NT Mini Noir review

It was a little awkward when I told my friends that my $ 500 game system was coming in November. That’s because when they asked me if it was a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X, I had to look them in the eye and admit that it was a Nintendo Entertainment System.

Not just any NES, though. This was Analogue’s NT Mini Noir, their latest (and presumably final) version of their FPGA-based Nintendo. While there is no doubt that this is a luxurious way to play classic games, the big question is whether it was really worth shelling out next generation money to play decades-old games.

If you are a fan of retro, the answer is “yes”. Here is a complete breakdown of the system that makes everything old new again.

For NT Mini Noir and other Analogue products, their big claim to fame is that these systems are powered by FPGAs rather than emulation. For most people, however, this leaves two big questions: “What is FPGA? And what’s wrong with emulation?”

What is the FPGA?

Traditional emulation is software based. Basically, someone created a program that pretends to be a NES or another console. While this allows you to play older games easily, you may find that some of them run too fast or too slow. And most of the time, you’re stuck using a random USB controller instead of the classic controller you remember.

FPGA, in a nutshell, is hardware-based emulation. NT Mini Noir is a modern system that thinks it’s a NES. This means it plays your old games with perfect fidelity, down to the occasional slowdown and flickering of the original carts.

For many people, emulation is a perfectly acceptable way to try out old games, but it’s never quite what you remember. NT Mini Noir is the best way to experience NES games and accessories without turning on your original console (which may or may not work and is completely incompatible with modern TVs).

Play your old cartridges

One of the great advantages of NT Mini Noir is that it will reproduce real cartridges (both NES and Famicom). While it sounds simple, it’s a relative rarity in the retro gaming world.

For example, you can build yourself a MiSTer FPGA console to try out as many NES games as you want, plus 27 other consoles or arcade platforms. This is very rewarding, but MiSTer doesn’t provide any way to actually reproduce cartridges or old accessories.

Of course, there are many retro devices (the Retron series is a good example) that will allow you to seemingly play a game from a cartridge. Most of the time, however, these systems simply read the ROM from the cartridge and play through an emulator. This is basically the same experience as loading a ROM from your computer but with additional steps!

If you want FPGA-based cartridge reading systems, retroUSB AVS is a great way to read NES carts. It’s also much cheaper than the NT Mini Noir ($ 185 vs $ 500) and has the benefit of actually being in stock rather than completely out of stock.

New and old accessories

As noted earlier, a big advantage NT Mini Noir has over much of the competition is the ability to use your old accessories. This means you can take out your old Nintendo Zapper or NES Advantage joystick and play it like it was yesterday.

If you prefer, there are more modern options too. The Noir comes with an 8BitDo wireless controller which has quickly become my favorite way to play. And it’s not limited to Noir either – you can use the same controller on your original NES, and you don’t have to worry about cables anymore.

If you want to dive into NES history, there are also options for more obscure accessories. Noir lets you plug in things like the Famicom Disk System or a microphone to play Famicom games that required such an accessory.

Video output options

At some point, you’ve probably wondered why you can’t just connect your original NES to your modern TV. But even if you manage to boot the system, you will quickly discover some problems with that plan.

The original NES, with its red and yellow A / V cables, won’t work on most modern TVs. You can try to make it work with a cheap converter, but you may find that there is an annoying delay between the controller commands and what happens on the screen.

NT Mini Noi allows you to play lag-free gaming via HDMI. But it also features composite, component and S-video outputs that will allow you to play games on CRT TVs (which is a requirement for using some accessories like the Zapper). And there’s RGB output too if you’re fancy enough to have an old professional video monitor lying around.

Regardless of how you play, the image will look great. And if you want a more “old school” experience on a modern TV, Noir comes with multiple scanline options that you can tweak until your favorite games are just as good as you remember.

Final verdict

Back to the big question: was this system really worth $ 500?

The answer is “yes” and “no”. There is no doubt that this is the most extravagant and luxurious way to play NES games on a modern television. But you can get many of the same features from retroUSB AVS for a much cheaper price. AVS is also currently available and your main sacrifice is that AVS resolution only comes in at 720p versus Noir’s 1080p and the difference is mostly unnoticeable.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the NT Mini Noir. And I’m more excited than ever that Analogue is shipping its Pocket (shipping date is now May 2021). But I can’t deny that the money that went to Noir might be too much for the simple task of playing your old NES library.