Recently, the composite audio jack on my NES console broke, after soldering a RCA cable onto the audio header so I could get sound again, I decided to look into buying a NES clone, to help reduce every day wear and tear on my aging console. I picked up a Retro Duo NES clone at a local retailer and have been comparing its performance with my original NES. So far, I have come to the conclusion that this clone provides a passable NES experience for average users, but will fall short for those who have become familiar with the way their games play on official hardware.

I was able to pick up this clone on sale for $35. For that price, in addition to the console and AC adapter, it came with two SNES style controllers and a nice AV cable with three composite and one s-video cable. The first thing I noticed after removing it from the packaging was that the build quality felt very cheap. But I can't complain for $35. The controllers are no different in their build quality. The directional pad is very stiff and one of the controllers seems to have stopped working after an hour of play testing. Fortunately, this machine can use normal SNES controllers, so I plan on picking up two of those to replace the packaged controllers. While I would prefer to use the official NES controllers, the ones that come packaged with the Retro Duo are at least usable, even if they are a bit klugey.

Connecting the AV cables and power adapter was no different than any other piece of equipment. Although I could not get the s-video out to display in anything other than black and white. It may be that my receiver does not like the s-video connection that came with the console, but composite video is more than enough to play NES games. One thing that stood out to me about this console is that it splits the mono audio out of the NES to both speakers, saving the need to use a splitter.

One of the few advantages of the Retro Duo over the NES, is that when you insert a cartridge and hit the power button, you can be almost certain that the game will boot. Unlike the NES, which takes some fiddling around with at times to get games to boot. Part of this is because the Retro Duo does not bother with the copy protection checks that were in the official NES, which prevent the console from booting if the cart is not in the slot just perfect. The other part, is because the Retro Duo takes a death grip to your cart. There is no eject button, like the one you would find on an official Super Nintendo, so you will have to yank the cart out of the console to swap out the game. Not sure if this death grip is good for the cart, but it makes it so games boot nearly 100% of the time.

But even if the game boots, that does not mean that it will work correctly. Since the Retro Duo and all the other NES clones out there are basically just glorified emulators, compatibility is a problem. So far I have tested; Snake Rattle N' Roll, Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda 2, Base Wars and Earthbound Zero. All of which worked, with minor glitches that would only be noticed by someone who had played the same game on an official console. The biggest issue is sound, some sounds have noticeable noise in them, while others sound very quiet and some don't render at all. For example; In base wars, the music sounds staticy on very short or notes at a higher pitch. At the end of a level in Super Mario Bros.3, as the score is being tallied, rather than hear a rapid succession of beeps as the score increases, the console just renders out one single long beep. Also in Mario Bros. 3 as Raccoon Mario, when pressing the A button to hover, the sound does not play, or is barely audible. In base Wars, the voice of the umpire is more distorted than it sounds on the NES in addition to being much quieter. For the most part, the only people who would even notice these things are those who have played these games extensively on the NES and actually care about the complete audio experience.

From the selection I took to test the Retro Duo, most of the graphical glitches were also minor. The most noticeable thing was that blues look somewhat purple, especially in skies and water. Other colors like greens, yellows and whites also look muddy and unclear. Edges of some sprites and text also looked distorted on the clone. But I did not experience anything that prevented me from playing the games. From this small selection of games, the clone does a good enough job of rendering the graphics to get most players through their play sessions, but don't expect anything quite like an official NES.

Feel free to take a look at the screen shots and videos that accompany this article, to help you make the decision to buy a Retro Duo, or go hunt down a NES. Either way, they are not difficult to find and only have about a $20 price difference, depending on where you shop. It is worth mentioning that this system also plays Super Nintendo games in addition to NES games (although I have not had much opportunity to see how well it performs for SNES games, except for a brief test of Star Fox in the store where I bought the machine).

If you want a true NES experience, to play the games exactly the way they were meant to be rendered, buy an NES and take care of it. If you really don't care if you are getting a 100% accurate representation then the Retro Duo may fit your needs. Personally, I am going to continue to use my Frankensteined NES until it decides to kick the bucket. I will use the Retro Duo if I am heading over to a friend's place, or have someone coming over who has a habit of breaking things, but thats about it.

				D-
		Title	Pen Pen Trilcelon
		Publisher	Infogrames	Graphics	D-
		Developer	General Entertainment	Sound	D
		Released	September, 1999	Gameplay	D+
		Platform	Dreamcast	Longevity	F
	ESRB Information
	No descriptors
	Highlights
	Do not play this game
	Full Review

Let me save you some time and say right off the bat: Do not play this game! Just hit the back button now and save yourself the horror of even knowing that this game exists in the Dreamcast line-up.

I did not know what to expect from Pen Pen Trilcelon when I first saw the cover art. The first question that came to mind is: What the hell is a trilcelon? Apparently, a trilcelon is a game where all the characters Sanrio rejected over the years go to race in triathalons.

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Each of the games four courses contain a skiing portion, a swimming portion and a woddle around and jump onto steps portion. While each of the courses is a bit different, they are all basically the same. Completing the courses in the tournament mode allows you to unlock clothing that you can use in the dress-up mini game (yay).

There is also multiplayer, but good luck convincing someone to play this game with you, especially if they see the intro video, or any of the loading screens. Besides getting friends to play, you will likely only be able to play the game on your own for about 15 minutes before getting a massive headache and feel eye-strain setting in. While this may sound like an exaggeration, I played this game for 15 minutes with a buddy of mine and we both felt sick. I had a major headache in addition to eye strain and he felt so sick, that he had to lay down for an hour from nausea before we could move on to another game. I blame the pastel colors and excessively bright graphics, and he blames me for being the one to put the game in the Dreamcast. So there's another good reason not to play Pen Pen...it'll make you physically (and perhaps mentally) sick!

If you are so desperate for a new Dreamcast game that you are willing to play Pen Pen Trilcelon, please call your local suicide prevention hotline and seek immediate psychological care.

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As you may be expecting, we at retropixels will be pushing out our initial podcasts in the next few days. Both ITGeek and myself have finally recieved the last of our equipment, and we are in the process of figuring out what works best for recording. We'll be using Behringer C-1u mic's that in my opinion are excellent mic's, if only because they are USB and don't require a mixer or seperate phantom power (and they make me sound good on playback, so that's something). I'm also working on a retropixels song, but you'll have to wait until I'm done to get any hints on what that'll be like.

I've played through Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2 on the Dreamcast, as I'm about to release a review for it in the next day or two. Although I've played it many times before, it is as always a fun boxing game that has style oozing out the sides (but it is not perfect). I've also played some more Dynamite Cop (even though its been reviewed) as a test run with ITGeek for doing game commentary while playing games worked/sounded. The results aren't in yet, but I think with a little tweaking we'll be just fine.

In addition to all that, my Dreamcast video cable seems to have taken a dump as I'm getting no video or audio. My Dreamcast hasn't been working for a while, so when I went to see if it was working yesterday, the sides of the plug on the video cable fell off, leading me to wonder. All that goes through is static, so I'm pretty sure the problem is with the cable and not the system. I'll borrow someones cable for now to see if it decides to work again, otherwise I'm just going to go buy the cheapest Dreamcast I can find.

As always, feel free to e-mail me any questions or concerns. The new email address for me is: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

				D-
		Title	18 Wheeler
		Publisher	SEGA AM2	Graphics	C-
		Developer	SEGA Acclaim	Sound	C
		Released	May 2001	Gameplay	D-
		Platform	Dreamcast	Longevity	F
	ESRB Information
	Violence
	Highlights
	More fun in the arcade, the novelty of the game falls flat when played at home.
	Full Review

When I saw 18 Wheeler in my pile of Dreamcast games I thought; "Cool! the arcade game on the Dreamcast!". As it turns out, it is the arcade game... on the Dreamcast but it is anything but cool. Once you pop in the disc, you can choose from arcade, parking, score attack and versus modes.

As you would expect, arcade mode gives you a close approximation to the experience you would get in the arcade, including a game design centered around eating quarters. On the normal difficulty, most players will find it difficult to navigate the hazardous roads in order to cross through the checkpoints in time. Unfortunately, lowering the difficulty does not seem to change the game at all. This basically means that you will find youreself playing a segment of the arcade mode over and over again in a desperate, futile attempt to complete the stage. On the bright side, you have an infinite number of continues at your disposal. So when you are at your wits end after playing the second level for the 100th time, still unable to finish in time, you can give it another go.

The difficulty and quarter eating nature of the game are just about the only things that made the transition from the arcade version. The classic cockpit view from the arcade version is there, with stuff flying across the dashboard as you make turns. Unforunately the graphics from the arcade version did not transfer over...the resolution and clarity of the textures does not come anywhere close to the arcade version. This is also true for the textures of vehicles and buildings. Not that I expect a whole lot from the Dreamcast, but it is worth mentioning if you are expecting the 18 wheeler experience at home.

Sound and music are bearable at best. The soundtrack mainly consists of random music picked out of a sound library. Hard rock guitar loop #3 and generic guitar riff #7 basically round out the music collection of 18 Wheeler. In my opinion, the developers figured that nobody would play this game for more than 20 minutes, so they only needed a few generic sounding tracks.

Parking mode is also self explanatory. You drive your 18 wheeler through a narrow parking lot while trying to avoid crates and fences. Ultimately arriving at a parking space, where you... park your truck (up next in game modes is "How to use your turn signals!"). The game mode is entertaining the first few play throughs and there are a few different maps to play on. But ultimately like arcade mode, you will get bored with it (how many times does one need to park before it gets old?) and put 18 Wheeler back in your CD case, to be pulled out by the next unsuspecting player.

Score Attack, like the other two modes, is fun for the first 20 minutes or so and then kind of tapers off to pure repetitive bordom. In score attack mode, you drive around a track and get money for ramming into specific cars, while trying to avoid hitting pedestrian vehicles, which negatively effects your score.

  If you really want to play 18 Wheeler; take the money you would spend on buying the game and visit your local arcade (if you have one). Chances are, you will walk away more satisfied than you would have been with the Dreamcast version. Believe me, I liked playing this game in the arcade and was really looking forward to playing it on the Dreamcast, but my hopes and dreams (what a sad life I live if I dream about 18 Wheeler in the arcade) were crushed after the first five minutes of playing the game. Don't let your hopes and dreams get crushed like I did.

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