My journey into the world of emulators has begun once again with the new Retroid Pocket 3+. The new emulation device scene that has popped up over the past couple years has really been interesting. Basically someone in China realized they had a bunch of smartphone spare parts and figure it out something to do with them. I've been dabbling in it off and on for over a decade now, so I thought it was time to see what all the fuss is about.
The first observation I have is that at this point in time, the updated systems are coming out fast and furious. Back in August I thought about picking one up. The Retroid Pocket 3 was just about to be released, and the Retroid Pocket 2+ had a nice little discount on it.
Just a few weeks later though, they announced the 3+ was going to come out, and it was a far superior device with a lot more power and a hard drive about four times bigger. This apparently pissed a whole bunch of people off who had just bought the standard 3. There's even one big reviewer of these systems out there who while giving the 3+ a nice review adamantly said no one should buy it because of how quickly the turnaround was.
That seems to be the norm right now though. These handheld emulators are going to see minimum to updates a year for the immediate future. It won't last too long I don't think, but it looks like the developers are finding ways to easily refine the setups and they're getting access to better and better cards.
Anyway, I'll be setting this up for another day or so, but I'm going to try and give some regular updates just in case anyone might be interested in picking one of these up for their kids or younger family members.
The first observation I have is that at this point in time, the updated systems are coming out fast and furious. Back in August I thought about picking one up. The Retroid Pocket 3 was just about to be released, and the Retroid Pocket 2+ had a nice little discount on it.
Just a few weeks later though, they announced the 3+ was going to come out, and it was a far superior device with a lot more power and a hard drive about four times bigger. This apparently pissed a whole bunch of people off who had just bought the standard 3. There's even one big reviewer of these systems out there who while giving the 3+ a nice review adamantly said no one should buy it because of how quickly the turnaround was.
That seems to be the norm right now though. These handheld emulators are going to see minimum to updates a year for the immediate future. It won't last too long I don't think, but it looks like the developers are finding ways to easily refine the setups and they're getting access to better and better cards.
Anyway, I'll be setting this up for another day or so, but I'm going to try and give some regular updates just in case anyone might be interested in picking one of these up for their kids or younger family members.
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
The only two complaints I have at this point are pretty minor. The start and switch buttons are on the top of the device. Right next to the r1 trigger. Kind of an odd place for them, and you really can't easily reach them while playing. Fortunately the times when you actually need to use those buttons are pretty rare so not a huge deal.
The other complaint is with the case itself. As you can see I chose the NES style case. It uses a plastic that while I won't say it feels cheap, it just doesn't scream out super durable. There was an option for an N64 style that uses the atomic purple plastic that Nintendo was so big on at the time. That is supposedly a more textured plastic that feels more comfortable. In hindsight I probably would have gone with that now.
Still, this is overall a solid device. Fits comfortably in the hands and lightweight. It hits that sweet spot where it's not too small for an adult pair of hands, but not so big that it's cumbersome to transport or even play for extended periods of time.
With the exception of the PlayStation emulator everything went extremely smooth. For some reason the default PlayStation emulator they provided didn't want to work in the Retroid Launcher (the program that houses all the emulators in one group). Ultimately I just opted to set it up outside of the launcher. That's not really a problem, as most of the value the launcher offers is strictly aesthetic.
Just some early impressions after messing around with it but not seriously playing anything for an extended period of time:
Looks very much about the same size as a Switch Lite. I'd ask if it doesn't feel off that the two joysticks are so low, but remembered that Playstation has them in that backwards configuration too.
But GOD DAMN!!!!! The encounter rate for the battles is just ludicrous. They really padded the fuck out of this game. I did a little homework on the game's history, and the game was criticized for that even back then when I encounter rates were the norm.
I think that's actually what killed my interest in it the first time. When ToD originally came out I know I played really close to the end and then just quit. Anyway I'm not sure I'll proceed much more with this. I've enjoyed revisiting it, but after 10 hours of these battles, I'm not sure I can deal with another 30.
You make me want to purchase this. I wish I had the extra income.