Nearly two months ago I bought one of these on impulse from a local shop. While my handheld gaming interest these days is nearly non-existent with the exception of the occasional tablet session, the idea of playing SNES cartridges wherever, whenever was too much of a temptation to pass up. As luck would have it, my procrastination of about a year or so let me skip ahead to the second release of this system, where many of the issues surrounding this console have been rectified.

I was hesitant to call this a review mainly because I actually haven’t tried all of its features yet. I have so many other ways to play SNES that I’ve never used the controller ports or its TV-out capability. I have however, put it through its paces as a handheld system with several of my favorite games.

I like:

• The controls feel like those of a decent controller, comfortable in my hands with the right amount of resistance.
• The screen is crisp with excellent colours.
• Speakers are surprisingly clear and more than loud enough, headphones sound great too.
• Lightweight considering its size, even with a cartridge installed.
• Decent battery life.
• Comes with a black velvet bag to store it which I think is a great bonus.

I don’t like:

• Insert obligatory famiclone remark about some games being incompatible.
• No low battery indicator.
• Cartridge locking mechanism is useless.

Overall I’m very pleased with its quality and performance. Other than a low battery indicator I wouldn’t change the design at all. A few years ago they wouldn’t have been able to make something affordable like this. The screen alone would have taken a hit. If they ever release a Sega Genesis version of this, I’ll gladly buy one of those too… several months after the early adopters complain about the bugs and they get fixed!