NES Retro Entertainment System Review

The Retro Entertainment System, or RES, does a decent job of playing NES games. The only real setback isthe cleanliness of the cartridges themselves. Be sure to clean your old games THOROUGHLY with a Q-Tip before using them with the RES. If you insert games with grime and dust on the contacts, it can enter the RES itself and cause problems for other games. (see below)

The main goal of the RES itself is to play your old NES games presumably BETTER than on the original system.
This is true for several reasons:
-The system is brand new with no wear and tear from years of use.
-It loads all games from the top, not the front, eliminating the problem of the game not making contact to the system properly.
-The video-out problem with scan lines appearing on the old system are not present on the RES.
-The system itself is much smaller than the original NES and considerably lighter. It's roughly 5" x 1.5" x 5" at around 0.5 LBS (An NES cartridge is slightly longer than the actual system).

The first game I tried (Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt) worked immediately with no problem. However, when I started trying some dustier games, they required some additional cleaning before working.

Like said before, if your games are too dirty, they can dirty up the RES as well. The same Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt cartridge I used at first stopped working later on after playing numerous other titles, and required some fidgeting.

But don't be alarmed with games just not starting up, some deep cleaning of the cartridge contacts (even with heavy chemicals, going against Nintendo's wishes, if it is giving serious problems) may be necessary.
Always remember, the original NES had it way worse and it was both the console and the cartridge at fault. Here, its probably just your cartridges. If a cartridge, when started, shows a white screen, scrambled text or anything other than the game, try holding the reset button down for a second, then releasing, this usually does the trick. If not, try removing and re-inserting the cartridge or wiggling it back and forth. If this doesn't work, clean your cartridge again.

When a game does work, the system plays it 100% perfectly. Please remember, my games are excessively dirty and have probably caused me more problems than any other user.

The system is designed to grip your games tightly to maintain even connections with the cartridge. Although it does this well, it may cause the cartridge to be difficult to remove when finished playing. All you can do is, as carefully as possible, remove the game upwards with even force. Unfortunately, the RES doesn't hold your games in horizontally (from front to back) tightly. The game can wiggle back and forth freely and if moved, the game will freeze. Be sure not to touch the game once its up and working.

A very substantial downside to the system is that it seems to be manufactured very cheaply. The plastic feels very light. The system and it's controllersjust seem very fragile. Great care must be taken when setting up and using the system.

Aside from that, one of the main reasons I got this particular model was because it has the original NES controller ports. Other 3rd party systems such as these used only the SNES controller ports. This is important if you want to use the classic NES controller or the Zapper.

All-in-all, this is a purchase I don't regret. I realize that i could have spent way more for an original NES and had way more problems. I even have more games on the way now that I know everything works fine.

This is definitely a good buy. If you have a bunch of old games and an NES that just isn't playing them, this is the item for you.

Click Here to see more reviews about: NES Retro Entertainment System

Product Description:
Just like the old days! Go back to all of your favorite games for NES with the Top Loader 8-bit System. Specially designed so that your games don't wiggle around, you can play for hours on end without having to worry about those annoying flashing screens. Compatible with all of y9our favorites, this system will give you that old feeling you've been missing!

Buy cheap NES Retro Entertainment System now