- The great Captain Maverick was a pirate of legend who kept his treasure called 'Marvelous' hidden that could only be found by those who were willing to solve puzzles that many deemed unsolvable.
- After a year of working on this project on-and-off, here it is: the fully translated version of Marvelous! This is an addition to Tashi’s Original patch. Tashi handed this project off to me to finish early this year (2015). If you played through Tashi’s original translation, try this one too. Much has changed. Translated intro.
- Gensou Suiko Gaiden Vol. 1 - Harmonia no Kenshi (Japan) (Translated En) Moon - Remix RPG Adventure (Japan) Policenauts (Japan) (Translated En) Terracon (Europe) UFO - A Day in the Life (Japan) Yutona Eiyuu Senki - TearRingSaga (Japan) (Translated En) Super Nintendo. Marvelous - Mouhitotsu no Takarajima (Japan) (Trans En).
- Modding SNES Classic Hacking - How is the progress going? (self.miniSNES) submitted 1 year ago * by DarkAkuma!!! Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima: UNKNOWN: Masters New: Haruka Naru Augusta 3. (English-patched) Marvelous boots and is playable, though it is also affected by the hires issue making some letters of the.
- Marvelous - Mouhitotsu no Takarajima (J).mp3 download 5.7K Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (U) (Powerfest Cart Rip).mp3 download.
- Super EverDrive V2 loads the OS directly from SD card at each. Usually no need to change them manually. But some games may have bad header, especially pirated or hack ROMs, in this case OS may detect values. Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima SA1 Kirby's Dream Land 3 SA1 Kirby Super Star SA1 Kakinoki Shogi SA1.
- Marvelous Mouhitotsu No Takarajima English Patch Download Torrent
- Marvelous Mouhitotsu No Takarajima English Patch Download
- Marvelous Mouhitotsu No Takarajima English Patch Download Full
Download RomStation. This is a converted ENGLISH version. Some letters like 'M' and 'W' are goofy, but not hard to make out. Alternative versions. Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima The great Captain Maverick was a pirate of legend who kept his treasure called 'Marvelous' hidden th. Connectez-vous pour activer le suivi.
GBAtemp Review of the...
Developed by: ikari_01
Manufactured by: Krikzz
Worldwide sales by: DragonBox.de, emere.es, Stone Age Gamer, RetroGate
Additional sales by: Various
Also Known As: -
Review by Qtis – Completed 26/09/14
Introduction
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, more commonly known as the SNES, was released around the world in the early 90's and ended up being the most successful console of its generation. It fought alongside the Sega Genesis/Megadrive, but managed to beat the other large console maker at the time. The SNES also brought forth new game series with games such as F-Zero, Pilotwings, Super Mario Kart and Super Mario RPG. The same games, which have been fan favorites and have seen new releases on even the latest generation of consoles. For the modern gamer, the problem of relatively small sales of niche games at the time have made quite a few games hard to find unless you're ready to pay an arm and a leg for a working copy. Emulation for the SNES is widely available, but has had its problems with supporting special chips and creating the genuine feeling of using original hardware.
When the 21st century started rolling along, electronics started going down in price in terms of powerful chips and hardware. Old consoles began seeing development projects, such as the sd2iec for the Commodore 64, making the old devices work with modern storage options, mainly CF/SD cards. Add to this the interest for the SNES by many developers and modders for enabling region free mods by digging into the SNES CIC among other things (SNES CIC reverse engineering, 50/60Hz switching) as well as making more memory available for the games (Media Streaming Unit-1 or MSU1 (alternative mirror as byuu changes hosts)). At the same time the idea of creating a complete all in one solution for the SNES with most if not all special chips supported in one cart began forming in the heads of a few people around the SNES developers forums. As always with these kinds of projects for old hardware, open source was the way to go. Finally the last ingredient needed for making something special for the SNES was ikari_01, who began work on the prototype of a new solution for the SNES in 2009.
Thus, the Project SD2SNES was born.
Important GBAtemp Information:
GBAtemp has opened all reviews for user comment. Please remember that the comments must adhere to our strict guidelines. We ask that you do not post congratulatory comments or comments speculative in nature, negative in nature, or the like, that have nothing to do with the review or the review’s contents. Please consider posting only well researched comments that further the overall effect of the review and nothing more.
Special Thanks:
A special thanks must go out to ikari_01 for the support during the review as well as to Krikzz and Retrogate for providing the review sample. Retrogate is the officially licensed store for all Krikzz Flash Kit products and also handles sales of the SD2SNES. Their customer service, e-mail support, and inclusion of a tracking number make it easy to recommend them.
Product Information
The product information is from the SD2SNES project page retrieved during the reviewing of the cart. The software features may change as new versions of the operating system are released, but the hardware specifications are final.
Features:
- SD/SDHC/SDXC support (tested up to 64GB; no exFAT support so SDXC cards must be reformatted using FAT32)
- High quality push-push memory card slot
- Fast ROM loading (~9MB/s)
- Fast menu navigation
- Directories are sorted automatically, no need for FAT sorting tools
- High resolution menu (512×224) for adequate display of long file names
- Real Time Clock
- Supports ROM size up to 128MBit (96Mbit actually implemented as there are no larger known memory maps)
- Automatic near-time SRAM saving to SD Card (while the game runs). Some limitations apply:
- Near-time saving is switched to periodic saving when a game is found to use the SRAM as work RAM.
- Automatic saving is disabled when MSU1 is used. SRAM is saved on reset.
- Enhancement chip support (see below for implementation status)
- SuperCIC key (SNES CIC clone):
- Enables operation on unmodified consoles of all regions
- Supports software 50/60Hz switching on SuperCIC enhanced consoles only (to be performed by sd2snes firmware, not yet implemented there)
- Auto region patching: eliminates “This Game Pak is not designed…” messages regardless of 50/60Hz setting
- Supports up to 16000 files per directory / roughly 50000 files per card
Implemented Enhancement Chips (usable with MSU1):
- BS-X memory map / Satellaview base unit registers (clock)
- DSP1 / 1b
- DSP2
- DSP3
- DSP4
- ST-010
- Cx4
- MSU1
- S-RTC
- OBC1
The SD2SNES differs from quite a large part of Flash Kits made for retro consoles in a few ways. The main difference is the usage of a large FPGA chip for adding special chip support on the cart. This removes the need for soldering special chips from original SNES donor carts into the device itself, which saves both the original carts as well as removes the possibility of the user frying the SD2SNES with soldering. The other major feature of the FPGA chip is the possibility of adding support in future operating system/firmware releases for new special chips, which were not present in the original firmware. As such the hardware is very future proof with new features being released and all code available in the Github for the SD2SNES. The board itself also has all the bells and whistles pre-installed, so a potential buyer will not need to ponder wether to buy or not to buy a USB port or have some kind of special chip installed with the cart. As such, while the SD2SNES is a bit more expensive compared to other available options for the SNES, it makes up for it with the massive feature set as well as the magic made possible by the massive FPGA.
The SD2SNES is not produced by ikari_01 anymore, but do not worry. Krikzz, known for the Everdrive series of Flash Kits, has taken over the production and distribution of the cart. This means that the cart is available in almost all stores selling the Everdrives and the build quality will be similar to Everdrive series.
Contents, Packaging, Design & Impressions
Contents:
- 1x SD2SNES Flash Kit inside a universal SNES shell
Packaging & Design:
The SD2SNES supplied by RetroGate follows the same packaging system as used by other carts produced by Krikzz. The shipment was shipped inside a bubble wrap envelope and the cart itself was inside a white cardboard box with a label Everdrive - Krikzz.com on top. The SD2SNES itself was loose inside the box with extra supporting bubble wrap . The good packaging made sure that the review unit arrived in one piece without any damage to the case.
The SD2SNES board itself was already inserted inside a brand new universal shell, which meant it was ready to be used straight out of the box. The universal shell is similar in design to the NTSC/J and PAL region carts, so it can look a bit out of place in a US SNES console. The shell's dimensions are identical to a PAL SNES cart, though the material of the shell is a bit different in terms of coloring. In other words, the shell is otherwise similar to the cart mentioned in the Super Everdrive v2 review, but with different positions for the SD card slot and the added USB slot. On the front of the cart is a label with the text SD2SNES in a large font as well as www.krikzz.com and www.sd2snes.de below it in a smaller font. The label is of good quality similar to the Everdrive series, but does pale in comparison to original Nintendo carts' label quality when observed at close range. In case you want a NTSC/U version of the SD2SNES shell, checking the various resellers can result in a SD2SNES in a NTSC/U shell.
Setup & Usage
The SD2SNES, as its name suggests, requires a SD card to function. The SD2SNES also supports microSD/miniSD cards via SD card adapters. At the time of writing, SD, SDHC and SDXC cards are supported up to 64GB, though larger cards need to be formatted with FAT32 as exFAT isn't supported (yet). The operating system is available for download from the developer's home page and the downloaded zip file includes an image for preparing the SD card for the cart: drag and drop the sd2snes folder to the root of the SD card and you're done. At the time of writing the latest OS version is v0.1.6, though v0.1.7 is right around the corner with additional features including cheat support.
The device loads the OS and games from a single SD card placed in the spring-loaded SD card slot on the top of the cart. Since the sd2snes folder is hidden by the SD2SNES firmware on boot, all homebrew and games will need to be placed somewhere else on the SD card. In case you want to remove the need to cycle through a load of folders, you can just dump all your games on the root of your SD card. The SD2SNES supports up to 16000 files per directory, but I'd personally recommend using some kind of folder system instead of placing the whole romset on the root of the SD card. Once you boot your SNES with the SD2SNES inserted, you will be presented with a list of your SD card's root without the sd2snes folder.
The GUI for the SD2SNES is very simplistic and requires little beforehand reading on what different buttons do. The SD2SNES' menu with the SNES controller is designed to be very intuitive and in case of problems the buttons and their functions are displayed on the bottom of the screen. The up and down buttons on the dpad are used to select a file on the current page, while the left and right buttons are used to change pages. The A button acts as an OK button and the B button is CANCEL. The X button is used for the menu, which is used to set the clock as well as checking the system information. In case you're wondering whether your SD card is top notch and usable with MSU1, the SD card's average and maximum access times are shown here (more of this in the compatibility area). A nice addition to the mix of functions is the menu of the last 10 games played accessible via START button.
In case you're interested in some additional hardware modding of your SNES, the SD2SNES has some neat features available to you. Based on the SNES CIC reverse engineering project mentioned earlier, ikari_01 has made and implemented the SuperCIC and In Game Reset (IGR) for the SNES. This may seem like a moot thing for the average user, but it does remove a lot of the problems relating to region and 50/60 Hz differences between the NTSC and PAL regions. All you need in order to make these work is a few PIC16F630 microcontrollers (and a programmer), a few wires and soldering skills. In case you're not up to the programming part of the PIC chips, you can buy them pre-made from around the web from places like ASSEMblergames. Once the modifications have been done, you can reset your SNES with the controller and play any region games on the console without worrying about region locks (especially SA-1 games can cause problems on non-modded consoles).
Saving with the SD2SNES is as simple as it gets. In most games, the save is transferred to the SD card immediately as you save. As the SRAM is battery-based, you can be guaranteed that the save is kept on the cart even in the extreme case that a power outage interrupts your gaming. In case the game uses the SRAM as work RAM (as in needs the extra RAM to run), the saving will be changed to periodic saving. Here the save is routinely transferred to the SD, but may not be immediate as the SRAM is used for more than just saving. Unfortunately save states are impossible to make with the SNES in general, since the APU state cannot be snapshot after it has code running (mentioned by ikari_01 here).
MSU1 is a tricky thing in terms of real time saving, since the custom chip system doesn't support flow control. This has been explained by ikari_01 in the comment section of SD2SNES.de, but isn't a problem as long as you remember to reset the console. Since MSU1 is a relatively new thing, not many hacks or games use it to the fullest and/or are completely finished. As the SNES scene and especially the SD2SNES have shown, this will probably not be the situation in the future. MSU1's 4GB of space for a SNES game with CD quality audio can be considered a revolution for the SNES. Byuu has shown SNES games such as Chrono Trigger with the PlayStation version's FMVs included via MSU1 support. It's amazing to see such options made available on original hardware and without any modifications to the console itself. And who said old consoles couldn't innovate?
Compatibility
Compatibility of a cart like the SD2SNES is the number one thing on many a buyer's checklist. This is why I paid extra attention to special chip support and how games reacted to the cart if a special chip was used. The testing hardware was a PAL SNES with 50/60Hz and Region Free modifications, though both mods were set to standard 50 Hz and PAL region for testing purposes. All testing was done with clean ROMs from the GoodSNES set without any region patches or hacks unless otherwise specified (such as translations or the SDD-1 patch for Star Ocean). If a game uses a special chip, the chip is mentioned after the verdict.
As mentioned previously, not all special chips are supported yet. The unsupported special chip games from the incompatibility list at SD2SNES.de are not included in the review, since all games using the unsupported chips would result in an automatic FAIL verdict. Using a T-connector with the SD2SNES will not help with the compatibility, since a pass-through adapter is only usable with DSP series chips (DSP1-4, ST-010), which are already supported by the SD2SNES natively. In any case I prefer to include the list here, since the special chips themselves may not be descriptive enough for some people reading only this review. Still, I recommend checking the official incompatibility list if a new OS release has added new chip support (and thus removed a game or more from the following list).
Testing the SD2SNES was done with a 16GB SanDisk Ultra Class 10 UHS-1 card. In order to remove any problems with the file system or corruption, the card was formatted to FAT32 with the Windows Formatter. All cards should work with the device and offer the same compatibility, but MSU1 compatibility requires an access time of around up to 1 ms. The access time requirement is needed due to the simultanious streaming of audio and data on MSU1 games. Fast transfer speeds do not automatically mean fast access times, so keep this in mind if you plan to take advantage of MSU1 support.
The results are color-coded. Green is for a game which works without issues, yellow is for a game with issues and red is for a game which won't run. For the games which failed, multiple versions were tested to ensure that it wasn't a case of a bad ROM or unsupported version.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Actraiser [PAL] - PASS
- Aladdin [PAL] - PASS
- Another World [PAL] - PASS
- Bahamut Lagoon [NTSC/J] (w/ DeJap English Translation) - PASS
- Breath of Fire [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Castlevania - Vampire's Kiss [PAL] - PASS
- Chrono Trigger [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Clock Tower [NTSC/J] (w/ Aeon Genesis English Translation) - PASS
- Dai Kaiju Monogatari 2 [NTSC/J] - PASS [S-RTC]
- Donkey Kong Country - PASS
- Dragon Ball Z Super Saiya Densetsu [NTSC/J] (w/ Klepto Software English Translation) - PASS
- Dragon Quest V Tenkuu no Hanayome [NTSC/J] (w/ DeJap English Translation) - PASS
- Dungeon Master [NTSC/U] - PASS [DSP-2]
- Earthworm Jim [PAL] - PASS
- Earthbound [NTSC/U] - PASS
- F1 ROC II: Race of Champions [NTSC/U] - PASS [ST-010]
- F-Zero [PAL] - PASS
- Famicom Tantei Club Part II (w/ Neo Demiforce English Translation) - PASS
- Final Fantasy III [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Final Fantasy V [NTSC/J] (w/RPGe patch) - PASS
- The Flintsones [PAL] - PASS
- Gradius III [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Harvest Moon [PAL] - PASS
- Illusion of Time [PAL] - PASS
- Joe and Mac 3 - Lost in the Tropics [PAL] - PASS
- JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken [NTSC/J] (w/ Aeon Genesis English Translation) - PASS
- Killer Instinct [PAL] - PASS
- Kirby's Ghost Trap [PAL] - PASS
- Legend of Zelda, The - A Link to the Past [PAL] - PASS
- Live-a-Live [NTSC/J] - PASS
- Megaman 7 [PAL] - PASS
- Megaman X [PAL] - PASS
- Megaman X2 [PAL] - PASS [Cx4]
- Megaman X3 [PAL] - PASS [Cx4]
- Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge [PAL] - PASS [OBC-1]
- Might & Magic 3: Isles of Terra [U] - PASS
- Mortal Kombat 3 [PAL] - PASS
- Ninja Gaiden Trilogy [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Ninjawarriors - The New Generation [PAL] - PASS
- Ogre Battle - The March of The Dark Queen [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Phalanx [PAL] - PASS
- Pilotwings [NTSC/U] - PASS [DSP-1]
- Rockman & Forte [NTSC/J] - PASS
- Romancing Sa-Ga 3 [NTSC/J] (w/ Mana Sword English Translation) - PASS
- SD Gundam GX [NTSC/J] - PASS [DSP-3]
- Secret of Evermore [PAL] - PASS
- Secret of Mana [PAL] - PASS
- Seiken Densutsu 3 [NTSC/J] - PASS
- Shin Megami Tensei [NTSC/U] (w/ Aeon Genesis English Translation) - PASS
- Star Ocean [NTSC/J] SDD-1 Hack - PASS [SDD-1]
- Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts [PAL] - PASS
- Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World [PAL] - PASS
- Super Mario Kart [PAL] - PASS [DSP-1/1B]
- Super Metroid [PAL] - PASS
- Super Street Fighter II [PAL] - PASS
- Tales of Phantasia [NTSC/J] (w/ DeJap English Translation) - PASS
- Terranigma [PAL] - PASS
- Top Gear 3000 [PAL] - PASS[DSP-4]
- Treasure Hunter G [NTSC/J] (w/ Metalhawk English Translation) - PASS
- Ultima - The False Prophet [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Wonder Project J - Kikai no Shounen Pino [NTSC/J] (w/ WakdHacks English Translation) - PASS
- Zombies (PAL) - PASS
Satellaview [NTSC/J only]:
Note: Satellaview games are unique games for the Satellaview modem add-on.
- As mentioned before, Bokujou Monogatari - Dai-2-wa - PASS
- BS Fire Emblem - Akaneia Senki Hen - Dai-1-wa - Palace Kanraku - PASS
- BS F-Zero Grand Prix - Dai-1-shuu - Knight League - ISSUES (Game freezes after entering game specific area)
- BS Super Mario USA - Power Challenge - Dai-1-kai - PASS
- Chrono Trigger - Jet Bike Special - PASS
- Chrono Trigger - Music Library - PASS
- Excitebike - Bunbun Mario Battle - Stadium 1 - PASS (Demo intro runs for a few minutes before you can play.)
- Kirby no Omochabako - Hoshi Kuzushi - ISSUES (Problems with proceeding while loading game parts)
- Mario Paint - BS Ban - PASS
- Panel de Pon - Event '98 - PASS
- Yoshi no Panepon - BS Ban - PASS
Homebrew and MSU1:
- Astrohawk - FAIL (Black screen on boot)
- Airwolf - PASS (Garbled graphics also happen on emulator)
- Bio Worm - PASS
- BLT - ISSUES (Garbled graphics in the lower left area on the screen)
- Classic Kong - PASS
- Hong Kong 97 - PASS
- N-Warp Daisakusen (v 1.1) - PASS
- Skipp and Friends - PASS
- Super Mario Odyssey - PASS [MSU1]
- Uwol - Quest for Money - PASS
Conclusions
Many people have asked again and again why someone would spend money on a Flash Kit for a console released almost 25 years ago and which has highly compatible emulators such as bsnes available. The fight between original hardware and emulation will never end, but devices such as the SD2SNES make it hard to not recommend the original over the new wave. Just looking at the features and the nice row of green PASS verdicts should be enough for anyone sceptical of the execution of the SD2SNES. As new features and support for more special chips are developed by ikari_01 and the community, you can expect more use out of your device.
The SD2SNES was not designed to be the cheapest option available and it shows. Paying a bit extra adds functions not available to cheaper options. Speical chip support for games like Mario Kart (DSP) and Megaman X2 (Cx4) are clear indicators that the SD2SNES can do much more than just play normal SNES games. The hardware can be seen as the ultimate solution for the SNES with little trade-offs. Still, there are a few caveats including the lack of GSU1/2 (SuperFX) and SA-1 support. These games are only a few percent of the total library of games for the SNES, but include some of the most iconic games ever released for the SNES. I would still not be let down by the current situation, since development has brought support for new chips even this year (2014)!
And as some people will prefer this:
TL;DR: The SD2SNES has been and still is at the time of writing the best Flash Kit available for the SNES. If you want the best out of the best and are willing to pay a little extra for the additional features and support, you won't be disappointed.
| Pros + Easy to use (drag and drop to SD card) + Hardware build quality and universal shell design + Special chip support beats all other options available + Fantastic compatibility for ROMs, Homebrew, Satellaview and MSU1 + Support from developer is very good + New features added with new OS releases + Open source and well documented operating system + SRAM backup of saves are instant + SuperCIC and In-game reset compatibility with a hardware mod + File limit per directory (16000 per folder) | Cons - GSU1/2 (SuperFX), SA-1 and a few other special chips are yet to be supported. - Cheat support (to be released in v0.1.7) |
| 9.7 out of 10 | Overall Easily the best Flash Kit available for the SNES. If you're interested in the best overall compatibility as well as on-going support to add even more features, you can't go wrong. The device itself is easy to use and offers fantastic features to both untouched as well as modded consoles. A few unsupported special chips drop the score a few points, but as the software and hardware are as stellar as they are, I can't justify a lower score. Krikzz's hardware quality as well as ikari_01's and the community's software updates will guarantee you many hours of fun on your SNES with even more functions than ever seen before. |
- Ulieq
But can it play Far East of Eden Zero in English?
Sep 27, 2014 - the_randomizer
Dang, that looks like an awesome flashcart!
Sep 27, 2014 - Qtis
Ulieq: Not yet, but ikari_01 mentioned a while back that he will indeed make it work after the English translation was completed. It's not in the preview version of v0.1.7, but hopefully in the next one after that. The Github repo is being updated quite often, so it may even be supported before a new OS version is released
For anyone interested, support for special chip SPC7110 is required for the game to work. (it's in the TO-DO list).Sep 27, 2014 - Kane49
this is very promising but the pricetag is very prohibitive
Sep 27, 2014 - cracker
It's very tempting but I think I might just build a SNES controller adapter for my Pi if I want it to feel more authentic.
Sep 28, 2014 - Coconuts 500
I can't believe you go through the trouble of using a flash cart so that you can play games on original hardware - and then you go ahead and play it with a completely stretched out image, rendering the experience entirely unbearable.
If you're going tolerate a butchery of the SNES experience like that, you might as well use an emulator.Sep 28, 2014 - Qtis
Coconuts 500: I actually had to do the review on the LED TV since I didn't have my CRT TV available. I do have an old 28' TV I normally use to play the SNES, but I digress. The TV wasn't the focus so I figured I'd just use the one I had available.
Sep 28, 2014 - Foxi4
That, and taking a photo or a video of a CRT is practically impossible, so yeah.
Sep 28, 2014 - Jayro
So no Starfox, Starfox 2, or DirtTrax FX? What about Yoshi's Island? Awe man... Well besides those, This thing looks solid, but does it support the Super NES (The normal American NTSC model)? All I see is a PAL console and game shell.
Sep 29, 2014 - Foxi4
There's an NTSC version, of course. As for the SuperFX games, there's so little of them that you can grab the ones you want separately.
Sep 29, 2014 - Qtis
Jayro: SuperFX is being developed at the moment, so expect it to be done at some point. Development progress can be checked on the Status section of the SD2SNES site. At the moment the to do list is the following:
- GSU-1/2 (SuperFX)
- Action Replay/Game Genie code support
- SPC7110 – with the Far East of Eden Zero translation patch in the works it would be a shame not to support it.
- S-DD1
Also as mentioned before, the NTSC shell design can be bought from certain stores, but you should be able to fit the universal shell into a NTSC console. It'll just look a bit out of place, but that doesn't mean it won't workSep 29, 2014 - Qtis
Just quick note, SuperFX and SA-1 have been implemented to SD2SNES and S-DD1 is work in progress!
Jul 24, 2019
GBAtemp review of the...
Introduction
The Super Nintendo, one of the most successful consoles in Nintendo's long history as a videogame company, holds a special place in the hearts of many of today's gamers. Most will still remember the heated discussions with their schoolmates on which console was the best one - the SNES or the Genesis/Megadrive. The Super Nintendo was home to some of the most iconic games of all times, like Super Mario Kart (which spawned the insanely popular Mario Kart series), StarFox, three episodes of the Final Fantasy series, Super Metroid and plenty of other awesome games. Some games have reached a cult status only in recent years thanks to emulation - titles like EarthBound and Super Mario RPG were played by a relatively small number of gamers at the time of their release and as such not many carts were sold, when compared to other more successful games. That has made them quite difficult to obtain if you're not ready to pay insanely high prices on auction websites, keeping them out of the reach of most SNES aficionados.
While backup solutions have existed in the past (some might remember the Game Doctor series by Bung Enterprises, or the Super Wild Card by Front FarEast), they were clunky and unattractive and to make things worse, they're almost impossible to use nowadays - being reliant on older technologies like floppies, parallel ports or MS-DOS conversion utilities to transfer the games on them. Technology has made huge strides in these latest years, especially in terms of memory storage (you can easily fit the entire SNES games library on a single microSD!) and that means there is no more need for big bulky units to sit on top of your SNES just to play some games.
Enter the Super Everdrive v2.
Important GBAtemp Information:
GBAtemp has opened all reviews for user comment. Please remember that the comments must adhere to our strict guidelines. We ask that you do not post congratulatory comments or comments speculative in nature, negative in nature, or the like, that have nothing to do with the review or the review’s contents. Please consider posting only well researched comments that further the overall effect of the review and nothing more.
Special Thanks:
A special thanks must go out to Krikzz and Retrogate for providing the review sample. Retrogate is the officially licensed store for all Krikzz Flash Kit products. Their customer service, e-mail support, and inclusion of a tracking number make it easy to recommend them.
Product Information
Marvelous Mouhitotsu No Takarajima English Patch Download Torrent
Directly from Krikzz's homepage, here are the specifics for the Super Everdrive v2:
- Max. ROM size up to 7Mbyte
- Return to menu after reset
- SRAM auto backup on SD card
- Supported SD/MMC up to 32GB
- FAT16 and FAT32 are supported
- GameGenie cheat codes
- Simple menu
- Connection to PC and any additional software is not require
- USB port for developers (optional)
My unit came without an USB port soldered in, which is not a big issue by itself as the plastic casing does not have any openings for you to directly attach an USB cable with the case on. It's nonetheless an interesting feature for SNES homebrew developers, which can quickly test their games/utilities without having to remove and put back in the SD every time they have to load a new version. The USB port is definitely difficult to solder if you're not experienced with a soldering iron, so don't attempt to do that unless you REALLY need that function.
While not listed in the official specs, the Super ED v2 also comes with a space for directly soldering a DSP-1 chip to the PCB to add compatibility for games which do use the DSP enhancement chip. This means the cart does not support ANY other expansion chips than the said DSP-1. You can find more info on that later in the Compatibility section.
Contents, Packaging, Design & Impressions
Contents:
- 1x Super Everdrive v2
- 1x Instruction Manual
The Super Everdrive v2 came in a white cardboard box with an Everdrive sticker on it, which contained the cartridge wrapped in bubblewrap. Nothing fancy here, but it does its job as the cartridge arrived in perfect conditions.
The Everdrive itself comes with a brand new universal casing made in plastic which closely resembles the PAL/NTSC-J cartridges. It's a lighter tone of grey than the standard SNES cartridges, so it'll definitely stand out in your SNES collection. The plastic casing comes with a label pre-attached to it, which is a glossy - it definitely doesn't look cheap and that is a big plus. On the back you can also find the usual 'Caution' messages you'd find on every SNES cartridge, this time directly embossed in the plastics instead of being printed on a label. If you have a North American SNES and don't like the cartridge shape, shopping around might help you as ome of the resellers actually offer the choice of getting the Super Everdrive v2 in the usual NTSC/U shell instead of the brand new one.
Setup and Usage
The Super Everdrive v2 loads the OS and the games you put on it from a single slot which supports SD/SDHC cards - that means you can also use microSDs and microSDHCs with a simple SD adapter. Apparently it should also support MMCs, but those are a rarity nowadays and I suspect not many will have one laying around. The SD slot is not spring loaded, which will certainly be good news to some users - as those springs can be damaged quite easily, complicating the extraction of the SD quite a bit when that happens.
Cards up to 32GB can be used, formatted in either FAT16 or FAT32. Krikzz recommends to use the Windows Formatting utility to format your card, and use 32Kb or larger clusters. Using third party software (like formatting softwares or a file manager) is strongly discouraged, and could lead to unexpected results - the card should always be used in drag-n-drop mode using your Operating System's built-in shell. A note of advice: the Super Everdrive v2 is HEAVILY speed dependant. I tried using a Class 10 UHS-1 microSD and the menu browsing times improved massively. While a Class 4 is definitely usable with some patience (most of the testing was done on one), a Class 10 will bring in a much needed speed-up.
You can find the latest software for the Super ED v2 in the Downloads section of the cartridge's product page. Currently the software version is SNES O/S v2, released on 14.04.2014. It is usually recommended to always update to a newer version as soon as it's released, as they'll fix bugs and improve functionality.
In the firmware's archive you'll find a folder called SPED, which needs to be copied to the SD's root. It is important to note that the SPED folder can't be renamed or moved - it needs to stay in the SD's root for the cart to work properly. Powering up the Super Everdrive for the first time will display 'Settings reset to default' and it'll initialize the SD card. After this, you'll be prompted with the cart's file browser.
The controls are pretty simple, and as such the menu is quite easy to use. Right and Left will respectively go to the next and the previous page, Up and Down will let you select games in the current page, B takes you back and A opens up to the File Menu. You can also press START to load the last game loaded into memory, while SELECT will take you in the options screen. Something you might immediately notice is that the games won't be sorted in alphabetical orders when you first start the Super Everdrive v2 - no need to despair, there's an option to fix that. But let's have a more in-depth look at the various functions first.
Load and Start will get you directly into a game. On the top of the screen you'll see the 'DO NOT TURN OFF THE SYSTEM' screen, which is something you will want to keep in mind at all times. There were reports of some Super Everdrives v1 getting bricked if turned off while loading a game (which were promptly replaced by Krikzz, which tells you something about the dedication of the developer in supporting his customers) and even if that shouldn't happen anymore on the Super ED v2, it's always better to avoid doing that. The Super Everdrive v2 will then proceed to autodetect the settings used by the original game, a step necessary for it to be loaded in the most accurate way possible which is needed to avoid most of the detection schemes of the time. It'll also read the save of the previous game you've played (the save is kept in the battery-backed SRAM before that) and write it back to SD. When it is done with that, it'll erase the flash memory and load the new ROM on it. The entire process will take from 10 to 40 seconds depending on how big and complex the ROM is. As said earlier, a faster SD card will definitely help, and as such it'll shorten the loading times on bigger games.
Load Only will just pre-load the game into the flash memory, but won't start it - which is useful if you want to add some cheats to the game before starting it using the Cheats menu. To start it you will then need to press the START button in the file browser. Hex View will instead send you to the built-in hex viewer, which might be of use to some of the most adventurous SNES hackers.
The other functions are placed in the Main Menu, which is accessed by pressing SELECT. Options lets you override the settings which the Super ED v2 automatically detects when booting a ROM. This is obviously a function destined to the power-users which will want to start a game which has got a malformed or corrupted header, which might trick the Super Everdrive v2 in detecting the wrong settings for a certain game. Something which might instead interest every user is the Sorting option. By turning it on the flashcart will try its best to automatically sort every game you've got in alphabetical order. This will slow down the browsing a bit, but it's certainly worth it. I've noticed that sometimes it doesn't correctly sort all the games you might've got in a folder, but it's definitely a minor issue as most will be in the correct order.
The Cheats screen will let you input the (in)famous Game Genie codes before starting your game. Be careful: you need to Load-only the game you want to add the cheats in, and not use Load and Start. You can find the Game Genie codes all over the internet and they usually consist in cheats giving you unlimited lives, more money or complete invincibility to your enemies' attacks. The codes will be applied to the currently loaded game (the one in memory, which you can start with START) and the only way to revert them will be reloading the game from the File Browser. If you don't like inserting long strings of codes manually, the cart gives you the option to load the cheats from text files by selecting them in the File Browser, which is a definitely welcome addition.
The last two screens are the System Information screen and the About screen. They mostly contain info about your flashcart and the system you're running it on, which could turn in useful if you need to request help on a forum or send a bug report to the developer.
Compatibility
Both an 8GB Class 4 Kingston microSD card and an 8GB Class 10 UHS-1 Sandisk microSD were used for testing, along with their respective SD adapters. The card were formatted in FAT32 using the Windows Formatter, as recommended by Krikzz. I've used the No-Intro Romset, which uses interleaved, non-headered ROMs, which were divided by letter. The letter S was a special case, as I had to split in 4 folders to avoid the issues faced when having more than 250 roms in a single folder. A collection of PAL, NTSC/U and NTSC/J roms were used for this review, along with patched ROMs (hacked or translated) and homebrew games. Each game was played for 5-30 minutes. In every game which has got a save function, I've tried to at least play through a few save points before reloading the game to test the save function. Region and/or copy protection is patched out using UCON64 and always specified when used, to avoid screens like the following.
The Satellaview games are a special case and have been tested for sake of completeness. They were special games broadcasted via satellite at certain hours, running on a special add-on for the SNES available only in Japan - so it's kinda expected that the Super Everdrive won't run some of them as it lacks the additional hardware. Being that the transmissions of the games ceased years ago, some of them don't run properly any more and need various degree of hacks to restore their functionality (BS Zelda comes to mind). You can find more info about the BS-X on Wikipedia. I've tried testing some of the most iconic games only available for the BS-X. Also, the Sufami Turbo does not seem to be supported at all, as the special cartridge attachment is not emulated.
The results are color-coded. Green is for a game which works mostly correctly, yellow is for a game with issues and red is for a game which won't run. For the games which failed, multiple versions were tested to ensure that it wasn't a case of a bad ROM or unsupported version. All the games were tested on a PAL SNES, using SNES O/S v2.
Games which use special chips not supported by the flashcard are not tested, as they won't run. You can find a list of all the unsupported games below, clicking on the button.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Actraiser [PAL] - FAIL (Black screen)
- Aladdin [PAL] - PASS
- Bahamut Lagoon [NTSC/J] (w/ DeJap English Translation) - PASS
- Breath of Fire [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Castlevania - Vampire's Kiss [PAL] - PASS
- Chrono Trigger [NTSC/U] - PASS (Minor issue: demo intro starts and stops immediately)
- Clock Tower [NTSC/J] (w/ Aeon Genesis English Translation) - PASS (needs NTSC fix)
- Donkey Kong Country - ISSUES (Black screen during intro, need to skip it)
- Dragon Ball Z Super Saiya Densetsu [NTSC/J] (w/ Klepto Software English Translation) - PASS
- Dragon Quest V Tenkuu no Hanayome [NTSC/J] (w/ DeJap English Translation) - PASS
- Earthworm Jim [PAL] - PASS
- Earthbound [NTSC/U] - PASS (needs NTSC fix and Copy Protection patch)
- F-Zero [PAL] - PASS
- Famicom Tantei Club Part II (w/ Neo Demiforce English Translation) - PASS
- Final Fantasy III [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Final Fantasy V [NTSC/J] (w/RPGe patch) - PASS
- Gradius III [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Harvest Moon [PAL] - PASS
- Illusion of Time [PAL] - PASS
- Joe and Mac 3 - Lost in the Tropics [PAL] - PASS
- JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken [NTSC/J] (w/ Aeon Genesis English Translation) - PASS
- Killer Instinct [PAL] - PASS
- Kirby's Ghost Trap [PAL] - FAIL (Freezes after pressing START)
- Legend of Zelda, The - A Link to the Past [PAL] - PASS
- Live-a-Live [NTSC/J] - PASS (needs NTSC fix)
- Megaman 7 [PAL] - ISSUES (Black screen on intro, need to skip it)
- Megaman X [PAL] - PASS
- Mortal Kombat 3 [PAL] - PASS
- Ninja Gaiden Trilogy [NTSC/U] - PASS (needs NTSC fix)
- Ninjawarriors - The New Generation [PAL] - PASS
- Ogre Battle - The March of The Dark Queen [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Out of this World [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Phalanx [PAL] - PASS
- Rockman & Forte [NTSC/J] - FAIL (Hangs after selecting the character)
- Romancing Sa-Ga 3 [NTSC/J] (w/ Mana Sword English Translation) - PASS
- Secret of Evermore [PAL] - PASS
- Secret of Mana [PAL] - FAIL (Black screens after extracting the sword)
- Shin Megami Tensei [NTSC/U] (w/ Aeon Genesis English Translation) - PASS
- Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts [PAL] - PASS
- Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World [PAL] - PASS
- Super Metroid [PAL] - FAIL (Black screens during intro)
- Super Street Fighter II [PAL] - PASS
- Tales of Phantasia [NTSC/J] (w/ DeJap English Translation) - PASS
- Terranigma [PAL] - PASS
- Treasure Hunter G [NTSC/J] (w/ Metalhawk English Translation) - PASS
- Ultima - The False Prophet [NTSC/U] - PASS
- Wonder Project J - Kikai no Shounen Pino [NTSC/J] (w/ WakdHacks English Translation) - PASS
- Zombies (PAL) - PASS
Satellaview [NTSC/J only]:
Marvelous Mouhitotsu No Takarajima English Patch Download
Note: As said earlier, BS-X was a really peculiar system and it's kinda expected tha some games won't run properly. The results hereby won't be calculated in the final score.
- Bokujou Monogatari - Dai-2-wa - PASS
- BS Fire Emblem - Akaneia Senki Hen - Dai-1-wa - Palace Kanraku - FAIL (Black screen)
- BS F-Zero Grand Prix - Dai-1-shuu - Knight League - ISSUES (Need to wait 15 minutes in the initial screen, after that the controllers don't seem to be responding)
- BS Super Mario USA - Power Challenge - Dai-1-kai - PASS
- Chrono Trigger - Jet Bike Special - PASS
- Chrono Trigger - Music Library - PASS
- Excitebike - Bunbun Mario Battle - Stadium 1 - PASS (Need to wait 4-5 minutes before you can play)
- Kirby no Omochabako - Hoshi Kuzushi - PASS
- Mario Paint - BS Ban - PASS
- Panel de Pon - Event '98 - PASS
- Super Bomber Man - PASS
- Yoshi no Panepon - BS Ban - PASS
Marvelous Mouhitotsu No Takarajima English Patch Download Full
Homebrew:
- Astrohawk - PASS (Garbled graphics also happen on emulator)
- Airwolf - PASS (Garbled graphics also happen on emulator)
- Bio Worm - PASS
- BLT - ISSUES (Garbled graphics)
- Classic Kong - PASS
- Hong Kong 97 - PASS
- N-Warp Daisakusen (v 1.1) - PASS
- Skipp and Friends - PASS
- Uwol - Quest for Money - PASS
Conclusion
The Super Everdrive v2 is definitely a great cart, which will run most of the games you will throw at it. Excellent support from the developer, along with some outstanding features (like the SRAM auto-saving to SD) will ensure that this will be a mostly pleasant experience with few hiccups. Being a flashcart designed to be 'inexpensive', the trade-off here is that it won't run any of the games which require a special chip (except the DSP-1, if you're willing to solder one in or buy a SED v2 with one pre-soldered for an extra) which severely limits its potential to be THE best SNES flashcard ever. A most welcome suprise was the homebrew support, as this cart is ultimately oriented to commercial ROM support. While the SNES homebrew scene is quite limited, the Super Everdrive v2 ran pretty much every homebrew I put on it without any issues.
Again, I can't stress enough that anyone interested in this flashcart needs to carefully read the Unsupported Games list. Some of the best titles ever developed for the SNES (Super Mario RPG, StarFox, et al.) do indeed use a special chip and as such won't run on the Super Everdrive v2. Most retrogamers will probably want to play at least one of those titles, so they should keep in mind that the Super ED v2 won't let them throw out (or resell) their entire SNES collection. It will runs almost everything, but NOT everything.
That said, if you keep in mind the inherent limitations of the Super Everdrive v2, you'll find that it's definitely a must-have for every serious retrogamer - if only for the ability to finally play all those fantastic translations on real hardware.
| Pros + Easy to use + No external software needed - just drag-n-drop + Excellent compatbility + Homebrew support + Direct support from the developer + Automatically saves/loads SRAM to SD + Keeps last loaded game in Flash for quick start + Supports both .SMC and .SFC files | Cons - No special chipsets support - Maximum 250 games per folder - No IPS auto-patching - No save-states support |
| 9.1 | Overall An excellent SNES flashcart that gives you the most bang for your buck. It has some limitations you'll have to work around, but they're not deal breakers. Easy to use and with no frills, the Super Everdrive v2 is for everyone, even the less tech-savvy of the retrogamers. I can definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to play most of the entire SNES collection on their original hardware. |
- MichiS97
Can the SD2SNES run all these games with a special chip?
Aug 19, 2014 - Foxi4
Not all of them, but some. Emulating the special chips is a hit-and-miss procedure.
Aug 19, 2014 - Qtis
SuperCIC and a T-connector are gold. SuperFX and SA1 games are still near impossible on any hardware. Ikari is doing some development on the SuperFX, but he has also said he doubts he'll ever manage to finish SA1. All other unsupported chips are mostly Japanese or have games hacked to work without the special chip.
Aug 19, 2014 - raulpica
The monitor is a Commodore / Philips 1084S-P1. Excellent monitor for playing retrogames. Too bad that the tube is a bit ruined on the left side (but you can't really notice it).
I'll have to source a T-connnector and try it! I definitely want to play the SuperFX/SA1 gamesAug 19, 2014 - Lilith Valentine
I only have one question, does it play Yoshi's Island?
Aug 21, 2014 - nfan
@ Foxi4:
I think the T-connector only works with DSP-1 games!Aug 21, 2014 - Foxi4
nfan Upon further investigation you are correct - the T-connector does not seem to work with SuperFX or SA-1 games! Well-spotted! I edited the comment for consistency's sake now.
Aug 21, 2014 - raulpica
Awwwwww. The SD2SNES somehow gets some of its appeal back then - if ikari EVER manages to do both SuperFX and SA1
Aug 21, 2014 - cracker
I'm not so sure that I want this hardware anymore after seeing the list of incompatible games. There are way too many good games (SMK, SMRPG, SF2A, Kirby games, SF 1/2,...) that won't be supported. Ever. The InfiniteNESLives cart supports a bit more memory but is NAND only so it requires reprogramming each time and currently doesn't support SRAM transfers to/from PC. It is a lot cheaper investment though and has 12MB (which can be crucial for some SMW, etc. hacks). Maybe there will be a v3 by the time I can afford getting one.
Aug 21, 2014 - Lilith Valentine
Call me back when it plays Yoshi's Island
Aug 21, 2014 - raulpica
cracker
Street Fighter II is compatible (played it quite a bit) only Alpha doesn't work. Super Mario Kart can run if you buy a SED v2 with a DSP-1 soldered in.
The InfiniteNESLives carts are interesting - I'll see if I can get some for reviewing.Aug 21, 2014 - naveedy
You should review the Super UFO, it was actually pretty good, I still use mine, I can't afford an ever drive.
Aug 23, 2014 - Gavin Barrows
Woah most games that don't work are the ones I want to play... 89 is a bit too much to ask for this
Aug 23, 2014 - raulpica
naveedy
I thought of that. We'll see if we can get a Super UFO 8 in the future.
Gavin Barrows
It looks like some of the games should work (like Super Metroid). I've contacted Krikzz and asked him for help. I'll amend the review as soon as I get a reply.Aug 23, 2014