Tag Archive | retro
May 5, 2014  

The Retrode – review


The Retrode has been feeding my retrogaming addiction a lot lately. The Retrode is a USB adapter for video game cartridges: a device to which you can plug in your good ol’ video game carts – several systems are supported – and that makes their content available to another device (most likely a computer). ROM dumping is supported, but it also has much cooler features: you can play the original cartridges on a computer using an emulator (rather than ROM files downloaded from shady websites) and with the original controllers. Something like this:

Super Mario World + Retrode

The main unit, which supports SNES/Super Famicom & Mega Drive/Genesis controllers and games, costs about 65€. Additional consoles are also supported through hardware plugins. This amazing product is made in Germany & shipped from the lovely South-Western city of Saarbrücken. In this article, I’ll give you a quick review of the Retrode’s main functions. Maybe you’ll realize how cool it is & grab one before it’s too late (production has already stopped). Before we start I have to mention that I do not own any Sega consoles – I’m a Nintendo guy! – so the whole post will be very Nintendo-centered.

Packaging side

Even the packaging is classy.

The main unit is a bit bigger than a glass case. When I think about it, that’s pretty much as small as it could be: it packs in 2 cartridge & 4 (2 Sega & 2 SNES) controller ports. A mini USB connector on the back of the device allows connection to a computer. There are also 2 buttons (reset & firmware, the latter being used for special functions such as updating the firmware).

So how does it work? Well, mostly, it just works. Plug in any game – facing outwards –, connect the Retrode to a computer using the included USB cable and… Voilà!

RETRODE in the Finder

The RETRODE volume & its content.

The Retrode will appear in your OS just like any memory stick. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, no drivers are required or anything. Just plug it in and you’re done. A volume named RETRODE should appear. Just open it and you will see up to 3 files:

  • a plain-text configuration file called RETRODE.CFG.
  • a ROM file (if a cartridge is inserted in the Retrode). The extension of this file will vary depending on the console, for example .sfc for SNES, .n64 for… Nintendo 64 (yes! There is a N64 plugin!).
  • another file containing the saved games (if available).

From here, there are several things you might want to do:

  • explore the configuration file (I might get back to this in a future article).
  • backup the ROM and/or the saved games file. Just drag & drop or copy/paste the files somewhere. The ROM file can be played in any suitable emulator. The saved games file can also be used in emulators (although I have not find any way to do this in my favorite emulator – OpenEmu – yet). The saved game file can also be written back to the cartridge. In other words, you won’t have to delete any saved game ever again. Never. Again.
  • play the game directly from the game cart: just launch your favorite emulator, browse to the RETRODE volume and open the ROM file. Your cool factor just went up by 100%.

Whether you’ll be playing directly from the physical media or from a dump, make sure to use the original controller if your emulator supports it. I use OpenEmu, which is not only open-source and gorgeous, but also happens to support a wide variety of controllers. This includes the Retrode. Just launch OpenEmu, go to settings -> controls. “Retrode 2” should appear in the input list. Enjoy!

Retrode controller in OpenEmu

The Retrode is listed in OpenEmu’s input list.

The icing on the cake is the support for additional systems that is provided thanks to hardware plugins. Most of these cost about 30€ each. Here’s a pic of my favourite – the Nintendo 64 plugin:

N64 plugin

Nintendo 64 plugin

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