Retro-Bit Retro Duo 2 in 1 Console System - for Original NES/SNES, & Super Nintendo Games - Black/Red

This console claims to play NES and SNES games and I've found it to do so well. I've essentially bought it so for a few reasons. I have a big CRT TV in my garage I'd like to play NES/SNES (my consoles are inside) and I'd love to preserve my original consoles. After doing a painful amount of research I had learned that the retro duo was the most compatible out of the current lineup of clones. They all seem to have a fatal flaw and in this case it had been said that the NES sound was a bit wacky. Almost like the sound is distorted from being over driven. I had actually bought the parts needed to "fix" the sound on the NES side. I'm not sure if later version 3.0 models we're revised but the sound for the NES sounds pretty clean and very close to the original. No mod needed. I'm more than satisfied with the NES performance. I actually pulled my apart and the NES on a chip is much different then the pictures I had seen online. It appears they have improved it although I did notice that Castlevania III no longer works.The SNES side is wonderful. You would be hard pressed to find irregularities on the SNES capability.You know what else is pretty cool about this? It uses SNES ports and this has a benefit to the NES side as well. Both the NES and SNES used the same gamepad controller chip. If you're handy with wiring you can pick up an NES and a SNES extension cable, cut them open, match the colors and splice it back together to make yourself an adapter to use an NES controller.The included controllers are not bad and can get you by but I'd recommend you round up the originals for sure.The game slots themselves tend to really hug the cartridges. Especially the NES. The fix that I ended up with was to just keep my game genie in the slot so I'm not wrecking the console itself.You should really make it a point to find the originals but this clone console is not bad!EDIT: I decided to do a side by side comparison of Super Mario Bros. and Kickle Cubicle. The Retro Duo is spot on. Sound and all.I also decided to create an NES to SNES adapter so that I could plug in an NES controller. Fortunately, the SNES gamepad has the same gamepad microcontroller as the NES except that it has two of them to drive the extra buttons. This means they are essentially the same. I purchased a Retro-Bit SNES 6-Feet Extension Cable and an NES extension cable also by retro-bit. The wire coloring differs from the authentic NES/SNES wiring. Here is how they are laid out:NES extension cablePin # / Color1 brown2 orange3 black4 red5 yellow6 blue7 greenSNES extension cablePin # / Color1 green2 blue3 yellow4 red7 blackHere is how you need to wire them together:SNES Side / NES Sidegreen / yellowblue / orangeyellow / blackred / redblack / brownThat's all. Now you can use a NES controller to play your NES games with the retro duo.Source of NES/SNES pin layout: [...]

Works Great! For original cart's anyways.... Idk hardly anything about these ..like new "aftermarket" carts ppl are making an selling nowadays. I hope so... Cuz I just bought one of those that's the SNES English version of Clocktower..it's coming from Hong kong..ugh..fingers crossed guys. Will update if possible!!

Good product

First the positive. The best thing I can say about this system is that it plays SNES games pretty close to perfectly. Even Super Mario RPG worked which seems to be pretty hit or miss on a lot of these clone systems so right off the bat this gets major props for SNES compatibility. The inclusion of S-video is a nice option but on my HDTV I actually thought it made games look slightly worse so unless you have an older TV set this probably isn't a big plus though it isn't like you have to use it so the inclusion of S-video isn't a minus either. Also, the unit is compatible with original SNES controllers so you can actually control games as they were intended. The included controllers felt a little cheap but I actually didn't use them so as far as I know they might be perfectly good.In regards to NES playback things get a little bit more dicey but I'd still call this the best clone that I've used for NES purposes. Once again, compatibility is great and even Castlevania III worked which as far as I know doesn't work on any other clone systems. Also, major props to Retro-Bit for doing a good job of mapping the buttons of the NES to the SNES controllers. Some other clones I've used map A and B on the NES controller to A and B on the SNES controller which just ends up being awkward. The Retro Duo Twin instead maps A and B to Y and B (the two left most buttons on the SNES controller) and this ends up being a much more natural feeling placement than other systems have. It's a nice little touch.Some of the NES games that I can confirm worked on my unit are: Super Mario (1,2, & 3), Castlevania III, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2 & 3), Super Dodge Ball, Super Tecmo Bowl, Rainbow Islands, StarTropics (1 & 2), Rad Racer, Contra, Super Contra, Zanac, Kirby's Adventure, Kabuki Quantum Fighter, Goonies 2, and Robowarrior.Now for the negative which also mainly relates to the NES half of the unit. It's hard to describe but the NES sound just isn't "good". This unit doesn't seem to have the problem of other clones where the sound is off key but it is almost a little muffled/staticy. I wouldn't call it "bad" as some other reviews have but the problem is certainly there and I think it's just personal preference as to how much it will annoy you. A lot of music and sound seems to play back with no problem but certain sound effects and tunes seem to not play as clearly as they should. Very unusual problem. Keep in mind that this only seemed to be a problem with the NES sound as the SNES games sounded just right to me.Second, the color on the NES looks very faded. Things look like they're displaying in the correct color but it's all a bit lighter looking than it's supposed to be. This seemed to be a uniform problem and all of the games I tried displayed this issue.Also the construction of the unit itself feels a bit flimsy. Nothing was broken and everything seemed to work as it was intended but the unit just doesn't have a real sturdy feel to it. Still, it seems like as long as you take care of the unit it should hold up fine.Still, even with the negatives, I think this is a pretty good device. The SNES side is great and even with the problems present the NES side is fine for casual gaming. It definitely didn't stop me and a friend from having a few good games of Super Tecmo Bowl. It is also encouraging that this is the third hardware revision of this unit so it seems that Retro-Bit is actively trying to make improvements and it shows because I'd rate this above any of the other clones I've tried. With a little bit more work it seems like they'll have the NES side working perfectly and I wouldn't hesitate to give a potential future fourth revision a try especially considering the reasonable pricing on these things (another reason I won't knock it too much for the flimsy construction).