What about these Clone systems...?

[noiseredux]

My local retro shop caries a lot of these 2-in-1 consoles... y'know a NES slot with a SNES slot for instance? Anybody have any luck with these? Are they reliable? Do they accomodate Nintendo controllers, or do they have their own? Etc? Etc?

[fast]

My opinion from working with several:
They dont play all games - Castlevania 3 being notorious in this aspect, and they are usually shoddy in construction, cheap outer case, poor connectors (either too loose or too tight). But if all you want to play are the mainstream titles, they usually work out fine. I would not pay more than I can for a legit system though, even if it plays Genesis, SNES, and NES games.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I just look at it this way, learn to like them because once all the original NES's die theres gonna be nothing left but these and emulators.

[PharmaceuticalCowboy]

I have a Retro Duo. It works fine and accepts SNES controllers. The only issue I've had with a game was Paperboy; the game won't recognize the controls for some reason.

[Hateshinai]

I have a Retro Duo and I have to use original SNES controllers to play NES games. If I use the included ones th controls are all messed up.

[toredauei]

Retro Duo has the best compatibility as far as the clones go. I've had one for a while now and havn't had a problem with it so far aside from paperboy's controls not working which is bizzare. I actually thought it was just my paperboy cart but I'm glad to see that someone else has the problem too.

[nickfil]

i have a retro duo too and it does the job. Feels a little flimsy, but i haven't broken it yet. It wouldn't play a superfamicom game i had. I don't know if that kind of compatibility is important to you.

Also- anything nes that requires an nes port is out. Anything that uses the nes zapper (although, i haven't tried a super scope with it) or powerpad or 4 player port (although, i haven't tried the super multi tap.)

[Dakinggamer87]

I hear RetroDuo works the best but for me I rather have the authentic original hardware.. for my classic systems instead of these replica systems.. unless my old systems broke then maybe if it's cheap enough..

[lost_within]

retro duos are nice...i have one but like someone else noted...it feels like there is nothing there. Also it will play japanese imports...dont know about others. I sold 2 imports on here awhile ago and that is how i actually tested them to be sure that they worked.

[Jrecee]

I have a Retro Duo and I have to use original SNES controllers to play NES games. If I use the included ones th controls are all messed up.

That's weird, mine work fine. Was it just certain games? I still use snes pads anyway since they're better.

I, like a lot of people, prefer to just have the original system, but after buying the 4th NES that would absolutely not work for me I gave up, and I didn't feel like paying $100 for the toploader. It's also convenient since it plays snes games too so I don't have unplug/replug systems. One thing though was that when I tried to use the S-video instead of the yellow video connector the screen was really dim, dunno if that was my tv, retro duos in general, or just mine.

Overall it's good though, and the red/black matches my master system next to it.