Who owns a RetroUSB Powerpak?

[FxMercenary]

Hey I was wondering if anybody else owns one of the powerpaks from retrousb.com

Does anyone have any information on if/when they are going to implement MMC5 Support on the powerpak so more game are compatible with it? I own one and would like to see games like Super C and SMB 3 working on it, I own the real games as well, but would like to just pack 1 cart with my NES when I travel.

Does anyone know the maker?

[Icarus Moonsight]

I was under the impression that MM5 (and other mappers) could be added via software (I was told all the needed hardware is already present). If anyone tackles it and writes it, debugs it and distributes it I mean.

I currently do not own one, but that is not from lack of trying. Every time I had spare change, they were sold out. I haven't looked in a while though. I'm not a masochist. LOL

[Greg2600]

Super Mario 3 and Super C both work on my PowerPak. I have fairly updated files from retrousb.

[klausien]

I just got my Powerpak in the mail this weekend, and it is a truly epic piece of kit. They are currently still in stock, so get one while you can.

I wholeheartedly recommend it. It doesn't play everything, but it plays a good 90% of what anyone would want to play, and I can deal with keeping some originals around. It plays all 3 Mario games, the 6 Mega Mans, and both Zeldas flawlessly. Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! apparently has issues, but the Jp Punch Out!! works fine. The US version of CVIII isn't supported, BUT, the superior Japanese version WORKS, with the enhanced sound fully intact (you have to add a 47k resistor between pins 3 & 9 of the expansion port - see FDS sound mod thread). Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti works as well. It also plays basically all of the good FDS games, so you get a truly reliable Famicom Disk System as part of the package. It really is worth every penny, but you definitely need to note that it is compact flash, not SD, before buying.

You also need to go over to NESdev and download Loopy's mappers, but it really is very easy to get the whole thing going if you have any familiarity with emulation to begin with. Also, you may need to update your ROMs if they are old, as many of my oldies from the mid-'90's bad bad headers. Same goes for the FDS games. You need ROMs that have the proper FWNES headers, but (I didn't say this) most fo the fullsets out there do. The only real negative I've seen so far is most of the awesome Konami imports do not work (yet). Super Contra works, but I havent gotten the Jp Contra, Crisis Force, Gradius 2 & Akumajou Special Boku Dracula Kun (Kid Dracula) to work.

<<On a related note, I am going to work on a mod for the Famicom 3D System so it can be used with an NES. I already dissected the interface module, and it is really very simple in there, so a chopped up NES extension cable will probably work. ALL of the Famicom 3D games work perfectly on the Powerpak, so I will post my findings when/if I get it working. It will be absolutely incredible if I can get it going.>>

Now you'll have to excuse me. I need to go play around with this thing some more!

[scooby105]

It's pretty sweet. I bought one of these from the first run. I would encourage anybody interested in the NES to buy one.

[kedawa]

Will this also work with the RetroDuo?
I really don't like swapping NES carts in mine because of how tight the slot is.
Something like this could really extend the life of the cartridge slot.

[Greg2600]

I don't know why Mike Tyson's Punch-Out doesn't work? It is mapper 9 (MMC2), and was fixed to work several updates ago from retrousb. However, loopy's alternate mapper 9 works perfectly for Punch-out. There were alternate mappers for 23 and 33 made also. Kid Dracula works with alternate 23, although the bottom menu doesn't show up.
Links to them at the bottom of this page. http://www.nesworld.com/nespowerpak.php

Gradius II keeps saying File not Found, and Crisis Force gets a garbled menu screen and can't go further.

[udisi]

Mike Tyson's Punchout works fine on mine, but the re-issue Punchout gives me the bad file header error.

MMC5 is not that big of an issue if you're only playing US games. only Gemfire, Castlevania 3, and Laser Invasion use it I think.

I have a had a problem with bad file header on a few games, some may just be bad dumps, but I even dumped Start Tropics myself(I have a usbcopynes) and I still get the same problem.

with imports, the problem is there are sooo many other custom mappers, so yeah a lot of imports may not work.


Eitherway, Powerpak rocks, I love using it to test my own code on the hardware.

[Az]

Will this also work with the RetroDuo?

Nope.

I just got mine in too, and I was suprised at the amount of unlicensed and pirate carts that work. Although I've not had a chance to test it extensively I have had much better luck on the mapper support for them than I expected.

I personally think it is worth the high price, even moreso when compared to flash carts on other systems.

[Greg2600]

with imports, the problem is there are sooo many other custom mappers, so yeah a lot of imports may not work.That's right, probably why Gradius II doesn't work.

[kazuo]

The US version of CVIII isn't supported, BUT, the superior Japanese version WORKS, with the enhanced sound fully intact (you have to add a 47k resistor between pins 3 & 9 of the expansion port - see FDS sound mod thread).

Can you link to this thread? I am having trouble finding it--I'd love to do this mod and play CVIII with the original sound.

Thanks!

EDIT: Found it--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z507PxcLjs

[killersquirel]

<<On a related note, I am going to work on a mod for the Famicom 3D System so it can be used with an NES. I already dissected the interface module, and it is really very simple in there, so a chopped up NES extension cable will probably work. ALL of the Famicom 3D games work perfectly on the Powerpak, so I will post my findings when/if I get it working. It will be absolutely incredible if I can get it going.>>

Now you'll have to excuse me. I need to go play around with this thing some more!

I'm super excited about this. Let me know if you get this working!

-mike

[Az]

That's right, probably why Gradius II doesn't work.

1.30 mapper pack out now!

http://www.nesworld.com/nespowerpak.php

I'm amazed, several big titles that didn't work before now work fine! Including Gradius II, Contra (J), Kid Dracula, Spatterhouse, etc.

[fahlim003]

That's right, probably why Gradius II doesn't work.1.30 mapper pack out now!

http://www.nesworld.com/nespowerpak.php

I'm amazed, several big titles that didn't work before now work fine! Including Gradius II, Contra (J), Kid Dracula, Spatterhouse, etc.

Gradius 2, for anyone doesn't know (and assuming I or anyone else didn't cover this), got a wonderful homebrew update which turns the Famicom version far more authentic to the original arcade game, simply called Gradius 2 AC. They coder who worked on this really went the extra mile and even reduced flicker to a great degree so anyone running a ROM of G2 FC owes it to themselves to get this patch.

http://www.geocities.jp/gx587/ips/fc_gradius2ac_rev021.zip - is the IPS file for patching
http://hiro2ki.blog55.fc2.com/blog-entry-40.html - the main website in general

The screenshots seen there don't tell the whole story but it's exciting to see how much better the game looks.

On topic, it's good to hear the Powerpak now supports these games, it's good news to say the least to inspire buyers who were on the fence, like myself.

[Greg2600]

Yes Gradius II, Contra (J), Kid Dracula, Spatterhouse do work!

I had already downloaded Loopy's Mapper 9 and by Kyuusaku's Mapper 23 separately and was using them instead of Retrozone's. Those helped some of the games. It looks like Retrozone went further and put those in the official release. Gradius II did not work before though, so I assume they fixed that.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out works perfectly as well! So does Crisis Force (J), one of the most graphically impressive games on the NES! All hail Retrozone! That (I think) leaves pretty much just MMC5 games like Castlevania III on the short incompatible list. The cart has the hardware for it, so that's probably on their final to do list. Although the rom Akumajou Densetsu (Japan) (Castlevania III - Legend of Demon Castle) does work.

[doodleshrew]

Hi all,

I have the retrozone powerpak with the latest mappers version ( 1.33 ).
Everything seems to work fine with the exception of Gradius 2 and Parodius da!
They play, but there seems to be invisible "enemy spots" throughout the game where you inexplicably die for no reason. This problem only seems to happen in the sections of the games where the screen scrolls not only sideways, but up and down as well.
Also, Gryzor ( Japanese Contra ) freezes up after the first level.
I have tried several different rom sources with the same outcome every time.
Anyone else experience this?
Any suggestions for a fix?

Thanks!

[portnoyd]

Bunnyboy on NintendoAge produces these, however he does not respond to PMs through the boards. The answer to your question is likely somewhere on NA.

Also, I played Crisis Force on my Powerpak, worked fine with a few graphic glitches.

[ccovell]

...Also, Gryzor ( Japanese Contra ) freezes up after the first level.

You must be European. The Japanese title of Contra is... "Contra". (kon to ra).

Gryzor (along with Probotector) is a Europe-only abomination.

[Greg2600]

Did you try the ROM's on an emulator, it could be a bad dump.

[doodleshrew]

Yep,
Tried them all on Nestopia and they worked fine.