The Retron SQ is a great looking system and that is at the core of its appeal. The system is also a budget console that lets you play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games on a HD TV. This compatibility is its appeal yet ironically it isn’t compatible with much of the Game Boy Advance library. A few years ago, I heard that the system was on the market, and also from day one I heard that it had compatibility issues and that it was indeed too good to be true. A few years later, there have been firmware updates, and the system can now play more games than it could before. It is a console that does about half of what it should, in terms of playing games. Both the blue /pink version, and the gold/black version look (and feel) great. Read on for a review of the Retron SQ.
I have a nice collection of ROM hacks, fan translations, and reproduction carts. Some of the best handheld games are in my collection. Niche and acclaimed ROM hacks and reproduction carts are also in my collection. I think that I have a collection that is just as cool as the Retron SQ. However, whether these games will work on the system is a completely different matter. The Retron SQ was going for around £60 on Amazon recently, so I thought I’d pick it up. The console comes with the newest firmware update (firmware upadate 1.2) already installed onto it (I was happy to see that written on the box when it arrived).
A Blast from the Past
The Retron SQ follows the other Retron consoles in playing games from old consoles. The Retron 1 played NES games, the Retron 2 played NES and SNES games, and the Retron 3 plays NES, SNES, and Sega Gensis/MegaDrive games. However, the Retron SQ plays handheld rather than console games. I can now, after some time with the system, honestly say that the compatibility is nowhere near as high as with any of the other Retron systems. Whether a game will work really is a game of luck with the Retron SQ (although, I did test a lot of ROM hacks and reproduction carts).
I wasn’t expecting that the Retron SQ system would load and display the save data that the player already had on their cartridge. I was expecting that the Retron would show a clean slate, for you to build your save files (I did know that it wouldn’t allow seamless saving). However in actuality, your save from the cartridge is displayed when you boot up the Retron. You can’t continue playing on the go but when you first start playing on the Retron you can start from your last save. The save will just be on the Retron system and from then on you can’t continue from your ‘on the go’ save as the Retron save will obviously continue from where you last left it. I’m aware that I’m not explaining this in the best way. Hopefully you get what I mean. So, when you save the save logs to the Retron console and not the cartridge.
ROMs and Cartridges
The console does not play multicarts or flash carts such as EverDrive. This is a big problem for many people who nowadays have their main game libraries on a flash cart (including me). However, physical media still has a charm to it. The Retron SQ is still a fun console. The way that the console works is that it rips the ROM from the cartridge, and dumps it onto the microSD card that’s inserted into the console. Then, when you next play it accesses the dumped ROM. Then, it saves to the MicroSD card rather than the cartridge. The cartridge basically just ‘unlocks’ access to the dumped ROM each time you insert it into the console to play a game.
I’m sure that there’s a way to ‘hack’ the system to read games directly from the microSD card, but for those that want to play the console the legit way, over 1000 games are in the Game Boy/Game Boy Color library and potentially playble. This system is ideal if you have a large collection of original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games as reproduction carts do not run as well on the system. However, I’m testing a whole lot of them regardless.
Games compatibility
I started off with an original cartridge of Super Mario Land 2. The game loaded quickly, and ran well, with a good frame rate. I then tried a Super Mario Land 2 Color Rom Hack that I had on a cart. The Retron SQ seems to have loaded the original Super Mario Land 2 ROM that was in the system prior. So, none of the color benefits of the ROM hack appeared on screen. The Retron probably read that the game was Super Mario Land 2 and pulled out the ROM of the original game from its memory rather than ripping the new ROM hack version. It’s almost as if the console couldn’t have been bothered to load the more ardious color ROM hack.
Next, I tried a Pokemon Blue reproduction cart. It ran well and was playing fine, until when I tried to save. The game then froze and I had to reset the system and lost my progress. I then tried Pokemon Blue DX, a ROM hack, and similarly to Super Mario Land 2, the system just loaded the ROM of Pokemon Blue that I had previously played. My reproduction carts of both Pokemon Gold and Silver seem to run fine, until you try to save. When you save they both crash, and you have to reset, losing any progress that you may have made.
Next I tried My ROM hack of Metroid 2 which added color. It simply wouldn’t play. The Hyperkin intro screen is all that appears. Next, I tried a reproduction cart of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. It seemed to be playing and running well, until I tried to save and it froze. It had to be reset and although I didn’t lose my original save I did lose the progress I made on the Retron SQ. My copy of Alleyway is a legit cartridge and as expected ran well. Saving isn’t a feature of the game, so it wasn’t an issue. Interestingly, after Zelda Oracle of Seasons not saving (freezing when attemtping to save), a reproduction cart of Zelda Link’s Awakening, ran well and saved just fine. That was a real positive surprise.
My fan translation of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, I’m happy to report, runs well, and saves without a problem. That game is a unverse in itself, and despite its limitation is very ambitious. Metal Gear Solid is another game with ambition. My reproduction cart seems to run, but I didn’t play it enough to learn if it saved correctly or not. It might be a good game, I’ve just never found the need to invest in any game from the series. Next, I tried My color ROM hack of Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land. It booted fine and runs in full color! This was a surprise as the color ROM hack of its predecessor didn’t load properly. It makes me wonder, if Super Mario LAad 3 would have loaded correctly if I had played the legit version of Super Mario Land 3 prior (like what happened with Super Mario Land 2).
Another couple of interesting surprises, were that my ROM hack, Pokemon Red DX runs well and even seems to save without a problem (obviously only onto the Retron system). I wonder, if I owned Pokemon Red, and had been playing it before, if the DX version wouldn’t have loaded, similarly to what happened with Blue DX. My ROM hack/ fan translation Pokemon Green also seems to load and save without an issue. It makes me wonder why Pokemon Blue (reproduction cart) freezes every time I try to save.
The last Game Boy or Game Bioy Color game I tested was a fan translation of “For the Frog the Bell Tolls”. The game, when played on the Retron was glitchy. As in, parts of the screen would flicker as if the sprites had a problem animating. It sounded like there was an issue with the music too. Next I tried the extremely limited GBA games that I have (I play most of my GBA games on a flash cart which doesn’t run on the Retron SQ.
In terms of GBA games, I tried a F-Zero Climax reproduction/fan translation cart that after a long time on the hyperkin intro page, finally transitioned to a loading screen which also took a good long while beore it was fully loaded (as indicated by the loading bar). However, when it did finally load the game ran and played very well. I’d even go as far as saying, it is a better experience playing F-Zero Climax on a big screen as opposed to on a small screen on a handheld. The final game that I tested was a legit version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, after a long time loading the game ran well, but it wouldn’t save correctly. The game wouldn’t freeze, but the save would disappear as soon as you exited the screen and resumed gameplay.
Overall, I’ve tested around thirty games. Less than half work in a good state, and I think I’ll only actually play less than 1/3 of the games for a significant amount of time on the Retron SQ. Despite looking good the Retron SQ doesn’t work from a practical perspective. The system of ripping ROMs and then playing them needs to be more consistent as my experience with Super Mario Land 2&3 showed. If only the game played every Game Boy game that you put in it, it would be a must have console, even if it didn’t play GBC or GBA games. However, that isn’t to say that some aspects of the console do not succeed.
Great controller
The console uses a semi-transparent blue shell that looks great. The buttons are pink and they give the console a kind of futuristic cyberpunk Game Boy look. If I was an art critic the Retron SQ would earn top marks as a piece of art. When you turn the console on a hyperkin logo lights in blue, ironically on a cut corner. The one area where corners haven’t been cut is in graphic and product design. The console uses USB-C for power which is an improvement over the Micro-USB that the Retron 1 and Retron 2 use.
The controller, has the same blue and pink aesthetic as the base console. The ontroller is one of the consoles best features. It uses the SNES pad as an inspiration. The back has grooves that melt into your hands. The triggers are appropriately placed and feel great. The A, and B buttons are convex and have suitable squishyness. The same goes for the X, and Y burrons which are concave. The D-Pad is a highlight. The size and length is perfect for making jumps in Super Mario Land 2 and other precision platformers. Overall, it is a very high quality controller that easily does the job for 8 and 16-bit games.
Conclusion
This review has ended up longer than originally intended because of all the game testing. The Retron SQ continues the line of Hyperkin consoles that play retro games and have great presentation. The system is a real hit and miss in terms of compatibliltiy with games. However, I have tested it mainly on reproduction games and ROM hacks which are less likely to work. When it does work I’m pleasantly surprised. Some of the highlights of games that worked included F- Zero Climax (ROM hack/fan translation), Star Ocean: Blue Sphere(fan translation), and Pokemon Red DX (ROM hack). On the other hand, some ROM hack carts just made the system load the parallel legit cart ROM, such was the case when I tried to load Super Mario Land 2 DX, and the console instead loaded vanilla Super Mario Land 2.
The system is perfect if you have a large library of official Game Boy games, and want an easy way to play them on the TV. Aesthetically, the console looks great,and is probably the best looking console that I own. When it works it works well (plus it has a great controller). It is just up to you whether you want to take the risk of buying it, and half your games not working on it. It is still a fun little console. Happy gaming.
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.