Twenty years ago, Nintendo held the keys to the handheld gaming market. Sega had challenged them with the Game Gear in the 90s, but the Game Boy Pocket, and then the Game Boy Color had comfortably outsold them. Then later, Sony came along and almost outsold the Nintendo DS (for a while) with the high-powered PSP. However, in the end, Nintendo continued to dominate the handheld space. It introduced a backlight with the GBA SP. Then the market changed. The DS revolutionised the handheld space, and Nintendo had new kinds of customers with their Blue Ocean strategy. Then in 2017, the Switch released. Being a hybrid, it can be used as a handheld, or a home console. Now, there are handheld PC’s like the Steam Deck, and many cheap ’emulation handhelds’. At the premium end, a great emulation handheld like the Ayn Thor can emulate almost every machine, even the Switch. The device looks very similar to the 3DS and is as powerful as a Switch 2. The Ayn Thor is around £350. If we look at cheaper options, companies such as Anbernic, Retroid, and others have many emulation handhelds, that each target a different price point. I found the R36T, that uses thick glass to recreate the look of a CRT for £50. I decided to take the plunge, and bought it. Read on for a review of the R36T Retro Handheld.
Setup
The device is trying to copy the aesthetic of old 80s and 90s CRT TVs. It does this with buttons and a D-Pad that look like channel tuners and channel controls, as well as a thick piece of glass that is designed to replicate a CRT TV. The console comes in a nice box and is ready to go as soon as you receive it. A 64 GB micro SD card is inside the system and there are literally thousands of games from a variety of systems even up to the Dreamcast and PSP. That’s right, this system is powerful and I’ve already started some playthroughs on games as varied as Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Golden Axe: Return of Death Adder, and Mario Kart Advance.
So, once you take the console out of the box you can get straight to playing games. By pressing X and Select you can reach the system menu where you can save using save states. Some systems (emulators) have different ways of saving and I still havent figured out how to save with the DS games. The games even have box art which goes to show the work that was put in to presenting the games and emulators on the system. In terms of legality, this thing is definitely a grey area and Nintendo will not be happy, but as this site is dedicated to emulation, it is a great thing that these games are being preserved and we have easy access to these classics.
Performance
In terms of power, the system can run N64 quite well. Ocarina of Time runs well but polygons are laible to morph and disappear at times. However, it is playable. The same goes for Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and even Goldeneye 007. However, the problem with Goldeneye 007 are the controls. As the system only has one analogue stick, Goldneye 007 is basically unplayable even though the game runs well. Then there are classics such as Chrono Trigger on SNES that run well. Mario Kart Advance is a title that I keep coming back to and again it runs well. In terms of PSP I was most impressed with Soul Caliber. It runs well and looks like a PS2 game. The system is clunky and has a massive backside. The ergonomics of it are ok, but it is not the most comfortable system in my opinion. Furthermore, the buttons aren’t the most comfortable or responsive. It’s like, you have access to all these amazing games, but only have an Xbox Duke controller that you play them with.
Conclusion
Overall, as an emulation handheld, the R36T is a huge success and gives you so much value for your money. For £50/$60 you can get access to a handheld that plays SNES, Game Boy, and even N64 and Dreamcast games. This handheld is my first foray into the cheap handheld market and I’m very impressed. While the big companies won’t be happy with the existence of devices like this, the handheld will make the classics accessible to a wider range of people. I can imagine whole families passing this device around to play old Streets of Rage, Pokemon, or Crash Bandicoot games from their childhood. This handheld has problems in terms of controls, such as lacking a second analogue stick for first person shooters. However, even though the experience is slightly compromised in terms of the control you have over gameplay it is more than worth it for the chance to experience some of these games.
BongoBongo123 is an avid Zelda fan who also likes the odd game of Smash. His interests in gaming are broad but he loves a good Metroidvania or action RPGs.