Portable Super Nintendo Player

Product Description

At home or on the go, the SupaBoy plays your favorite Super Nintendo and Super Famicom cartridges anywhere you are. Portable or home console, the SupaBoy is the choice.

Troubleshooting steps:

1) Please check that battery is charged. We recommend that you charge the battery for a minimum of 3 hours.
2) If screen is still blue or continues to flicker, please remove the battery from the system (by removing the screw in the back to open the battery door). Then, Plug the Mini USB AC Adapter into the SupaBoy and turn the unit ON.
* If the unit turns ON, then the source of the issue is the battery.
* If the unit stays OFF, then the source of the issue is the system.

Features

• Innovative cartridge lock feature
• Tested compatible original hardware: Nintendo SNES controller Nintendo Super Scope Super Multitap Nintendo Mario Paint Mouse
• Compatible with Japanese Super Famicom Cartridges
• Adjustable volume control with stereo sound
• Headphone jack

Top Reviews

Fun, but buyer beware
by Lee Bills (2 out of 5 stars)
September 27, 2015

So I LOVE the product, it works amazing, casing is sturdy, and it can play any game in my collection, even my SFC games and Super Mario RPG (the made in Japan cart, I heard that the Mexican-made cart doesn't work with it). The screen is a bit smaIl, but beautifully displays games with minimal blurring of pixels (no dead ones thankfully). love the TV-output feature, and had a great time playing it with friends. HOWEVER! After 3 months of use, The cheaply-attached Mini-USB charger female end of the device snapped off and fell deep into the casing. So now, the device works, but cannot be charged! And apparently the warranty is only one month (how pitiful). I heard they give you a longer warranty if you buy directly from them, but as for me, I'm outta luck. I may buy another, or at least buy an FC-16, because I had a blast with this thing. Just be aware that this thing is a piece of cheap, Chinese-manufactured junk, albeit a quite entertaining one.
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A dream come true
by Ryan Sil. (Gamer & PC/Android indie dev) (5 out of 5 stars)
December 4, 2014

What do you get if you take one of the best (if not THE best) video game consoles of all time and make it something you could actually carry around and play? You get the Supaboy, of course! I have to say, after finally nabbing this thing for my birthday, I think I've given the FC 16 Go way too much credit, as this does the job as a portable Super Nintendo remarkably well in comparison! The FC 16 Go is super-bulky (since there's real system hardware in there), has two wireless controllers powered by triple-As, and cartridge space too wide to be played while carrying it or else the game will crash in no time.

This beast, on the other hand, features a more slick design that you can actually grip, looks as stylish as its original TV brethren, has inputs for the original controllers, and has enough cartridge space so the games can be inserted and played without crashing while you're holding the system. As a result, the Supaboy is a flippin' godsend!

As if it wasn't great enough that you could play just about all of the entire library of diverse and vibrant classic video games, you could even hook the console up to your television and play it exactly like an old Super Nintendo system! And despite its smaller size, it's still big and bulky enough to hold the original system hardware inside. Does that meeaaa-YES! You can play almost every single game! I'm not sure about games that support the Super Scope, since that peripheral requires an old television, but I can safely say that it played Star Fox perfectly. Heck, in case if you feel like playing a large Game Boy or Game Boy games on the TV...Yes, the Super Game Boy is in fact compatible! Everything that was compatible on the old Super Nintendo is available territory here!
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The Supaboy: Portable SNES - Is it worth the money?
by Sekar (4 out of 5 stars)
July 29, 2016

As far as I know, playing SNES games is best off on a phone with an Xbox one or PS4 controller connected to it. But what if you wanted to play your actual cartridges on an actual portable version of the SNES? Well it's possible with the Supaboy made by Hyperkin, who is also responsible for the Retron 5 Emulation Console.

Pros:
* All cartridges from all regions are usable so if you wanted to play a Super Famicom game like "Rockman & Forte" ("Mega Man & Bass" in America), it is easy as 1-2-3.
* Headphone jack for when you wanna hear Guile's theme privately.
* Audio volume is adjustable for when you want sound or not.
* Super Boy is compatable.
* Can be connected to the TV, which replaces your actual SNES.
* Can connect controllers to the console, but only works on the TV mode.

Cons:
* When sound is at the max, you can hear a buzz sound.
* D-pad is stiff and buttons are too far out for me.
* The start button is on the left side instead of the right side.
* When connected to the TV, you have to connect a controller to the Supaboy unless your using a retrobit adapter for some other console like when you wanna play "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" on the SNES (Great adapter which you need to buy).
* If you place the cartridge in an odd motion, you could get a message about illegal copyrights.
* Pulling out the cartridge is hard, and you have to pull out really hard.
* The retrobit adapters don't work on the console (when not connected to the TV).
* The only way you know if it is out of charge is when the screen glitches.

In the end, no matter all the cons, you can eliminate the cons for what the Supaboy does on-the-go. I think it's worth the money, unless you prefer playing SNES games with an Xbox one elite controller 😄.
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Good if you don't get a lemon
by Sean Baker (3 out of 5 stars)
December 7, 2013

The Good

Though a little thick, it feels good. The shoulder buttons are a little offset, which works well because its thick. Start/select buttons are located to the left of the screen, and a reset button is towards the right. The power button is a switch located on top, in front of the cartridge. I haven't accidentally pressed any of those buttons when I didn't want to. There's a little slack slider on the back to help keep the cartridge from wobbling. The screen is nice, bright, and clear. It even comes with two different plastic covers to keep the screen protected in shipping. There's also a dust cover, which is a great feature that usually gets overlooked with handhelds. In liu of a SNES, it can be plugged into a TV and controllers can be plugged into the Supaboy. It also comes with a rechargeable battery and AC adapter, so using it instead of a SNES is actually feasible. It also takes both American SNES carts and Japanese Super Famicom carts without modification. It also comes with a sleeve type bag to keep it from getting scratched in your backpack or whatever because you're not storing this thing in your pocket.

The Bad

You're not fitting this thing into a pocket unless if you wear cargo pants, and even then you're probably not keeping the cartridge in. The bag that comes with it is also rather coarse on the outside, as tempting as it would be to use the bag to clean your screen, don't, you may get scratches. The bag was a nice touch, but it really should have had a microfiber cloth material instead of whatever they used. I was really excited about the controller ports just being part of the frame, but unfortunately they don't work unless if the AV cable is plugged in. When the AV cables are plugged in, the buttons on the Supaboy aren't usable and you have to use a controller. However, the screen will remain on, but the sound will not. As for the TV, my Supaboy doesn't take up the full screen, and flickers every now and then. though that isn't a big deal for me as it still takes up most of the screen and I still have a working SNES. I really wish they had using the controller ports a switch, I would love to be able to out somewhere and just place this on a table and start playing two player games. Not having to carry around extra cables to play with controllers was a huge selling point for me, but the fact that you have to plug in AV cables (even if you're not going to use a TV), doesn't really make this much of a selling point anymore.

The Ugly

I went through four Supaboys before I had a working one. My first one had a loud screeching noise and a scratched screen on arrival. Returned it, thankfully amazon has an amazing return policy. Found a second on in a local store, got it, didn't have those problems, brought it home. Then I found out that pressing left on the D-Pad activated the up button at the same time. Though not a big deal for some games, this made certain games unplayable. I first noticed this problem when moving past a ladder in Lost Vikings. Returned it for a third one, which was the last copy they had in stock. The third one not only moved up while pressing left, it moved down while pressing right. I tested that by just playing in the menu in Chrono Trigger, and just running past ladders in Lost Vikings. After returning that one, I'm now stuck with store credit at that store. During black Friday, I saw it on sale for $50 at Stoneagegamer and thought "Hey, why not?". This FOURTH one worked just fine, but has a screeching problem that the first one had, just not as bad. Oh, and if someone's wondering, plugging a headset in still results in the screeching noise. Some people online think it's probably due to a bad resister or something, but its inexcusable to have this type of problem when its new out of the box.

Overall, I like mine, I'd probably rate it higher if it weren't for how many lemons I had to go through. Would also have rated higher if I didn't need to plug in AV cables to use controllers, and if I didn't have this annoying sound screech. It's definitely worth the $50 I paid for it on a black Friday deal, but anything higher than that is a bit of a rip off considering the issues with it.
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Better than it could have been, but far from perfect
by LoneKiltedNinja (3 out of 5 stars)
November 30, 2014

The quick rundown, in answer to some common concerns including ones I had at first:
(Edited after further testing)

Does it play SNES games: YES*

Does it play SuperFX or other extra-chip games: SOME

Does it play JP/EU games: YES*

Is the cartridge connector good: TOO MUCH SO (VERY TIGHT)

Build quality: FAIR TO GOOD

Screen quality: VERY GOOD

Sound quality: MONO, OTHERWISE GOOD

Battery: ~4 HOURS; CUSTOM REMOVABLE LI-ION PACK; CHARGES OVER MICRO USB(?)

A/V Out: ACCEPTABLE (GOOD + CAVEATS)

Size: PUDGY

In more detail,

Does it play SNES games:
-> my early tests on a few titles were all flawless. Once I started breaking out more obscure games, things fell apart a bit. Mostly the issue is with special chipsets, but I did have one odd instance of Super Metroid's copy protection screen loading instead of the game proper (the game did work on subsequent tries). Your mileage may vary, but many/most games should work.

Does it play SuperFX or other extra-chip games:
-> Tested Star Fox & MegaMan X3, both worked fine, so SuperFX and similar seem OK
-> Tested Tales of Phantasia, and it couldn't handle the advanced audio (musical vocals & baseline)
-> Tested Star Ocean and it couldn't handle the graphics decoding
-> Tested Kirby Super Star and Super Mario RPG and they didn't run at all.

Does it play JP/EU games:
-> The cartridge slot fits carts from all models. Since this was the primary region lockout mechanism, the system technically "plays" anything. That said, some games may do additional tests in their software and may refuse to play. For the purposes of such tests, the SupaBoy appears to register as a US NTSC Super Nintendo. Both EU/PAL carts I've tried (Terranigma, Super Mario All Stars) will boot as far as a clear "not-designed-for-use" screen, and the pack-in docs advise that the system will only A/V-out to NTSC TVs regardless. JP games seem to fundamentally be compatible, modulo the special chip caveats (successfully ran Terranigma JP, Front Mission, Seiken Densetsu 3, Rockman X3).

Is the cartridge connector good:
-> VERY tight fit. Getting games in is no problem; most working games work first try, and if not, the usual cleans and shimmies are applicable. Getting games OUT can be a pain, and frequently involves a very tight grip and some leverage against the top of the system. Don't play any extra-chip games (2 additional PCB flanges on the connector) unless you're 100% committed to spending some play time with them, since getting the cart back out may not be worth the effort. THIS IS PROBABLY THE SYSTEM'S BIGGEST FAILING. Also, the cartridge lock is crap. No mechanical engagement, just a sliding friction plate that wedges things in even worse.

Build quality:
-> It's not a first-party system; it doesn't have the density of a GameBoy or the design tightness of a Nomad, but it's on par or above other clone portables like the GameAxe or RetroMini. It also packs with a storage bag which, while thin, will help against dings and scratches. Controls protrude more than on a regular SNES pad, the buttons are clean and usable, and the D-pad will likely only offend serious speedrunners (no delay or anything atrocious, it's just a bit fat and slightly inclined to tilt to additional directions adjacent to what you're actually pressing).

Screen quality:
-> It's not an iPhone, it doesn't quite pack 1 screen pixel per content pixel across the whole screen, but it's quite close and is the best by far of any 3rd party clone screen I've seen. Probably on par with the Sega Nomad if not better; I'll check side-by-side when I get the chance. Regardless, if you got your SNES new back in the day, the builtin screen probably packs more detail than you saw out of ye olde RF connector on whatever TV you had at the time.

Sound quality:
-> Clean stereo audio through the jack, with no humming, whine, or interference on working games until the volume is craned to the top of its range. Tales of Phantasia had garbage in lieu of some of its audio, as previously noted. Built-in speakers are as good as can be expected for the size. Very minor ding for the sensitivity of the volume dial- towards the low (comfortable with headphones) end, there's very little space between silent, perfect, and slightly too loud. The major flaw (as I honestly didn't notice until it was pointed out to me) is that ALL SOUND IS MONO. Even on phones and A/V out.

Battery:
-> Not an iPhone, but twice what you get from any 6xAA system I've tried (and I own at least 5). And 4 straight hours is a fairly generous play session on any game of the era. Maybe you can't take this one camping, but it'll get you between recharge points on most other travel. The connector appears to be a standard cellphone-style micro USB on the top of the unit, but I haven't taken a multimeter to the pins to see if it really is standard USB spec, so use your own cables/chargers at your own risk. Docs advise a full charge takes 3 hours, and my experience so far does not meaningfully contradict that. Since it has no charge-indicator and the actively-charging light comes on and stays on for quite some time whether I've run the system down completely (the screen color starts to degrade) or just fully charged it and plugged it back in, I have some worries that the sort of battery level detection / charging management hardware found on most phones and laptops may be minimal or absent. If that is the case, you'll want to run the battery most of the way down before recharging if you play off battery at all (it's perfectly happy playing straight from the provided charging cable), otherwise repeated partial-discharging and over-recharging may shorten battery life in the long term.

A/V Out:
-> The custom mini-minijack gets the job done. Video and audio come through quite clearly as long as you don't jiggle the system too much. Caveat: IF YOU PLAY USING THE A/V OUT, YOU MUST USE EXTERNAL CONTROLLERS AS WELL. Plugging in the A/V out cable disables the unit's face buttons, which from my standpoint even as a computer/electrical engineer with decent knowledge of the workings of the 8- and 16-bit consoles, is a bit silly. It makes the internal wiring marginally easier, but is a big hit to usability if you e.g. want to crash in a hotel room for a bit and play on a bigger screen. Also, I hope I never lose the cable or break the connector, since finding a replacement could be tricky.

Size:
-> It is not a pocket-sized system unless you wear a Utilikilt. And even then, you'll need to take the games out and stick them in your other pockets when you aren't playing. But that's really par for the course on any backlit color portable prior to DS. Less streamlined than a GameGear, more streamlined than a Lynx, but roughly the same size as both.

Overall, not much I can add to other reviews. It is a portable system for playing real SNES games without emulation. It's not a GBA Micro. If you have lived through the '90s and seen technology progress, it's more than sufficient and actually quite impressive. If all you care about is fitting as many games in your pocket as possible, grab an Android gamepad for your phone and go have your fun.
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Pretty good.
by Xinless Vice (4 out of 5 stars)
July 28, 2016

This device should be quite interesting to anyone who wants a snes, Works with all snes and famicom games, and works with super fx and fx 2 games with no problem. Also, it works with the super Gameboy adapter, effectively qaudrupeling the library. Best retro buy I've made. The system feels almost as good as a actual snes controller, screen has a stuck green pixel, but I hope that it goes away after some use, charging it now. And yes, for anyone who asks, these supaboys are the 2.0 models with a usb charging port, better screen, and battery life. better late then never to get one, this is the best one until the dx model comes out later in the year.
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THEY"VE READ MY MIND
by Steve T (5 out of 5 stars)
January 16, 2015

I cannot even believe that this thing exists! Beyond any of my wildest dreams! I grew up on the evolution of Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega, even had Sega CD, all of the beginnings of Game Boy, but this one is hilarious and AMAZING all at the same time. I have not yet tried to hook it up to the tv through the AUX cables, I will report back once we do, but the gameplay on the system itself is fantastic. I bought it along with Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition, and it worked flawlessly. We have also played with a second player controller plugged in with the gameplay on the little screen (which is about the size of many cell phone screens out there now (Nice Quality on the screen!) and obviously had to be pretty close with the person holding the handset- good thing I was playing against my brother (nothing gross).

The only hiccup we had was the screen started doing some crazy static-ky, questionable connection thing, out of nowhere. We restarted, took the game out, blew into the cartridge (as we know that always fixes it... but it didn't!) The remedy was to plug the system back into the corded power source. ALL BETTER. As was said by many other reviews, the battery used by this system does not last very long, but for me that's not even a reason to deduct any stars
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One of my favorite third party products!
by Keith (4 out of 5 stars)
February 15, 2015

Works great, after seeing how well this console functioned I decided to trust Hyperkin with other products and was not disappointed. Here is a list of pros and cons for the Supaboy.
+Pros+
+Have not had a game give me issues with booting up yet.
+Feels pretty good in the hands.
+Can plug controllers into it and set it down while using a separate controller.
+Can bypass the smaller screen, and plug the system into a TV screen to feel like you are playing a real SNES.
+Plays both Japanese SFC (SuperFamicom) games in addition to American SNES games.
+Many people want to watch me play, or have questions about it. Has fooled many people into thinking it was original from the SNES era, had to show them the item on Amazon for them to believe it was brand new!
+Great price for what you get.
-Cons-
-Directional pad doesn't respond as well as I would like it to at times
-When playing a game for more than 2-3 hours solid, sometimes a game will start to distort a little and the system will get rather warm. Would suggest playing for 1 and a half hours at most depending on how demanding the game is.
-No 'Low Battery' indicator, it just shuts off.
-Somewhat bulky, won't fit in the pocket of your Jeans... But may safely fit into the pocket of a Hoodie.

All in all, I am quite content with this product and feel that I paid a very fair price.
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Like a cheap-plastic version of the Sega Nomad
by CreateEnergy (4 out of 5 stars)
September 28, 2015

Functions similar to the awesome Sega Nomad where it is a portable version of the home console with a small screen and you can hook the portable up to a real TV as well as plug in an extra controller(or two in this case) and have at it with two player games. The screen is bright and clear and the audio is sufficient(and actually louder than I expected).

Where it fails in comparison to the Nomad is with the construction and overly cheap plastic. The unit just feels like junk when you are holding it. The good news is that it doesn't drain batteries like the Nomad did(which used something like 6 AA batteries at a time). And so far all my old SNES carts have operated fine on this unit.
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Okay That is Better
by alazar (4 out of 5 stars)
April 4, 2013

Just got my SupaBoy and I have already started the return process. I tried 5 games. 2 didn't work, and all 5 whined loudly when the power button was on. I tried using the battery and plugging it in. Neither power source made a difference. This whining is just awful and would suck the fun out of using the device. Id also like to mention that the weight and structural integrity are suspect. I feel like I could get past these issues however if the damn thing would play my games and not make an awful sound.

I am going to purchase again through a different seller in hopes that their stock of SupaBoys isn't garbage. I will update once I recieve the new unit.

REVISED!! 4 STAR

It took less than 24 hours for my new supaboy to get to my house and it works GREAT. No whining, and plays all my games except Super Mario RPG. Im going to clean it real good to see if that makes a difference. Since I still have the one I am going to return I compared them. A couple of things really stood out. The first supaboy didn't have a quality control sticker and looked used. I think the seller tried to sell a return as new. If you buy this item have patience since there are many sellers and you may have to try a few times before you get a good unit.
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Amazing Idea! Poor hardware.
by Chad Chrisman (2 out of 5 stars)
August 16, 2012

I had been debating buying this for months and I finally decided to bite the bullet and try it. Super fast shipping as always from Amazon, but the system itself is of poor quality. There is a high pitched noise coming from the speakers that is, at times, louder than the actual game audio and the battery will barely hold a charge. I had done my research before and learned that those are common issues with it and a couple of months ago Hyperkin had made a newer model of the SupaBoy. The new one fixes the audio and battery issues completely. I had assumed when I bought it that Amazon would be sending me the newer model (since there is no difference in SKU's) but alas, they sent me the old model. I contacted Amazon today and they are sending me a new one that should be here tomorrow. Fingers crossed, it should be the new model and if it is then I will update my rating. When I contacted Hyperkin support they were shocked Amazon had sent me the old model with the known issues so I consider this a fault of Amazon itself. High pitched bleeding ear inducing sound aside, this would be one of my favorite purchases since my Xbox 360. The screen is crisp and clear, the buttons responsive and while the size is on the large side, it feels great in your hands. I only hope Amazon will send me the updated model and will send the old ones back so that no other customer will have this problem again.

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