelmania]

Huh Moonwalker sounds so different from what I'm used to. Granted I'm used to the Pal version which is likely way slower than the NTSC version.

I think I'll give the Retrogen a shot.

Having a Megadrive on the go sounds like a good idea to me, and the price sounds right as well.

[varun009]

yay sega!!!

[scottishboy1987]

Looks rather cheap but looks dont count i guess.

[dasreviews]

Actually pretty solid when you plug the cart in. I was rather impressed though from a distance it might look cheap.

[scottishboy1987]

Cool ! That clears it up :) thanks bud.

[maximus451]

What remix of Marble Zone is that?? I'd love the mp3