SNES Powerpak is now available

[jeffg]

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=84

I have been waiting for this since I got my powerpak a year ago.

[digitalpress]

'Bout time! Love his products. I'm in line.

[Flibbith]

that looks pretty cool

[vrikkgwj]

I think this is the closest I'll ever get to playing an authetic cart copy of Secret of Mana 2 on my SNES. Consider this guy bought.

[OldSchoolGamer]

OK, I am confused about the whole "lockout chip" option for this product. Could someone please break it down in simple/noob/moron terms? If I plan to use this on an original NTSC AMERICAN SNES what option do I go for? etc.....

[hamburglar]

OK, I am confused about the whole "lockout chip" option for this product. Could someone please break it down in simple/noob/moron terms? If I plan to use this on an original NTSC AMERICAN SNES what option do I go for? etc.....

You need to select the NTSC lockout chip option.
If you had a PAL console you would select the PAL option.

[BetaWolf47]

IDK, that incompatibility list is pretty bad right now. I'd rather wait until they support more chips.

[c0ldb33r]

IDK, that incompatibility list is pretty bad right now. I'd rather wait until they support more chips.
Does it matter? Don't they just update the firmware?

This is great news! I love my NES version :D

edit: why would someone want the "none" option for the lockout chip? - never mind, I read on the site, it's for clones

edit 2: I see that the incompatible games are the ones that rely on extra chips. Will they need to actually install new physical chips in order to make these games compatible or can they just use software upgrades? I'd like to be able to play Super FX games.

[portnoyd]

edit 2: I see that the incompatible games are the ones that rely on extra chips. Will they need to actually install new physical chips in order to make these games compatible or can they just use software upgrades? I'd like to be able to play Super FX games.

Likely would need new chips. If software would be able to do the job, I doubt you'd need to get the DSP-1 chip extra.

So basically, you can play everything you'd want except Super Mario RPG, both Kirbys, Mega Man X2/X3 and all the Super FX games. A decent hit to the popular games for the system, but isn't a deal breaker.

[badinsults]

IDK, that incompatibility list is pretty bad right now. I'd rather wait until they support more chips.

Um, to install chips other than the DSP series would likely require a complete redesign of the board to account for the voltage requirements. Really not worth it for the 25-30 games (mostly Japanese) that have special chips other than the DSP1. Note that hackers have managed to create a version of Star Ocean that doesn't require an SDD-1 chip (which was used purely for graphics decompression), and though a large game at 96 Mb, it will play on this thing.

Personally, I think this thing is awesome, and I can't wait to get one (once I have a job :p )

[c0ldb33r]

I just sent an email to the site asking whether they have plans to include the Super FX or other chips in the future. I also asked whether it would be possible to purchase a cart now, and send it back to him for installation of extra chips later (if they introduce them).

I'll post the response if I get one.

Looking at the incompatible games list, I'm really just interested in the Super FX and SA-1 chip games.

[klausien]

Looking at the incompatible games list, I'm really just interested in the Super FX and SA-1 chip games.

There's nothing wrong with keeping 10 games around with the rest of the library on a single cartridge. Think about it. It's still ridiculously awesome. Not a big deal.

I can't wait to try this thing!

[Sailorneorune]

Possibly stupid question - would it be possible to play Terranigma on a US SNES with this cart?

[c2000]

Pretty cool! The interface could use some work, though.

[BetaWolf47]

Possibly stupid question - would it be possible to play Terranigma on a US SNES with this cart?
Something tells me that you'd need a translation of the Japanese version, though I could be wrong.

I don't get the argument here... a $40 clone that can't play four or five big games is crap, but a $125 cart that can't play twenty of them is garbage? That's a bit much for something that will probably be only used to play hacks and translations.

[c0ldb33r]

I just sent an email to the site asking whether they have plans to include the Super FX or other chips in the future. I also asked whether it would be possible to purchase a cart now, and send it back to him for installation of extra chips later (if they introduce them).

I'll post the response if I get one.
I got this response from Retrozone:


Unfortunately other expansion chips are simply not happening. They are far too complex for affordable chips right now.

In another email, I asked whether the cartridge will be redesigned in the near future to deal with extra SNES chips.


The hardware will not be changing for years, unless a massive unknown hardware bug is found. In that case there would be a recall so you are safe!

Given that their not going to change the Super FX chip situation, I think I'm just going to get one now. There's no benefit in waiting.

edit: there, mine's ordered :D I ws afraid they would run out before Christmas.

[Kiddo]

I can't seem to find any e-mail form. I wanted to ask about Satellaview-software compatibility (Whether BS-X/8M Pack or compatible slotted card/8M Pack, or Soundlink games).

[badinsults]

Possibly stupid question - would it be possible to play Terranigma on a US SNES with this cart?

You could play it, but chances are it would have graphical glitches and speed issues, on account of the fact that it was designed for a PAL snes. I believe there is a patch that allows you to play it in an NTSC snes without glitches (check romhacking.net?). Otherwise, you would have to do the 50/60 Hz mod to your SNES to play it without issues.

[c0ldb33r]

You could play it, but chances are it would have graphical glitches and speed issues, on account of the fact that it was designed for a PAL snes. I believe there is a patch that allows you to play it in an NTSC snes without glitches (check romhacking.net?). Otherwise, you would have to do the 50/60 Hz mod to your SNES to play it without issues.
Would there be a Game Genie code that would fix this? The Powerpak has a built-in Game Genie.

One thing I just realized is that I'm going to need a whole bunch more blank save files on this cart over the NES one. There are a lot more SNES save capable games than NES ones. I love my NES powerpak, but hate the way it deals with save files.

[understatement]

It's cool I'll give it that but my PC can play all ROMs and a USB SNES controller is way cheaper.

[wingzrow]

When it's got 100% compatibility ile get one.

[acem77]

action replay support would be better.
then its easy to use codes that can be found easy in most emulators.
game genie codes can be patched to the roms if needed.

[acem77]

When it's got 100% compatibility ile get one.

silly wish it will never happen then....

[acem77]

It's cool I'll give it that but my PC can play all ROMs and a USB SNES controller is way cheaper.

nothing beats the real hardware

[understatement]

nothing beats the real hardware

agree 100% (I only use ROMs for games I can't get like Star Fox 2 and what not) but this is not real hardware/software or it would be 100% compatible with all the real chips in it.

[BetaWolf47]

action replay support would be better.
then its easy to use codes that can be found easy in most emulators.
game genie codes can be patched to the roms if needed.

Eh, there's ways to convert PAR codes into GG.

[c0ldb33r]

Are there are other flash carts that DO support super FX games?

[fahlim003]

Are there are other flash carts that DO support super FX games?

I realize you don't mind the fact the SNES PowerPak does not have SuperFX compatibility, but does this even matter? How many hard to find SuperFX games are there besides Star Fox 2? I'm not wealthy nor extremely impatient. That being said I got every SuperFX game I ever wanted for pretty cheap and without much hassle at all.

I had a Game Doctor SF7 for several years before selling it here, since 1, I already own/have access to all the SNES games I'd ever want & 2, I wasn't concerned any longer about the few games I didn't own. Those points and the fact copier systems are outdated compared to flash cartridges such as this. Although when I got my GDSF7 years ago it cost about the same as this brand new flash cartridge now.

I prefer original hardware to emulation but unless I'd be dealing with large quantities of very expensive games, and ones with original english releases I'm not interested in this cartridge, omission of special chips aside. Maybe one day I'd consider it, if it ever gets cheaper since the quality of production is sure to be there from RetroZone.

[Joe West]

great job, im getting one....................:cheers:

[badinsults]

Are there are other flash carts that DO support super FX games?

Did you not read my post? To implement a Super FX chip would require a complete redesign of the board to account for the voltage requirements. Not only would this be a complicated process, but made all the more difficult because there are several versions of the Super FX chip, and they aren't really compatible. Considering the technical hurdles, and the fact that the only truly good Super FX games are Yoshi's Island, StarFox and StarFox 2, it really is not worth the effort. The sooner two titles are so common, that if you need a flash cart to play them, you really are just a cheapskate pirate. Considering that you have to scrap a legit game with a Super FX chip to implement it in the flash cart, you might as well just get a repro of StarFox 2. The same issues apply to the SA-1 chip et al. Really, I am pretty surprised the DSP1 chip is included at all, though it is certainly the most common special chip.

[c0ldb33r]

Did you not read my post? ...
Oh I read it, I was just curious. I checked a few other sites on the net and everyone is bitching that the game doesn't include Super FX support. Made me wonder if that lack of chip support was something novel to this flash cart, or whether there is some monster SNES flash cart that supports more chips.

I'm digging the red cartridge design. It'll look great next to my NES powerpak. I just wish that it came with a translucent red dust cover. Now THAT would be pimpin' :pimp:

[badinsults]

Regular SNES PCB board:

http://www.snescentral.com/0/1/6/0164/SNS-ZL-0-alt3-(USA)-Front.jpg

DSP1 board:

http://www.snescentral.com/0/0/0/0005/SNS-PW-USA_PCB_Front.jpg

Super FX PCB board:

http://www.snescentral.com/0/6/3/0636/SFRG-FO-0-front.jpg

SA-1 board:

http://www.snescentral.com/0/0/4/0049/SNS-ARWE-0-front-v2.jpg

As you can see from the above boards, the regular pcbs and DSP pcbs are pretty simple circuit boards. The Super FX and SA-1 boards are complex as hell with lots of capacitors to regulate the signal and power of the chips. I can't imagine the difficulty it would be it implement those two chips on a flash cart, and it would probably triple of quadruple the price. At that point, it would be cheaper to just buy the games.

[skaar]

I just ordered mine!

[Greg2600]

Seems like it would be dumb not to order the DCP-1 install, considering several good games use it. As for SuperFX, its not a huge loss IMO. Most people have Star Fox and Yoshi's Island. It would be much worse if Mode 7 didn't work! Incompatibility of Street Fighter 2 Alpha, Super Mario RPG, Mega Man X2/X3, and the SA-1 chip games are a much lengthier list than the NES PowerPak's though. Has anyone done a mapper list by game for SNES?

Will Japanese and European releases play on it, like they do the NES PowerPak?

[kai123]

I need one. I also need the NES powerpak...

[jeffg]

On this thing you can't play the PAL Terranigma unless you have a modded system due to the 50 hz lockout. There is no way around that one guys.

for $125 this is well worth it as you can play pretty much every translated Japanese RPG except Star Ocean (which you should be able to play the version that they modified so it didn't need the special chip)

Other than that you can play Secret of Mana 2, Bahamut Lagoon, Dragon Quest V, Final Fantasy V, Fire Emblem's, and most everything else.

The incompatabililty is pretty dang good considering 700+ snes games in the US library and the only good ones you have to get the games for are:
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario 2
Star Fox
Mega Man X2
Mega Man X3
Kirby Superstar
Kirby Dreamland 3
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (which actually sucks)
and maybe 1 or 2 others.

So you still have close to 700 US games to play and bunches of translated games all for $125

Needless to say I bought one and have about 100 boxed snes games for sale on the buy/sell forums that I have to play every once in a while but not huge fans of the games

Just my 2 cents

[rbudrick]

Super FX emulation is never going to happen. The SuperFX chip is actually a seperate processor. Unless there was a slot to plug in a SuperFX cart into the flash cart, I can't imagine a way around this....even then, I'm pretty sure there's no way to even get that to work, and it would likely defeat the purpose, considering the Super FX chip variations and the few games that used them..

-Rob

[udisi]

well depending on which one you get.

The NTSC lockout will play 700+ snes games, but can also play the majority of the super famicom library.

You can get it locked for PAL, and play the PAL library.

There's just no universal lockout to adjust for the 50 hz thing.

[acem77]

Eh, there's ways to convert PAR codes into GG.

only rom based values..... most ar codes are ram, so not really
and thats why roms can be patched with game genie codes.

[acem77]

agree 100% (I only use ROMs for games I can't get like Star Fox 2 and what not) but this is not real hardware/software or it would be 100% compatible with all the real chips in it.

it is real hardware... just missing some parts to keep the price down.
100% compatiblity would cause the price to more than double, to just cover the last 1% of games. people complain about the price as is......

[acem77]

Super FX emulation is never going to happen. The SuperFX chip is actually a seperate processor. Unless there was a slot to plug in a SuperFX cart into the flash cart, I can't imagine a way around this....even then, I'm pretty sure there's no way to even get that to work, and it would likely defeat the purpose, considering the Super FX chip variations and the few games that used them..

-Rob

very true

[vrikkgwj]

Someone mentioned that there's a translated version of Terranigma that doesn't need a modified SNES to play? Is this true?

[Soviet Conscript]

i really want this but i find it hard to justify the purchase as i already own a snes Tototek flash cart. i would pretty much just be buying convience of the CFC.

[badinsults]

Seems like it would be dumb not to order the DCP-1 install, considering several good games use it. As for SuperFX, its not a huge loss IMO. Most people have Star Fox and Yoshi's Island. It would be much worse if Mode 7 didn't work! Incompatibility of Street Fighter 2 Alpha, Super Mario RPG, Mega Man X2/X3, and the SA-1 chip games are a much lengthier list than the NES PowerPak's though. Has anyone done a mapper list by game for SNES?

Will Japanese and European releases play on it, like they do the NES PowerPak?

*sigh*

The SNES did not use mappers, hence why 99% of games work on this cart. The SA-1 and Super FX chips are coprocessors, essentially bumping up the capabilities of the SNES. The SA-1 is actually very similar to the processor used in the SNES, but it runs at 10 MHz, nearly 4 times faster than the system. It would be a logistical nightmare to try try to make a flash cart for it, and really not worth it. Hell, the people who dumped the SA-1 games literally removed the rom chip off the board to read the ROM. It is the same deal with the C4 chip in the Mega Man X2/3 games, it is a coprocessor, and it would require significant modifications to get it to work on a flash cart.

As for Street Fighter Alpha 2, it uses an SDD-1 chip, which is a graphics decompressor. It could be playable if someone bothered to hack the rom to include the compressed images. Someone actually did that for Star Ocean, meaning that if you can find this patch, you can play it on your Power Pak (at 96 Mbit, it wouldn't play in most copiers, except those that allow bank switching). Also, Mode 7 is a hardware feature of the SNES, and has nothing to do with any chip on the carts.

[Greg2600]

Good information Evan. I only mentioned mappers because I saw a link on the retrousb site for SNES PowerPak Mappers version 1.00 (http://www.retrousb.com/downloads/SNESPOWERPAK100.zip) but I assume that's just them staying with their NES Powerpak lingo.

[MarioMania]

How hard just to add a SDD-1 chip in the cart..for games like star oceane & sfa2

[shadowkn55]

As for Street Fighter Alpha 2, it uses an SDD-1 chip, which is a graphics decompressor. It could be playable if someone bothered to hack the rom to include the compressed images. Someone actually did that for Star Ocean, meaning that if you can find this patch, you can play it on your Power Pak (at 96 Mbit, it wouldn't play in most copiers, except those that allow bank switching).

The 96mbit version of Star Ocean doesn't use bank switching. It just maps into nearly the entire memory space of the snes. The only reason it worked on the gd7 was because it had flexible memory mapping. It is possible to make a repro of this version using a normal hirom board provided that you have the memory chips with a high enough capacity.



How hard just to add a SDD-1 chip in the cart..for games like star oceane & sfa2


Very hard. If it was easy to do, it would have been included. The creator himself said no add-on chips would be supported except for DSP1.

[MarioMania]

Can MMX2 & X3 be playable without the CX4 chip??

it plays in the Game Genie no problem

[mumbly]

I realize you don't mind the fact the SNES PowerPak does not have SuperFX compatibility, but does this even matter? How many hard to find SuperFX games are there besides Star Fox 2? I'm not wealthy nor extremely impatient. That being said I got every SuperFX game I ever wanted for pretty cheap and without much hassle at all.

I had a Game Doctor SF7 for several years before selling it here, since 1, I already own/have access to all the SNES games I'd ever want & 2, I wasn't concerned any longer about the few games I didn't own. Those points and the fact copier systems are outdated compared to flash cartridges such as this. Although when I got my GDSF7 years ago it cost about the same as this brand new flash cartridge now.

I prefer original hardware to emulation but unless I'd be dealing with large quantities of very expensive games, and ones with original english releases I'm not interested in this cartridge, omission of special chips aside. Maybe one day I'd consider it, if it ever gets cheaper since the quality of production is sure to be there from RetroZone.
Please don’t buy something from RetroZone (like the SNES or NES Powerpack) !!! They rob you !!! I can prove you that they are not honest, they keep your cash and they never send the products ! Follow my advice...

[skaar]

Please don’t buy something from RetroZone (like the SNES or NES Powerpack) !!! They rob you !!! I can prove you that they are not honest, they keep your cash and they never send the products ! Follow my advice...

Er... sure. Prove away?

[shadowkn55]

Can MMX2 & X3 be playable without the CX4 chip??

it plays in the Game Genie no problem

No. If those games didn't need them, they wouldn't be in the board. The game genie isn't a co-processor like the others. It's a memory patcher.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Is there any reason why they used CompactFlash instead of MicroSD (or something that's well, more common than CF is)?

I'm not complaining about the price or the lack of chips or whatever. But CompactFlash? o_O

[shadowkn55]

I recall bunnyboy saying that the parallel interface of CF was faster than the serial interface of SD. Maybe it's just less taxing on the hardware to use parallel rather than serial.

[MarioMania]

Why dosn't bunnyboy do a Genesis/32X/Master System version of the Powerpak..but called something else

[Greg2600]

Why dosn't bunnyboy do a Genesis/32X/Master System version of the Powerpak..but called something else
Look here: Problem I think with this one is it uses a GBA type flash cart, which is sold separately. So at the cheapest, for the cartridge and flash card will run you over $200.
http://www.ic2005.com/shop/product.php?productid=33&cat=0&page=1 (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107091)

I'd buy that right away from retrousb, although would be great if whoever did it could make Game Gear games playable. An N64 cart would of course be the holy grail for me. The best thing about retrousb's stuff is the ability to go right onto a common flash media via USB.

[mrmark0673]

Please don’t buy something from RetroZone (like the SNES or NES Powerpack) !!! They rob you !!! I can prove you that they are not honest, they keep your cash and they never send the products ! Follow my advice...

Just so everyone knows, this poster is obviously an alias of Dutch. Dutch was banned from NA for being a scammer and a dirtbag who has nothing better to do than make fake accounts to talk shit about people. The only problem is, because of the language barrier and his distinct posting style, everyone knows who he is immediately after he posts.

Can't wait to order mine, it'll go nicely with all my other retrozone stuff :)

[portnoyd]

Yeah, dutch just seems to try to hate and just fails miserably. It's comical.

Although it's neat, I'm going to save my cash for now as it's not a must have like the NES one. Down the road, it'll be nice to play the titles I have sealed that I can't bring myself to open.

[c0ldb33r]

Please don’t buy something from RetroZone (like the SNES or NES Powerpack) !!! They rob you !!! I can prove you that they are not honest, they keep your cash and they never send the products ! Follow my advice...
Go on... this should be funny.

[badinsults]

Is there any reason why they used CompactFlash instead of MicroSD (or something that's well, more common than CF is)?

I'm not complaining about the price or the lack of chips or whatever. But CompactFlash? o_O

According to the manual, they went with CompactFlash because it was a ton faster than MicroSD.

[ImBob]

Yeah, dutch just seems to try to hate and just fails miserably. It's comical.

Although it's neat, I'm going to save my cash for now as it's not a must have like the NES one. Down the road, it'll be nice to play the titles I have sealed that I can't bring myself to open.

How good is the NES one? I'm really new to all this. I have all the ROMS and of course the originals. Am I understanding all this correctly, is there some cart I can buy that will allow me to play all my ROMS (Backups) in the NES or SNES?

[klausien]

The NES Powerpak is absolutely ace. Really, it's a no-brainer

[mumbly]

First, I'm not Dutch and would be proud to be. I'm French :rocker:
And I'm not used to post dirty or nasty message.

My Proof is really simple : ORDER #714 that I did 6 months ago to RetroZone e-shop.

The story:

First, RetroZone send me the wrong product.

Next, they ask me to send back the wrong product in USA by paying the shipping cost twice (one time for the order, one time to send back the product in USA). Of course, I did that.

After, I received back the package with the wrong product because they gave me a WRONG ADDRESS ! I've paid EUR 13,- more to get this wrong product back to me ... Grrrrr !

Since 4th August, I've send all pictures, all shipping cost, emails, ... and asking for a refund ! I've never get any answers. They keep my money and kick my ass !

How this shop can sell with a so nasty service !

[skaar]

How this shop can sell with a so nasty service !

Maybe they assume you're French so you'll just back down and go away. ;)

I've ordered from them in the past with no problems, as have a bunch of people here.

[Greg2600]

Retrozone have one of the best records in the community of any shopping site. In addition to great products that carry a warranty! Perhaps you had issues because it was an international order, but that's between you and them.

As for the NES Powerpak, outstanding product! In a class by its own on the NES. The incompatibility list is very small, with I think Castlevania III standing out the most, and that is because of hardware.

[MarioMania]

yes he does..I bought from him like 3 times..he's a great guy to deal with

[DeputyMoniker]

Why do they list "Super Mario FX" on the incompatibility list?
"Super Mario FX Super FX chip not supported"
Is there a proto out there?

[shadowkn55]

Why do they list "Super Mario FX" on the incompatibility list?
"Super Mario FX Super FX chip not supported"
Is there a proto out there?

Looks like the list was copied and pasted from wikipedia then alphabetically sorted.

[badinsults]

Why do they list "Super Mario FX" on the incompatibility list?
"Super Mario FX Super FX chip not supported"
Is there a proto out there?

Super Mario FX probably never existed. They had Project Reality demos in mid 1993, so I assume that it is confused with this.

[Enigmus]

Like Super Noah's Ark 3D proves, a pass-through for Super FX games might actually work. Just put a connector with circut board routing to the CF card and it could work. Just slap a Doom cart on for Star Fox 2 or SMW2, or Starfox for Wave Race or that racing game. If Wisdom Tree could somehow use Wolfenstein to run it, why can't the SNES PowerPak pull it off? Keep in mind I'm just being hypothetical before you post a reply to this, though.

[badinsults]

Like Super Noah's Ark 3D proves, a pass-through for Super FX games might actually work. Just put a connector with circut board routing to the CF card and it could work. Just slap a Doom cart on for Star Fox 2 or SMW2, or Starfox for Wave Race or that racing game. If Wisdom Tree could somehow use Wolfenstein to run it, why can't the SNES PowerPak pull it off? Keep in mind I'm just being hypothetical before you post a reply to this, though.


There is a bit of a difference between bypassing the lockout chip and implementing a coprocessor from another cart. I don't even want to think about how complex the voltage regulating would be.

[digitalpress]

Got mine yesterday and attempted to set it up today. I'm getting various 'file missing' errors even after downloading the necessary files and putting them into every possible combination.

I think I had the same issue with the NES PowerPak at first and it turned out to be a simple fix. Looking forward to giving this bad boy the same kind of regular use.

[c0ldb33r]

Awesome, once you get it working, give us your thoughts!

[Leo_A]

Like Super Noah's Ark 3D proves, a pass-through for Super FX games might actually work. Just put a connector with circut board routing to the CF card and it could work. Just slap a Doom cart on for Star Fox 2 or SMW2, or Starfox for Wave Race or that racing game. If Wisdom Tree could somehow use Wolfenstein to run it, why can't the SNES PowerPak pull it off? Keep in mind I'm just being hypothetical before you post a reply to this, though.

What would be the point? By the time you got a cartridge with each revision of the Super FX chip, you'd likely have most of the good games for it already (Star Fox and Yoshi's Island for example), with just a handful of other games left to buy that used it (Nothing else worth playing in my opinion besides Stunt Race FX).

And I imagine the cost of custom engineering something that incorporated a cartridge bypass slot would cost far more than buying those last few titles that used one.

[jeffg]

Digitalpress

I am having the same issues
bunnyboy is having me send mine back

[Seppatoni]

I've got a small question about the speed. On the NES Powerpak, NTSC-games were much slower on a PAL console, otherwise PAL-games are much faster on a NTSC console. And I'm wondering if it's the same on the snes.