Within the retro scene, particularly in recent years there has been a rise of replications of old retro consoles in a ‘mini’ form, the most popular of these was quite possibly the Mini NES and soon followed by the Mini SNES, then the market saw Sega and Sony also release mini versions of their retro consoles as well as of course the C64 Mini. It was only a matter of time that the market would shift to other platforms beyond just the retro consoles and bring back retro computers. The Commodore C64 mini arrived which was a successful product and so was shortly followed by a full size C64 replica, it surely was only a matter of time the Amiga would be done too.
The A500 Mini
The A500 Mini, designed to look and feel like the original Amiga A500 that came out in 1987, but with modern-day enhancements and the ability to play A500 and A1200 games.
Out the box the A500 Mini has 25 inbuilt games, but users can add their our downloaded games via USB flash drive.
The 25 inbuilt games are:
The A500 Mini Specifications
All Winner H6 ARM processor (Cortex A53)
Estimated 256mb to 1Gb Ram/Flashrom
3 x USB 2.0 ports
HDMI Port
USB-C (For Power)
So What’s in the Box?
The A500 Mini Computer
USB Mouse (Tank Mouse)
USB GamePad (CD32 pad)
HDMI Cable
USB-C Power Cable or Universal PSU (only from AMI64)
Quick Start Guide
Extras, Exclusive to AMI64.com
Amiga Merchandise
Amiga Sticker Set
CD-ROM containing 1000 Bonus PD Games
Bonus WHDload Games Collection
Amiga Writing Utensil (aka an Amiga Pen)
Optional Universal PSU available through us at time of purchase.
The system may look like an A500 but it also supports A600 and A1200 games. The ‘keyboard’ is just for show and will not be functional but you can use any USB keyboard. It also comes with an 8 button controller similar in style to the CD32 controller and an optical tank-mouse.
It features a HDMI port and outputs at 720p 50/60Hz with multiple scaling options and CRT filters, so you can enjoy your Amiga gaming experience even more.
WHDLoad
There are plenty of tutorials on how to use WHDLoad on the internet, but the makers of The A500 Mini want the user to have the simplest experiences as possible. You can just download the .lha file (which is basically Amiga version of zip files) to a USB stick and load into directly into the A500 Mini.
In Summary. Like any mini-console, there are a multitude of other games that could have been included, but given the ease with which new games can be added, it's not really an issue. The built-in games are a solid line-up.
The supplied 'Amiga CD32' style controller is surprisingly good, as is the mouse. We would have preferred an improved version of TheC64 joystick instead of this CD32 pad, although the fact you can use the TheC64 one is most welcome.
Since there are already a number of simple solutions to these problems, and given the expandability and the solid range of pre-installed games, we have little hesitation in recommending TheA500 Mini to retro fans. And don’t forget, order from ami64.com and you’ll also receive a bonus DVD featuring 1000's of Amiga’s best PD Games that you can add to your lovely new A500 Mini.