# Will RetroN 3 work with all NES/SNES/Genesis Cartidges/Peripherals/Adapters/Flash Carts/Ect.



## TeeR (Jan 3, 2013)

Since a Tri-Star 64 may be too expensive and unobtainable I might just get a RetroN 3 alongside a N64 instead (NES, SNES & Genesis in 1). I just wonder if certain things usable on the original console will work on RetroN 3 as well:

-Will all original cartridges work (full compatibility)
-Will all peripherals or accessories (Guns, SNES Mouse, Multitaps, ect.) work?
-Will any adapters or add-ons work (Super GameBoy, RetroGen, RetroPort, Power Base Converter, Famicom Adapters, ect.)
-Will any flash carts or other devices to loading ROMs/Backups work?


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## Armadillo (Jan 3, 2013)

TeeR said:


> Since a Tri-Star 64 may be too expensive and unobtainable I might just get a RetroN 3 alongside a N64 instead (NES, SNES & Genesis in 1). I just wonder if certain things usable on the original console will work on RetroN 3 as well:
> 
> -Will all original cartridges work (full compatibility)
> -Will all peripherals or accessories (Guns, SNES Mouse, Multitaps, ect.) work?
> ...


 
Nope, doesn't have full compatibility. If your flags accurate and you're in the UK and are trying to play PAL games, then you will have even more issues on top of the standard compatablity issues as the system is 60Hz and there are certain PAL games that won't like you forcing them to 60Hz.

All accessories should work. Adapters work as far as I know. Don't know about flash cards, but can't see why not.


Is there some reason you seem to want to keep using inferior hardware over the original stuff? Video output on the clones is worse as well. Both the Snes and Megadrive/Genesis are capable of doing RGB, the retron 3 is s-video max.


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## the_randomizer (Jan 4, 2013)

Armadillo said:


> Nope, doesn't have full compatibility. If your flags accurate and you're in the UK and are trying to play PAL games, then you will have even more issues on top of the standard compatablity issues as the system is 60Hz and there are certain PAL games that won't like you forcing them to 60Hz.
> 
> All accessories should work. Adapters work as far as I know. Don't know about flash cards, but can't see why not.
> 
> ...


 
It's cheaper than getting an NES, Megadrive and Snes individually, especially with exorbitant prices on eBay.


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## J-Machine (Jan 4, 2013)

if you live in north america, the retron 3 is the easiest way to get s-video on genises games (and plays them very well ta boot!) the snes side is for the most part passable but it has compatibility issues. nes side should be avoided as the design switches audio channels and gives a noticeable change in the colour palate of most games. (mind you the nes part can be fixed by a somewhat simple solder job)

if you want a cheap idea get one of those mini desktop pc's or a half decent laptop/netbook and emulate everything/turn your tv into a smart one. only extra you need is a wireless controller like the logitech rumblepad. or buy the systems seperatly. right now clone systems aren't very good except for some genesis ones

also europe uses scart. way better picture and half decent when on a hdtv and you would never need to mod anything to get the best experience.


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## TeeR (Jan 4, 2013)

A possible list of said anti-60Hz games? Because I could then just switch to NTSC games (Just please say some games including Yoshi's Island and Super Mario All-Stars + World work(Either NTSC or PAL)).
The adapters in particular I'm thinking of are:
NES to Famicom
Famicom Disk System
Power Base Converter
Super GameBoy/Super GameBoy 2
32X (At the very least for Knuckles Chaotix)

Anyways, instead of getting any of those _pesky actual systems which take up space, _my mind seems much more fixed on getting one thing for everything.
In fact, how many different video game console cartridges could you play on one system?


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## J-Machine (Jan 4, 2013)

i dunno about the adaptors but heres a vid of someone playing pal games on youtube. hope it helps.


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## Armadillo (Jan 4, 2013)

Far as I'm aware all SuperFX games will have issues as the SuperFX is expecting the console to be 50Hz. Any advanced lockout protected games won't work (Mario rpg, Kirby Superstar). Battletoads has flickering issues at 60Hz, certain version of Super Mario world have graphical issues at 60Hz. Might be a list somewhere, otherwise you will just have to check as you go.

Any PAL games that have a frequency check will fail it. A huge amount have the check and is the reason the mods for the originals are switchable. Pretty similar to the message in the video for the Megadrive game, it will say game is for use on a 50Hz system.

Any that were speed optimised for 50Hz (I think there are a couple) will run too fast.

Maybe for NTSC users they are acceptable, but more trouble than it's worth for people in Europe, unless you have NTSC versions of games & even if you do, you still take the hit on video quality.


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## TeeR (Jan 4, 2013)

So, is there one thing (console) for everything (various video game consoles & their cartridges)?


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## Psionic Roshambo (Jan 4, 2013)

One particular game to note is that Castlevania III does not work in these clone NES systems  (Most of the other incompatible games are ones that people could live without...) 

Unless things have changed, but I have never found a clone NES that would play it. 

On the SNES side of things I hear that most of them will not work with any sort of FX chip games or some of the other chips that Capcom used in some of its games. 

Genesis I know almost nothing about the clones and compatibility.


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## indask8 (Jan 4, 2013)

All those clone consoles are terrible if you seek 100% accuracy and compatibility.
The NES part is the worst, it will play most simple mapper games fine (up to MMC3 mapper, for example Super Mario Bros 3), games with more complex mapper will fail (Castlevania 3, unlicensed games,many japanese games with extra sound...), I'll say 75% compatibility, flashcarts are NOT compatible.

Genesis part is not bad, thanks to the 65K cpu with is very common, main problem is the sound quality, most games will sound off tune, missing sound effects, and some complex games may fail (Virtua Racing for example), 95% compatibility, flashcarts may or may not be compatible, depends if the cartridge slot has been wired correctly or not.

Snes has been cloned very well, even the special chips games should work, only problem will be the SA-1 games (Super Mario RPG, Kirby 3, Kirby SuperStar) they may or may not work, compatibility is different between each clones, sometimes between each revision... also S-DD1 games (Star Ocean, Street fighter alpha 2) may not work either or display corrupted graphics, overall 98% compatibility flashcarts may or may not work, it's gamble buy the real thing if you don't like gamble  .


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## Psionic Roshambo (Jan 4, 2013)

indask8 said:


> All those clone consoles are terrible if you seek 100% accuracy and compatibility.
> The NES part is the worst, it will play most simple mapper games fine (up to MMC3 mapper, for example Super Mario Bros 3), games with more complex mapper will fail (Castlevania 3, unlicensed games,many japanese games with extra sound...), I'll say 75% compatibility, flashcarts are NOT compatible.
> 
> Genesis part is not bad, thanks to the 65K cpu with is very common, main problem is the sound quality, most games will sound off tune, missing sound effects, and some complex games may fail (Virtua Racing for example), 95% compatibility, flashcarts may or may not be compatible, depends if the cartridge slot has been wired correctly or not.
> ...


 
I like how you said it more better.... than me (my brain was on vacation in my earlier post)

For the original poster.

To be honest when it comes to NES SNES and Genesis it's just better to own the real deal and the original game pads (NES Advantage was the one exception for me where an add on controller actually felt right.) After playing on original hardware the next best thing is to go for emulation.

Cheapest way to emulate those three systems is a Wii with a classic controller and at least a 2GB SD card. You can probably pick up something like that on Craigslist for about a hundred bucks.
The compatibility still is not 100% but its much closer than the clone systems for some weird reason. (I suspect game specific hacks for the few that refuse to be emulated easily.) 

I haven't checked on the price of the Retron 3 but even it is only 50 bucks you still need games. Unless your a collector and like to have the physical item on those old systems put on a pirate patch and yell aaarrgghh.... lol (I still buy games for all the consoles when ever I find something interesting, explains the multiples of games I have... sometimes I forget if I have something or not.)


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## TeeR (Jan 4, 2013)

I just realized I could use a SGB Commander Controller on it.


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## chartube12 (Jan 9, 2013)

Did any of you know the retro n3 hyperkin  is now producing is actually a revision? Yeah, better compatibility and sound are the claims.


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## the_randomizer (Jan 9, 2013)

They're still going to look like garbage on an HDTV (unless you use an emulator that isn't the Wii VC), a CRT is a must for that console.


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## TeeR (Jan 9, 2013)

chartube12 said:


> Did any of you know the retro n3 hyperkin is now producing is actually a revision? Yeah, better compatibility and sound are the claims.


 Plus there's already a 2nd model with "Tri-System" on it (Tri-Star?) that IS compatible with Castlevania 3.


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## the_randomizer (Jan 9, 2013)

But like I said before, using this clone console on a CRT TV is a must; if you use it on a modern HDTV, it will look like garbage unless you use an emulator. That will scale it to 480p while filtering the pixels.


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## TeeR (Jan 10, 2013)

the_randomizer said:


> But like I said before, using this clone console on a CRT TV is a must; if you use it on a modern HDTV, it will look like garbage unless you use an emulator. That will scale it to 480p while filtering the pixels.


Unless you use that CRT adapter?(which by the way, is that NTSC?)
Now if only the RetroN 3 had a N64 slot so it'd be like that whole "Tri-Star 64" setup, but affordable and easier to find. What if they made one with a slots for systems like perhaps N64/Atari/TurboGrafx/Neo Geo?


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## Sammimack (Sep 27, 2016)

Armadillo said:


> Nope, doesn't have full compatibility. If your flags accurate and you're in the UK and are trying to play PAL games, then you will have even more issues on top of the standard compatablity issues as the system is 60Hz and there are certain PAL games that won't like you forcing them to 60Hz.
> 
> All accessories should work. Adapters work as far as I know. Don't know about flash cards, but can't see why not.
> 
> ...


So are PAL games still slowed down even though they are running at 60Hz? I know on some emulators you can change the region on a game and it runs fine at full speed. However when you reset the game, it will either have a blank screen or will give that region lockout message. I live in Australia, and trust me, *IT SUCKS* to be in a PAL region. So unless our games are optimised, they will run at 50Hz on old consoles. Otherwise, I will have to import carts from America. So are the PAL games at full speed or 16.7% slower?


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## Armadillo (Sep 27, 2016)

Sammimack said:


> . So are the PAL games at full speed or 16.7% slower?



On a Retron 3 they will be forced to 60Hz, which while fine for some games and gets them running at the correct speed, there are a lot of PAL games that don't like being forced and will glitch or run incorrectly when being playing at 60Hz.

There's also no 50/60Hz switch, so on top of the issues forcing certain games causes, any that have the 50/60Hz check on start up will simply fail to boot.


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