Kintaro Super Kuma 9000 - SNES Inspired Raspberry Pi Case with Functional Power & Reset Buttons, LED and Custom Aluminum Heatsink (Raspberry Pi Model 3B+)

Retropie has been around since 2012, but with the release of Nintendo's Classic consoles, many gamers turned to the Raspberry Pi at a time when the former was extremely hard to come by, and that, in turn, inspired a number of Pi cases based off of the original NES and SNES. While this is all well and good, many of these cases had varying degrees of quality and accuracy, and a quick search can yield rough 3D print jobs, or injection mold jobs with flimsy parts and faulty power buttons. Amidst its competitors, this one stands out with an unmatched level of quality. The injection-molded plastic shell has a professional-grade sturdiness and texture that feels very similar to that of an original SNES, and the attention to detail is stellar; the lettering in "Eject" and "On/Off" are all part of the molding, there are raised dots near the faux controller ports to indicate players 1 and 2, and there is even a faux extension port on the bottom, which is a testament to the care that went into its design. The included heat sink is also just as good as its plastic housing; previously, to keep my Pi within safe temperatures, I needed a cooling fan to go with the minuscule heat sinks that would stick to the CPU and GPU, but this beastly heat sink, along with some thermal paste, keeps my system cool without the need for a fan, even though the case can accommodate one. The weight that it adds to the system is a nice bonus as well, as it gives my Pi the feel of a solid gaming system. What especially stands out about this case is the red LED and working power and reset buttons, which are all connected to pin connectors that conveniently slot directly onto the Pi when it's screwed into the case. Instead of directly cutting the power, the switches are tied to a script that safely shuts down the system when a user slides the Power switch to the off position, and restarts the system when the Reset switch is pressed. This is a much safer way of powering down the system, and it prevents the potential SD card corruption that comes with pulling the plug on the Pi. I'm also grateful that the additional hardware hasn't caused any of the power warnings that gamers have experienced with other cases that have working buttons. Overall, I'm very happy with this case; it's highly detailed, feels smooth and sturdy, has working buttons and an LED light, and the beastly heat sink keeps my Pi cool without the need for an additional fan. It's of a level of quality that I haven't seen in most other cases of its kind, and I can say that this is the best SNES-esque case on the market.

I was hesitant to buy this case due to reviews stating the rasp b+ wasn't compatible with this case, namely the heat sink/power delivery issues. I can tell you at this point in time both of those issues have been addressed. The heat sink looks to be redesigned to fit B+ board features and I haven't had any power issues with it yet either. Pro's: Case looks amazing, its much smaller than I thought Safe power and reset switch (one of the main reasons I bought it) Heat sink is large and fits perfectly with the B+ (just make sure you get the right version for your pi) Con's: Some wont like the ethernet and 4 usb's ports looking like an eyesore on the left side of the case. Its not a big deal for me, need access somewhere and if they put 2 usb's upfront the case would need to be redesigned and would result in having a larger footprint. I'm new to pi's/linux and some of the setup procedures/navigating menus/using code can be a pita. Setting up the script so you can use the power and reset functions aren't as straightforward as the manual states. My keyboard was set to the UK version and when typing the code one key wasn't correct resulting in the script not properly installing. After some research though, I got the keyboard setup correctly and could then properly setup the script. More than happy now. Another con is the scraper feature. I would not work until I spent an hour searching for answers. If you run into a problem scraping game images: 1. Update your retropie setup script and 2. Update your emulation station under core packages. Do that and your scraper should work. Once all that is done, you can sit back and enjoy this little case, it will def bring back some memories.

This case is great. It is well built, attractive, small, and easy to assemble. However, a heads up. When I tried to install the image of recallbox that Kintaro has on it's site with the 3b+, that I bought from Amazon, I received the golden lightening bolt. This indicates low power, but it can also be triggered by an operating system problem. Some research indicated that this was probably caused by the later, as it appears the retro gaming systems on their site are out of date. For instance, I have read that Raspberry Pi 3b+ requires RetroPie 4.4 or 4.5, it seems that they have retropie 4.2 on their site. This isnt a big problem. I was able to install Retropie 4.4, and then update to 4.5 (this avoids the composite out problems that are in the current image of 4.5), and still install the kintaro script. The LED light works and the reset and power button work. The only thing that is missing is the Kintaro splash screen, and I am sure there is a fix for that if you care. This is the best solution anyway as the more recent editions of Retropie will work better with games (N64, especially) than the 4.2 version. So overall a good product, just dont use the images on their website.

The Kintaro Super Kuma 9000 is just the perfect case for a retropie setup. I tinkered around with a NesPi case only to have heat issues, power issues, issues setting up the power button script and so on. None of this with the Kintaro. It practically snaps together, so nice and tight. The heatsink is huge and feels super custom. Everything fits perfect and the quality is great. The power supply plugs directly in to the board unlike the NesPi and by doing so avoid those pesky power drains. The instructions are very clear and helps you start up from scratch. I had to do a little research online on how to setup the script for the power/reset buttons without a clean install since I had an existing image, but once I found that it was a quick two lines of code and now it's fully functional. Only downside is that it doesn't come with a fan yet has room to add one...so far I haven't had any heat issues with the heatsink alone but I don't really push my setup. Adding a fan looks easy so I may do one at some point. Love this case!

-Description says it has functional buttons and led light. The buttons are definitely not functional, it’s just solid plastic. There’s a hole for an led light, but no light was included. -The heatsink doesn’t fit at all. Other pictures show a hole for the 4 pins, the one I got has no hole. The description says it includes thermal paste, which it did not. So even if it fit I’d have no way to attach it. -Barely fit together right. Lots of extra plastic from when it was printed. I had to poke holes in the screw holes myself, several of them had a thin bits of plastic blocking them.

No matter what I do or which script I install, the LED/Power/Reset features do not work with the B+, despite the description here. Other than that, it's a beautiful case that DOES fit the B+ with a little extra room for a fan if you'd like that. Personally, I dont care for the buttons but if that's what you're buying it for you might care. Seller shouldn't say it's compatible with the B+, at least not yet.

The switches work for turning my pi off and on safely by sending instant commands to the pi but the reset switch has no spring in it so I have to drag it up and down to use the reset switch. Luckily I didn't buy it for the reset switch but for the ability to power it on and off safely so it's a 5/5 for me. The build quality is amazing and it only took me a few minutes to get it all put together and to install what needed to be installed for the switches to function as off and on commands. Saves me a load of time having to get my keyboard and type up the commands to properly shut my pi down. I gave one to someone as a gift too. They aren't tech savy at all so having this made using a pi a breeze for them.

This thing is adorable! Smaller than I expected, it fits the width of the Pi exactly. On first opening the box I was impressed with the packaging and detail/finish of the case. I got the Pi 3B+ version and the heatsink fits properly around the GPIO and PoE headers. It came with a small packet of thermal grease instead of thermal pads but I used some extra Noctua thermal compound I had on the shelf. Everything fits together great, but don't overtighten the screws or you'll split or strip the screw posts. The shutdown/reset controls work properly after you download their scripts (installation instructions with a shortened Google Drive URL are in the box). I'm using it for a VirtualHere Pi that's paired with my gaming PC on the other side of the living room, so the SNES-lookalike style fits perfectly with its use case.

Bon petit boîtier avec radiateur et gestion du ventilateur selon la température du processeur du raspberry pi 3b+... Script d'extinction et du reset de ce boîtier orienté retrogaming emulation sur le site du constructeur KINTARO

Reproduction assez fidele de la Super NES modele US, seulement pour que les boutons on/off et reset fonctionnent, il faut installer soit Retropie ou bien Recalbox. Un systeme comme Lakka n'accepte pas les lignes de commandes fournies par le constructeur et donc il faut bien galerer pour trouver une solution. Mis a part ce petit probleme, les dissipateurs font leur boulot et la carte RPI ne surchauffe pas trop.