I was talking about older games the other day with my wife and 8 year old. My wife mentioned she would like to play some Super Mario 2 again.

Are any of these game emulator/game sticks worth getting? Any suggestions?

SM2 is ported and easy to get. I use my steam deck with a couple of controllers hooked up to the big screen. The emulators don't really like 4 controller set ups very much, or at least I'm too dumb to get them to work well on relatively budget controllers.

Raspberry pi unit and install your own retro system and download ROMs for the games you want. Google how to's for this.

Most of the retro consoles are not great in quality and are limited on games.

Look up Retro Game Corps on youtube. There are a *ton* of reasonably priced handhelds at every price point. A $30-50 device from Ali Express will play every game up to PS1 without breaking a sweat. SNES and below is trivial.

Many of them have bluetooth support and have micro HDMI out so you can hook up to your TV to play from the couch on the cheap.

I'm not a gamer and know little about gaming systems. I have a son who might enjoy a "game stick". There are so many available options on Amazon that I'm completely overwhelmed and I don't know what to get him. Have any of you bought one that you are happy with?

I'd stick to a handheld. I have both of these I like them.

https://www.litnxt.com/products/miyoo-mini-v4-portable-handheld-game-console

Also some handhelds can hook up to a tv.

https://www.litnxt.com/products/anbernic-rg35xx-h-retro-portable-handheld-game-console



Edit: You can also run emulators on Android and iOS devices through their app stores which is an option.

Delta is good on iOS. RetroArch is good on both and on Steam.

https://www.retroarch.com/

I have heard there can be spyware/malware on the random "game sticks", I don't know that to be true, but it is worth considering.

OldArmy07 said:

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Look up Retro Game Corps on youtube. There are a *ton* of reasonably priced handhelds at every price point. A $30-50 device from Ali Express will play every game up to PS1 without breaking a sweat. SNES and below is trivial.

Many of them have bluetooth support and have micro HDMI out so you can hook up to your TV to play from the couch on the cheap.

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Agree with OldArmy - Russ with Retro Game Corps is the king in this space, especially retro handhelds. He's got some extremely easy to follow guides and some great content to help you make a decision. He does all sorts of "best handheld under $100" type content. If you're wanting to do a more of a game stick, he's even got a guide on turning an Amazon Fire stick into a gaming device. His website with a bunch of guides is below or like OldArmy said hop on his YouTube channel.

https://retrogamecorps.com/

If any of you reading this decide to go the retro handheld route, here's an constantly updated master spreadsheet of all of the latest and upcoming releases with a breakdown on what can play what plus specifications. It's a fantastic resource.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1irg60f9qsZOkhp0cwOU7Cy4rJQeyusEUzTNQzhoTYTU/edit?gid=0#gid=0

I personally own a Retroid Pocket 3, Powkiddy X55, and Odin 2 Pro so I've got some experience in the handheld space and would be happy to answer any questions. It's a fun hobby, but a little bit of tech savviness can go a long way in this world.

I have an Odin 2, an RG351M, and a Miyoo Mini Plus. My kids are getting RG35XXSPs for Christmas.

The Odin 2 goes with me on flights, and I mostly use the Miyoo Mini for really addictive Pico-8 games.

Android handsets require more patience to setup, but the 351mp and Miyoo Mini (similar to the handhelds that WGann3 recommended) are pretty easy to install a new OS on and transfer your roms to in a half hour or so. Plenty of guides and videos that walk you step by step.

Odin 2 has been such a dream handheld for me. I've had a blast tinkering with it. It's my flight entertainment too. I'm a fan of Android on these handhelds, definitely more frontend setup heavy but that's something I enjoy - not for everyone for sure though.

I've used it mainly for upscaled PS2 and GameCube, but there's actually some good native Android ports I've enjoyed. I dock mine a lot too for the kids to play some of my old favorites on. Switch emulation is hit or miss because of software/legal issues but it plays some Switch games better than a Switch haha.