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FerretGamer wrote:I've got several SFC games on the way from Japan so I'm excited to try them out. It is amazing how much cheaper the SFC versions of certain games are compared to the NA release.

Awesome! I am going to do the same thing when I get some extra funds.

What games did you get?

Didn't the SFC version of Final Fight have Guy playable? I know they eventually released a Final Fight Guy in the US, but I'm not paying that much for a copy.

graffix_13 wrote:

FerretGamer wrote:I've got several SFC games on the way from Japan so I'm excited to try them out. It is amazing how much cheaper the SFC versions of certain games are compared to the NA release.

Awesome! I am going to do the same thing when I get some extra funds.

What games did you get?

Didn't the SFC version of Final Fight have Guy playable? I know they eventually released a Final Fight Guy in the US, but I'm not paying that much for a copy.

A fairly decent list of games at a fraction of the price.

Super Donkey Kong 1, 2, and 3 (DKC)
F-Zero
Super Metroid
Super Bomberman
Rock N Roll Racing
Hagane
TMNT: Turtles in Time
Hamelin no violin hiki
Doremi Fantasy
Battle Racers
Pop'n Twinbee

I would get Final Fight Guy on SFC since it's pennies compared to the US release.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:I try to go North American if a North American copy of the game exists.

I try to, but for stuff like Hagane... yeah.

graffix_13 wrote:Didn't the SFC version of Final Fight have Guy playable?

It did not. They had memory constraints to work with. I always thought Final Fight Guy was a silly solution when they could have done a special edition somewhere down the line that had all the characters.

At least the Sega CD version is pretty sweet... not that it helps Retron 5 owners.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Amazon... Black...

My heart goes out to all those still waiting on the black units from Amazon.

graffix_13 wrote:ExedExes, you'll have to give a review of your console when you get it. I'm sure you were planning on it anyways; and it's not like I don't 'trust' other reviews I just....well, hell I just will trust yours more, lol.
I'm curious as to how the Retron controller will play with shmups too. Specifially the analog/micro-stick thingy and it's responsiveness.

I sure will. I'll try the controller with some of the stuff I got. I'm really interested in trying it with Firepower 2000 on the SNES.

FerretGamer wrote:It is amazing how much cheaper the SFC versions of certain games are compared to the NA release.

It's a real difference with a lot of games. But like Bone, I'll probably be looking for exclusives and/or those SFC releases that were censored/watered down for North America.

I'm also hoping I don't run into any of those serious issues some have reported, such as firmware updates not applying, Genesis games not working, etc. Someone on Facebook just posted a good piece of advice, if a cartridge isn't being recognized, give it a slight pull back.

Has anyone who preordered from VGMX heard anything about their preorder? I am still in the "Awaiting Fulfillment" status.

Anyone interested in the bugs & fixes process needs to check out NintendoAge's Retron 5 thread starting on page 47. The user Tanooki has been working very closely with Retron Tech from Facebook and they've been going back and forth, with him pointing out the bugs and the tech sending back beta versions of upcoming firmware to try. He states that he is now testing firmware version 1.3, which should eliminate all GBA save games being erased issues. 1.2 fixes just GB and GBC saves for now. He has tested this beta firmware with FF6 Advance and it looks like the saves are properly transferring back to the original cartridge without loss of data. Also, this Retron Tech has also been working with others who are pointing out any more bugs and getting back to them quickly so it looks like Hyperkin's tech support is trying their best to make sure we get the best experience. The marketing and PR teams, well that's another story.

He also pointed out the proper way to save games on your cartridges so that you get the save games back with your new progress onto the original media. It looks like you need to do these steps so that you do not lose any save data.

The process is pretty straight forward.
(1) Place in game, let it load to 100%.
(2) Go to the option for the game save and use the TOP option to Send Save to the Retron5, this will take the newest data off your GBA game and overwrite what is on the R5 storage.
(3) Play game on the R5.
(4) Save game as normal within the game on the R5.
(5) Then go back to the game menu, and do Copy to Game Cart, and it will upload the new data to the cartridge.

This is going to be great for the GBA games once 1.3 comes out.

Less than 24 hours now. Can't wait.

If time permits, I will also try the R5 controller on some of my other SNES shmups (Axelay, Hyperzone, Gradius III, Darius Twin, Super Nova, UN Squadron)

Even when I finally get it, I will continue to monitor their Facebook and forums for any further developments with firmware/pre-orders/etc. I want everyone on RB who got one not to lose hope.

on an unrelated note... so did hyperkin reveal anything on E3 ? didnt they tease something N64 related back then stating, wait for an E3 announcement? when i saw the teardown pics of the retron i thought maybe thats for N64 or something..

The latest update is out. Now I can play X2.


The RetroN 5 v1.31 software update has been released. Changes include:

- Fixed problem writing saves back to cartridge for GBA games using the SRAM and FLASH save types
- Fixed regression that caused SuperFX games to malfunction after saving/loading a state
- Tweaks to power control which fixes several NES/Famicom games that were previously triggering a "power error"
- Fixed an issue causing removal of SD cards to occasionally not be registered
- Fixed small error with button mapping display where + and - on the wireless controller were inverted
- Added support for SNES CX4 games (Megaman X2 etc)
- Added support for NES mapper 95

This is fantastic news! It seems the biggest issues with the system are already being ironed out. I was really worried when I saw X2 and X3 were having issues.

However, it might be a while before I get mine. Black console from Amazon...

Yeah, got beat to the new update. Keep in mind 1.31 was a late update to 1.3, 1.31 adds the Megaman X2/X3 support, mainly because Retron Tech didn't have the games to test it with, but it looks like he got in contact with someone who does, hence the new 1.31.

The big thing here is that GBA saves are fixed. Now I can test it with the 90% of my games that have that.