Who doesn’t love playing those computer and console games we loaded up back in the 80s, 90s and 00s and reliving the memories of our childhoods.
I for one sure do!
Storing and keeping 15 consoles and handhelds, along with hundreds of games, isn’t easy. Loft and attic space only goes so far.
This is where a handy device like the RG351P comes in.
The ability to turn on one handheld console, smaller than a PSP, and gain access to almost every game we played in our childhood in near pixel perfect quality – and even better in some cases – sounds like a dream.
Seeing the faces of friends drop the moment they laid eyes on this retro gaming beast was like beating them at Super Mario Kart on the SNES all over again.
Suffice to say that after a couple of games of Master System and Mega Drive classics they all went out and ordered one.
If you have seen the RG351 versions, including the RG351P, and wondered if they are as good as they seem, whether the gameplay is decent, and whether the RG351P is worth it – we have put together the ultimate guide for you.
Our RG351P is an amazing machine, but it isn’t without its negative points.
We’ll give you a run down on exactly what it’s like to own one of these retro gaming marvels, our own experiences and answers to questions you most likely have.
What is the RG351P
The RG351P is a gaming console that uses the RetroPie and EmulationStation systems built in, with RetroArch configuration, to bring together a world of retro gaming.
The systems and software are pre-configured with emulators and all settings in place for almost every console, computer and gaming system imaginable up to the PSP in 2005.
Although the RG351P does not come with any games as standard built in, they are usually bundled together with SD cards with a number of classic game titles.
There is an ethical standpoint in terms of copyright using pre-bundled SD cards, and prefer to suggest only transferring and playing ROMs in which are personally owned and purchased in the past.
ROMs can also be downloaded from the internet for all the built-in emulators, and loaded onto the SD card to play straight away.
It’s quite surreal being able to jump into a ZX Spectrum game without waiting the obligatory 30 mins for it to load!
The RG351P features a d-pad, four buttons, and includes two left and two right shoulder buttons (L1, L2, R1 and R2) as well as two analogue sticks and is roughly the size of a standard controller – although doesn’t fit the hands quite as ergonomically.
It becomes the ultimate in retro gaming emulators with an ability to play all the games you love and own from yesteryear.
Fortunately all the programming and settings have been done for you.
The settings are what usually trip many retro gaming players up when trying to get a RetroPie housed within a Raspberry Pi working. They can be very confusing for non-programmers and non-techies.
This means the RG351P can be switched on, an emulator game selected and it’s time to play!
How does the RG351P Work
We could go into the technicalities of the RG351P but rather than bore everyone with in-depth science that most would scroll past anyway, we thought it better to give a simplified version of how it works instead.
The RG351P has built in software that allows retro gaming emulators to run retro games.
Emulators are simple programs that are designed to replicate how the retro gaming consoles, such as the NES or Mega Drive worked.
This means the gaming code of the past can be run again using brand new software.
Some people struggle to understand how one small console can contain all those consoles but this is simply down to improvements with technology and memory space being a fraction of the cost of the past.
A ZX Spectrum ran with 48k of processing memory (known as RAM).
48K by today’s standard is incredibly small.
There are 1,000 Ks (or KBs meaning kilobytes) for every MB (megabyte), and 1,000 MB for every GB (gigabyte).
The latest iPhone runs with 8GB of RAM, which means it can run using 166,666 times more memory than the ZX Spectrum!
This is how all of those emulators of the past can fit into one retro console, as the memory required of software to run consoles of the past is miniscule compared to the memory that can be installed in such small devices today.
With the retro console emulator software installed, and the game code added to an SD card by way of a gaming ROM, the games can load and start just as they did back in the day.
How Good is the Gameplay
The gameplay of the RG351P is surprisingly good, on many levels.
One concern many have is the thought of playing games we used to on 14 inch to 24 inch CRT TVs on to a 3.5 inch small hand held screen.
Don’t forget, the PSP did this with PS1 and PS2 games back in the early 2000’s, and it worked well.
There are a couple of added advantages, and a couple of negatives.
One advantage is the HD quality screen and means the sprites literally pop out of the screen at you.
When running Alex Kidd, the built-in game on the Sega Master System, side by side against the RG351P you can see just how bright and bold the games are.
Another advantage is being able to switch to playing the games we were limited by with just a d-pad, like F-Zero on the SNES, and can now enjoy playing the same games using an analogue stick.
The d-pad is there of course for an authentic experience, but it’s nice to be able to make the switch to the analogue stick and play in a different way.
A disadvantage of course is that every console and computer system of the past came with its own controller, which can’t be replicated on one device of course.
So, if playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System using the – what are now absurdly small – controllers is the only thing that will spark that nostalgia moment, you’d need to go buy a Master System and an analogue capable HDTV or an old second hand analogue TV to recreate it.
If you can get past playing with a different controller than you would have been used to, then the gameplay on the RG351P matches, and is in some ways better, than playing on the consoles of the past.
On the other hand, no current device can match the sights and sounds of the real true nostalgic memory awakening grabbing and slamming a cartridge into an old console can!
What Emulators are Built in
The RG351P has many emulators built in to enable it to play almost every type of game from every type of console.
For years programmers have created emulators based on the code used to run consoles of the past, and wrapped them into emulator software that people have been downloading off the internet.
There are even apps on Google Play and the Apple Store that are purely designed to play downloaded ROMs for those emulators.
What the RG351P is houses all of those emulators, with fully configured control settings, in to one unit.
Here are the list of emulators included within the RG351P including which console the emulator is for:
| Console | Emulator in RG351P |
|---|---|
| 3do | lr-4do |
| Amiga | UAE4ARM |
| Amstrad CPC | lr-cap32 |
| Apple II | Linapple |
| Atari 2600 | lr-stella |
| Atari 5200 | lr-atari800 |
| Atari 7800 | lr-prosystem |
| Atari Jaguar | lr-virtualjaguar |
| Atari Lynx | lr-handy |
| Atari ST | Hatari |
| CoCo | XRoar |
| Colecovision | lr-blueMSX |
| Commodore 64 | Vice |
| Daphne | Daphne |
| Dragon 32 | XRoar |
| Dreamcast | Reicast |
| Famicom Disk System | lr-fceumm |
| FinalBurn Neo | lr-fbneo |
| GameCube | dolphin |
| Game & Watch | lr-gw |
| Game Gear | lr-genesis-plus-gx |
| Game Boy | lr-gambatte |
| Game Boy Color | lr-gambatte |
| Game Boy Advance | lr-mgba |
| Intellivision | jzIntv |
| Macintosh | BasiliskII |
| MAME (Aracade) | lr-mame2003 |
| Master System | lr-Genesis-Plus-GX |
| Mega-CD / Sega CD | lr-genesis-plus-gx |
| Mega Drive / Genesis | lr-genesis-plus-gx |
| MESS | lr-mame |
| MSX | lr-bluemsx |
| Neo Geo | lr-fbneo |
| Neo Geo Pocket | lr-mednafen-ngp |
| Neo Geo Pocket Color | lr-mednafen-ngp |
| Nintendo 64 | Mupen64plus |
| Nintendo DS | drasticlr |
| Nintendo Entertainment System | lr-fceumm |
| Oric/Atmos | Oricutron |
| PC | DOSBox |
| PC-8800 | Quasi88 |
| PC-9800 | lr-np2kai |
| PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 | lr-mednafen-pce-fast |
| PC Engine 2 / SuperGrafx | lr-beetle-supergrafx |
| PlayStation 1 | lr-pcsx-rearmed |
| PlayStation 2 | pcsx2 |
| Pokemon Mini | lr-pokemini |
| PSP | lr-ppsspp |
| SAM Coupé | SimCoupe |
| Saturn | lr-Yabause |
| ScummVM | ScummVM |
| Sega 32X | lr-picodrive |
| Sega SG-1000 | lr-Genesis-Plus-GX |
| Sharp X1 | lr-x1 |
| Sharp X68000 | lr-px68k |
| Super Nintendo Entertainment System | lr-snes9x |
| TI-99/4A | ti99sim |
| TRS-80 | sdltrs |
| Vectrex | lr-vecx |
| Videopac / Odyssey2 | lr-o2em |
| Virtual Boy | lr-beetle-vb |
| Wii | dolphin |
| WonderSwan | lr-mednafen-wswan |
| WonderSwan Color | lr-mednafen-wswan |
| ZX-81 | lr-81 |
| ZX Spectrum | lr-fuse |
What Games can be Played
What games can be played on the RG351P?
Almost any game you can think of!
Fortunately it is the emulator behind the console of the game you wish to play that has the controller settings, so the games themselves simply follow the same settings.
There are a couple of exceptions though.
Around 98% of all games have some time of attempt at a ROM, but not all of them work.
I own both Targahn on the Atari ST and also Need for Speed on the 3DO, but try as I might I am unable to find a workable ROM to play these titles on.
So, although you may not be able to find every single game in your collection as a downloadable and playable ROM, you should be able to find most.
There are many download sites, but just like when copyrighted music was illegally downloaded from the internet from the likes of Napster and BitTorrent sites, some games contain harmful viruses and trojan horses, so it’s important to have an up to date virus protector scan all downloads first.
Throughout Retro Secret there are articles covering the best games to play on many of the most popular consoles, like the best mega drive games, these can give great inspiration as to what games to try next – check out the Retro Games category for some ideas!
How to Add More Games
Unfortunately the operating system that runs RetroPie and RetroArch doesn’t do a good job of ‘talking’ to Windows or a MAC.
This means if you take out the micro SD card from the RG351P and try to insert it into a laptop, you won’t see the content, like all the games.
And because the games can’t be seen, and emulator folders can’t be accessed, it means it’s not possible to simply drag and drop new games onto the SD card this way.
The main method is to connect the RG351P to the same WIFI router as a laptop, and connect the laptop to the RG351P using FTP software such as WinSCP.
This sounds complicated but really all that is happening is the FTP software connects to the RG351P in a way that both the laptop and RG351P understands, and allows a user to simply copy game ROMs across.
Fortunately WinSCP can be used completely free of charge.
The RG351P must be set to be connected to the internet, and connected to your WIFI router.
We have already written a full in-depth guide on how to do this, which can be found here > how to add new games to RG351P.
For those who either can’t connect their RG351P to the internet, or are unable to connect their laptop to RG351P using FTP, we have made a user guide for you too! – check out the following link -> How to transfer ROMs from a PC to RG351P without internet or FTP
As many games as it takes to fill up the SD card can be added, and once one SD card is full, a second can be used and swapped when needed.
FAQs:
Hopefully our full in-depth article on the RG351P covers everything you need to know, but here are a couple of questions we have regularly seen on many platforms, with a full explanation and answer.
Can the RG351P be connected to a TV?
The RG351P has no TV out, meaning it can not be connected to a TV in any way regardless of what cables or adapters are used.
Even a USB-C into a signal converter with a HDMI output to a TV will not work as the RG351P is incapable of sending a video out image, so there is nothing to be picked up by the TV even if they could in some way be connected.
It is a major downside to the RG351P.
What does the P in RG351P stand for?
The P as a suffix to RG351P simply stands for plastic, and unlike the metal version of the same console, the RG351M, the RG351P has plastic buttons instead.
The P and M are purely cosmetic features, they both operate and run the same software under the same hardware and all the same settings.
Does the RG351P take Batteries?
The RG351P contains an irremovable chargeable battery that can be charged using a USB-C cable connected to the mains, just like a tablet.
How to switch off the RG351P?
Contrary to popular belief, the RG351P should never be switched off using the side button used to switch it on.
Although this is confusing, the correct way to turn off the RG351P is to press the Start button from the main menu (where console emulators are chosen), select ‘Quit’ and then ‘Shutdown System’.
This will automatically shutdown the RG351P in the correct way.
In Conclusion
The RG351P is a truly remarkable retro games console.
Having owned this marvel for over a year now it’s been one I have used many times.
The display is excellent, controls are great and a whole choice of emulator and games means you can never really get bored with one close by.
Despite the lack of TV out, which is frustrating, it stands up well to other retro emulator consoles on the market and being pre-configured to prevent the need to adjust controllers and settings manually is a real bonus.
A true retro gaming delight!
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