Miyoo Mini Flip Review

Well it's suffered many delays and has been a long time coming but the Miyoo Mini Flip is finally here but is it worth the wait?   Let's find out.....

Firstly, the machine looks great, it reminds me of the Powkiddy V90 but with better specs and dual analogue sticks (yes dual analogue sticks on a device this small!), the controls are all good and responsive although you'll have little requirement or use for the dual analogue sticks.

The stock firmware as is often the case is not great although adequate if you're a newcomer to emulation devices, custom firmware is currently limited to MinUI or Gamma, although versions of SpruceOS and Knulli are being worked on.  I've previously detailed elsewhere on this blog how much I like the MinUI firmware so this was the obvious choice for me and it's a perfect fit for the Flip, supporting everything up to PS1 perfectly, some N64 and Dreamcast is also possible.

The elephant in the room is the Flip's hinge which is extremely stiff making opening the machine quite difficult which has generated much discussion on Reddit and Discord, personally I don't mind the hinge and it does result in the machine closing with a very satisfying snap!

A second version of the device with an improved hinge is reportedly being worked on by Miyoo but nothing has yet been released.

This is a terrific little clamshell device with plenty of potential through future custom firmware releases, but at the moment I recommend installing MinUI rather than using the supplied firmware, it's just better all round.  I still prefer my Anbernic RG35XX SP but this is a great little complement to it.

Retroid Pocket 5 Review

I'm quite late to the party with this device but now am the very happy owner of the Retroid Pocket 5 and, along with the Ayaneo Pocket Micro, is the best Android handheld there is currently, here's why.....

The build quality, as with all Retroid devices, is superb, the buttons are good and responsive as are the d-pad and the dual analogue sticks and shoulder buttons.  The whole machine feels extremely comfortable to hold and looks amazing.

It's real strength is it's stunning AMOLED screen which is the most bright, sharp and colourful screen I've seen on an Android device, the games look incredible and really pop off the screen like they never have before, it really is fantastic!

Performance is another area where the RP5 really shines, the higher end systems in particular such as Dreamcast, Saturn and PSP are flawless.  A special word in particular for Sega Saturn performance which is the best I've yet experienced, it's the first device which gives perfect performance through Robert Broglia's standalone Saturn.emu emulator and the performance through the Beetle Saturn core on Retroarch is also equally excellent.

This, along with the AyaNeo Pocket Micro, is my go-to Android handheld, it really is an outstanding all-round device and comes very highly recommended.

Kirby Air Ride (Gamecube) - a great non-platformer Kirby game

I've been a fan for a long time now of the Kirby games and had always thought that, apart from a pinball game and a symbol matching game on GameBoy, there were only platform games in the series but I was wrong!

Recently I discovered Kirby Air Ride on Gamecube, a racing game featuring Kirby for up to four players and it's excellent fun!

It's primarily played through the use of a vehicle, some of which are taken from previous Kirby games including the Warpstar.  The controls for the game are unusual in the fact that there is no accelerate button, this is done automatically by the game, except for the control stick to steer all other actions are done using the A button including braking, charging for a boost and sucking in nearly enemies to use their powers.

The game consists of three different modes : Air Ride which is a basic back view racing mode, choose your machine and race against up to three other human or CPU players and aim to win.

Top Ride which is a mode on smaller and simpler tracks and viewed from above the track and has only two vehicles to select and features seven courses and also Time Attack and Free Run modes.

And lastly there is City Trial where a city must be navigated along with sections in a forest, cave and volcano all while collecting upgrade items.

The graphics are excellent and the racing is fast, this is a real gem of a Kirby game and well worth a look if you still own a Gamecube or, like me, can play it on a retro emulation handheld.

SuperPage58.com - a great site for fans of Digitiser

Between 1993 and 2003 on the UK Teletext service there was a daily video games magazine called Digitiser which quickly gained a cult following for it's anarchic and surreal humour alongside it's game reviews

And a devoted fan has now done an amazing website called Super Page 58 (so named as Digitiser I believe used to be on page 458), it really is the ultimate reference point for fans of the page, there is a section giving information on all the characters that used to appear, a full and comprehensive index of every game which was reviewed (many featuring screenshots of the original Teletext page).  Also featured in the Archives section are Digitiser's Top 10s, letters to Digitiser, Star Pinups, their hilarious fake adverts, and their Ring-sir! Phone Pranks and much, much more.

If, like me, you used to read Digitiser after school each day this is an incredible trip down memory lane and a must visit for fans of the page.

Digitiser still lives on to this day in the form of a YouTube channel, there have also now been two series of Digitiser on YouTube, Level 1 and 2 (the second was Kickstarter funded) and both series feature the same humour as used to be featured on the pages.  Both series are well worth checking out.

Super Page 58 can be found at superpage58.com

The original Nintendo DS - ugly but revolutionary!

Before the release of the Nintendo DS there had only been single screen handhelds from Nintendo such as the GameBoy and GameBoy Advance but the DS changed all that.

It was Nintendo's first dual screen and touchscreen handheld allowing for much more detailed and involved games many of which utilised the device's built-in microphone, another first.

The original DS was however not exactly what you would call an attractive machine, in fact I'd say it was rather ugly quite frankly but thankfully this was rectified with the subsequent releases of the DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL.  It is though quite comfortable to hold and use.

It had a massive software library including some excellent titles, many of which still hold up to this day.

And finally if we hadn't have had the DS we probably would never have got the 3DS, still, in my opinion the best handheld Nintendo ever made.

So all in all the DS was a real game changer and a handheld which will go down in history as a revolutionary device.