Data Frog SF2000
Nov. 12th, 2023 11:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroThis was listed as “VILCORN SNPRO Retro Game Consol 3 Inch IPS Srceen Portable Gaming Players Mini Consoles for Gameboy GBA SEGA SNES Kid Gift”, but it’s the same device as the Data Frog SF2000. I had actually purchased a differently-branded one a few months ago, but it was DOA and despite opening it up with hopes it could be resuscitated, there was nothing to be done. Fortunately, this one works fine.
This has no illusions about being a hardcore device. It's only got a small selection of systems: SNES, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, GBA, GBA, and MAME. And the emulation in almost all of them is pretty good! SNES is slowed down to the point of being absolutely unplayable, but the other systems (interestingly, including Genesis) work just fine. The screen is a little small, but at the right aspect ratio for nothing to be particularly stretched. Genesis maps one of the buttons to the R trigger, which is odd but dealable (and fixable). There's a colorful, kid-friendly interface with four games in "quick access" for each system (I'm not sure you can swap them, though). There's no menu button, so you have to press Start + Select for the menu, and your only options available are save states (of which there are four slots per game). No cheats, no fast-forward, no resizing, no frills. But it does have key remapping for each system, and a recents, favorites and search function for games. Oh, and it came with a RCA cable for TV output; so though I didn’t test it, you should be able to do big screen play on this.
I've got to say, for $12 (or even for $20, which is what you're more likely to see), this is fantastic. For that price you usually see NES-on-a-chip 500-in-1 handhelds without any save capacity, loaded with bootleg roms you can't change. And make no mistake, this feels like a toy. In my hands, it feels like a knockoff SNES controller made of brightly-colored, toy-grade plastic. (The weird bulge in the back seems like it wouldn’t work, but this thing is actually pretty ergonomic, and decent for large hands.) But it's got an SD card so you can edit the contents, a huge variety of games (that save sram and have usable, if awkward save states). It's a Tier 1 device, but it's a better device than my (2019) 9X-S handheld was on all aspects other than screen size. (And even there, the screen has a better aspect ratio so fewer games are stretched.)
This can't compete with something like the Miyoo Mini+, but then, that's not the competition at this price point. For $10-20, this is direct competition against things like the FC500, GamesPower, My Arcade Go Gamer, or Lexibook Cyber Console. And it blows those out of the water. Heck, the screen is better than a $30 Powkiddy Q90 (though it is less portable).
Overall: I wish I could remove the SNES collection entirely because it’s a trap taking up space, but otherwise we've finally found something really cheap but genuinely worthwhile for the price.
This has no illusions about being a hardcore device. It's only got a small selection of systems: SNES, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, GBA, GBA, and MAME. And the emulation in almost all of them is pretty good! SNES is slowed down to the point of being absolutely unplayable, but the other systems (interestingly, including Genesis) work just fine. The screen is a little small, but at the right aspect ratio for nothing to be particularly stretched. Genesis maps one of the buttons to the R trigger, which is odd but dealable (and fixable). There's a colorful, kid-friendly interface with four games in "quick access" for each system (I'm not sure you can swap them, though). There's no menu button, so you have to press Start + Select for the menu, and your only options available are save states (of which there are four slots per game). No cheats, no fast-forward, no resizing, no frills. But it does have key remapping for each system, and a recents, favorites and search function for games. Oh, and it came with a RCA cable for TV output; so though I didn’t test it, you should be able to do big screen play on this.
I've got to say, for $12 (or even for $20, which is what you're more likely to see), this is fantastic. For that price you usually see NES-on-a-chip 500-in-1 handhelds without any save capacity, loaded with bootleg roms you can't change. And make no mistake, this feels like a toy. In my hands, it feels like a knockoff SNES controller made of brightly-colored, toy-grade plastic. (The weird bulge in the back seems like it wouldn’t work, but this thing is actually pretty ergonomic, and decent for large hands.) But it's got an SD card so you can edit the contents, a huge variety of games (that save sram and have usable, if awkward save states). It's a Tier 1 device, but it's a better device than my (2019) 9X-S handheld was on all aspects other than screen size. (And even there, the screen has a better aspect ratio so fewer games are stretched.)
This can't compete with something like the Miyoo Mini+, but then, that's not the competition at this price point. For $10-20, this is direct competition against things like the FC500, GamesPower, My Arcade Go Gamer, or Lexibook Cyber Console. And it blows those out of the water. Heck, the screen is better than a $30 Powkiddy Q90 (though it is less portable).
Overall: I wish I could remove the SNES collection entirely because it’s a trap taking up space, but otherwise we've finally found something really cheap but genuinely worthwhile for the price.
