REVIEW | Retroflag GPi Case - Game Boy Powered by Pi Zero
EVER SINCE finding out about the Raspberry Pi nearly half a decade ago and how it can emulate a number of classic systems in one sweet UI via the Retropie, the Pi has been our go-to system for anything retro gaming.
Because of the Raspberry Pi's small form factor, people started to retrofitting the single-board computer in everything they can think of from a Nintendo cartridge to Lego cases.
More impressive is the earlier works of retro hobbyist trying to fit the Raspberry Pi into a handheld by reusing Game Boy shells like the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advance and the original Game Boy DMG with amazing results.
Today we are looking at the RetroFlag GPi Case from the same people who developed retro mini console casing for the Raspberry Pi. This casing basically comes with an LCD, custom PCB board and a cool Game Boy DMG case and a cartridge shell that houses the Raspberry Pi Zero W.
Setting up
Right out of the box, there's almost no assembly required except for putting together the Pi Zero W into the cartridge shell. While first-time users might find the cartridge shell to be a bit daunting to open up at first, but eventually, it will snap out properly. Once you get the correct orientation you're ready to re-assemble the cartridge and insert it into the slot. That's it, no soldering required!
The rest is flashing your image with Retropie and the games that you wanna play on it.
Build Quality
One of the main features of the system is the IPS (In-Plane Switching) screen, providing great clarity and brightness, making it enjoyable to play. Gone are the days of searching for a light source to play your games with the backlight providing sufficient clarity in whatever angle you look at it.
Meanwhile, the feel of the casing is solid and sturdy. Though smaller in comparison to the actual DMG Game Boy by about 20%, you can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia playing Game Boy games on what is essentially a Game Boy.
Button presses felt great too, although my unit often changes direction by going up whenever I press left. It's a minor inconvenience, but I don't really have the option to find a replacement at the moment.
With every iteration from RetroFlag, they added an on/off switch that lets you insert a script to safely shutdown the handheld without going through the menu to turn off the system.
Performance & Battery life: A Pi Zero W (a mini review)
With the Zero Pi, you can only go up as far a the Super Nintendo with varying results in between which include dips in framerate and nearly garbled up sound. Due to the relatively low specs of the Zero Pi, you can't play Playstation, N64 or the Dreamcast emulators, its just not capable of running those games properly. More surprisingly is the Neo Geo Pocket /Color emulator, as it wasn't really optimised to play on the board despite it's processing power is on par with the Game Boy Color.
The handheld uses three double AA batteries that can last a few hours. You can also hook up the GPi Case to a power bank as the unit comes included with a USB cable with a power connector.
The sound quality on the mono speaker is loud and excellent, but with emulation, expect some sounds to not accurately represent the music.
VERDICT
The market is nearly saturated with various handheld option complete with its own pros and cons. Some can get pricy, other cheaper options may lack of build design but offer better specs by using the Raspberry Pi 3 such as Waveshare. However, most certainly there is a whole lot of assembly required.
RetroFlag's GPi case takes out the hassle of actually assembling a unit from scratch, requires knowledge of flashing an image and basic scripting. The build quality excellently represents nostalgia, and while the specs are a lot less to be desired it is expected for the Pi Zero W. It's a good simple project for those new into the single board computer and a great way to enjoy retro-games on the go.
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