[GUIDE/INFO] Flash Carts, ODE, and more!

[Nyukki]

Quick question about Mega Drive flash carts with 32X and SMS compatibility:

Obviously I'm guessing you can't play 32X games without a 32X. Can SMS games only be played with a Power Base Converter?

Also, can SMS controllers be used on a Mega Drive to play SMS games?

[KalessinDB]

Quick question about Mega Drive flash carts with 32X and SMS compatibility:

Obviously I'm guessing you can't play 32X games without a 32X. Can SMS games only be played with a Power Base Converter?

Also, can SMS controllers be used on a Mega Drive to play SMS games?

Correct, 32x is needed to play 32x games. SMS games can be played just fine without a PBC (and for that matter, if you had the Mega ED and a PBC, you wouldn't be able to use it due to form factor) -- *all* of the chips required to run SMS games exist in the MD already, PBC's essentially just a pin adapter.

As to using the SMS controllers... I don't think so (especially without a PBC, where would your Start button be?), but I'm not positive on that as I've never tried. they work just fine, I forgot that the Mega ED has an "SMS Start Button" on top of the cartridge. I had some issues getting the game to LAUNCH with the SMS controller, but when I launched it with a Genny one and swapped back to the SMS controller, it worked fine. And honestly, that was probably user error on my part.

[Nyukki]

Quick question about Mega Drive flash carts with 32X and SMS compatibility:

Obviously I'm guessing you can't play 32X games without a 32X. Can SMS games only be played with a Power Base Converter?

Also, can SMS controllers be used on a Mega Drive to play SMS games?

Correct, 32x is needed to play 32x games. SMS games can be played just fine without a PBC (and for that matter, if you had the Mega ED and a PBC, you wouldn't be able to use it due to form factor) -- *all* of the chips required to run SMS games exist in the MD already, PBC's essentially just a pin adapter.

As to using the SMS controllers... I don't think so (especially without a PBC, where would your Start button be?), but I'm not positive on that as I've never tried.

Cheers for the info. Reason I asked about SMS controllers is it would save me buying an SMS and the SMS Everdrive and save shelf space. But if I can't use official controllers, then meh.... Perhaps mod a Mega Drive controller in to an SMS controller's shell? Who knows..

[theclaw]

The console supports SMS controllers. Flash carts menus may not, if they require Mega Drive only buttons.

[Nyukki]

Sweeeeeeet!

[ninjainspandex]

Just bought a PC engine, what is currently the best Flash cart available right now? How does the game region work? arn't pc engine and turbographics pinout different? Can the flashcarts double as an arcade system card?

[Ziggy]

Just bought a PC engine, what is currently the best Flash cart available right now? How does the game region work? arn't pc engine and turbographics pinout different? Can the flashcarts double as an arcade system card?

Yes, PCE and TG16 have different pinouts. The flash carts can handle both, though, so no worries.

The only two PCE/TG16 flash carts that I know of is the one from Tototek and the Turbo Everdrive. Comparing the two, the Turbo Everdrive seems like the clear winner to me.

http://krikzz.com/index.php?route=produ ... duct_id=57

I don't know if the flash carts can be used as system cards.

[KalessinDB]

Turbo ED has a small switch to flip it between PCE and TG16 pinout (the middle 8 pins are reversed between the two systems). It will, however, play any region rom on either setting. I have yet to see it give me a problem. As to the Arcade Card, no it will not work as one due to extra hardware in the Arcade Card. I'm reasonably certain that the TurboED will run as a System 2.0 card, but it definitely won't do the Arcade Card (for all like... 6 games that require it) or a 3.0 card.

The good news is, Arcade Cards are still reasonably priced if you look around a bit.

[ninjainspandex]

Turbo ED has a small switch to flip it between PCE and TG16 pinout (the middle 8 pins are reversed between the two systems). It will, however, play any region rom on either setting. I have yet to see it give me a problem. As to the Arcade Card, no it will not work as one due to extra hardware in the Arcade Card. I'm reasonably certain that the TurboED will run as a System 2.0 card, but it definitely won't do the Arcade Card (for all like... 6 games that require it) or a 3.0 card.

The good news is, Arcade Cards are still reasonably priced if you look around a bit.

I have a 3.0 card so its not a huge deal.

[Mad_Hatter]

I know you said you are not a big fan of Gameboys, but I thought I post my experience with some flash carts I've had with Nintendo handhelds.

The EZ Flash IV by far is the best flash cart for the Gameboy Advance. You can also put an emulator on it to play GB and GBC games as well. I bought mine used from someone on here. It works great. You can't just drag and drop games onto the SD Card and play. You have to use a program to do it for you and create save files with the roms. It is not difficult, but takes a little time to get used to. You also have to patch some games and/or use 8:3 file names for certain games, but not a big issue once you learn the patching processing which requires another program (it's easy). Plus, being the most popular GBA flash cart, you have robust information on the web for any issue you come across regarding the cart or rom/game.

It looks like it is in stock here:

http://www.realhotstuff.com/EZ-Flash-iV_p_76.html

$40.00 is not a bad price either. They were discontinued for a while, and I've seen people sell them for 100 dollars, 170 bundled with a Gameboy Advance.

R4i Revolution is my favorites for Nintendo DS. They are cheap, but do the job. I've had mine for 4+ years with no issues at all. And it is very easy to use (download firmware, drag and drop roms). This was my first flash cart ever and it is still going strong. If you buy one, just make sure your Nintendo firmware and model will support it. Not much else to say here. You have some extras (like an SNES emulator, GB emulators, media player), but I never messed with them.