Hyperkin sent us a Retron 3 to play with over the 
holidays and so, we obliged and pulled out our collection of NES, SNES and Genesis games. Since I’ve got a fairly sizeable collection of old video games and consoles I thought it would be cool to be able to play some of the classics with just one system and, that is pretty much the case here with the Hyperkin Retron 3.
The Retron 3 isn’t the sturdiest of consoles. In fact, the NES is probably better built in regards to overall design and construction, but the Retron 3 is certainly more compact. The unit features three top loading docks for each of the console carts and also six gamepad ports, two for each console. Oddly, the labeling on the Genesis and NES ports is backward which made me chuckle. Goes to show the high level of QA being done on the product, right?
Well, that aside, it works as 
advertised in that it allows you a way to play all those old games on your new TVs without having to pull out all the consoles. However, you do have to pull out the controllers. The Hyperkin Retron 3 does come with some wireless controllers but they are about the cheapest, worst pieces of garbage ever tried to be passed off as game controllers. The wireless functions all of 6 feet from the unit and has to have a direct sight line to the receiver area on the console. All of that adds up to it being a crap controller on top of its extremely flimsy feel. For some reason, during the design phase, I think they equated retro to mean cheap, flimsy, plastic. But if you look back at those controllers and consoles they where thick sturdy things that have stood the test of time. The Retron 3 and its controllers feel like they might spontaneously explode into pieces.
