Astro City Mini V - Unboxing and review - 60fps

[@RetroCore]

For anyone interested, I was using a PSU with the following output: 5.0v at 2.4 amps This could be why lag wasn't an issue for me. Using a charger outputting 1 or 1.5 or even 2 amps may not feed the CPU enough power resulting in slower emulation quality.

[@tom11zz884]

Interesting. Other channels ( not saying any names) are claiming that the Astro City Mini V has horrible lag, even when changing chargers. You review seems more legit though

[@jonniefast]

should have come with the psu 😌

[@alexchan661]

I noticed the power rating on the unit is 5.0V 2.0A, which is the same as the original mini. So would using 5.0V 2.4A adapter be too much amp for the unit and possibly risk damage?

[@Aitor]

@@alexchan661 The unit will only get what it needs. On the Egret 2, I believe it requieres 2.4A and I think this Astro City V is using the same hardware so just to be safe, using a little higher amps could lower the lag.

[@rexon31]

@@tom11zz884 he’s telling the truth i also have not had bad lag issues. it was running at maybe 5 to 6 frame but nothing game braking. i even tested it back to back with gun-bird on the switch and it there is very little difference.

[@ThatWhiskeylovinAsianGuy]

criminally underrated channel. good contents.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks !!

[@djangofett4879]

Such an awesome, focused selection of games and some really obscure ones ive never seen before. I also found a french site that still has the deluxe arcade stick peripheral (at slightly less than msrp)

[@apollosungod2819]

Beautiful piece of kit right there... makes sense getting one if you already have the other and it's optional pads and joysticks. Plenty of awesome 2d graphics arcade games there too... a major point of contention how many of those games show "made in 1998, 1999, etc. 2d graphics game never died in Japan and neither was the game coverage or interest in them there... same with arcade centers and games... it's always the American gamer magazines back in the near late 1990s who basically decided to favor 3d graphics games and then claim that the arcade perfect 2d games were not worth the money or that they were charging too much money (by implying the comparison of buying a 3d game versus a 2d one...) that is minus a few gamer magazines like GameFan and maybe Gamer's Republic who still did extensive coverage on 2d graphics games but those times are lost and we have these geniuses telling us "2d games fell out of favor" which is a false narrative, always was and always will be.

[@GG-sn4cw]

Great review my friend mine will comeing in on Tuesday look forward to it

[@chrisr529]

I'm really looking forward to receiving this!!

[@nathanmerritt1581]

2 videos in one day. This is what I call a special occasion.

[@RetroFett]

Love seeing ZAXXON and Moon Cresta on this!

[@jonniefast]

i only ever played the colecovision port and WOW 🙃 that is a big jump in graphics lol

[@figment1988]

@@jonniefast the real fun of the arcade version was the flight stick one used.

[@VirajKathwadia]

I got mine coming, I ordered the unit and the style kit, just like to add that the style kit for this has different stickers than the original for the Astro City Mini that relate to the games for the V.

[@Banderpop]

Mine arrived on the morning of the 30th too! Which was unexpected as I'm in the UK and my last Amazon JP order took ages.

[@RetroCore]

wow, you got that quick. Mine did arrive on day of release but I was out so I had to reschedule the delivery to Saturday. Friday I was bust in work :(

[@alexche1520]

Nice one! Mine is on the way as well. This is most exciting mini arcade ever.

[@Charlie-Cat.]

Got this one in the collection as well Mark. I like it. 8^) Anthony..

[@Konuvis]

Cool little device.

[@zanegandini5350]

As someone who packs at Amazon, yes we do put that type of stickers on boxes. It's called a "spoo" because it always starts with "sp," but it's weird that it was on the Astro Mini V box and not the outer box. But it looks like they rubberbanded the two items together, put plastic wrap around them, spooed it out and then put it into an outer box. Here in the US we wouldn't do that... but I know that at least in my facility, we no longer use ANY packing material, because they want us to push stuff out ASAP, not even taking a couple of seconds to put padding in the box. Looks like Japanese Amazon has a little more quality control, and thank goodness for that.

[@RetroCore]

Ooh, if they sent stuff in Japan when thout packing all hell would break loose. High standards are expected. What they do for big things like this is shrink-wrap the item to a card base to stop anything moving around. Anything that could move is wrapped with elastic bands. I've bought BluRay discs and games from Amazon US. The packing is piss poor (no offence to the workers). In Japan games and movies come in a nice sized bubble bag with padding. Everything I've received from the US is in a hard card envelope with ripples on the inside.

[@zanegandini5350]

@@RetroCore Yeah, I can believe it. That's why Amazon US makes it extremely easy to return items, they know not all of it while make it in one piece.

[@RetroCore]

That's terrible 😢. I've never had anything from Amazon arrive damaged except my 4K TV. Thankfully that was picked up and quickly replaced.

[@zanegandini5350]

@@RetroCore It's the price to pay for next-day or even same-day delivery in a country where you need to drive a car to get anywhere.

[@RetroCore]

I guess so.

[@bit-ishbulldog2089]

I want all the Astro mini's and the Taito mini. I look to see if there is different regions.. sort of merchandise I like, good collectable licensed SEGA and other gaming stuff. Cool 😎

[@MrThunderwing]

Great video. Love your Daytona Hornet decorated Saturn at the end, what's the story behind it?

[@RetroCore]

Oh, that's one of the Many dust covers I got from a store in Mexico. It was a store called PrintBoy printerboy.net/

[@MrThunderwing]

@@RetroCore Nice! Thanks for sharing the link.

[@shaggymcdaniel3216]

They just had to ship these out on Saturday morning, when my bank is closed. The card blocks the purchase because it’s from another country. I’ll have to jump through some hoops to get this damn thing.

[@mixedhairless]

Thank you

[@martinevans1206]

Toaplan AND Psikyo shooters on this? I’m in! #ShmupsAreShooters

[@figment1988]

Don't forget Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden and VideoSystem's Aero Fighters (the name change applied to the international version since VideoSystem wanted to avoid players from inadvertently associating the game with Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog).

[@beingsupersonic7499]

Great vid, extensive and informative as per usual. Cheers for reviewing this👍🏻I think I’m going to treat myself to this at some point and import it. One question though: for the montage section did you use the same effect/filter on all games? A couple looked softer than others, Gunbird especially.. unless it’s my knackered eyes😂

[@RetroCore]

I had all games set to "none" filter which means bi-linear filter is on 😅. I guess some higher resolution games may not look as blurry?

[@beingsupersonic7499]

@@RetroCore Ah cool, thanks for clarifying👍🏻

[@eprohoda]

broth,super, wwell shots~goodbye!-😍

[@shinkazama3959]

Maybe in the next box there'll be something for those 'lovely legs' of yours Mr Smith (like some waxing strips), jokes aside great video & a really cool unit.

[@amerigocosta7452]

The black borders that the original Astro City Mini showed to the left and right of the screen seem nowhere to be seen here (I expected them to be on the top and bottom on the screen, but good to see the games are full screen). Does it mean this time they managed to source 4:3 LCD screens? Anyways the line-up is great. It's certainly not a cheap unit but at the end of the day still convenient if you factor in how much Toaplan or Raizing arcade boards (or console ports) go for these days. To be honest I hoped Cave games to be featured, as Dodonpachi has been eluding an official re-release for many years now..Oh well.

[@RetroCore]

Yep, this time they've done it right and used the correct screen size.

[@jonniefast]

dai jou ou or esp ra da would have been nice

[@Colin_Ames]

A good overview, as I knew it would be. It’s a neat device, although not something I’m about to buy.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for watching.

[@RedRanger2001]

"V" stands for "Vertical". Unlike the Taito Egret II Mini, you have to buy both the original _and_ the V versions of the Astro City Mini.

[@byronportillo5767]

Yeap, I really wish they should have included the 3 vertical screen games on the V instead of the original.

[@MrSRArter]

@@byronportillo5767 The V version wasn't even thought up of when the original version was being made though they should've included the 3 vertical games that were on the original in the V version as well anyways.

[@ecco222]

Compared to the first Astro Mini, the screen is also larger and not letterboxed. The extra display space makes a big difference. The display position (HDMI output) option doesn't seem to do anything which is unfortunate because my TV cuts some of the top and bottom of the image (I have the same issue with first Astro Mini which doesn't have a display position adjustment option).

[@RetroCore]

Switch off your TV's overscan option. My LG also Cuts off the image if the overscan is switched on.

[@kaikiske7436]

It'd be nice if we got this collection of games on modern consoles too. Is M2 doing any collections or releases with Battle Bakraid, V-V, Batsugun, the Tatasujins, etc?

[@HyperTriggerEx]

M2 do have the rights to the Toaplan library and are making their way through their catalogue of games. So I think we can expect ports of the Tatsujin games along with Batsugun some time in the future.

[@kaikiske7436]

@@HyperTriggerEx that's cool. Yeah, I have bought all of their releases. It's too bad that their output is ridiculously slow though.

[@figment1988]

I know that M2 did release a compilation for the Nintendo Switch and PS4 (I think they did also release it for the PS4) which includes Tiger Heli and Twin Cobra that featured the arcade versions as well as all the console ports (Tiger Heli on the Famicom and NES, and Twin Cobra for the Famicom and NES, Sega Genesis, and PC Engine).

[@HyperTriggerEx]

@@figment1988 Yeah I’ve got both of them comps. It’s normally an annual thing, but they’ve not released any details of one for this year :(.

[@DeathlessDevil]

Got mine on the way! How’s the shimmering on the games? The vert games on Egret had very obvious shimmering.

[@RetroCore]

If you leave the default settings on, there is no shimmering but switch the filter to Sharp then you'll see them.

[@dwightdixon8508]

Yeah this is pretty cool but big problem for those looking to play via game pad as they’re nowhere to be found at retail. That means no simultaneous 2 players or using game pad when connected to monitor via HDMI. Nice thinking there LRG

[@RetroCore]

They sell the pads on Amazon Japan and a joystick too.

[@RyoGuiRen]

Two questions: 1)- A 2,4 amp PSU could also help VF1 audio emulation on the first Astro City Mini? 2)- where I can find your Saturn-Daytona cushion?

[@RetroCore]

I don't know about your first question as I never had any sound issues with VF on the first Astro City. I was using this same PSU though. The cushion is actually a dust cover. There's a real Saturn under there. It came from printerboy.net/

[@RyoGuiRen]

@@RetroCore For VF1 there are some audio inaccuracy in some stages, I think you can easily notice especially during Pai stage music (wrong voice reverb etc.). Also there are some frame rate drop during replays (especially in TV mode). I wonder if some of these issue are PSU related... Thank you, so it's a dust cover lol, it's really nice, thank you, maybe I'll buy one!

[@GOGOAKUMAN]

No Golden Axe?

[@angelfranciscomarinolmedil7070]

Nice video. Wonder why they habe included a Wrestling game when is clearly focused on shooting games. What about the input lag?? I haven’t read very goog things about it on tweeter saying it is atrocious and some games being unplayable. Whats your thought about delay?? Thanks

[@RetroCore]

Here you go kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGPNapKNe5qDhJI

[@christianfairhurst3877]

Looking at all the games one after another I have to wonder how many of them are the same game code with switched out graphics.

[@RetroCore]

On the Psyko games, all of them. All their games besides Gunbird are a yawn feast and all use the same power up icons as well.

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Pretty much what Cave did for years...

[@Superdimensional]

I have batsugun on mister FPGA and it shimmers on that too

[@RetroCore]

It doesn't shimmer on the Saturn 😁. I need to check it out on Mame to see how that handles it.

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Screen resolution settings....

[@Bloodreign1]

Tora! Tora! Tora! is Same! Same! Same! heh heh. Or as we know it in the west, Fire Shark.

[@RetroCore]

Oops, that's right!

[@skins4thewin]

The HDMI output looks quite dark. Any particular reason for that?

[@RetroCore]

Looked fine on my TV.

[@skins4thewin]

@@RetroCoreI see. Yeah I dunno, u can see it in the vid that it's pretty dark. Maybe the capture card? Not a big deal was just curious if that was normal or not.

[@RetroCore]

Could be one of those signals like my Saturn. That looks fine on the TV but always looks darker when I capture footage. I normally have to boost the brightness in post production on Saturn stuff.

[@skins4thewin]

@@RetroCore Makes sense. Sounds like a pain lol.

[@kwato3981]

Hi :) Sorry but there IS input lag much more than the Egret 2 mini. Tested with some different cables and adaptators: nothing changed. Some games are really umcofortable to play. Returned mine :( Ps: sorry for my bad english.

[@RetroCore]

There are now many videos showing that a very powerful PSU does improved the lag.

[@kwato3981]

No

[@randy7894]

Very cool. Are there... Hmmm.... not so official possibilities with this device?

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Wouldn't expect it to get hacked in a hurry...

[@RetroCore]

There's no SD card port but maybe a hack via the UBA could happen? Not sure though.

[@jonniefast]

i have the original astro (horizontal) i dont play on the screen itself - its worth the price of admission imo for gunbird alone- i have strikers 1945 on arcade pcb the real test will be if the screen tears (many pandora type devices show framedrops/tearing on vertical shmups)

[@jonniefast]

some filler titles on the V if they were going to include those, they should have added 5-10 more good games gunbird 2 espgaluda dodonpachi varth etc

[@RetroCore]

No screen tearing from what I noticed. So that's a plus point I guess.

[@figment1988]

It's worth it if you're a fan of shmups. I also heard that this week, Limited Run was gonna sell a special edition which includes one more bonus game which is Super Zaxxon.

[@prawnk1ng]

1:35 Tatay in Indian means something totally different. 🤣

[@RetroCore]

I'm sure it does. 😁

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

Did you notice lag in any of the games?

[@RetroCore]

On the TV I did not but then I was playing with a controller and using a different PSU. Playing on the actual unit via a 5 volt 2.5 amp PSU, I did notice lag.

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

@@RetroCore I noticed the specs said 2.0 amp are you not overloading it with a 2.5 amp and you used a different PSU on your TV?!

[@RetroCore]

2.5 amp is what can be supplied but if the unit doesn't want that much it will only draw what it needs.

[@ninjaalex-yf5io]

Can you adjust the difficulty on a game basis for this unit ?!? This is missing on the original astro mini, all the games are on EASY and this pissed me off.

[@RetroCore]

You can adjust lives, and bonus lives point settings on most games. I think there was a difficulty setting for some games.

[@ninjaalex-yf5io]

@@RetroCore that sucks; what is the point of having to play a game on easy

[@byronportillo5767]

@@ninjaalex-yf5io Well they finally brought the DIP setting similar to the Egret II, and yep that's right you can finally adjust those games anything you want. I wonder why it was ditched on the original console.

[@RetroCore]

I just checked and most games do allow you to change the difficulty.

[@ninjaalex-yf5io]

@@byronportillo5767 Thanks but I don't think that I will buy one. From the other reviews I ve seen so far, the input lag is terrible, about 10 frames, so ~155ms. Egret II fairs better with about 7 frames.

[@SandroSensei]

Did you notice any inputlag? A lot of reviewers here on youtube are trashing this thing because of the inputlag 🙇🏽‍♂️

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

If you want a licenced mini this is it, if you want a perfect seamless arcade experience well this like any presentation piece is probably not your thing I guess..

[@jonniefast]

they are hooking it up to their consumer grade televisions that arent meant for gaming lol the "lag" is on their switch and ps4 as well

[@jonniefast]

i have the neogeo mini and the real mvs hardware - is it as good as a crt arcade? no is it playable/acceptable (YES lol)

[@eddiex7971]

Did they charge you anything extra when you received it at home? I ordered mine but I noticed the only option was DHL Priority. So I guess I have to play something extra 😕 I love your videos! Great work as always! Regards

[@RetroCore]

I live in Japan so it was delivered by standard local currier like with all Amazon stuff. Also, free shipping since I'm a prime member. When I buy stuff from Amazon UK or US, there normally isn't any extra charge.

[@thofol]

Living in Germany, I ordered at Amazon Japan. They shipped via DHL express and all charges (tax, duty) were included. Took only five days to arrive.

[@bhirawamaylana466]

Why they cannot include the power supply in the box ? it's not that expensive and sure now days many have phone charger laying around but it's better to have it in the box, this just like New 3DS XL all over (the US version don't know if JP and EU version suffer same fate)

[@RetroCore]

Nintendo are dicks because their system didn't use a generic PSU, so not including one is wrong. This on the other hand uses a PSU that everyone already owns a few of. I have at least 7 or 8 or them.

[@bhirawamaylana466]

@@RetroCore true but the problem is the output, if they include one in the box we can at least know which power supply we need, I once use my power supply who support fast charging and forgot the one I charge is my older phone that I still use who don't support fast charging and it's fry the charging port, the good thing it's not my phone just the charging port who don't work.

[@beingsupersonic7499]

I agree that they should include a power supply to correctly power the device. Then it can operate as intended using correct voltage or whatnot. Apparently, if you use the wrong voltage on a PC Engine/CoreGrafx mini it will bugger up the controller USB ports, rendering it unplayable😣

[@WMARUoriginal]

It’s very cool, but 90% of the time I play my original Astro city mini with HDMI out to my monitor so the extra premium they’re charging for the built in vertical screen is really not worth it to me. If this eventually drops in price I’ll get it but if it sells out then so be it.

[@Mr.madmight266]

Wow, this time they even included non-sega games as well. although the downside is that most games that used Teit i mean uhhたてMode were shoot em up games, hence, most games are shmups. by the way, where there any commercials of the Astro City with Sega Shiro? Segata Sanshiro's son?

[@RetroCore]

Sadly no TV ads for the Astro City featuring Mr. Shiro 😢

[@billcook4768]

Me: Wait, when did we get up to the fifth of these?

[@RetroCore]

lol, if only there were a few others.

[@jessragan6714]

Wow, this thing is Toaplan heavy. Makes you wonder why the company went out of business when its games are so popular.

[@RetroCore]

Lack of international sales, maybe?

[@charlibiris]

Fighting games. Thats why

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Home consoles and players obsession with bad 90's 3D games killed the 2D arcade genre.

[@figment1988]

Home consoles were beginning to show dominance while in the arcade scene, one on one fighting games like Street Fighter II took the attention away from the shmup genre

[@reagandow850]

I haven’t received mine yet but I’m very worried as one creator, Team Pandory, returned his because of the nasty lag. I’m hoping maybe it was one off. Did you run into nasty lag?? Edit: is it worse then the original Astro City mini?

[@RetroCore]

No. There is lag but nothing worse than the Egret mini or original Astro City mini. Some people go on about lag as if they have the most responsive reflexes in the world. Bloody annoys me. As someone who has been gaming since the early 80's I know all about playing on CRTs in RGB to modern 4K screens. I can tell you that all games on this are fully playable.

[@ShelvedGamer]

I heard about that too. I hear the Egret mini also suffered this unless you used a more powerful adapter. Though I'd do this at your own risk. I can't imagine why having a lower power adapter could affect input lag though

[@FoxbatStargazer]

@@ShelvedGamer Insufficient power prevents the CPU from running at full speed. If the emulation is multi-threaded you can probably lean on that more to compensate at the cost of more lag.

[@RetroCore]

Well said!

[@daveholloway185]

Team Pandory just did a follow up video and measured the amount of lag (and used different power supplies too). It does seem that this one is especially bad compared to the others on the market. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3eml4utdr6oq80

[@Marcolubus_]

22:28 oops😅

[@RetroCore]

Is that where I knock the controller off the desk 😅

[@jadenjulia2586]

Hey Mark, true or false, Ocean developed Super Turrican 2.

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

It was developed Yu Suzuki and Hideo Kojima 🤠

[@RetroCore]

err, false? It was developed by Factor 5 wasn't it?

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Looks pretty neat, but I am sure the shooter afictionados gonna hate this for showing even the slightest fault tho'.. But hey, It's what they do 😉 👍

[@GamayObera]

22:54 I can confirm your opinion on Psikyo games, I've played several games up to that Lode Runner game released in 2000s and most of them are pretty uninspired or basic.

[@RetroCore]

Absolutely. The only one I trully like is Gunbird 1 and 2. All the others are dull as dirty dish water.

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Read somewhere Psikyo were made up of a bunch of ex Video System staff who didn't want to make vert scroll Yoko shooters for the NeoMVS ...

[@jonniefast]

strikers is one of my favorites but im biased lol a pizza place had a cab running shmups growing up

[@inklingex4433]

Honestly, I expected more games from this Astro City Mini like having Cave games and more early Sega games pre-Space Harrier.

[@RetroCore]

Licensing issues I guess.

[@jonniefast]

sega couldnt license their own titles? in 2022 it doesnt surprise me

[@figment1988]

I'm sure they were going for that, but there wasn't many vertically oriented games by Sega at the time. It would've been nice to see them have Tranquilizer Gun, Deep Scan, Monster Bash, Congo Bongo and Star Jacker.

[@Bibvock]

Looks like it's a collectors piece. Not a players piece. Too much latency proven.

[@RetroCore]

Pretty much.

[@KelvinNZder]

Tora Tora tora instead of same same same named on video, nice reference though

[@RetroCore]

Oops, yeah, made a mistake with that one.

[@figment1988]

In North America, this game was known as FireShark, which did appear on the Sega Genesis.

[@Pixilshooter]

Looks somewhat cool … but this is not for me …

[@SodaGumX]

not what i wanted at all. i wanted another one with more sega model 1 2 and 3 games on it and the screen rotates.

[@RetroCore]

Now that would be great!

[@figment1988]

I'm sure that's a possibility. Though in order to keep up with continuity, I'm sure Sega would likely make a mini version of the Blast City since that was their go to cabinet when the Model 2 was out in full gear.

[@jonniefast]

people cry about lag then buy a nintendo switch port that runs at 30fps using bluetooth controllers 😂🤣

[@JustPeasant]

All is not as it seem, unfortunately. On a "wiggle stick" there's a 0.300 - 0.500 sec. input latency (5-9 frames delay). Nice collectible to look at, but not really good at playing games. For me, it's a pass⛔

[@jonniefast]

source? latency using a 1ms gaming monitor? or grandmas roku smart tv designed for watching netflix on?

[@JustPeasant]

@@jonniefast It's own display. Not external one. Source? Dozen of them, at least🖐🖐 Conclusion: Not worth $150⛔ Edit: But lets not kid ourselves: Things like this are a mere collectible for nostalgic reasons, nothing more. They do look great on the shelves, but not good at actual playing the games... 🥸🥸🥸

[@valentine_puppy]

That's just too horrible. Ps4 game latched on like a leech to the beautiful Sega product. PlayStation will never kill my love for Sega not even symbolically like this. Ain't happening Sony! Sega is better always, when they got the courage to show it.

[@RetroCore]

Lol, that is a great game though. Pretty tough mind you.

[@TheTrueBro]

I'll get mine in 3 weeks. It'll be a long wait 🥹

[@RetroCore]

Quite the wait. But at least you'll finally have one.

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

3 weeks ..man, now that's what I call lag .... 🤠

[@TheTrueBro]

@@RetroCore oh! I wanted to ask you the following: 1.- doea the Astro V feature a vertical mode when connected through HDMI? So you can switch your Tv and see the games the way they should be seen. 2.- Does this feature big lateral overlays so you don't have to see big ass black lines on the sides? Lol Thanks!

[@TheTrueBro]

@@TheKayliedGamerChannel-KZbin i had to order through parcel shipment in Amiami. I also ordered it with some games. Postal service here tends to be slow, that's why i need to wait a bit longer.