Whether you are an avid collector or happen to have a stack of old cartridges and disks in the attic, Polymega may pique your interest. Designed as the one retro console to control them all, this modular system has optional additions to NES, SNES, Genesis (Megadrive) or TurboGrafx that can accommodate the original cartridges and controllers from these systems. The large black base unit Polymega also plays Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Sega CD, TurboGrafx CD and Neo Geo CDs. The controller most closely resembles a DualShock pad, but the modules each come with an authentic feel to the original gamepad – they even offer a lightweight gun.
The build quality is excellent and the software emulation is impressive with time savings and screen filtering options. I tested the Super module after dusting my old one off Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country carriages, and it has been a blast to introduce my children to these classics. When you first insert a cart or disk, you get the option to run it or install it on the internal storage (it has 32 GB out of the box, but you can expand with an SD card or SSD), which is great for enthusiasts who want to preserve their collections. The carousel menu is smart with boxing art, screenshots and descriptions for each game. Real estate under the TV is at a premium, so it is appealing to replace multiple systems with a single box. It comes with a handful of obscure titles pre-installed, but that only makes sense for players with large physical game libraries right now.
Developer Playmaji had a hard time realizing this console, and orders may take a while to ship. What’s already here is impressive, and an N64 module is coming. If Playmaji can find a way to offer its library of classic titles to buy and download, this could be the ultimate retro console, but it is certainly not cheap.