Over in China there is an expatriate who goes by the handle of Taki Udon. This American began his public video gaming presence modding Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance systems. Over time he partnered with a local company, Retro Remake, to produce modding products and affordable add-ons for the MiSTer FPGA system. Now he has released a consolized MiSTer called the SuperStation One. Specifically the console his company has modeled is the Sony PS One, the slimmed down revision of the PlayStation released late in its lifecycle. The SSOne has the potential to act as a fully consolized FPGA PlayStation. Having finally received mine, I will review it here.
A. The Long Road to the SuperStation One
I have owned a MiSTer since 2020 but I confess I do not use it much. The "MiSTer stack" is not particularly attractive and I never invested in a power switch so in order to turn off the console I have to unplug it. I also never purchased a 128MiB SDRAM upgrade module, so cores like the Sega Saturn are not available to me. The 128MiB module can run the larger Neo Geo and N64 games that the 32MiB module cannot. (It can also run GBA games larger than 32MiB but the only official games released that were 64MiB were the GBA Video movie cartridges.) The fan is loud and plugging in all those dongles for SNAC is annoying. Then there is the lengthy update_all process after a lengthy period of inactivity. My Analogue consoles are very much plug and play by comparison.
While I considered an enclosure, consolized MiSTer products like the Multisystem exist. The Multisystem is expensive and 3D printed, so I was not particularly encouraged to go for one. Then Taki Udon advertised a consolized MiSTer, the SuperStation One (SSOne) for $149.99. The SSOne takes after the design of the Sony PS one, the slim version of the Sony PlayStation. I decided to take a chance on the SSOne because Taki's company had a good track record of delivering affordable MiSTer products and preordered mine on January 25, 2025. I also wanted the Dock, which was a separate order. The Dock's final pricing had yet to be determined so I had to put a $5.00 deposit on it. Shipping was a bit of a pill to swallow, (a $36.00 pill as it turned out) but shipping from China requires crossing a rather large body of water.
In October I received an email indicating that the final price of the Dock would be $45.00. I paid the $40.00 difference and $12.00 more in shipping. Retro Remake gave the option of not buying the Dock but I wanted the Dock. At this point the SSOne was only supposed to have passive cooling but Retro Remake announced a cooling fan upgrade in January (2026) for $3.00 so I added that into my order. The total cost for my SSOne was $245.99. Tracking was provided on June 2 and I finally received mine on June 23.
During that time Retro Remake has sent three emails advising on the progress of the SuperStation One. They had difficulties but seem to have overcome them. Systems without the Dock shipped first and reviewers have had their hands on the base SSOnes for months now. Retro Remake did not require additional payment when tariffs were put into effect last year. Prices have gone up since then.
B. The Unboxing Experience
I am pleased to say that the SSOne is well packaged. It came in a sealed plastic bag, which was good because it was raining the day it was delivered. There was an outer brown shipping box containing the product itself. The box design is functional and evokes the Sony PS One's box. There are two inner cardboard liners between the outer box and the unit.
Including in the box is the SSOne and the Super Dock already attached as one unit. There is a generic remote control which can be used to access the MiSTer menus on the SSOne through the IR receiver on the Super Dock. Most buttons on the remote are not functional, the cluster around the OK button is the most important part. This remote cannot power the console. Also included is a generic HDMI cable and a braided USB Type-C to C cable for power.
No power adapter is included in the box, it takes any USB power supply that can supply 5V/3A or 9V/3A. 5V is preferable because it does not need as much conversion down, excess power conversion generates more heat. My ASUS OLED monitor could power the SSOne through its USB Type-C power delivery port.
The cover for the SSOne's expansion port, which is removed when the Dock is joined to it is included, as are a pair of stickers and the setup guide for the remote.
The quick start card has a QR code which directs you to the Retro Remake Firmware/Setup page. There is a link to a YouTube video Taki put out, "New User Guide." The Guide was most helpful even to someone like myself who is hardly a MiSTer newbie.
Inserted into the SSOne is a 64GB microSD card. I had never heard of the OV brand but they appear to be decent cards and I have written almost 100GB to this card so far without error. Of course 64GB can only fit so much, the full licensed GBA library is 23GB and the PSX image library is at least 2TB. The card comes with the MiSTer OS already installed, updating the core to the most current version proved challenging.
C. SuperStation One Specific-Features
The SSOne has six sides and ports on five of them. On the top is a power button and a menu button. There is no reset or user button as there would be on an Analog I/O board. On the bottom is the port to attach the Super Dock. The power button wobbles quite a bit when pressed down.
The right side has RCA connectors for composite video and stereo audio, a Guncon port and an S-Video port. It is curious to have both a composite video port and a Guncon port as the Guncons almost universally use a passthrough composite connector. I was unable to view any video output from this connector, it must only provide the necessary sync signals to permit the light gun to function.
The left side has RCA connectors for component video and stereo audio and four configuration DIP switches. The component video ports output RGB by default but Sync-on-Green needs to be enabled. The DIP Switches are labeled on the mainboard. Switch 1 selects between NTSC and PAL region, Switch two sets Luma to NTSC or PAL, Switch 3 indicates whether Composite/S-Video is generated by the FPGA or the external conversion circuitry and Switch 4 turns on and off Sync on Green. As the console comes from the factory, all DIP switches are set to the down position, which corresponds to NTSC x 2, External Encoder & Sync-on-Green.
The front has two Memory Card slots, two PlayStation controller ports, a USB Type-A port and a microSD card slot. All three USB Type-A ports function identically. The Memory Card and Controller ports are based off SNAC (Serial Native Accessory Converter), the standard which allows MiSTer cores to use original system controllers. SNAC support must be built-into each core and as only the PSX core supports PSX controllers and memory cards, these controller ports are only useful with the PSX core.
The system includes features that would be an additional add-on or expense for a DE-10 Nano board. There is a battery holder for a CR1220 coin-cell battery to keep the clock powered when the system is on. To replace this battery you must unscrew seven screws on the bottom of the console and lift the lid. There is a screw underneath each of the rubber feet.
The system includes a built-in WiFi module and a Bluetooth module. There is a JTAG header for accessing the FPGA for development. The curved piece of metal at the back right corner is the antenna for the wireless modules, do not bend it. There is a wire by the front right corner for an NFC reader. This is used by Zaparoo, which allows you to touch a card to the console to launch a game instead of using the menu. I do not use it myself.
There is 128MiB of SDRAM installed in the SSOne. This is necessary to play the largest Neo Geo, GBA and N64 games and is required to run the Sega Saturn core. There are beta cores which require (Jaguar) or perform substantially better (3D0) with a MiSTer dual SDRAM build but even the Saturn core has mostly overcome any performance disadvantages with single SDRAM (in other words, dual SDRAM is not supported on SSOne).
For Saturn I tried three games, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (the Japan exclusive port). They all worked. Tomb Raider has a gamma slider unique to the Saturn which is helpful because the default gamma can be too dark. Resident Evil on Saturn has some lower texture resolution than the PSX and longer load times. Castlevania had a lot of slowdown compared to PSX but this can be mitigated in the menu options to speed up the core. Both Resident Evil and Castlevania Saturn rely on dithering and composite video blending for transparencies which are are smooth on the PSX, there is an option in the menu to blend these dithering patterns.
I also had the opportunity to try the N64 Core. For a controller I used an N64 Switch controller, which is my favorite wireless N64 controller. This is a Bluetooth controller, so the built-in Bluetooth functionality of the SSOne was most appreciated. It paired without issue but one seems to need a keyboard or the remote to enter the pairing menu (press F11 at MiSTer's main menu or the number 3 on the remote). This may need to be done every time you boot the system but I am not sure about that.
Games run pretty well on the N64 core, well-enough to pass casual inspection. Donkey Kong 64 does not pass the timing test on the title screen (where he has to swing across the vines). Resident Evil 2 worked but slows down whenever more than one zombie is on the screen, regardless of whether the game is running in high resolution interlaced mode (with the Expansion Pak enabled) or not (Expansion Pak disabled). Games which rely on RSP microcodem (which was a notorious stumbling block for emulators for years) including Factor 5's Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, work on the MiSTer core.
D. Super Dock
Let us turn to the Super Dock, the $45.00 add-on. Users who did not order the Dock received their SSOnes first. When removed from the SSOne you can see the card edge connector which connects the two devices.
On the left side is a SNAC bypass switch and a SNAC port. This switch is On, you can use the SNAC port. When it is Off then the PSX Controller and Memory Ports are active as they are also SNAC-based.
The right side is featureless.
On the back is an I/O port which uses an HDMI connector and two USB Type-C ports, one for debug and the other for PC Mode. PC Mode allows you to use the DVD drive with a PC. I tested this and it works, I was able to play a DVD when connecting the Dock to my PC. MiSTer cannot play DVDs by itself but it would be a nice feature to have with the analog output.
On the front are four USB Type-A ports which act like the USB Hub add-on for a DE-10 Nano. These ports have an LED which light up when a controller is connected to them. The IR receiver for the remote is in the middle. There is a DVD-RW drive built into the Dock, and if the tray does not open you may need to loosen the screws securing the Dock to the SSOne a little. The tray does not seem to be the sturdiest when extended but Taki disputes this. My cheap Walmart DVD player has a thinner drive tray but it has survived for over two years by not treating it indifferently.
On the bottom is a plastic cover for an M.2 slot. It supports full length modules for additional storage. I do not have a spare M.2 solid state device and with the current prices I am unlikely to have one in the near future. A spudger is the best way to pry the cover off.
Unlike the SSOne, the Dock's enclosure was not designed for easy access. You will need to use a spudger and picks to pry the shell apart. Each foot has a screw underneath it.
E. PlayStation Support
This device has been considered a consolized FPGA PlayStation, and this is partially true. However, as of this writing it cannot be considered a full console. The Dock's disc drive is not functional with the PSX core. The PSX core will only load disc images in the .bin/.cue or .iso format. I recommend only using images verified by Redump.org. Extract each disc to a separate subdirectory within the games\psx directory. You must use the MiSTer UI to load games.
Taki Udon's company is devising a new "Console Mode" UI to streamline loading and implement support for reading from the disc drive. The UI will take on an appearance familiar to Analogue Pocket/Duo/3D users. Taki has stated on his X/Twitter account that the Core will be able to dump discs to MiSTer storage or read discs as a PlayStation would although the results may not be perfect. As of now his UI is in beta v1.0 state and disc reading is planned to be implemented in v1.3. Until then you can use the disc drive connected to a PC to rip your PSX games. I cannot tell if the drive is Redump compatible because the Redump wiki is currently down.
By default the PSX Core does not use the PSX Controller and Memory Card ports. You must change these to SNAC (both ports) and Real.
The microSD card comes with open source PSX BIOS files. These should be replaced with Sony BIOS files. After that playing PSX games with the current MiSTer core has been a very pleasurable experience. The only issue I have had is that sometimes the PSX core does not recognize Memory Cards when the core is loaded until they are removed and reinserted.
In order to swap discs or to load a disc without having to see the splash screen twice go into the Menu - Miscellaneous and set the CD Lid to Open. Then go up a level and Load CD. If you try loading a CD directly without opening the (virtual) lid, you will reset the console.
F. System Update
Updating the system comes with a few caveats. I found that any script which initiates a reboot on my system, such as USB polling or rebooting after making a MiSTer.ini edit will not reboot. You will have to power cycle the console. You can reboot and even perform a cold reboot through the MiSTer menu, just not through a script.
While the microSD card comes with a full MiSTer core setup (and some homebrew games) you will want to update MiSTer main and the system cores. You can run the update script but most people will prefer the Update All script, which allows you to download jotego's arcade cores for example. Update All has an option to allow you to download the BIOS files several cores need to work. Update All ironically will not overwrite the open source PSX BIOS ROMs, those must be manually replaced.
If you run the update script, as recommended by Taki's New User Guide video, the system will identify three MiSTer.ini errors that were not identified prior to the update. These include LOOKAHEAD=2 out of range, variable_min_framerate unknown option and variable_min_framerate unknown option. These are really annoying because they pop up whenever the OSD does and delays loading cores. These options were deprecated in the most recent MiSTer core build. This can be solved by copying the current MiSTer.ini over the one which came on the microSD card after updating the build or commenting out those variables.
By default MiSTer outputs RGB over its VGA port. Composite Sync is the default, which is good for PVMs and many oldschool RGB monitors like the Commodore (Amiga) 1084 and the Apple (IIgs) Color RGB Monitor, A2M6014 monitor. There is an option to enable separate sync, which is what the Atari (ST) SC-1224 and VGA monitors use.
In order to use Component Video, you must change two lines in MiSTer.ini as follows:
vga_mode=ypbpr
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