The Polymega Review

The Polymega is a video game emulation box that can play physical CD games from the Playstation and Sega Saturn era. Not only could they play the games, but you could upload the games to the harddrive, and make it so you no longer needed the disc to play the games. It is also modular in a way that you can pay extra money to be able to play cartridge systems like Super Nintendo Sega Genesis, and even the Nintendo 64.

Is this device worth the $500+ price tag?

Short answer is no, at least not yet.

For the long answer, well, let’s go back to the beginning.

The Polymega was originally going to be a FPGA box that instead of emulating software, it emulates the hardware of video game consoles. Hypothetically, this would eliminate the need to have to adjust settings for each game, and would perfectly play these video games of the past. I say hypothetically, because this never happened. While it picked up momentum and interest from the old video game community, it never followed through and it turned out to be just an emulation box, abandoning FPGA and relying on emulation to play software.

This made the Polymega from a unique wonder, to something you could make yourself, if you were so inclined. The Polymega was no longer unique in premise, so the software and hardware would have to make it worth it.

Now, for me, I have tried making my own emulation box with my Steam Deck. I would take roms from the Sega Genesis games I purchased on Steam and load them up. I would download games like Gitaroo Man (which I legally own, if anyone’s asking), and play them on my portable PC. While it functioned for what it was, it left me wanting.

I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why that was, maybe it was how I have had issues getting my Steam Deck to show how I want it on a TV or monitor, having to drag and drop awkwardly in desktop mode, how garish the interface of Retroarch was, or maybe I was just being obstinate, but my attempt of my own emulation device just didn’t spark joy.

So in October 2023, I ordered the Polymega with a SNES module. It was supposed to come in December, so in the meantime, I decided to get back into collecting old games. I have to admit, this was pretty fun, albeit expensive. I remember traveling to Quebec and finding Kaze no Regret (Winds of Regret), an obscure Sega Saturn game that was made for even blind people to be able to access because it has not a single visual and everything is communicated via sound. Going into retro game shops and finding old, obscure games reminded me why I still love video games.

As the December 2023 date passed, and I still didn’t have the Polymega. I was anxious about it not arriving, so I looked around online, and it turns out I was hardly alone. While video games as an industry prospered during the pandemic since everyone was trapped inside, the Polymega instead suffered problem after problem. They had already had issues with European shipping (they say that their distribution partner took the money and ran), and then the factory making the thing basically shut down in 2020. People had to wait months for customer service updates, and years for their actual device. The start of 2024 rang in with a bunch of worries that I had just wasted a bunch of money.

Then March 2024 came around and I finally got the device. It was joyous to finally see the thing in the flesh and start loading up games, but even in that early honeymoon period, stuff felt off. The controller felt sort of cheap and hollow. Then I started playing Super Mario World, and not only was there just enough input lag, but the screen would flip out every so often. Lastly, sometimes when I turned on the console, it would immediately turn off.

The first issue was easy enough to solve. I got a Retrobit controller that looks like a Sega Saturn controller but with analog sticks at the bottom. It took a little bit to sync it to the Polymega, but I’m pretty sure that was the controller’s fault, or at least user error.

The second issue is sadly due to a bad system update. Apparently they are going to fix it, but more on that later.

The third issue is where things started to really unravel. I had managed to upload most of my collection at this point, but the console itself just didn’t like to stay on for some reason. At first I thought it was a power supply issue, but the controller receivers would stay on, it was just the console that didn’t want to stay on. All this wait and money seemed like it was going down the drain for me. I emailed customer support, and waited for the inevitable shipping label to send it back to them to fix. I remember preparing myself to ask for a refund, but then I got a different answer than I was expecting. Instead of sending it in, customer service asked for me to open the system, and loosen a screw to fix the problem the power button was having.

So, just in case you didn’t catch it, the issue wasn’t software, power supply, or anything like that, but the power button itself was defective, and everytime you pressed the power button, it was actually pressing the button twice. I was sort of beside myself. This thing costs as much as a Playstation 5. How could this have been made so poorly?

At this point, I looked for answers online, and I stumbled into the unofficial Polymega discord. Searching for this issue online had given no answers, so I figured if I joined this discord, I could at least vent about my issues with this thing. Customer service told me to open the device, but hadn’t actually sent me any details on how to do this, so I was a little desperate. It turns out that this was a relatively common issue, and someone chimed in with what screwdrivers I needed and how to fix it.

As of May 5th, 2024, I haven’t heard back from customer service since they told me to just open it up, but it occurred to me while writing this review that perhaps that person that chimed in on the dischord was the customer service representative. I don’t use my real name in discord, but I did copy and paste the email from customer service, so they may have connected the dots. I suppose I can give them the benefit of the doubt on this, but it does strike me as odd.

In any case, I opened the system, loosened the screw next to the power button (I am still unclear if I actually loosened the right one, but it no longer has the issue, so it is fine for me), and now it is working. Ever since, I have been having fun with it. Replaying games like Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy IX, and Beatmania has been a treat. Being able to boot up games from save states, and make it run games at 2x speeds have made picking up and playing old games much more convenient. I like the interface, and being able to make your own gaming playlists on the home screen is something missing from even modern consoles.

I can’t help but feel that even the fun I am having now with the Polymega is more due to the games I own, rather than the device itself. Now that it actually stays on, and I can play games, I do get the appeal, but I am wondering if this was really the best way. Even the unofficial Polymega discord I joined turned out to be full of people who I don’t really want to be in community with (it is already repulsive enough to complain that there aren’t enough “beautiful women” in games, it becomes repugnant once you realize no one seems to object to it, then when people start saying “make games great again” and unironically posting South Park gifs, that is really the final straw for me to not even bother and bow out).

While a developer does post in the discord regularly, all they do is post about how good the new update for the device is going to be. Sure, there was an update that borked the SNES emulation, but there is a fix coming, and the system will be better than ever before! When will this come out? Well, it has already been delayed. Seeing how the Polymega developers have been late and slow with just about everything, I honestly would be surprised if it came out this summer. If I was still waiting for the update 6 months from now, that would be about up to par.

So, what can I say about an emulation box that I am still using after all that trouble? I had held off writing this review for a while hoping that update would come, but I then realized what I actually bought. I didn’t buy an emulation box, I bought myself a bunch of problems to solve. Reading that developer day after day talking about things to come, and thinking about all the things that I already dealt with, I realized that even if they fix everything in the next update, what guarantee that they wouldn’t just break it again in a future update? This company seems so slow, and while it seems like they aren’t just grifters, how long can this last? How do I know that they will still even be in business to make a new update? If they are gone, will anyone even care enough to make it so it still runs?

I have made my peace with this. I have learned my lesson, and still use it to play old games. As far as anyone else, I can’t recommend it. Perhaps one day this will all just be water under the bridge. For now, maybe just wait for them to actually fulfill their promises before even considering jumping in.