Analogue 3D Review - New N64 Recreated in FPGA!
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Date: 2025-12-12
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Comments and reviews: 20
WJCTechyman
I know people tend to complain about the emulation of systems on Nintendo's newer hardware like the Virtual Console seen on Wii and Wii U or the Nintendo retro services for Switch Online but I honestly find it adequate. I mean, what else would you expect. The only original piece of hardware I have from my childhood is my Nintendo GameCube DOL-001 and I have added improvements like the Flippy Drive, EON GCHD Mk II, MC Pro, Laser Bear's version of the BlueRetro controller port board and it has expanded my GameCube to do some of the things I wish it could do over 20 years ago. I can connect it to HDMI, run games from an SD card and save games. I am having trouble with my MCPro where the games don't seem to recognize it through the Flippy Drive but it isn't a huge deal as I still have some working memory cards for it at the moment. The Blue Retro board is perhaps one of the greatest upgrades you can get for it as you can connect bluetooth controllers to it or in one very special case, I can play the Ocarina of Time/Master Quest games with my N64 Nintendo Switch Online bluetooth controller.
Analogue's products to me seem like a fascinating idea, the only thing I find problematic is it should be making more of these things as tooling (for molds and boards) and assembly cost quite a bit. For example I was fascinated to see that it made NES, SNES, Mega Drive, you name it but most of that stuff has been discontinued which bothers me. I guess a lot of people don't necessarily have a reason to buy these devices but at the same time the original hardware can be questionable due to age and everything else. I hope 8bitdo continues to sell its retro style controllers as the SN30Pro is probably one of the better units made. At some point I would love to see 8Bitdo's version of the GameCube controller as the N64 and SNES versions are very well made.
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I know people tend to complain about the emulation of systems on Nintendo's newer hardware like the Virtual Console seen on Wii and Wii U or the Nintendo retro services for Switch Online but I honestly find it adequate. I mean, what else would you expect. The only original piece of hardware I have from my childhood is my Nintendo GameCube DOL-001 and I have added improvements like the Flippy Drive, EON GCHD Mk II, MC Pro, Laser Bear's version of the BlueRetro controller port board and it has expanded my GameCube to do some of the things I wish it could do over 20 years ago. I can connect it to HDMI, run games from an SD card and save games. I am having trouble with my MCPro where the games don't seem to recognize it through the Flippy Drive but it isn't a huge deal as I still have some working memory cards for it at the moment. The Blue Retro board is perhaps one of the greatest upgrades you can get for it as you can connect bluetooth controllers to it or in one very special case, I can play the Ocarina of Time/Master Quest games with my N64 Nintendo Switch Online bluetooth controller.
Analogue's products to me seem like a fascinating idea, the only thing I find problematic is it should be making more of these things as tooling (for molds and boards) and assembly cost quite a bit. For example I was fascinated to see that it made NES, SNES, Mega Drive, you name it but most of that stuff has been discontinued which bothers me. I guess a lot of people don't necessarily have a reason to buy these devices but at the same time the original hardware can be questionable due to age and everything else. I hope 8bitdo continues to sell its retro style controllers as the SN30Pro is probably one of the better units made. At some point I would love to see 8Bitdo's version of the GameCube controller as the N64 and SNES versions are very well made.
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syncmonism
I'd like to see more testing with flash cart compatibility. I have heard that even the Summercart 64 sometimes experiences crashes (have seen other commenters claim this. If they can release patches which allow some flash carts to work with good reliability, that would make it a lot more appealing to some people.
This seems like a pretty good product, but definitely not perfect. The upscaler is excellent, but flawed. Some of these CRT emulation modes are much better than what most other upscalers can achieve. On the other hand, it has terrible 480i handling. It works well enough for slow moving content like menus and title screens, but for 480i gameplay, it is just not worth using unfortunately. 480i high res modes are usually not worth using on original hardware because of usually poor performance. The Analogue 3d's overclocking features would actually allow 480i modes to have very playable performance, though it doesn't work properly in every game, and probably better performance than original hardware in the lower res mode in many cases.
Part of the cost of the Analogue 3d is its excellent built-in upscaler, but paying for an upscaler which can't help you with any other system feels like a bit of a waste.
The overclocking options are its best selling point, with the upscaing features also ranking very high. If you can actually buy one, and are okay with its shortcomings, it seems like it could be worth it.
Don't make any assumptions about what features they will add, or what bugs they will fix.
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I'd like to see more testing with flash cart compatibility. I have heard that even the Summercart 64 sometimes experiences crashes (have seen other commenters claim this. If they can release patches which allow some flash carts to work with good reliability, that would make it a lot more appealing to some people.
This seems like a pretty good product, but definitely not perfect. The upscaler is excellent, but flawed. Some of these CRT emulation modes are much better than what most other upscalers can achieve. On the other hand, it has terrible 480i handling. It works well enough for slow moving content like menus and title screens, but for 480i gameplay, it is just not worth using unfortunately. 480i high res modes are usually not worth using on original hardware because of usually poor performance. The Analogue 3d's overclocking features would actually allow 480i modes to have very playable performance, though it doesn't work properly in every game, and probably better performance than original hardware in the lower res mode in many cases.
Part of the cost of the Analogue 3d is its excellent built-in upscaler, but paying for an upscaler which can't help you with any other system feels like a bit of a waste.
The overclocking options are its best selling point, with the upscaing features also ranking very high. If you can actually buy one, and are okay with its shortcomings, it seems like it could be worth it.
Don't make any assumptions about what features they will add, or what bugs they will fix.
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RarefoilB
A definite disappointment for me is seeing that internally, these games are still running at 240p/480i. I can understand that for the MiSTer core, I feel like there it makes sense, but considering Analogue's other consoles have a really razor sharp output that holds up to the expectations of emulators, I think a super smooth internal 720p at least wasn't unreasonable for the price.
Don't get me wrong, I know doing that has its own problems with accuracy, and this thing still has loads of worth as a neat tidy N64upscaler combo pack. And if its compatibility is even higher than the MiSTer core, it honestly invalidates that concern completely; being the highest accuracy N64 recreation is a compelling offer.
Though that would make its closed source and limited availability sting a lot more.
But if that's not the case. I'd prefer an PC emulator that can do a super smooth internal 1080p output that'll look better than anything the Analogue 3D can do in my opinion. Even tho I give up some accuracy, I at least gain something moving away from original hardware. And I'll probably get the overclocking feature too.
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A definite disappointment for me is seeing that internally, these games are still running at 240p/480i. I can understand that for the MiSTer core, I feel like there it makes sense, but considering Analogue's other consoles have a really razor sharp output that holds up to the expectations of emulators, I think a super smooth internal 720p at least wasn't unreasonable for the price.
Don't get me wrong, I know doing that has its own problems with accuracy, and this thing still has loads of worth as a neat tidy N64upscaler combo pack. And if its compatibility is even higher than the MiSTer core, it honestly invalidates that concern completely; being the highest accuracy N64 recreation is a compelling offer.
Though that would make its closed source and limited availability sting a lot more.
But if that's not the case. I'd prefer an PC emulator that can do a super smooth internal 1080p output that'll look better than anything the Analogue 3D can do in my opinion. Even tho I give up some accuracy, I at least gain something moving away from original hardware. And I'll probably get the overclocking feature too.
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Se7enths0n89
I actually really like Analogue's minimalist interface they use on their products, it feels vintage yet modern at the same time. I personally don't own any Analogue systems (I think their prices are outrageous for what they are) There are MANY cheaper options on the market (even more if you don't mind emulation over physical games) But I definitely see the allure of using original hardware. I mean I absolutely love the look of the Analogue Pocket but it's always out of stock and when it is in stock the price is ridiculous (Anywhere from $220 from Analogue up to $500 from people reselling on eBay because Analogue is always out of stock of them. I ended up saying screw it and bought an Anbernic RG40 XXV for $75 but that's just me, I don't mind using Rom's over physical games. Either way this is a beautiful looking console and I definitely agree it looks like what I imagine an N64 Slim would look like lol.
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I actually really like Analogue's minimalist interface they use on their products, it feels vintage yet modern at the same time. I personally don't own any Analogue systems (I think their prices are outrageous for what they are) There are MANY cheaper options on the market (even more if you don't mind emulation over physical games) But I definitely see the allure of using original hardware. I mean I absolutely love the look of the Analogue Pocket but it's always out of stock and when it is in stock the price is ridiculous (Anywhere from $220 from Analogue up to $500 from people reselling on eBay because Analogue is always out of stock of them. I ended up saying screw it and bought an Anbernic RG40 XXV for $75 but that's just me, I don't mind using Rom's over physical games. Either way this is a beautiful looking console and I definitely agree it looks like what I imagine an N64 Slim would look like lol.
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1chiTheKiller
I think the Modretro would be cool to have some competition, but the guy who started and runs that company is a defense contractor and in between making bombs that kill people he made the Chromatic (that new Game Boy Color) and will soon have his own N64. I know we all want fun gaming stuff but I would urge people to never support that company considering the other business of the CEO of that company. He's also a billionaire anyway so he doesn't need more money. Just get a GBA SP, and stick a new high end screen in it (they're about 60 bucks and don't require soldering) and a fresh battery and you've got your new Game Boy (AND Game Boy Advance) without having to give money to someone helping to bomb people into oblivion.
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I think the Modretro would be cool to have some competition, but the guy who started and runs that company is a defense contractor and in between making bombs that kill people he made the Chromatic (that new Game Boy Color) and will soon have his own N64. I know we all want fun gaming stuff but I would urge people to never support that company considering the other business of the CEO of that company. He's also a billionaire anyway so he doesn't need more money. Just get a GBA SP, and stick a new high end screen in it (they're about 60 bucks and don't require soldering) and a fresh battery and you've got your new Game Boy (AND Game Boy Advance) without having to give money to someone helping to bomb people into oblivion.
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jwest88
Not my thing, but cool that it exists. I bought something called the FC Twin 20 years back or so that plays both NES and SNES cartridges, but I would really just emulate on my PC if I wanted to play any games from older systems. I do have my SNES and a few NES cartridges in a drawer in my nightstand, but don't think they'll ever get played. Kind of just a nostalgia drawer; I used to used to buy used SNES games on ebay back when I was in high school/soon after and just want to hold onto them I guess.
I really like the 8bitdo pro 2 controller (Dualshock style controller, it's what I use to play games with controller on PC. If you order from their website they have cool see through purple, green, or blue colors too.
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Not my thing, but cool that it exists. I bought something called the FC Twin 20 years back or so that plays both NES and SNES cartridges, but I would really just emulate on my PC if I wanted to play any games from older systems. I do have my SNES and a few NES cartridges in a drawer in my nightstand, but don't think they'll ever get played. Kind of just a nostalgia drawer; I used to used to buy used SNES games on ebay back when I was in high school/soon after and just want to hold onto them I guess.
I really like the 8bitdo pro 2 controller (Dualshock style controller, it's what I use to play games with controller on PC. If you order from their website they have cool see through purple, green, or blue colors too.
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Dmgdeeb
You barely discuss overclocking (a feature enabled by default) and claim it's not consistently recommended. The overclocking alone makes a night and day difference in many games. The way you dismiss overclocking and brush over the 4K CRT filters, both major features of this device, make me think you probably aren't part of the intended audience for it. Which is fine. Maybe it is just a toy for people who already have one-hundred other ways to play N64 games, but it does offer some legitimately compelling advantages over those other one-hundred other ways. Also, you may want to add a note stating pre-orders are back up, because they are!
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You barely discuss overclocking (a feature enabled by default) and claim it's not consistently recommended. The overclocking alone makes a night and day difference in many games. The way you dismiss overclocking and brush over the 4K CRT filters, both major features of this device, make me think you probably aren't part of the intended audience for it. Which is fine. Maybe it is just a toy for people who already have one-hundred other ways to play N64 games, but it does offer some legitimately compelling advantages over those other one-hundred other ways. Also, you may want to add a note stating pre-orders are back up, because they are!
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DragunBreath
I hate to say it, but I just didn't get into the N64 like most of the other teens in that era. I had one, got it on release, and played Mario 64 to 100%, and later on, Ocarina of Time, but it just didn't appeal to me like the original Playstation did. Probably because I was really into RPGs at the time, and that's where they all went to. Prior to that, the SNES was the system for those type of games, so I figured the N64 would follow suit. I was dead wrong.
From the reviews I've seen on this system, it seems half-baked by Analogue's standards. Like it was rushed out.
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I hate to say it, but I just didn't get into the N64 like most of the other teens in that era. I had one, got it on release, and played Mario 64 to 100%, and later on, Ocarina of Time, but it just didn't appeal to me like the original Playstation did. Probably because I was really into RPGs at the time, and that's where they all went to. Prior to that, the SNES was the system for those type of games, so I figured the N64 would follow suit. I was dead wrong.
From the reviews I've seen on this system, it seems half-baked by Analogue's standards. Like it was rushed out.
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AngelHalo017
For those who are unaware, the Terasic DE-10 Nano boards cost over 200 for the board alone. Taki Udon's MiSTer Pi is basically a clone of the DE-10 Nano that comes complete, case, stacks and all, for just over $200. They also got their own game console coming out called the SuperStation One for around the same price as the Analogue 3D, which is just the MiSTer with the PlayStation One theme, and SNAC plugs built in. Just bring your own software.
Hope that information helps out!
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For those who are unaware, the Terasic DE-10 Nano boards cost over 200 for the board alone. Taki Udon's MiSTer Pi is basically a clone of the DE-10 Nano that comes complete, case, stacks and all, for just over $200. They also got their own game console coming out called the SuperStation One for around the same price as the Analogue 3D, which is just the MiSTer with the PlayStation One theme, and SNAC plugs built in. Just bring your own software.
Hope that information helps out!
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StanBot-n7d9q
I enjoy the format of your videos and so I'm very glad that tree didn't land on your head. Since it was such a big tree there would likely be no more LGR, and no one would know why. That would be quite sad. Your collection may have been lost but what was of real value was saved. Now I can continue being suspicious of how much my wife enjoys your voice without any inconvenient guilt. Clint 1, psychopath tree 0. Apart from your house getting squashed.
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I enjoy the format of your videos and so I'm very glad that tree didn't land on your head. Since it was such a big tree there would likely be no more LGR, and no one would know why. That would be quite sad. Your collection may have been lost but what was of real value was saved. Now I can continue being suspicious of how much my wife enjoys your voice without any inconvenient guilt. Clint 1, psychopath tree 0. Apart from your house getting squashed.
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filthynice88
First off, I've checked their website every two days for months! I'm dying to get that modernized n64 and the pocket. I only recently started building a retro game collection of all the games i played at other kids' houses when i was a child. I'm completely my childhood. but since i found out about this company I've been anxiously waiting to get their systems. So, LGR, could you tell them to hurry Also, ya should get Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
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First off, I've checked their website every two days for months! I'm dying to get that modernized n64 and the pocket. I only recently started building a retro game collection of all the games i played at other kids' houses when i was a child. I'm completely my childhood. but since i found out about this company I've been anxiously waiting to get their systems. So, LGR, could you tell them to hurry Also, ya should get Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
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lanedj801
Superstation one is a mister fpga with a retro tink built in. You can’t use carts (yet) but it basically supports everything input and output (crt vga din component hdmi) up to ps1 n64 and Saturn. For like $199. Batch 3 should ship q1 2026. If you were interested in this I’d look at that. You can just run all your games on an sd or m. 2 if you buy the $45 dvd dock. Also it’s taki udon so you know he actually cares about his customers
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Superstation one is a mister fpga with a retro tink built in. You can’t use carts (yet) but it basically supports everything input and output (crt vga din component hdmi) up to ps1 n64 and Saturn. For like $199. Batch 3 should ship q1 2026. If you were interested in this I’d look at that. You can just run all your games on an sd or m. 2 if you buy the $45 dvd dock. Also it’s taki udon so you know he actually cares about his customers
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matrixbelevard4470
The MiSter Pi from retroremake, which sold out at the moment, is less that $200 with everything to get you started. Its an excellent MiSter clone that has no shortcomings. Also check out the SuperStation One from them. I also think ModRetros M64 is gonna be better since its open source and being programmed/cleaned up by none other than FPGAzumSpass himself. Plus everything that was learned goes back the MiSter community.
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The MiSter Pi from retroremake, which sold out at the moment, is less that $200 with everything to get you started. Its an excellent MiSter clone that has no shortcomings. Also check out the SuperStation One from them. I also think ModRetros M64 is gonna be better since its open source and being programmed/cleaned up by none other than FPGAzumSpass himself. Plus everything that was learned goes back the MiSter community.
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crillekross
Sure, all these expensive options sure look nice but do any of them have support for bezels, nice looking CRT borders for the black areas around the screen Gotten so so used to them using retroarch and there are loads of nice ones to use! Also, do any of them use retroachivements another thing I've been spoiled by the last few years, really not playing much retro without it anymore. :)
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Sure, all these expensive options sure look nice but do any of them have support for bezels, nice looking CRT borders for the black areas around the screen Gotten so so used to them using retroarch and there are loads of nice ones to use! Also, do any of them use retroachivements another thing I've been spoiled by the last few years, really not playing much retro without it anymore. :)
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F2002
Hey LGR you should check out Cleared hot steam game its like the old strike games (dessert, Jungle, Urban, soviet, Nuclear. I think you had the boxed Nuclear Strike pc its so good. I'm glad you are getting everything back to normal from the hurricane it takes time Michel destroyed my house and its years long but keep up the great work and videos
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Hey LGR you should check out Cleared hot steam game its like the old strike games (dessert, Jungle, Urban, soviet, Nuclear. I think you had the boxed Nuclear Strike pc its so good. I'm glad you are getting everything back to normal from the hurricane it takes time Michel destroyed my house and its years long but keep up the great work and videos
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websterleone
I'm interested in seeing if Gauntlet Legends runs, as that's the one game I've always had issues running in emulators. Almost every other game I had issues with back in the day seem to run now. But having just set up my N64 and gotten some original controllers last year, this probably isn't something I'll bother to wait on.
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I'm interested in seeing if Gauntlet Legends runs, as that's the one game I've always had issues running in emulators. Almost every other game I had issues with back in the day seem to run now. But having just set up my N64 and gotten some original controllers last year, this probably isn't something I'll bother to wait on.
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GiSWiG
MiSTer Pi is $200 but comes in and out of pre-order. SuperStation One is $200 and an additional $50 for the disc drive, basically looks like a PS1, has controller ports and memcard slots for PS1, has HDMI and analog outputs but is also a MiSTer Pi so full MiSTer support, including N64. Currently available for pre-order.
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MiSTer Pi is $200 but comes in and out of pre-order. SuperStation One is $200 and an additional $50 for the disc drive, basically looks like a PS1, has controller ports and memcard slots for PS1, has HDMI and analog outputs but is also a MiSTer Pi so full MiSTer support, including N64. Currently available for pre-order.
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gamerguy425
This reminds me a lot of the analogue Pocket naturally, Really cool enhanced way to play retro games, has tons of visual tweaking options, Pathetically limited controller support, difficult to play on a CRT, was delayed a bunch of times, could use a ton of features in updates that we'll probably never get.
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This reminds me a lot of the analogue Pocket naturally, Really cool enhanced way to play retro games, has tons of visual tweaking options, Pathetically limited controller support, difficult to play on a CRT, was delayed a bunch of times, could use a ton of features in updates that we'll probably never get.
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MikJames-d1g
Plasma is about as close as you can get to a crt here.
No need for bfi, and those crt shaders look fantastic on a phosphor surface.
Unfortunately my plasma won't accept 4k, not sure any of them do, but the antialiasing is good enough I don't really notice any loss in quality compared to 4k.
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Plasma is about as close as you can get to a crt here.
No need for bfi, and those crt shaders look fantastic on a phosphor surface.
Unfortunately my plasma won't accept 4k, not sure any of them do, but the antialiasing is good enough I don't really notice any loss in quality compared to 4k.
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skrimaging
The fact this console is out of stock and judging from the past consoles, will be hard to get, it removes any potential interest a consumer might have in it. Sad that this company can’t get it’s production straight. Looks like a company catering to scalpers rather than actual retro gaming fans.
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The fact this console is out of stock and judging from the past consoles, will be hard to get, it removes any potential interest a consumer might have in it. Sad that this company can’t get it’s production straight. Looks like a company catering to scalpers rather than actual retro gaming fans.
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