retroUSB AVS Review - NES in HD! | RGT 85 

Also, small correction. The NES release of Castlevania 3 does not have extra audio channels. Only the Japanese version does as the Famicom has the pinout to accept more audio channels.

I can't wait to get mine! Watching this video makes me want one more!

7 years later...... I finally ordered one. It's gonna be sweet. Thanks for the video!

I’ve owned mine for 7 years works perfect to this day with my ever drive

Really appreciate the review! I've had my eye on this system for quite a while!

I play NES games on a CRT. But, this would be great to own to bring over to a friend's house that doesn't have a CRT.

So excited. Can't wait until mine arrives!

You convinced me to get my own. Now all I gotta do is wait for my paychecks to come in this week, and I'll secure a pre-order. Finally an NES that doesn't require you to blow your cartridges, and with better hardware. I am so stoked. Thanks for sharing this with us.

That homebrew game looks like a ton of fun to get drunk and play with four friends hahaha

Pat and Ian talk about it...you bring it to us...thanks!

Great vid Shawn..and retroUSB AVS was smart to send you this system for review purposes; I did not know of this system's existence until your video! And yes, I want one now. Game on.

Yup. I've got to get one. When Felix came up, I was initially worried that it was recording or displaying dark, but I'm not familiar with the game, so that's likely just how it is. The rest of the games look great. I'm sold. Now I just gotta scrape together the cash for it.

Personally I like the look of the RetroN5 when you did the side by side, but that said, the AVS looks great in its own right!

I'm not even a NES collector but I still think this looks awesome.

Man you really cover all the ends of a product review. Great work dude 👍🏼

Wow this is amazing. I am not a big NES collector, I have slowed down on retro stuff. A SNES of this would be great.

I'd much rather have this than the NES Classic Edition

In case anyone doesn't know yet, Quadralords is basically Warlords. You can play it on your Atari 2600 if you have one. Supposed to be a great party game.

I don't really need as I'm content with the Retron 5, but I want it. They did an excellent job with it.

I figured out Quadrolords. It's Breakout and Warlords mixed into one really. Quite clever. System looks awesome.

I just got the AVS and love it. It was a great solution to a problem. Having so many systems I didn't have any room to set up my Famicom. AVS replaced the NES in my living room and I have my Famicom disk system set up. Game changer. One thing I found weird is it changes some of the colors in the Namco Star Wars game. Like making the sky purple and changes the color of the Jawa's sandcrawler.

Just happened to order this two weeks ago. Good to know my money has been well spent.

I liked the darker color with the AVS. I don't know if I would pick it but I think it's a good by for quality of the build and performance.

It is flawless, I will pick one up for sure.

Awesome review Shawn! This system looks amazing, I'll definitely have to pick this up in the future. That's crazy the difference between this console and the Retron 5 graphics is like night and day.

13:17 Just wanted to correct you on a small detail you slipped up on. The US version did have a special sound chip in it that did have more audio channels (MMC5) but the NES never had the capability of taking advantage of that, so only the Japanese version used those extra audio channels from another chip (VRC6) on the Famicom. It sounds like in the background audio of your video that it is indeed the US Castlevania 3 so it does not have any extra sound channels. Nonetheless, great video, great review, great side by side comparison and thank you for showing video footage of the AVS. I'd like to try out an AVS someday, it's most certainly better than what the Retron 5 has to offer for playing NES games in HD.

How does the japanese Castlevania 3 run with the VRC6 chip

Very well done! just found your channel a couple of vids ago... glad I subscribed. funny, I was just watching Pat "the nes punk's" podcast video on this system. He was talking about how he would love a demo unit for review. I scroll down my subscription list a bit and see your video actually reviewing the unit? (and both vids were publishished on the same day.) Impressive. Keep it up!

Kid Dracula looks amazing. Need to get an AVS. Great console and very well built. Great review!

idk what your talking about i use my hd tv to play my snes all the time and it looks just as good as my old tube tv u just need the av cord plugins on ur tv which most do

The AVS is now on Amazon for those who want that option.

definitely considering getting an avs

Congrats homey... you're really blowing up if RetroUSB sent you a review unit. I just watched Pat the Nes punk, and he was asking to have one sent to him. Great review! By the way, while on the topic of new NES games, have you heard/tried Legends of Owlia yet? It's a pretty solid game with a very professional feel to it.

I'm definitely getting one of these, I was before I saw this video but you only confirmed what I was expecting.

my cousins still have 50+ nes games from back in the day and our top loader has stopped working so getting an nes clone with hdmi would be awesome

Batman is a great test for music accuracy and I can say it sounds damn near identical to my original NES playing this game. I'm really impressed.

I don't have any retro games at the moment, don't know if I'll ever go that far back, but it's good to know that there is an option for physical retro games other than the mini NES.

I would love this because I hate the extra cords behind my tv that go through my nes just to get to my hd tv, so I would love an hd upscale of the nes

I don't have a big collection, but I am a collector and love these type consoles. I do have the Messiah Generation Nex, but this looks way better. I have a CRTV for all my consoles and just picked up a new tv for this console. Can't wait to get it and add more games to my NES and Famicom collection and play them on this!

I am usually on the side of sticking with original hardware, but I have to say, this has to be one of the most impressive clone consoles I have ever seen. It makes me rethink my choice in sticking with official hardware. If I was going to make this switch though, I would have to know that systems of the same caliber were also on the way. I have heard enough bad things about the Retron to know it is absolutely not a replacement for official hardware, so if Retro USB can make an SNES, Genesis, or Turbo Graphix as impressive as the AES, I might have to finally throw out my CRT.

thanks for the review. I just ordered this system and can't wait to get it. I hope it plays nobunagas ambition II

Looks awesome! I am a casual NES player, so may not be for me. I wish they would do a PC Engine Duo/TurboGrafx Duo HD console, I would be all over that. It's probably my favorite retro console to play and collect for.

I want it so badly. it's not that expensive for the quality you are getting. Maybe I'll get for Christmas lol. Glad to see this

I spared no expense!

That's not a Swastika, i'ts a Manji! It's a Buddhist symbol for peace.

Can't wait! This thing looks so awesome.

WATCH OUT ! youre about to be smashed by that giant car sized nintendo looking thingy right behind you

I'm glad I preordered this system. Looks great!

I was tempted to get one of these, but I had already invested so much in an XRGB-mini and I've been happy with that. If my NES ever dies I may need to pick one of these up though.

Good review. One thing I noticed is that the image looks stretched. Can you adjust horizontal and vertical width. Also, a 60fps test would be nice.

I have the AVS and the RetroN 5 both...I can assure you that both work/play great. AVS has a slightly better picture quality because every square pixel is represented as it was back in the day....however, the RetroN 5 smooths out the square pixels to "round" out all the corners so to speak.

Also, uh, the Analogue NT very much did have 720P output. In fact, it had up to 1080P output, so what are you talking about?

It looks awesome. I definitely NEED to pick one of these up.

Flippin A. The graphics for a 8 bit games are through the roof.

Quadralords is a port of the Arcade/2600 game Warlords.... It was also released as an 8-Bit Xmas game years back.

I recently bought a pristine condition NES with a new 72pin slot for a peach of a price. I almost want to buy this and say "Can you put one on hold for me as I save up for it? I'm good for it! I swear!" lol Honestly, RetroUSB's rep is tops in my opinion. So getting something they put out, you know it's going to be something good and quality. I have a few adapters from them back when they were operating out of their kitchen and they're still going strong.

All in all looks really damn nice, the built in features through the menu are pretty damn cool as well as the fact that it's basically a region free Nintendo. Wish the fucker was a bit cheaper though but if it comes down in price I'll try to scoop it up whenever

I have an AVS and I love it. The scoreboard thing is not a thing anymore.

I think this is a great product if you are a hardcore NES fan, but for me, I would say the Retron 5 is where it is at. You simply get so much bang for your buck, and once you get used to using it, playing games from literally 10 different consoles is seamless.

i guess people dont realize that most home a/v receivers upscale any video input (not hdmi) to 1080p and the high end models upscale to 4k.

How is the overall build quality of the system? Is the plastic of good quality? I pre-ordered a few days ago, but I really wanted to know the above. Either way, I'm still getting it because this thing is a godsend. I can't wait! I'm gonna start back collecting NES carts now. It's been awhile. I saw Analogue announced the mini NT earlier, but I don't know if I can justify that price tag. That thing is expensive. In overall looks, I like the way the AVS looks compared to the NT. It's got that classic look to it with its NES style color scheme, NES style power/reset buttons and the cartridge flap.

nice review bro! enjoyed the video!

AVS looks awesome.

First off, good review. I got my console yesterday and so far I'm loving it as well. I was also thinking that the flicker is a bit worse on the AVS, I haven't tried to adjust any setting though. I have been playing Bettlejuice this October and there is definitely more for that game. Funny thing, the first game I tried did not work, thought my system came in defective. Had to "clean" the game but all others (NES & FC) work first time. Lastly, I do have trouble with my 8Bitdo receiver & controller connecting to one another on this console. I am unsure why or if its the AVS or 8Bitdo product. Keep up the good work.

I'm sold!!

This seems to be one of those consoles that I probably should have and then track down all the games I want to. Yes, including some of those Tengen ones.

Felix the Cat is an awesome game. Wish there was a sequel.

Great review. Thanks for putting the AVS through its paces. Also, Quadralords appears to be an homage to the 2600 classic paddle game Warlords with some added variety to the playfield.

Really good video. It's not my kind of thing, but it's great to see such a great looking product coming out. The NES is really getting some amazing love in 2016.

If I would not already have a Super Retro Trio (which is a pretty good system) I would definitly get this one. Looks dope!

This system is fucking awesome I plan on picking one up eventually it's a big chunk of change when I steady have a nes but I love this system thank you Shawn for your video!

love how much it looks like a modern NES. I think they could have put the AVS name on the outside front flap in the NES style. Just looks a little empty. That is a very minor criticism though. thing looks sweet. Great overview shawn

It's not all original hardware. They are using an FPGA to recreate the original hardware. Perhaps you realize this but you misspoke. Also, as others have pointed out, Castlevania III does not have a special sound chip in it. You're thinking of the Japanese version, Akumajou Densetsu.

The hdmi out is great, there is a clear limited edition on their site that looks pretty sweet. I understand that they need to keep costs down, but I would have wished they would have put it out at 199.00 with a quality repro controller. Still though, looks impressive.

Does this play the later Konami Famicom games with the VC6 chip (Esper Dream 2) or VC7 chip (LaGrange Point) in them correctly? The US NES didnt support these chips either, only the Famicom had the extra sound channels.

Thanks for your review on the Retro USB AVS. I will get this console to replace the NES I have.

looks really good n really well made i didn't grow up with the nes i chose the sms however i just got the sr3 it like the retrousb is not emulation but sadly doesn't have hdmi output but for what it does it does very well and i'm just curious what you think about the sr3 compared to this retrousb as both are hardware based clones, keep up the great work appreciate all you n a select few others do for the retro gaming community

CONTRAST is the #1 factor when it comes to the human eye assessing image quality (if you're buying a new HDTV, make sure to research it's contrast ratio and how well it displays "true black" and "true white"). The AVS actually has better contrast, and the Retron looked "washed out" like you said.

I must have it!!!

Great stuff dude. I already have a few perfectly working NES systems, but the built in Famicom port and auto look-up Game Genie codes built in? All in HD? Man, this is a total buy for me. Did you happen to test if the Famicom games had any Game Genie codes in the system?

Looks cool might have to pick one up

Honestly, I like the Retron 1 HD instead but if the AVS can run the Japanese sound chip games, that might be worth the extra $.

this is awesome man

Ordered mine today :) Only design choice I would have changed would be to have had the engraved logo on the outside so it is displayed prominently. Seems like a bit of a waste to have it on the inside. Also would have just made the shape square instead of oblong... too similar to the Analogue NT. Still though, it does look great and I cant wait to get mine in!

Man, that's a really compelling buy. The Famicom slot may sell it for me. I'm using an adapter I scavenged out of a Gyromite cartridge to run Famicom games and it's kind of a pain in the ass.

What do you mean AVS had no glitches? The sprite disappeared when it got hit and blinks right on the screen when you were saying that.

Castlevania shouldn't look like melted crayons.

duude im lovin that secret of mana ring system menu thats goin on thee ;) heh

Probably person 5 million to say this: There are no sound chips on NES carts. They don't have the pins for it (extra pins were used for the NES10 copy protection chip). If you want the better Castlevania 3 music you need to find the Famicon version.

I just ordered a retroUSB AVS last week just waiting for it to arrive.

It looks pretty badass. I might get one eventually. The price is making me hold out. If they made a SNES version though I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Man the Analgoue NT is expensive .. they just announced a mini version too .. with 1080 .. but it's still about $500 >> way out of my little budgeted price range. So glad I have my CRT still ..with original hardware.. a Boomshakalaka is in order here

Indeed looks better than the retron5, the package doesn't include a control so sad, but the quality is amazing and the design is awesome, the price is high but the quality justify the cost. I'm a happy owner of a retron 5 , this one is tempting me, hope they makes one for the snes too. Great video 👍🏻

At 13:38 min. look at the wall in the background; the retro displays it as brown colored bricks. The wall is almost entirely black on the AVS.. Seems like there's a very high contrast setting in play with the AVS - or does the original NES "blackcrush" the wall as well..? This way detail can get lost with the AVS, in darker areas. Great vid thanks!

Great review. I wish I could get one.

I need this!!!! $180 is ok for a retro gamer if they want to play it the right way and have a crispy clean screen. I want to buy one, when is the release date?

Awesome review! later

I love the retro freak.

love love love the AVS. I was so hyped on it when I first heard of it and boy did it live up to it. Fair to say I'm an NES fanatic with a good collection of carts. However, if you are a NES fan with no collection, the AVS and a Flash card will do the job real nice.

They added scoreboards? I wonder if it would be at all possible to make a NES console that had online multiplayer like emulators do but its a console.. similar to shareplay on ps4 just give a virtual controller to someone and play with them