Best combo clone?

[Notyu Oviosly]

I want to make a portable, and you know what they say, the more the merrier! So I would LOVE to easily cram several systems into one portable, and the easiest way to do it without busting my wallet is to get a combo system. The problem is, I don't know which one I should purchase or whether or not to purchase one at all!

The three ones I know of are the Retro Duo, the FC Twin, and the Fc3 (nes, snes, geni)
PS this protable WILL have controller ports, so these are important.

I was very happy with my Retrobit NES until I fried it. Loved everything about it. Is the NES compatibility on the Retro Duo any different? I heard the sound quality for the NES sucked, but I don't know, that may have been only one unit. Are the visuals like the originals? And hows the compatability? Also, I want to know if its easy enough to hook up NES controller ports up it it as well as the SNES port it comes with.

The next one is the FC twin. I have had a bad experience with the Yobo NES in the past. It was really hard to get the cartridges in and out, and even if it was snug, it could still fail to read the cartridge. Eventually, it just stopped reading them all together. The FC Twin seems to be more favorable by many compared to the Duo, though, so I keep an open-mind. Is the emulation accurate (sound quality, visuals)? And hows the compatability and ease of use? If the NES cartridge slot is a problem, I have a retrobit NES slot to replace it with. Also, I want to know if its easy enough to hook up NES controller ports up it it as well as the SNES port it comes with.

The last one is the FC3. This one fascinates me. THREE systems in one!!? Stop the presses! But I do know it has its problems. I heard the NES emulation wasn't as accurate as it should be, and the NES and SNES sound was quiet. That's all for the real problems, though. I do want to know if its easy enough/possible to hook up actual genesis, nes, and snes controller ports to the system to replace the proprietary ports. If its not, then I'm probably not going to pick this. But if yes, than I think I will like this choice.

Now tell me, which one should I choose, out of your experience? Remember, I want good compatibility, emulation, and the ability to hook up the additional ports for the consoles that don't have them.

[QuickSkope]

Im pretty sure that the combo systems (at least the SNES parts) lack capability for cetain games. That is the only info I have on these. Just start with an SNES mini like me

[Dbstew]

Well, I own both the Retroduo and the FC3Plus. I know many here won't agree with me but if you are based in the US and have mainly NTSC games I would go for a FC3plus; it has better cartridge slots, the SNES game compatibility is VERY similar to the Retro Duo. (Compare the lists I linked below, Retroduo's NES side is better though), and (of course) it has Genesis..
If you live in Europe I wouldn't bother using a clone system because many of the good PAL games are incompatible. (Donkey Kong Country 123, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid, Terranigma, etc.)

About the controller ports; I know someone on an other forum instructed how to make SNES controller ports work on the FC3Plus, but I can't find the topic anywhere. The bundled controllers are pretty crappy. You can always rewire the buttons of the bundled controllers to original NES/NES/Genesis controllers, but there should be an easier way.

More info about FC3plus compatibility here, Retroduo here.

[Notyu Oviosly]

Can you direct me to a thread like that?

And can anyone else give their two cents?

[brandonk318]

I work at a store that sells both the fc twin and the fc3 plus. I like both systems but both has some capability problems with snes games. I haven't found a fried fc3 yet but I came across one as a return. The only problem with it was that the sega slot wouldn't play games.