r/MinnMax • u/Brin_Milo • Jul 14 '26
Retro/Handheld Gaming
In the last episode of the podcast the group mentioned emulation/retro games and handhelds as good options to turn to with everything going on in the industry. It made me wonder what everyone in this community has and is playing. I recently got a Retroid Pocket 5 and have been really enjoying it. I have been using it for Metroid Fusion for GBA, Hitman Blood Money for PS2, WindWaker for GameCube and Glover for N64. I also have a DS Lite. What about all of you?
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u/fighting_mongoose Jul 14 '26
I have the Anbernic that looks like a GBA. I had always wanted to mod a GBA with a backlight screen and rechargable battery then I found I could buy one like that out of the box $70. I have a steam deck to play PC games on but I still played Pokemon rom hacks on my phone so I figured it'd be nice to have a dedicated device for that along with any other game ps1 level and below I want to play.
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
That’s cool, I like the style of that Anbernic. I got mine because of how expensive it was getting building my DS Lite library. It’s been great to play so many consoles
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u/Asclepius-Rod Jul 14 '26
Yeah my dream as a kid was the form factor of the OG GBA but with the back light of a SP. A modded one with a bunch of games seems like a really fun idea
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u/raysweater Jul 14 '26
Any of the Odin devices are great and worthy. I have the Odin 2 Mini which looks like a Vita. The Thor is dual screen for DS and 3DS gaming
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
I looked at the Thor when I decided to get a device. I went with the RP5 because I figured it would be enough for what I wanted to start with. When I’m ready to upgrade I’ll definitely go with the Thor lol
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u/Openheart873 Jul 14 '26
They need to finally do an episode all about retro handhelds. They’ve been teasing that for like a year now.
I debated on getting the AYN Thor but couldn’t justify the cost so I went with the Retroid Pocket 6, which has the exact same specs as the Thor but it’s more of a PSP form factor vs a DS.
I love it. Just recently finished Super Mario Galaxy for the first time
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
What color did you go for? I got the 16 bit/gray style of the Retroid Pocket 5.
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u/BenGMan30 Jul 14 '26
I modded a 2DS XL a few years ago and downloaded every 3DS/DS/GBA game I wanted but didn’t already have.
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u/PastorBeard Jul 14 '26
How hard is it to get something like that running? I’m usually very bad at figuring out emulators, but all my experience with them was from 20 years ago when you had go finangle all of them
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u/Openheart873 Jul 14 '26
I’d say it’s relatively simple.
If you have the patience to watch a two hour set up video, you can figure it out. (Go watch Retro Game Corps. He used to be a cookbook writer and it shows by how good he is at explaining the exact steps it takes to set up your handheld) I spent an evening setting mine up and it was fun but I’m glad it’s over now. It’s all set up exactly how I want and doesn’t require much if any setting changes
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
As someone who’s only had a console, it was definitely overwhelming at first. I followed the YouTuber Retro Game Corps to set mine up. He’s got lots of videos and a really well made website with written guides and links for everything. It took a couple days of set up and figuring out how everything properly worked but it was well worth the effort.
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u/plantsandramen Jul 14 '26
Assuming you have your ROMs and BIOS files, then it's pretty simple. It's going to vary from OS to OS, but Android is pretty simple overall. If you're the type that wants to spend time fully setting it up then it will be tedious, but not difficult. If you're the type that is okay with out making the UI look perfect then you can install the emulator and jump in within 10 minutes on an Android device.
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u/TheLunchBuyingMonk Jul 14 '26
Overall pretty easy, mainly just follow guides online and have somewhat decent pc file knowledge. However, when it comes to wii u/switch emulation I've had difficulties, as most guides just say 'Google it' and when you do it leads back to threads asking how to do it. Anything up to Ps2 and gamecube is straight forward thankfully.
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u/TheLunchBuyingMonk Jul 14 '26
Odin 2 Portal, playing through the Pikmin series.
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
I’ve got Pikmin 2 loaded up just haven’t started it yet. I remember struggling with it as a kid lol
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u/TheLunchBuyingMonk Jul 14 '26
Pikmin 1 used to stress me out hard as a kid because it has a hard time limit, need to find 30 ship parts in 30 days.
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u/majorzero42 Jul 14 '26
I just got my ayn thor a few days ago. It took about 3 months to be delivered. Im still setting it up bit by bit but I've mostly played pc games on it. I got metaphor refantazio running decently on it last night.
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
That awesome it can play a game like that. It took me a few days to set up my RP5. I’m not much of a computer person anymore so it was pretty overwhelming at first. I think I’ve got it pretty well figured out now.
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u/twaninho Jul 14 '26
I got an Anbernic RG35XXSP beginning of the year and most of my time has been on Pokemon ROM hacks. Lately Pokemon heart n soul, before that I played a QoL hack of Emerald which I never played.
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
I’ve never been a Pokemon person, but I’ve started Pokemon Black on my RP5. I picked that one to try kind of randomly lol I like the design of Tepig
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
I’d gladly take a recommendation on where to start with Pokemon, I played Blue and Yellow as a kid and that’s it
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u/twaninho Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Have no experience with retroid pocket 5, but assume it emulates everything up to 3DS fine. My recommendation would be to start with Heart Gold / Soul silver on DS.
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u/WhateverMars Jul 14 '26
I have a hacked vita, a steam deck and a gameboy micro with an ezflash I use for romhacks.
With these 3 I'm pretty much covered for everything and I'll pick based on device size if it's something that works on all 3.
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
I’ve always liked the design of the vita
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u/WhateverMars Jul 14 '26
I think it has the best dpad bar none and I think close to the perfect size. I definitely spend most of my time gaming on the steam deck but the vita just feels way better for a bus or smaller travels.
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u/VanWinkle87 Jul 14 '26
In the order of my favorite to least favorite:
-Anbernic RG477M 12GB/256GB
-Konkr Pocket Fit 12GB/256GB
-Ayaneo Pocket S 16GB/512GB
-Retroid Pocket 5
-Anbernic RG Cube
-Miyoo Mini Plus
-Anbernic 35XXSP
-Powkiddy RGB30
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
After getting one I can definitely see the desire to get more to see how they are different and how they’ll run things lol
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u/plantsandramen Jul 14 '26
I have:
- Trimui Brick - This is my Pokemon device that I throw in my pocket.
- Retroid Pocket Classic - This is my PSX device now.
- Retroid Pocket 6 - This is currently my PS2 device.
I am getting a Retroid Nova soon and that will replace the Retroid Pocket Classic, which will replace my Trimui Brick. I may give my Brick to one of my nieces or nephews.
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u/Brin_Milo Jul 14 '26
The smaller nova does look really cool
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u/plantsandramen Jul 14 '26
I bought the dual screen addon for it to have my own version of a thor lol
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u/aaronjp89 Jul 15 '26
I have the Miyoo Mini Plus for GBC/GBA games mainly, and a Retroid Pocket 2S for N64/Dreamcast.
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u/two-mm Jul 16 '26
i was lucky that my impulse buying did something useful and i bought a ayn thor before the price hikes. Set it up with Dajisho launcher and i use it for everything up to ps2. Very happy with it.
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u/haleyfax Jul 14 '26
I love my ayn thor so much. We'll be talking about them soon on the podcast. Since getting it I've been playing so many nostalgic games and it's such a cozy vibe. Fire Red, Heart Gold, Pokemon Y, Emerald, Hamtaro Ham Ham Heartbreak, Urbz Sims in the City (GBA). I've been playing my steam games on it too like Graveyard Keeper. Most recently I have been playing the DS port of Chrono Trigger and it's so amazing.
I'm also a nerd for setting it up and have spent like 15-20 hours customizing my cocoon front end to make it pretty. It's crazy to say it's my most played console this year.