What systems can Anbernic RG35XX play?

Unlike the Miyoo Mini Plus with big support from the community, as well as its simplicity in adding games, the Anbernic RG35XX is suitable for people who love tinkering. The retro handheld comes with two SD card slots, is capable of dual boot and overclocking. With so many potential, what systems can the RG35XX play? Should we expect more from the Anbernic device than the popular Miyoo Mini Plus?

I always ask you to read my RG35XX Garlic guide first, which helps you configure all the settings for the similar-to-Onion system of your RG35XX. You should also check out my handheld SD card guide, to know which SD card is suitable for your retro device.

I also recommend to read the OnionOS guide, it’s really well written and compatible with GarlicOS.

What systems can RG35XX play?

The Anbernic RG35XX is a vertical handheld retro emulator that can emulate these systems:

• Game Boy (GB)
• Game Boy Color (GBC)
• Game Boy Advance (GBA)
• SEGA Genesis (GEN)
• Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
• PlayStation 1 (PSX)

If you install Garlic OS correctly, the Anbernic RG35XX can emulate these systems at full speed without frameskip. At the moment, Anbernic is sending new units with dual boot (stock and Garlic) by default.

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🟢 B

🟠 D

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🔴 F

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Game Boy, Game Boy Color

There is nothing to say about these popular systems, as the Anbernic RG35XX tries to mimic the appearance of the classic Game Boy handheld device. It would be ironic if the device can’t run well Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, which is the easiest to emulate.

The RG35XX shares the same 3.5-inch screen with the Miyoo Mini Plus, as well as 640 x 480 resolution with aspect ratio 4:3. The original Game Boy ran at 160 x 144 (pixels) resolution, with aspect ratio 10:9, so it looks more like a square. It is not pixel perfect, but remember that 4:3 screen is the most suitable way to emulate Game Boy and Game Boy Color screen. In the end, the black bar from both sides can trigger nostalgia for the genuine system.

Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance is an awesome system that I mainly use the RG35XX for emulation. Yes, I even own a Game Boy Advance SP for real experience, and I want to say the RG35XX is somehow very suitable for 1-hand RPG playing. It isn’t as good as the Miyoo Mini Plus, because the kind of “infinity screen” trick my eyes, but it is good at its price point.

Again, I must say that the original Game Boy Advance has a 240 x 160 resolution, with aspect ratio 3:2. There are many retro emulators using the correct resolution for the Game Boy Advance, for example its brother – the RG351P, but the RG35XX’s screen is nearly as good as the original.

SEGA Genesis

Perhaps the Mega Drive is the easiest common console to emulate, and I don’t think any retro handheld emulator that can do well with Game Boy Advance will fall short with these SEGA systems. If you like playing games with these systems, the 4:3 aspect ratio is must-have, and the RG35XX is a perfect vertical handheld to use.

However, some fighting games in these systems require an add-in arcade power stick, and without a analog stick, the RG35XX doesn’t play well with these titles. It is a pity, but I don’t see myself playing these systems that much, so no downside for me.

In the case of the Game Gear, the original device had the similar display as a Game Boy Color, which I considered the Anbernic RG35XX as one of the best retro emulators for capturing near pixel-perfect screen.

Nintendo Entertainment System

NES system is one that I really dive deep in my childhood, but it is still an easy-to-emulate system. So there is no trouble in playing Contra or Super Mario Bros with the RG35XX. However, I feel the D-pad of the RG35XX is not as good as the Miyoo Mini Plus.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

With the overclocking ability, the RG35XX should play SNES games easily. However, I find that the RG35XX can emulate SNES system quite similar to the Miyoo Mini Plus. If you buy the RG35XX hoping that it can emulate titles using the Super FX chip well, you may be disappointed. On the plus side, most of SNES games are running without frameskip.

List of SNES games using Super FX chip:

• Star Fox Starwing
• Dirt Racer
• Dirt Trax FX
• Stunt Race FX
• Vortex
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
• Winter Gold

PlayStation 1

Surprisingly, the Anbernic RG35XX doesn’t play PSX games as good as the Miyoo Mini Plus, despite of having real GPU. Even after unlocking the hidden GPU, the RG35XX plays a few PSX games with frameskip.

The Anbernic RG35XX can run either .CHD, .PBP or .CUE + .BIN files. However, I recommend to stick with .CUE + .BIN, although it means you need to have several disk files. There is a very useful step-by-step instructions on how to convert PlayStation 1 games between formats.

Nintendo DS

The RG35XX can even play some Nintendo DS games with frameskip, and you can use R2 to switch between screens easily. It is certainly not the way to try Nintendo DS games, as both the video and audio get choppy sometimes. But if you really, really want to try this system, some games like Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros work surprisingly well on the RG35XX.

Here is an in-depth guide on how to play nds on Anbernic RG35XX, the guide is following the latest Koriki custom firmware update.

Nintendo 64

Running Nintendo 64 on RG35XX is an extremely difficult task, but not completely impossible. There are 2 cores you can switch between, Parallel-N64 or Mupen64Plus, to see which one works. My experience tells that you should stick with the Parallel-N64 core, as it is also the core that Acmeplus used with his RG35XX (need editing, it’s just my plain memory).

That’s it, if you have any other questions, please find it in my RG35XX tutorial.