I purchased a Raspberry Pi 2 in order to create a (kind of) portable retro gaming console for my brother as a Christmas present. All in all I spent around $80 (including SD Card and controllers), and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.



For my purposes, I used the RetroPie 3.0 image, and it could barely have been easier to get everything up and running. There is a little digging and tweaking to get all of the emulators working properly, but none of that is a negative to the Pi itself.



The kit included almost all of the basics needed to get up and running, just had to purchase an SDCard separately. Keep in mind that the included case has a lot of holes in it. This is to provide access to ports, expansion slots, mounting, and ventilation. Not so much a negative, but I cut a Mario mushroom out of vinyl to put on the case, and it was difficult to find a spot that I could fit it at any reasonable size.



The Pi played every game I threw at it with ease. Performance on the front end was also top notch. Very happy.