Retron 5 - anybody got one ?

deadl0ck

Hi all,
I've just bought a Retron 5 on adverts and I hope to pick it up tomorrow.
Anybody else got one ?

Any tips / suggestions ?

First thing I'll do is try some of my Megadrive and Gameboy games on my TV

After that, I may try a few patches etc....

super_furry

Don't have one but I know the controllers are meant to be awful, so you might want to look into getting and 8bitdo joypad instead.

Parawind

Agreed with the Above post, get some 8BitDo controllers. I have the SNES one myself and it works great with the Retron 5.

1. Get yourself an SD card if you haven't one already, this is needed for the firmware updates and I recommend using this for your save files, as you can back them up to your PC should anything happen.
2. Definitely update the firmware before you start playing anything to reduce the changes of incompatibilities.
3. Adjust the filters and video settings to your liking, don't assume the default are the best. (This is 100% just personal preference, so try them out and see what you like)
4. You can download translation patches for Japanese Carts which is a fantastic feature.
5. Save a your preferred default controller and button layout profile so that you have things.
6. Finally enjoy.

I am sure there are a bunch more, but this is what comes to mind at the moment.

deadl0ck

I had an 8bitdo controller for my switch and I got rid of it as it just kept losing the pairing
I'll see how I get on with the RetroN controller for now (but it feels WAY too light for its size and it's just weird)

CiDeRmAn

Had to think about this one.

I had a Retron5 for a year or two, and that's almost as often as it got played.

That is for a variety of reasons, including owning the original hardware.

As a device it's fine, especially when patched, but it is not the most pleasant console to insert or remove carts from, with the casing poorly made.
The picture quality is great, with plenty of filter options to make those 8 and 16 bit games sing on your flat panel display.

The provided controller is utter pants, but the ports are there for Megadrive, Snes and NES controllers, so I'd use one of those instead.
If you must have wireless, go the 8bitdo route as described above.

The machine does not work with any of the Everdrive carts, so if that's where you play your games from you are out of luck.

After I sold mine I didn't miss it at all.
I think there might be better solutions out there at this point, the Retron5 must be three years old now.

All that said, my experience is just that, my experience and entirely subjective.
You'll probably have a ball with yours and good luck to you.

deadl0ck

Thanks Cidey - I'll give it a go anyhow - I was really enjoying some of the NES titles on the Switch, and recently bought an EZFlash Omega for my SP so I think I'm going through a big retro gaming phase right now.
I have my megadrive on the attic with 2 controllers so I might use the controller on the retron for megadrive games.
We'll see how it goes

The Last Bandit

I've got one, its a piece of crap. The controllers are pretty cack as well, on mine over all the D-pad microswitches failed ffs..

So much so that I converted into a RetronPi, much better functionality and reliability.

deadl0ck

I'm quite liking it so far, but yes, I could have went the RPi route.

May do that in the long run