GB350: GAME PLAYER

GB350: GAME PLAYER

Yesterday on a bit whim I went and bought something on the spur of the moment. I decided to have a nosey on Amazon, there's a surprise, and did a search for the word “Console”, there were quite a few pages so I decided to narrow it down to what could be delivered tomorrow (which is now today). I though I would go for something a little more bargain than my usual purchases.

I
found the GB350 which is the model but I couldn't find out the maker,
very strange. The unit cost me £49.99, probably one of the cheapest
handhelds I've ever purchased. As well as game playing it also has
some multimedia functions such as:
Movies:
Select
'Movie' from the main menu to play video files. The console supports
playback of various video formats
Music:
Select
'Music' to play audio files (e.g., MP3/WMV)
Photos:
Select
'Photos' to view image files
E-book:
Select
'E-book' to read text files


The
box contains:
1
x GB350 console
1
x Type-C USB cable
1
x Type-A USB to Type-C USB adaptor
1
x User manual
1
x microSD card

I
couldn't find out much information about the specifications for the
GB350, I have no idea of the processor, the GPU or much information
on any of the internal hardware. I was only able to get the below
info:
Release: 04/2025
CPU:
Dual core 1.2G
Ram:
2GB DDR3
Display:
3.5” IPS screen
Resolution:
640×480
Aspect
Ratio: 4:3
OS:
Linux-based open-source system
Int
Storage: 64GB
Ext
Storage: microSD
Game
Library:
Preloaded with over 20,000
classic games for
platforms like Playstation 1, Game Boy Advance, NES and SNES
Battery:
3000mAh battery, providing up to 5-8
hours of gameplay on
a single charge
Connectivity:
USB-C for charging & HDMI output for TV play

This
console is designed for portable gaming and multimedia entertainment,
making it a great companion for retro gaming enthusiasts

Even
without much information about the console I was still willing to
purchase it due to its low cost, the question now is, did I waste my
money? So let's unpack it and switch it on. It has quite a beautiful
splash screen which didn't stay on too long as it booted into the
front end very quickly. The first screen “All Games” if selected
would display... all games, using up and down on the D-pad will
display a different system you can play games on. There are 14
systems in total.

Pressing
R1 takes you to the settings screen. The settings are quite basic and
consist of sound, brightness, language, full screen, keymapping and
factory reset. Pressing L1 takes you to a screen where you can select
the multimedia functions which are movie, music, photos and e-book
and there are samples for all four options. Movies has a very short
clip of three people walking down the road followed by two cars,
Music has two samples one of which is a Westlife song sung in Spanish
(who knows why?), Photos has 10 example generic public domain images
and e-book has a sample of “Little Women” but the text is too
small to read on the 3.5” screen.

Now
on with some gaming, I'll give 1 game on each system a quick go and
see how they play. The search facility will come in very handy at
this point as I will be able to select the games I want to play for
each system. Below is a list of the systems and the games tried:
Mame2003 (10129 games): Galaga (my all time favourite game) - This played
just like the arcade, smooth, responsive a true joy to play.
PlayStation1 (70 games): Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Tekken (not very good at
either) - Both played smoothly and if I was any good I believe both
would be greatly enjoyable.
FamilyComputer (4764 games): Super Mario Bros – Smooth gameplay, just
like having a mini NES in my hands.
SuperFamicom (5574 games): F-Zero (one of the hardest SNES games to
emulate) - Another game I'm noot very good at but plays well and
feels speedy.
MegaDrive
(336 games): Flashback – Seemed a bit sluggish and the audio seemed
a little choppy.
Gameboy
(192 games): Galaga – This plays just as well as the Mame 2003
version, just as speedy just a little less colour as to be expected.
GameBoy Color (150 games): Turok – Not the most graphically intensive
game but does have horizontal scrolling section and vertical
scrolling section both of which are extremely smooth.
GameBoy Advance (1073 games): Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy –
Who doesn't love a Lego game? Now running as smooth as the original
on a bigger screen at a higher resolution.
PC-Engine
(380 games): Galaga '88 – A beautiful and colourful game recreated
perfectly.
Atari
(9 games): Pac-Man – A great recreation, even has the flickering
ghosts of the original.
MasterSystem (93 games): R-Type – Looks pixel perfect but plays a bit
sluggish.
GameGear (89 games): Zool – Plays well, colourful and smooth, just like
the original port from the Amiga.
NeoGeoPocket Color (39 games): Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure – Fast
paced and super smooth gameplay.
WonderswanColor (61 games): Final Lap Special - Not a very enjoyable
experience, plenty of input lag made the game unplayable.

Pros:
Price
- Decent gaming at a bargain price
Size
-  A very pocketable sized console
Screen
- Beautifully bright with very small bezels
Emulation
Experience - On the whole from the games tested a very enjoyable
experience.
Total Games: 22,959

Cons:
Buttons
- Clicky A, B, X and Y buttons
Temperature
- Gets a little warm but not too hot to handle
Search
Facility - At first it appeared to be very useful but the more I
tested games the more I came to realise that the games were not named
correctly, possibly due to translation issues.

There is more testing to do, trying out the multi media apps and connecting it to a computer to add games and other media.

Would
I recommend this console?
This
is an easy YES. As a collector of handhelds I can easily say this is
a great addition, if you are starting out collecting then this is a
great place to start or if you have a budget and just want the one
machine to play games on then this could be for you.

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Michael