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Interested in Retro Freak, Have Some Questions


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Hey there,

 

I have every original systems that the Retro Freak emulates hooked in RGB via my XRGB-Mini, but still, the idea of saving room, using save states and game translations is temping. I have a RetroN5, but I really don't like it for reasons I will state when asking questions regarding the Retro Freak.

 

1- How is the lag with the Retro Freak compared to the RetroN5? I've noticed a lot of lagging with the RetroN5 compared to my original systems either hooked directly on my TV or via my XRGB-Mini. As anyone tried the 240p test suite's lag test on the Retro Freak?

 

2- Can I use an NES or SNES Multitap on the Retro Freak? If not, can I use a USB Hub?

 

3- Can the Retro Freak run Sonic 3/2 & Knuckles?

 

4- Does the Retro Freak handle IPS patches better than the RetroN5?

 

5- Does the Retro Freak have an option to boot carts automatically when inserted or can they only be played when the ROMs are dumped on an SD Card?

 

6- I've been seeing videos of people running 32X, SEGA CD and PC-Engine CD games on the Retor Freak, are these hacks available?

 

7- How does VSync handle on the Retro Freak (for all the emulators)?

 

Thank you for your time

Edited by the_importer
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Haven't used mine for some time but to answer your questions:

 

1) It's emulation so there will be some lag compared to original hw.

 

2) You can use a USB hub. It's great for multiplayer.

 

3) Yes, read the post by LiqMat here:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/247050-retro-freak-firmware-update/page-9

 

4) Not sure if better, but can't complain.

 

5) It dumps and runs the cart automatically on insertion.

Separately you can sidelow ROMs to it.

 

6) No, not publicly. I wish.

 

7) There's no tearing as far as I remember.

Edited by Newsdee
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Haven't used mine for some time but to answer your questions:

 

1) It's emulation so there will be some lag compared to original hw.

 

2) You can use a USB hub. It's great for multiplayer.

 

3) Yes, read the post by LiqMat here:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/247050-retro-freak-firmware-update/page-9

 

4) Not sure if better, but can't complain.

 

5) It dumps and runs the cart automatically on insertion.

Separately you can sidelow ROMs to it.

 

6) No, not publicly. I wish.

 

7) There's no tearing as far as I remember.

 

Thanks for the reply. Regarding point 1, I tried an NES emulator on that same TV on my media PC and didn't have the lags of the RetroN5, it ran as good as my original console. Not saying that there's no lag on emulation, but there's different levels of lag and the ones on the RetroN5 made me miss my jumps in SMB.

 

As for point 6, I find it strange that the manufacturers went out of their way to remove CD compatibility from the emulators they "borrowed" from the Internet. I mean the majority of PC-Engine games are on CDs, what a dumb decision -_-

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I haven't noticed much lag. Most lag comes down to how good your TV handles it.

 

Retro Freak is a great little console. By far a better put together console then Retron 5 ever could be. I love retro freak, but I've been playing my RetroUSB AVS nes console more lately. I say if you have a chance to get Retro Freak get it. Being able to dump roms from a cart play directly from a sd card is something that retron 5 should learn from.

Edited by Odin Belmont
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You will want to turn off all scaling filters to reduce lag. Also scanlines are a simple overlay hack and often don't align right with the sprites. Enable scanlines on the GB emu and it looks like pants. Pixels are way bigger than the lines, LOL!

 

Overall, the Rfreak is a nice little gadget to have, but it has many of the same limitations as the R5. Build quality is much better though. Sadly I didn't get the controller adapter with mine and they are impossible to find separately from the system.

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  • 4 weeks later...

1- How is the lag with the Retro Freak compared to the RetroN5? I've noticed a lot of lagging with the RetroN5 compared to my original systems either hooked directly on my TV or via my XRGB-Mini. As anyone tried the 240p test suite's lag test on the Retro Freak?

 

 

I think a lot of this requires a bit more testing but I've found the Retro Freak to have very slightly of a less issue with input lag in general. I haven't had any issues on the Retro Freak barring the exception of using filters seem to really bog down the Genesis emulator latency wise. Filters off, it's fine. So keep the them off and you'll be alright. It might really just depend how picky you are though, neither the Retron 5 nor the Retro Freak are going to be as latency free as an original console.

 

2- Can I use an NES or SNES Multitap on the Retro Freak? If not, can I use a USB Hub?

 

Not sure about multitaps, but yes USB hubs work fine

 

3- Can the Retro Freak run Sonic 3/2 & Knuckles?

 

Yes it runs them fine both from respective cartridges linked up and straight roms.

 

4- Does the Retro Freak handle IPS patches better than the RetroN5?

 

They handle EXACTLY the same. I assume you're asking this because some patches will not work as-is on the Retron 5. This is less of the fault of the Retron 5 and more of just a reality of the limitation of IPS patches. No way to really get around the fact that you might own a different version of a game than the patch calls for or if the patch calls for a header and the roms on the Retron 5 (and Retro Freak) are dumped without one. The Retro Freak has a expects header option but unfortunately it's like the Retron 5 in that it's not 100% fool proof.

 

If it's any help to you (and you may already be aware of this site actually) I maintain a database in which I take patches and fix them (or create them in some cases) to work with the Retron 5 by remaking the patches for all versions of a particular game and/or removing headers from the roms involved. These patches also work on the Retro Freak.

 

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/b5kjabm681te5/Patches_for_Retron_5

 

5- Does the Retro Freak have an option to boot carts automatically when inserted or can they only be played when the ROMs are dumped on an SD Card?

 

It works the same way as the Retron 5. You just have the option to save the dump of your game to the SD card and play it from there or play it "directly" like the Retron 5 (directly being used loosely if you're familiar with the Retron 5's process)

 

6- I've been seeing videos of people running 32X, SEGA CD and PC-Engine CD games on the Retor Freak, are these hacks available?

 

Not publicly and I would say hoping on them to be released is a pipe dream at this point. Nivida Shield TV is a good alternative if support for more roms and emulators is more your style in the end.

 

7- How does VSync handle on the Retro Freak (for all the emulators)?

 

Tearing is absolutely not a problem on this, as far as the flip side of using VSync (input lag) well see the above response I suppose.

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  • 4 years later...

Hi,

I tried to get the SNES Multitap from Hudson Soft running, but with no success.

The multitap works if I set it to 2 players. Then the first slot works but the others don't.

If I set it to 4players, none of the multitap slots work.

 

Anybody managed to get it running?

I really would like to play Bomberman with my original SNES controllers and 4 players.

 

Thanks in advance for any hints.

Cheers, Steffen

 

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