The recently announced LASER Retro Gaming Projector is a great idea for an entry level projector, with built-in games and controllers included, as well as streaming services all for under $300.
With projectors offering a decent brightness priced fairly high usually, the LASER Retro Gaming Projector is a nicely priced and specced entry point for projectors. The projector also comes with access to a host of streaming apps and games thanks to Google Play, as well as a range of built-in arcade games, as well as emulator support to add your own.
So, is the LASER Retro Gaming Projector worth a look? I nabbed a review unit to use for the past couple of weeks, and here’s how it went.
Setup
The box comes with almost everything you need to get started, the projector, 120” cloth screen with tension ropes and hooks to hang it on your wall. You also get a remote control, two wireless controllers and a power cable.
You do need to supply some AAA batteries, six in total, two each for the controllers, and two for the remote.
The remote is light and features all the buttons you need, including power and mute at the top, with a directional pad and Ok button for navigation in the centre.
Setup is simple, plug it in, aim it at a wall (or roof) and press the power button.
There’s no login or account needed to use the projector – unless you want to use Google Play to download more apps or games – but you will need to connect to your Wi-Fi which is a fairly easy process.
The projector comes with a few apps already installed including YouTube and Netflix which feature on the home screen, and you’ll also find AppleTV+ and Disney+ apps pre-installed in the app list.
You can install your own apps, all the local services from Kayo, Binge, Stan and Paramount, through to the terrestrial services including 9Now, ABC iView, SBS On-Demand, 10 and 7Plus are there to download. There’s also a few pre-installed apps like MX Player for viewing local video content, or you can install Plex to view even more.
Google Play opens a host of new opportunities for the projector, including gaming, which we’ll get to.
Projector
The LASER Retro Gaming Projector is a 300nit, 720P resolution projector with Android built-in and running emulators, with 80 pre-installed games. It knows what it is, and it’s proud of it.
There’s a lot of lower end projectors out there with dim output, however the LASER brings more to the table. It’s capable of 300ANSI Lumens and it shows. I’ve used the Nebula Capsule Air, which, while great for portability with a 2-hour battery inside, it’s not as bright at 150 ANSI Lumens – the difference between the two is notable.
In daylight, the LASER Gaming projector actually did quite well. I had it set up in the office and simply closed the blinds. The image projected was bright enough to watch movies on, or play some of the many games.
That’s not to say that the LASER Retro Gaming Projector has all the features. It has auto-keystoning to make sure the picture is straight on your wall, with the option to correct corners and more manually, but you do have to focus it manually via the ring on the front.
I’m not actually opposed to the manual focus, and it’s easy to use, so after I set it once – whcih was the only time I needed to do it – it was good to go.
Screen
A note on the screen. While the included screen is very nice quality and very easy to install – with excellent instructions. I unfortunately don’t have the room for a permanent projector screen on a wall.
The majority of the display was on the white wall of my office, which worked extremely well – it also worked quite well projected onto the roof while the projector was mounted on the bed head – so falling asleep watching your latest series or a movie is very easy to do.
I did try the projector on my inflatable projector screen and can report it does enhance the image quality.
Games
There’s a heap of ways to play games on the projector, with the built-in GameBox acting as a hub for the pre-installed games, as well as any ROMs you add. You can also access the Google Play Store for a range of TV friendly games.
The included controllers are lightweight, and have decent build quality – we’re not talking anything like a DualSense controller, but it’s durable and will last. The ABXY button layout is similar to an Xbox Series controller, though you get the inline thumbsticks of a Playstation controller. Overall though, the controllers work quite well.
Pre-installed Games
The list of pre-installed games is fairly extensive, though the familiar sounding names don’t quite match up to the games I remember from my childhood. There’s still a bunch of fun titles to explore though, with all sorts of racing, fighting, puzzle games and more on the list.
| 1. Super 3D Noah’s Ark(2013 wisdom tree) | 28. Invasion from Beyond | 55. XS Dodgeball |
| 2. Viking Child | 29. Target Renegade | 56. Snow White:Happily Ever After |
| 3. Mr. Bloppy Saves the World | 30. Motor City Patrol | 57. Iridion 3D |
| 4. Noah’s Ark | 31. Pyramids of Ra | 58. Iridion II |
| 5. Starshot Space Circus Fever | 32. Thunderbolt II | 59. Dark Arena |
| 6. Glover | 33. Thunderbolt | 60. Blender Bros |
| 7. Treasure Master | 34. Mountain Bike Rally | 61. Best of Best Karate |
| 8. Super Hunchback | 35. Top Racer | 62. Squash |
| 9. Soccer Kid | 36. Top Racer 2 | 63. World Rally |
| 10. Risky Woods | 37. Top Racer 3000 | 64. Alligator Hunt |
| 11. Legend | 38. Eliminator Boat Duel | 65. TH Strikes Back |
| 12. Tinhead | 39. Full Throttle – All American Racing | 66. World Rally 2 |
| 13. Shadow Madness | 40. Jim Power In The Lost Dimension | 67. Maniac Square (all versions) |
| 14. Brave Battle Saga | 41. Little Lancelot | 68. Snowboard Championship |
| 15. The Way of the Exploding Fist | 42. World Throphy Soccer | 69. Fantasy Land |
| 16. Zero Tolerance | 43. Racing Fever | 70. Ping Pong Master 93 |
| 17. Skuljagger: Revolt of the Westicans | 44. X – Bladez Inline Skating | 71. Steel Force |
| 18. Metal Mech | 45. Motor Mash | 72. Mighty Warriors |
| 19. Power Punch II | 46. Sword of Sodan | 73. Dragon Master |
| 20. ODT Escape or Die Trying | 47. Canon – Legends of the New Gods | 74. Magic Purple |
| 21. First samurai | 48. Legend of Wukong | 75. The Legend of Silkroad |
| 22. Second Samurai | 49. Super Bubble Pop | 76. BioMechanical Toy |
| 23. Street Racer | 50. Zany Golf | 77. 8 Eyes |
| 24. BOB | 51. Punch King | 78. Lucky Boom |
| 25. Criticom | 52. Smashing Drive | 79. World Beach Volley |
| 26. Road Raider | 53. Turbo Turtle | 80. Iron Commando |
| 27. Apocalypse II | 54. AWS Pro Moves Soccer |
ROMs
If the games listed don’t tickle your fancy, there’s also ROM support onboard, with NES, SNES, Mega Drive, SEGA Genesis, N64, Gameboy, GBA, Atari, SNK and more emulators included.
The games, and indeed the entire projector OS, appears to be installed on a microSD card you’ll find under the USB dongle on the back of the projector. Make sure the projector is switched off before you take it out, but once you put it into a PC, you’ll see a very easy to navigate file structure.
The ‘gameROMs’ folder contains a load of pre-made folders named for older consoles for example GBA, NES, SNES, PS1, etc.
LASER skirts the issue of sourcing ROMs, so……drop any ‘legally acquired’ ROMs you have into the corresponding folder and simply load the microSD card back into the projector.
What file types are supported? LASER provides a handy table in the quick start guide:
ROMs are accessed in the same GameBox app you load the pre-installed games from. The way GameBox handles your ROMs is very simple. Accessing the File Explorer icon leads to a very easy to use interface that lets you find the Console, then simply load a game and you’re playing in no time.
How do they play? Pretty well for the most part, though there was a little lag in some newer ROMs, though that’s a conversation about emulation more than a comment on the power of the projector. We did spend a lot of time growing our Bubble Bobble scores though.
Google Play Games
Google has been involved in the leanback experience for quite some time – ever since the ‘first’ Google TV back in 2010, so there is quite a good selection of games available in Google Play compatible with the large screen with controller experience.
I’ve been using Riptide GP2 for reviews on Android or Google TV devices and it runs well on the LASER Gaming projector, as do any of the games I tried from the Play Store.
Final Thoughts
$299 for a projector that’s bright enough to work during the day, with 80 built-in games, and the ability to add a heap of your old favourites.
It’s a pretty good deal all up. All the streaming services are there, as well as a heap of fun mobile games through Google Play. The included retro games are interesting though don’t tend to hit the AAA status of some of the old classics we remember – but you can find and add those in extremely easily.
The only consideration is the options starting to appear for FullHD resolution projectors at similar brightness, however those don’t come with a heap of fun games built-in as well as the option to add more, and you also get the controllers ready to go.
As something to take away with you on holidays, to keep the kids entertained, this is a great option and something you should definitely consider.
Daniel has been talking about, learning about and using tech since he was able to toggle switches and push buttons. If it flashes, turns on or off or connects he wants to use it, talk about it and learn more about it. Like this article? Buy me a coffee!
