One stop box

There have been plenty of retro boxes over the years. Most of them have focused on cartridge-based consoles like the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. The era of the CD console has been, for the most part, ignored. This is where Playmaji’s Polymega comes in. This all-in-one retro machine not only offers a solution for cartridge-based consoles, it tackles the CD ones right out of the box. While it may be a bit on the pricey side, the Polymega could very well be the best retro solution for your classic games once it irons out some of the shortcomings.

Let’s start with the box and what is inside. I have to say I was impressed with the packaging. Clean and sharp with the lift-up design where I cut two pieces of tape and lifted the top part off to reveal the console. Nestled inside was the console in its foam protector with the standard box of components including the HDMI cable, power cable, and of course controller. It is worth noting that the power cable has a brick, so plan space accordingly.

MSRP: $449 (base unit) $79.99 (per module)
Price I’d Pay: $400

With our review unit we were also given one module for cartridges. Polymega is built with the CD games in the base unit, and each cartridge has its own module. These come with a new top to the console itself with a cartridge slot and a controller that resembles the console it is designed for. Currently they offer NES, SNES, Genesis, and TurboGrafx with an N64 module just announced and coming in 2022. Each module is $79, which isn’t bad considering the inclusion of a controller. Each module also adds two controller ports that also support the original console controllers.

Next up is the base unit which is the meat of the console. This is the core box that retails for $449. It supports PlayStation, Saturn, Sega CD, TurboGrafx-CD, and Neo-Geo CD. The odd omissions are CD-i and 3DO, but perhaps it comes in a future update. That is a lot of support in one box and for the most part it works flawlessly. The way Polymega functions is that I am able to pop a disc into the drive, the console recognizes it from it’s massive database and I can either play it straight from the disc, or install it to the system. Once installed I never have to put the disc back in unless I delete it. That is awesome.

I ran the gamut with my testing. I pulled out my entire PSOne, Saturn, and Sega CD collection and started adding them to my system. It is worth noting that the core unit comes with 32GB of space, but that is down to less than 9GB available at the start. System files, OS, and some included games take up the bulk so I suggest expanding the memory. Polymega has the option of MicroSD or an SSD expansion slot on the bottom. I opted for a 128GB MicroSD card at first, but I may expand it over time.

Installing games is a tedious process. Each game took me anywhere from 4-10 mins depending on its size. Cartridge games go much faster as they take up far less space. One gripe I have about the storage is there is no easy way to move games from the internal to expanded or vice versa. Once it is there the only option is to delete it. So if I ever decide to upgrade my storage, I will have to reinstall all my games yet again.

Alright the basics are out of the way so let me dig into what I liked and didn’t much care for about the console. Let’s kick off with the good. I love that I am able to install my games and never need the disc again. My retro collection is mostly in storage, so digging it out just to play is a chore. Having them all stored in one place is a godsend. The Polymega also has a database that supports so many games. I went through it and was shocked at just how many games it supports. With the online connectivity to upgrade and add even more, it could easily become my all-in-one retro box over time. The features for each game are great. Save states, screen filter options, and the ability to add patches to each game are really nice. The possibilities are almost endless with software upgrades.

Now let me talk about some things I had issues with. The interface is decent, if not a bit bland in spots. I would love to be able to re-arrange tiles for the core systems. The included controller is serviceable enough but I do wish I could see how much charge it had left on the dashboard. The d-pad is also not the best and the right direction already feels a little less responsive. The disc drive feels cheap. It is very loud when I install games. To be fair I have already installed over 100 games and it is still kicking so I don’t think I have any concerns about it dying.

In my tests I did find a couple anomalies when it comes to games. Ridge Racer for the PSOne will install and play with the disc, but not once I remove it. Street Fighter The Movie: The Game for Saturn simply won’t install at all. I had several discs that would also fail to install, most likely due to scratches, but what was odd was that I had several games that installed fine which seemed to be more scratched up than the ones that failed. The consistency was weird.

Now let’s talk about game performance. When it comes to cartridge games the machine handles everything very well. There is a bit of latency with the included wireless controller, but with wired ones it feels nearly perfect. PlayStation games ran extremely accurately, with the only noticeable hitch coming from Omega Boost, which had some artifacting at the bottom of the screen. The real test though was Saturn. The emulation for this console is famously difficult. The dozen or so games I played felt good. I really didn’t notice any issues with my time playing them. I tried obscure games and more well-known ones and the emulation feels good. This is by far the best Saturn emulation I have seen.

One downside is the lack of support for ROMs. I understand the omission, but it would have been nice to move a bulk of games already ripped via USB, instead of having to load each one individually. Yes it opens up the doors for piracy, which is why I get not including it, but I would still love to see it added in the future if possible.

The Polymega is by far one of the most impressive retro boxes I have ever used. With time and updates I think it could easily become my all-in-one solution to my retro games that has a place under my TV. The price is a bit steep and the availability is certainly a problem right now, but for gamers like me who have a plethora of old games in need of a one-stop solution, this is by far the best I have seen to date. Hopefully over time support continues to expand, they have even discussed an online store where retro games could be purchased, which would be incredible. All in all I am highly impressed with the console and expect to keep it in my entertainment center for years to come.

Review hardware provided by publisher.