I see the same forum post every week. Someone buys a budget handheld, loves it for a day, then spirals because N64 stutters or a specific Dreamcast game won’t hold full speed. They start eyeing a pricier device. The cycle never ends. I want to gently suggest: stop.
The ceiling chase is a trap
There is always a system one rung above what your device runs perfectly. Conquer PS1 and you’ll obsess over N64. Master N64 and Dreamcast taunts you. Reach Dreamcast and PS2 appears. The chase has no finish line because it’s designed not to.
What you’re skipping
While you’re agonising over a handful of demanding 3D titles, the greatest libraries ever made are sitting right there, running flawlessly. The SNES catalogue alone could fill years. The Genesis, the GBA, the PS1 — these run perfectly on an R38S and contain more brilliance than you’ll ever exhaust.
The best games on your handheld are almost never the ones at the edge of what it can run.
A reframe
Pick the device that runs the systems you actually love at 100%, with a little 3D as a bonus. Then put the spec sheet down and play. The R38S is a phenomenal 2D-and-PS1 machine. Bought as that, it never disappoints. Bought as a Dreamcast machine, it always will.
The point
Contentment in this hobby comes from matching expectations to hardware, not from buying your way up an infinite ladder. Good enough isn’t a compromise. For retro gaming, good enough is the entire idea.