Hardware Review - Subor Mega Drive Portable (Famiclone)

By now most retro video game collectors and enthusiasts know that Nintendo's patent on the old 8-bit video game technology has expired. For some time now various companies have been making different variations of consoles using Nintendo's 8-bit platform. Some have been better than others (Messiah's Generation NEX comes to mind as being one of the better clone systems), some of them are down right garbage.

I myself use a Hyperkin clone system to play my NES games for a few reasons. 1) Its size. The thing is tiny, about the size of a few CD jewel cases stacked on top of each other. 2) It was cheap. I think I paid maybe $20 for it 10+ years ago. 3) Its reliable. I've owned many "toaster" NES consoles and even replacing the 72 pin connector would only go so far in reliability for me. I like the top loader version, but the lack of AV inputs still makes me scratch my head.

When I decided to branch out into the world of collecting Famicom games, I looked at the various Famiclones as they are called to see what was the best option. I looked at the Generation NEX as well as some of the consoles manufactured by Hyperkin and Retro-Bit. I ultimately went with a genuine Nintendo Famicom AV console I scored for a great price direct from Japan. A little later I even added the Disk Drive add-on. All set now, right? Well kind of.

After watching several reviews online of the portable Super Nintendo handhelds, I wondered about a portable Famicom. Was there such a thing? Sure enough there are several entries in this category, none of the official though. No surprise there. After trying to do my home work and find something that was of a half decent quality AND find something that I could afford using my eBay budget, I landed on a handheld manufactured my a company called Subor...or Zhongshan Subor Educational Electronics Co., LTD. Man that's a mouth full!

This handheld (I believe) is officially called the Subor Mega Drive Portable, SB-Z12. Not sure why the Mega Drive name is included as this only plays Nintendo 8-bit Famicom games. I was able to purchase this direct from Hong Kong via AliExpress.com. For a mere $30 bucks shipped I'm now the proud owner of a working, portable Famiclone system!

The system was shipped to me in a small cardboard shipping box. No outer packaging whatsoever. I saw the same system recently being sold by a seller on eBay and his had some decent looking packaging, so I'm not sure what gives here. For what I paid I really can't complain though. In the shipping box was the console, instruction manual and a cord that allows you to connect the console to a TV. The console operates on 4 AA batteries and of course these were not included.

Upon opening the box I was surprised at how small, yet how big the thing was. Remember the very first Game Boy and how small, yet big/chunky it was? The system itself measures approximately 6 inches long, 3 inches tall and 1 1/2 inches thick. Yeah, it's not that little. However even with batteries installed, it's not that heavy.

On the face of the system you'll find a 1 1/2 x 2 inch color LED screen complete with 4 button directional pad on the left and Select, A & B buttons on the right. The two small buttons are Start/Pause and Reset. Some reviews complained about the small Reset button being located so close to the A & B buttons, but in my use with the system I haven't come near accidentally pushing the Reset button during game play. Underneath the button layout are two small stereo speakers.

On top of the system is the On/Off switch on the left and the A/V out port on the right. The cartridge slot itself has a dust cover flap that completely covers the 60 pin connector inside. This is one of the features that I really liked. The door features a spring and smoothly disappears when a cartridge is inserted.

On the bottom of the system is a stereo headphone jack on the left and the volume control knob on the right.

Another nice feature that surprised me was found on the back. There are 3 little indented finger tip grips if you will on each side of the system. While not covered in rubber or anything like that, it does make it a little more comfortable gripping the device. So far the longest I think I've played a game in one sitting was about 45 minutes and never did my hands start to cramp or feel uncomfortable.

Here are a few comparison shots to hopefully give you an idea of the system's overall size. I apologize that I didn't pull out any of my Nintendo handhelds as most of them are currently scattered across the house. I did have my recently recapped NEC Turbo Express handy though. If you've seen the Turbo Express in person, then you know it's not a little system.

OK, so it looks good enough, but how does it play? Is it good? Or better yet is it worth buying? So far I have to say Yes to all accounts.

I've got near 40 authentic Famicom games in my collection and while I haven't tried them all yet, everything I've thrown at it has worked. My first attempt was playing Konami's Parodius. The small screen may not be ideal for shooters, but it looked, sounded and controlled good. Next I tried a few other random games including Downtown Nekketsu Koshin Kyoku: Soreyuke Dai Undokai (it's a game in the series that gave us the awesome River City Ransom!). Again everything worked perfectly. The only glitch I had was when I played Tokkyu Shirei Soruburein (or Super Rescue Solbrain). It's the Famicom version of the NES classic, Shatterhand. The game ran fine, but it seemed like the cartridge rattled around in the game slot a little more than the the games. Eventually the screen was garbled and it froze. I got it working again, but I don't think the problem was with the handheld. I popped the same game into my Famicom AV console and pretty much had the same problems with the game not loading or having jumbled images on screen. With a little fiddling of the cartridge on both the Famicom and the handheld I was able to get it working and enjoy some robust game time.

Another nice feature about the system is the height that which the cartridges stick out when inserted. Some of these handhelds I've seen just look goofy with their extra add-ons inserted or even with a big 8-bit NES game sticking out. Thanks to the smaller Famicom carts, you don't have to worry about having some obtrusive game sticking out the top. Even the slightly larger Namcot carts don't look too bad.

I would have rather the system had a traditional solid D-Pad instead of the Sony Playstation like 4 directional buttons, but the controls were rather responsive and the buttons didn't seem to be mushy feeling. Same goes for the larger A & B buttons. They felt comfortable underneath my thumbs and the on screen actions seemed to happen at the same time the buttons were pressed.

I will say that I haven't tried out the A/V hook up yet as every single A/V input on the TVs in my room are strategically set up. Having near 20 consoles hooked up at the same time means lots and lots of cords with multiple switch boxes everywhere! I do want to try this out however as I'm curious to how well it translates over to the big screen. I also have tried out the headphone jack either. It's rare that I play my handhelds with the volume at a level it may disturb others so I just don't have headphones just lying around. I would assume the feature sounds good as the speakers on the system itself pass my test.

I don't have a good video camera and I couldn't find what I did with the old trusty Flip Video Camera we have, so I haven't been able to capture any game play video.

Overall I've got to say that I'm impressed. The quality of the build isn't Nintendo quality, but it's far more solid than the little Hyperkin clone I use to play my NES games on. For the price I paid of $30, which included (overseas) shipping, I think it's a great deal. If you like to play your games on the go and are tired of playing dedicated portable games, then why not give this a try?

8-Bit Flashback: Shatterhand (NES)

When I got back into buying/collecting NES games I was first looking to re-acquire a few of the games I had as a kid.  While looking around the 'net for these games I ran across the box art for Shatterhand and I thought, "wow, how corny looking is that?".  The art was so typical of a 90's video game.  However there was also something about the box art that had me intrigued.  I think I found the cartridge for a buck or two a local video game store so I had to try it out.  I judged this game by it's cover and I'm happy to report that after playing the game is a lot of fun and one of the best NES games in the console's library. 

The game starts off with a pretty cool semi-animated intro.  I was always a sucker for games that told the story through animated sequences.

The game was released in 1991 by Natsume and is a side scrolling action game.  The game play is very similar to Sunsoft's Batman or even Konami's various Castlevania games.  You play as guy with prosthetic hands and all the combat takes place at close range.  I found this refreshing and a chance a pace from the Contra style games where your character is armed with a gun.  You character can't upgrade his own attacks per se, but he can find various alpha and beta symbols that arm him with 1 of 8 different robot companions.  The little robot hovers behind your character just over his shoulder and attacks when you attack.  The attacks vary depending on your combination of symbols collected.  Some lob grenade type attacks while others attack up and down.  Collect three symbols and your character will be encased in an all powerful armor where for 15 seconds your attacks launch fireballs.  During these 15 seconds you are also invulnerable.  Your attacks are quite responsive which makes the game fun to play.  One of the things I hated about Sunsoft's Batman NES game was the slow responsiveness when attacking.  All the platform jumping wasn't that well executed either.  Thankfully those problems don't plague this game.  The linear levels include all sorts of your standard platforming fun.  The difficulty is just right - not too easy while not too hard.  

After having fun with all the NES games I decided to take the plunge and buy an authentic Famicom system.  While doing research on games to buy I discovered that Shatterhand had been released in Japan as Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain.

From what I can tell there are several differences between this and the U.S. version.  I've yet to be able to find the game for a decent price so I can't comment much more on the differences.

One day I hope to be able to find the game as I am very intrigued by the changes I found out - such as the submarine level from Shatterhand being replaced with a circus level with the boss being two ladies.  It was common for Nintendo to censor their games and change things during the localization process.  I believe you may be able to play this game online HERE or play Shatterhand HERE.

If you're looking for a fun "beat 'em up" side scrolling action game that is a bit different from all the rest then I strongly encourage you to track down this game.  Perhaps you can find a cheap copy @ GameGavel.com?

8-Bit Flashback: Power Blade (NES)

In addition to my room full of toys that I feature here on this blog I also have a decent video game collection that I'd like to share.  I'll start off my new feature, X-Bit Flashback with one of my favorite NES games - Power Blade.

I've often heard that this game is a rip-off of the Mega Man franchise and after I first played the game I can see some of the similarities.  Your character is primarily dressed in blue.  The game play is very very similar and you can even select the order of the various levels you want to tackle.  However I found out that most of these similarities first originated with the Japanese Famicom game.  In Japan Power Blade was called Power Blazer.  Take a look at your character and tell me if you get a Mega Man vibe.

Thankfully however when the game was ported to the NES for U.S. audiences the game was given a face lift.

This anime looking Mega Man wanna be hero was replaced with a more generic western "action hero".  Your character wasn't the only thing that changed when it Power Blade was replaced.  While the level design basically stayed the same the graphics were changed and updated.  The difficulty level also changed making Power Blade so much easier than Power Blazer.  I own both versions of this game and I can concur with this statement.  Power Blazer in my opinion is on the same difficulty level as the first Castlevania game.

The game takes place in the colony of New Earth in the year 2191 and follows NOVA, the Chief Security Officer of a super computer called the Master Computer.  He must restore the Master Computer which has been taken offline by aliens by retrieving data tapes located in six sectors.  Armed with a boomerang he must complete all six levels, overcoming obstacles and defeating any enemies in his way.  The game's name comes from an item found in several levels; The Power Suit is an item that looks like a helmet.  When collected Nova automatically equips the metal suit. This allows the player to shoot energy blasts known as "Power Blades" in any of the 8 directions and through most surfaces.

The game can easily be found online (such as GameGavel.com) for a few dollars and is worth the purchase.  It's easy to say that if you are a fan of the Mega Man franchise then you'll probably like the game, but even if you've never played any of the blue bomber's games I think you'll find Power Blade a fun "blast from the past".  If you want to give the game a test run then check out a playable version HERE courtesy of VirtualNES.com.