From humble RetroPie setups to the pricey Analogue Pocket, retro gaming boxes are big business these days. The current crop of gaming consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X are great machines in their own right, but they don't offer much in the way of retro goodness--especially compared to standalone emulators. As such, if you're looking to revisit the past on your TV, building a dedicated retro box is probably the right move.

If you pay any attention to this sort of thing, you're probably familiar with RetroPie, the Raspberry Pi-supported software that allows you to play generations of retro games with a cheap build. Indeed, even the fanciest Pi-based build is probably going to run you in the neighborhood of $100, which makes it a great option for gamers on a budget. However, if you're looking to build a truly enthusiast-grade machine--and you don't mind dropping a bit of cash on it--you should consider putting together a MiSTer FPGA. Although it's a hardcore machine, even the least technically inclined gamer can put it together.

MiSTer magic

Strictly speaking, MiSTer is an open-source project that births new life into classic consoles on modern hardware, as well as arcade machines. However, whereas software emulators have tiny inaccuracies and mistakes that experts can detect, a MiSTer uses FPGA technology (field-programmable gate arrays) to mimic the console on a per-cycle level. This makes it essentially identical to the real console--it's as if your mom never sold your SNES to that big-box retailer for $25.