SFC F-Zero Rev A

[FoxNtd]

Ref: http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/wiki/F-Zero_%28Japan%29_%28Rev_0A%29

At the moment I have two carts of F-Zero for SFC, and upon comparison I found only one of them has an "A" stamped into the back panel. It's certainly Revision A which means the ROM was revised somehow compared to the first prints, right? I had absolutely no idea there was a revision for this game. I could not find any useful info besides the aforementioned link regarding SFC F-Zero, so I wonder if someone here has any idea how this game changed between the first print and Revision A.

If I can discover the difference then I can choose which version I'd like to keep on the shelf. :popcorn:

[Jorpho]

It's certainly Revision A which means the ROM was revised somehow compared to the first prints, right?Not necessarily. It could just be that the PCB was subtly altered in some other fashion – to make it cheaper to produce, perhaps.

Considering that this is a fairly common and well-known game, if you can't find two revisions of "F-Zero (J).smc" out there, there's probably only one ROM. (Note that BS F-Zero is something completely different.) Considering further that page you link to only mentions "F-Zero (Japan) (Rev 0A)", there's probably no difference.

[theclaw]

I dunno about Japan...

For America at least, F-Zero was produced off and on the entire SNES life span. E rated copies exist placing its final US run somewhere in 1998.

[FoxNtd]

Not necessarily. It could just be that the PCB was subtly altered in some other fashion – to make it cheaper to produce, perhaps.

This possibility crossed my mind but I had no idea if they would use a revision stamp on a cart if the PCB is somehow different but not the software on it, as I have not seen any prior example of this. I played both carts back to back and I certainly can't tell them apart, as expected.

[Zing]

I have researched this extensively, and have found no instances of a game getting a "revision stamp" and not having the actual program ROM revised. Nintendo does not give the stamp for games that have changes to the other components inside the cart. There are many examples of this, especially with older games that had DSP chip updates and such.

If there is a letter stamped, it contains a different game program. As for what is actually changed, sometimes it is a single, extremely rare game crashing bug (examples: Castlevania, Final Fantasy III). Sometimes it is extensive rewriting of the text (example: Dragon Warrior, Super Mario Bros. 3).

[Jorpho]

Well, let's consider the other games listed at http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/wiki/Category:Perfect_Nintendo_Super_Famicom . (Man, that site is tough to navigate.)

Romancing Saga has two revisions with two different ROMs and two different checksums:
http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/wiki/Romancing_Sa-Ga_(Japan)
http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/wiki/Romancing_Sa-Ga_(Japan)_(Rev_A)

But Street Fighter II Turbo (Japan) also has two revisions but only one checksum.
http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/wiki/Street_Fighter_II_Turbo_-_Hyper_Fighting_(Japan)_(Rev_0A)

So does SimEarth (Japan):
http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/wiki/SimEarth_-_The_Living_Planet_(Japan)_(Rev_0A)

[badinsults]

The Player's Choice version of Super Mario Kart had an "A" stamped into it, but the revision was on the DSP1 chip, not the program ROM.