Super Retro Recharge

If at first you don't succeed, make your customers eat the cost of your mistake. That seems to be the mantra of Nintendo, whose Wii U was a clumsy dress rehearsal for the more popular Switch, and Retro-Bit, which addressed the issues of its Super Retrocade with a revised firmware... that you could only get by purchasing the system all over again. Admittedly, the Super Retrocade was one of the better off-brand mini consoles available, and included dozens of obscure games from long-dead companies; the kind of goodies that draw in nerds like flies to sweet tupelo honey. (What the heck is a "tupelo," anyway? Ask Van Morrison.) 

It's not perfect, but good luck getting a copy
of Holy Diver for the same price.
(image from NewEgg)

The Super Retrocade was good value for the money, but it wasn't so nice I'd buy it twice. That's less money in my pocket that could be invested in the upcoming Sega Genesis Mini, and it's less space in my already cluttered computer room. Yet breaking out the wallet seemed to be my only option if I wanted to get the improved performance and the clean graphics that should have been on the system from the start. What to do, what to do?

My first instinct was to drop kick the miserable thing into the closet and go back to my Raspberry Pi. Luckily, there was a solution without the risk of property damage and a sprained big toe. Enter GBATemp, the console hacking forum which previously rescued my AtGames Genesis HD from a long dusty life in the corner of my collection. Member Kuwanger found a way to install the new firmware on old Super Retrocades... you just had to find it, because Retro-Bit sure isn't going to give it to you*, then get your hands dirty with some old-school Linux commands. Also, set your eyes to maximum squint, because that ancient PC font isn't easy to read on a television set.

Back, accursed bilinear filtering!
Back to the depths with you!

It's not quite as simple as writing a file to an SD card, popping it into the Super Retrocade, and switching it on, but the results are worth the extra work. An SRC running firmware 1.1 supports games for more consoles, is compatible with more controllers, and gives players the option to switch off graphics smoothing for console games, making them more attractive than when the system was launched in late 2017. It's not quite good enough to dissuade me from getting that Genesis Mini, but it should keep me busy until the system hits stores in November.

* I'm not gonna give it to you either. Do some detective work.