Supercharging the Super Retro-Cade

I can't believe it's not another PSP post!

Oh, there will be plenty of time for that. In the meantime, let's jump back a few months, to my review of the Super Retro-Cade. I was pleased with this mini-console, if not deliriously happy, but warned my readers (both of you) that Retrobit may have used emulation software without the permission of its creators. It brings a whole new meaning to the term "guilty pleasure."

Beyond that, Retrobit updated the Super Retro-Cade with new games and enhanced performance, but to get the revised firmware, you have to buy the system all over again. That brings the usual meaning to the term "being a colossal dick." Fortunately, the fine folks at GBATemp have found a way to not only flash the Super Retro-Cade with the new firmware, but circumvent it entirely and run the feature-rich Lakka emulation suite instead.

As GBATemp member PSX_Specter explains in this post, you'll need a copy of Lakka, a speedy SD card, and image writing software to put Lakka on the card. Etcher hasn't let me down yet, so I used that. When you're done, you make a minor change to a text file on the card, then stuff it into your Super Retro-Cade. Power it on and after a brief set-up period, you should see something like this...

You'll need to find some way to put games on the SD card. No, just popping it into your PC won't cut it. Either you'll have to plug a wifi dongle into your Super Retro-Cade and transfer files to it through a network (this didn't work for me; I tried three such peripherals without success), or burn a Linux disc, reboot a computer with the disc in the drive, and write files directly to the SD card. 

Once you're done, the Super Retro-Cade will run any games the stock unit could, but better. Here's a close-up of Bio-Hazard Battle for the Genesis, without the smeary filter the machine uses by default.

Crisp pixels ahoy! With Lakka, the Super Retro-Cade will also run games it couldn't before, for over a dozen other systems. Here's Namco's Bravoman for the Turbografx-16.

Er, you probably want to run something better than that. And you'll have the option, because Lakka can handle everything from the Atari 2600 to the ZX Spectrum. I'm told the Super Retro-Cade hardware can comfortably run Playstation games, but anything beyond that (even if it's technically compatible) is pushing your luck. It's also worth noting that Retrobit's previous console, the Generations, will NOT work with this hack, since it's running on entirely different (and inferior) hardware.

Special thanks to both PSX_Specter and his partners in crime Kuwanger and WD GASTER2 for digging deep into the Super Retro-Cade and revealing its true potential. It was nice to have a reason to take it out of mothballs after all these months.