Super Retro Advance Adapter indepth Review

[nusilver]

Hey Satoshi, long time no talk! I saw this on Twitter and have become incredibly interested thanks to your review. Nice work, as always!

I wanted to ask, in your conclusion to your review you say that it's not as good as a GBP, but you don't really elaborate on why, unless I'm just overworked and failing at comprehension. Can you, please?

I have a GBP, of course - like many, it's the only reason I still have a GameCube - but I rarely yes it because it means having to hook up the GameCube, whereas my SNES is ALWAYS ready to go (I also recently got a 1CHIP, by the way.....yay!)

Also, it's incredibly easy to replace the lead on a Super Famicom controller with that from an American SNES controller. I'll never understand why EVERYBODY doesn't do this! Lol.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

in your conclusion to your review you say that it's not as good as a GBP, but you don't really elaborate on why, unless I'm just overworked and failing at comprehension

Well I think that might just be the case! lol

Actually, the SRA is better than the GPB in most aspects. The video quality, the sound clarity, the way the games fill an entire 4:3 CRT screen without being windowed, or fill a 16:9 HDTV with only a hint of a black border. The clone is great, playing games just like the real hardware to the point you'd never know it's a clone.

The biggest problem with the SRA is lack of GB and GBC support. It still means if you want to play GBC games on a tv without emulation you need a GBP. But for all things GBA, this is my adapter of choice.

[nusilver]

Well I think that might just be the case! lol

Actually, the SRA is better than the GPB in most aspects. The video quality, the sound clarity, the way the games fill an entire 4:3 CRT screen without being windowed, or fill a 16:9 HDTV with only a hint of a black border. The clone is great, playing games just like the real hardware to the point you'd never know it's a clone.

The biggest problem with the SRA is lack of GB and GBC support. It still means if you want to play GBC games on a tv without emulation you need a GBP. But for all things GBA, this is my adapter of choice.

Thanks! Yeah. I gotta have this. Unfortunately I haven't found a media contact at RetroBit/Innex - I could review for IGN or for my own site -so I'll have to wait until next month since it's freelance tax season. Cheers!

[Spartacus]

I thought I give my opinion as just an everyday gamer.

I purchased a new Super Retro Advance Adapter on Ebay for $34.99 shipped after reading this thread. I did notice that the Retro Adapter filled more of the screen on a CRT TV than did the Gameboy Player. But there was no difference between the two when I used it on an 32" LCD TV, which I personally prefer to play on.

After a lot of back and forth comparisons on both TV's, I could not pick a clear winner as to which had a better picture on either TV.

What I did notice was that the audio for the Retro Adapter was muted compared to the Gameboy Player on both TV's. Turning up the sound on the TV's wasn't any problem, and after adjusting the audio, they sounded the same to me.

What I enjoyed the most about Retro Adapter was using an SNES controller to play. I also purchased two Retro-Bit's Super Retro Controllers on Ebay for $10 shipped and thought they were great for the price.

I would expect to pay about the same for a Gameboy Player with disc as I did for the Retro Adapter. To me, the ability to play GB, GBC and GBA games with the Gameboy Player makes it a much better deal.

My only real problem with the Gameboy Player is that it's attached to the Gamecube and I have to use Gamecube controllers to play Gameboy games. The standard Gamecube controller doesn't feel right with Gameboy games. The Hori Digital Controller is better, but it's expensive. I found Gamecube gamepads on Ebay for $6.95 shipped from China. For the price, I can't really can't complain and it provides a cheap solution to my only real complaint about using the Gameboy Player.


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[Satoshi_Matrix]

What I did notice was that the audio for the Retro Adapter was muted compared to the Gameboy Player on both TV's. Turning up the sound on the TV's wasn't any problem, and after adjusting the audio, they sounded the same to me.

Whoa whoa, are you sure about that? I did quite a few tests comparing this to the GBP, and I found the complete opposite - it's the GBP that's muffled compared to to the much clearer sound of the SRA! This was the case on both my CRT and HDTV, but more clearly on the CRT.



My only real problem with the Gameboy Player is that it's attached to the Gamecube and I have to use Gamecube controllers to play Gameboy games. The standard Gamecube controller doesn't feel right with Gameboy games. The Hori Digital Controller is better, but it's expensive. I found Gamecube gamepads on Ebay for $6.95 shipped from China. For the price, I can't really can't complain and it provides a cheap solution to my only real complaint about using the Gameboy Player

Except that those things are absolute piles of shit. The build quality is so low they could break by looking at them funny. My advise would be to save your money and buy a RetroZone SNES RetroPort and use an OEM SNES controller if you must go the GBP way.

[theMot]

Got mine a couple of days ago, only used it for a couple of minutes on my sony pvm 2950qm and i couldnt get a picture at all with or without the av composite cable. Tried it on my Commodore 1034 monitor but it would only output a black and white image.

Any idea why that would be?

[Leo_A]

My advice would be to buy a model 1 Game Boy Advance, a GBC to GCN link cable, and utilize that as your controller.

[wiggyx]

Got mine a couple of days ago, only used it for a couple of minutes on my sony pvm 2950qm and i couldnt get a picture at all with or without the av composite cable. Tried it on my Commodore 1034 monitor but it would only output a black and white image.

Any idea why that would be?


Because it's a cheaply made product. Most likely it's just defective.

[Spartacus]

Any idea why that would be?

Are you are using a 50HZ PAL SNES?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Because it's a cheaply made product. Most likely it's just defective.

With all due respect, this is definitely wrong. His problem are the tvs he's using, not the device. Given what he's said, there is nothing wrong with the device.


Are you are using a 50HZ PAL SNES?

That doesn't matter one way or the other. The SNES itself is not what is outputting the video, so any working SNES worldwide can do the task.


Got mine a couple of days ago, only used it for a couple of minutes on my sony pvm 2950qm and i couldnt get a picture at all with or without the av composite cable. Tried it on my Commodore 1034 monitor but it would only output a black and white image.

Any idea why that would be?

There is nothing at all wrong with your Super Retro Advance Adapter.

Your profile says you live in Sydney Australia. That's what the problem is.

Retro-Bit products are NTSC only and will not function correctly on PAL televisions. From the symptoms reported, your PAL Sony tv will not display NTSC resolutions at all, and your PAL Commodore monitor will only display black and white. These are very typical results of ~95% of 50Hz PAL sets that attempt to run 60Hz NTSC.

You need to get buy an NTSC tv, a brand new PAL tv that can also accept NTSC (they make them now) or an expensive NTSC to PAL adapter. Sorry about the bad news, but again...nothing is wrong with the product itself. It simply isn't made for your region.

[theMot]

With all due respect, this is definitely wrong. His problem are the tvs he's using, not the device. Given what he's said, there is nothing wrong with the device.



That doesn't matter one way or the other. The SNES itself is not what is outputting the video, so any working SNES worldwide can do the task.



There is nothing at all wrong with your Super Retro Advance Adapter.

Your profile says you live in Sydney Australia. That's what the problem is.

Retro-Bit products are NTSC only and will not function correctly on PAL televisions. From the symptoms reported, your PAL Sony tv will not display NTSC resolutions at all, and your PAL Commodore monitor will only display black and white. These are very typical results of ~95% of 50Hz PAL sets that attempt to run 60Hz NTSC.

You need to get buy an NTSC tv, a brand new PAL tv that can also accept NTSC (they make them now) or an expensive NTSC to PAL adapter. Sorry about the bad news, but again...nothing is wrong with the product itself. It simply isn't made for your region.

Thanks for the tips, the region doesnt matter because im using a monitor it just auto selects whatever region the device outputs. Regardless i switched it on again this morning and it worked perfect first time. Hurrah!

Shame it doesnt output rgb though. Ive been spoiled with the pvm having all my consoles hooked up rgb. Going back to composite is difficult especially with GBA games that were designed for a small screen. I wonder if there is a bright spark out there that can come up with a way to have it output rgb?

[nusilver]

Damnit, you guys. I was so completely stoked out of my mind for this thing - as Satoshi has mentioned in his review, the GBA was for all intents and purposes the second coming of the SNES, so this thing was kind of like a dream come true for me.

And then I put my Mother 3 repro cart into it, fired it up to some highly questionable video quality (granted, I am using a 42" Sony Bravia) and video interference, and then attempted to load my save of my second playthrough (my first playthrough on this excellent repro cart), which it gobbled up immediately. So, first strike: The SRA ate my save file from my all-time favorite GBA game. Luckily I was only 8 hours in on this playthrough and the game is too good not to start again, but yeah. Huge, Huge strike against this thing.

Second strike: I tried loading up ALTTP and all I get is a message that next time I play Four Swords, my sword will shoot beams....followed by a black screen.

I have never been *so* disappointed by a product in my life. Returning this post-haste. Honestly, I don't know why I even bother giving retro-bit the benefit of the doubt anymore.

*TLDR VERSION* don't buy this piece of crap if you value your saved games. :puppydogeyes:

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Damnit, you guys. I was so completely stoked out of my mind for this thing - as Satoshi has mentioned in his review, the GBA was for all intents and purposes the second coming of the SNES, so this thing was kind of like a dream come true for me.

And then I put my Mother 3 repro cart into it, fired it up to some highly questionable video quality (granted, I am using a 42" Sony Bravia) and video interference, and then attempted to load my save of my second playthrough (my first playthrough on this excellent repro cart), which it gobbled up immediately. So, first strike: The SRA ate my save file from my all-time favorite GBA game. Luckily I was only 8 hours in on this playthrough and the game is too good not to start again, but yeah. Huge, Huge strike against this thing.

Second strike: I tried loading up ALTTP and all I get is a message that next time I play Four Swords, my sword will shoot beams....followed by a black screen.

I have never been *so* disappointed by a product in my life. Returning this post-haste. Honestly, I don't know why I even bother giving retro-bit the benefit of the doubt anymore.

*TLDR VERSION* don't buy this piece of crap if you value your saved games. :puppydogeyes:


Nulsilver, I respect you man, but claiming this to be a piece of crap based on two incredibly isolated cases is incredibly shallow.

Let's address your first concern, your reproduction Mother 3 cart. What is that? I wasn't aware GBA games could be repro'd at all. Is that a flash cart with only the single ROM on it? What is the save method? I tested Mother 3's fan translation via my M3 Perfect flashcart on the SRA and the battery save worked perfectly. Maybe your just using a low quality flash cart that has a unreliable save method. That can hardly be blamed on the SRA itself. It sounds like its your flashcart that's the problem.

Explain the second point about LTTP? That works perfectly. Did you try to load the multiplayer thing? I didn't try that. The single player LTTP game works great.

In fact, I tested almost a hundred GBA games on this, and they all work, even obscure stuff like WarioWare Twisted with its gyroscope.

You need to explain your concerns about LTTP, but c'mon, its not fair at all to scream bloody murder because the device erased your save file off of a shady reproduction cart that I suspect is actually just a cheapo GBA flashcart worth hardly anything.

[Leo_A]

I wasn't aware GBA games could be repro'd at all.

Ebay is full of counterfeit GBA cartridges. So I don't see why not?

[nusilver]

Nulsilver, I respect you man, but claiming this to be a piece of crap based on two incredibly isolated cases is incredibly shallow.

Let's address your first concern, your reproduction Mother 3 cart. What is that? I wasn't aware GBA games could be repro'd at all. Is that a flash cart with only the single ROM on it? What is the save method? I tested Mother 3's fan translation via my M3 Perfect flashcart on the SRA and the battery save worked perfectly. Maybe your just using a low quality flash cart that has a unreliable save method. That can hardly be blamed on the SRA itself. It sounds like its your flashcart that's the problem.

Explain the second point about LTTP? That works perfectly. Did you try to load the multiplayer thing? I didn't try that. The single player LTTP game works great.

In fact, I tested almost a hundred GBA games on this, and they all work, even obscure stuff like WarioWare Twisted with its gyroscope.

You need to explain your concerns about LTTP, but c'mon, its not fair at all to scream bloody murder because the device erased your save file off of a shady reproduction cart that I suspect is actually just a cheapo GBA flashcart worth hardly anything.

Hey hey, I'm back and a little bit calmed down - mostly just resigned to the fact that I have to start the game over again, but it's okay since I'm working on an in depth analysis of its themes, anyway. (I'd just started my second playthrough this week.) I'm still returning this device, but I can give you answers to your questions. Honestly, though, first impressions are everything, and if you were eager to play your favorite game on your new device only to have it erase your save, wouldn't that skew your impressions toward "negative"?. Also, check out how the SRA handles an official Japanese Mother 3 cart below, too... I'm honestly surprised you got it to run, though I've seen your video so I know you're not making that up :) Have you tried saving on the SRA and then loading from that save on an SRA?

1) The Mother 3 repro: It's actually a high quality repro sold at store.retroquestgames.com, and, as far as I know, the first of its kind as far as true GBA repros go. I've had zero issues with it on a GB Micro, DS Lite, GB SP, or GB Player. It uses a battery-backed save. It's much, much better than that POS that NintendoAge members were billing as a "limited edition," with no bulky board inside or anything like that. Definitely not a flash cart, and highly recommended if you're a fan of the game.

Here's an image of the cart (repro on the left, original Japanese copy on the right.) I believe the donor cart is Pokémon Emerald (AGB-E05-01). The label is, admittedly, a weak part of the package, but I've replaced it with one from OCD Reproductions since I took this photo months ago. Also attaching a pic of my Mother (mostly Mother 3) collection - this game is very, very dear to me, and my Mother 3 repro is a prized piece of my collection.

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As far as the game and the SRA - it's really pretty odd. The first thing that happened was, the game told me my save file was corrupt and it was deleting it. Okay, well, not much I can do at that point, so I restarted it and the game played without problems (other than the video issues... it looks pretty bad on my TV, but much better on my RDP 2). Then I saved, restarted, and when I tried to load that save, the graphics got all garbled and it wouldn't go further. Accessing the save on real GBA hardware works fine.

*I've tested a legit Mother 3 cart (Japanese) in the SRA, too, and while it works half the time, the other half it it won't load past the start screen - it acts like I'm holding up or down on the d-pad and constantly flicks back and forth among New Game, Load and Sound Player, accepting no button inputs. No other game does this!

2) Here's what I've discovered with ALTTP. When you first get the Master Sword, save, and restart, the game tells you you get an upgraded sword in multiplayer. You hit A and continue on to the game. In the SRA, it refuses to advance past that notice about the sword upgrade. I put the cart into my Micro and skipped the message, then loaded it into the SRA and it loaded normally. I wonder if that's an issue that can be fixed with a future firmware update?

And here are a couple of bonus observations to keep this topic on track:

*Games look a lot better outputted directly from the Adapter itself rather than the included RCA cable - I tested quite a few via my RDP2.0 and everything looked pretty nice on that screen. Everything seemed to work okay, though occasionally I'd see wavy lines that a reset would fix.

*The EZ-Flash IV does not work with the SRA, or at least, I couldn't get it to load more than once (where it told me my SD card was missing, which it's not), so I can't test Mother 3 or any other ROM that way, sadly.

*Other games I tested (legit carts): Minish Cap, Advance Wars 1+2, Drill Dozer, Super Mario World, Golden Sun 1+2, Final Fantasy I+II+IV+V+VI, Yoshi's Island, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Super Mario Advance, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission, Wario Land 4, and Rebelstar Tactical Command. They all ran, but often had to be fiddled with to get them to load. Whenever that's the case with a device, I'm pretty hesitant to put my games with battery-backed saves into them... rapid resetting and all. I'm not testing my Super Mario Bros. 3/Super Mario Advance...4?...cart because I have eReader levels on it and don't want to have to flash them to it again if something happens. :)

I guess, overall, what I'd say is: if you have an SDTV, or an HDTV that works well with Retro-bit's products - mine does not, which is one of the reasons I sold my RetroGen adapter - this could be a good alternative to a GB Player. The idea of playing GBA games on an SNES, while kind of nonsensical to some, is incredibly appealing to me - leastways because my SNES is ALWAYS hooked up because it's my favorite console of all time, and I love the controller. The GB Player video output, while soft and bordered, has much better color output, and the sound here is weak and tinny compared to the GB player as well (my SRA outputs about half as loud as my GB Player, with a ton of background noise as well.)

Anyway - those are my thoughts, stream-of-consciousness as they are. Glad to contribute to the thread, SM... keep up the awesome work!

[scooby105]

I just ordered the Japanese version of this adapter from eBay today after reading one of the reviews and learning about some of the modifications that make it better on assemblergames. The links are below for anybody that is interested.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?48386-Sound-fixes-for-the-Tototek-GBA-SNES-AD-Adapter
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?47904-Modding-the-Snes-so-the-Tototek-GBA-SNES-adapter-does-not-need-separate-AV-cable
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?47823-Tototek-GBA-SNES-AD-adapter-A-look-inside-short-review
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?47266-Tototek-GBA-SNES-adapter-Anyone-tried-them

[wiggyx]

With all due respect, this is definitely wrong. His problem are the tvs he's using, not the device. Given what he's said, there is nothing wrong with the device.



That doesn't matter one way or the other. The SNES itself is not what is outputting the video, so any working SNES worldwide can do the task.



There is nothing at all wrong with your Super Retro Advance Adapter.

Your profile says you live in Sydney Australia. That's what the problem is.

Retro-Bit products are NTSC only and will not function correctly on PAL televisions. From the symptoms reported, your PAL Sony tv will not display NTSC resolutions at all, and your PAL Commodore monitor will only display black and white. These are very typical results of ~95% of 50Hz PAL sets that attempt to run 60Hz NTSC.

You need to get buy an NTSC tv, a brand new PAL tv that can also accept NTSC (they make them now) or an expensive NTSC to PAL adapter. Sorry about the bad news, but again...nothing is wrong with the product itself. It simply isn't made for your region.

What makes you think that?

[bacteria]

Are the colours correct with this gadget, any image shift like with the crappy GBA Converter; any image bleed?

If the colours are right, no bleeding, and crisp image, then this sounds like a good product.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Also, check out how the SRA handles an official Japanese Mother 3 cart below, too... I'm honestly surprised you got it to run, though I've seen your video so I know you're not making that up :) Have you tried saving on the SRA and then loading from that save on an SRA?

Yeah, saving Mother 3 works perfectly on my M3 Perfect when using the SRA. I'm sorry to hear that your repro cart has issues with it, but who only knows what the cause of that is. I've tested literally dozens of GBA games with saves, and that hasn't happened on a single one. That's what leads me to think its the repro cart and not the SRA itself. Only an educated theory though.

As for your real Mother 3 cart sometimes acting up, that's a headscratcher. Maybe a dirty cart?



2) Here's what I've discovered with ALTTP. When you first get the Master Sword, save, and restart, the game tells you you get an upgraded sword in multiplayer. You hit A and continue on to the game. In the SRA, it refuses to advance past that notice about the sword upgrade. I put the cart into my Micro and skipped the message, then loaded it into the SRA and it loaded normally. I wonder if that's an issue that can be fixed with a future firmware update?

I just tried doing that section myself, and did not encounter this issue. I wonder if its a bug present in the game revision? IIRC, LTTP GBA had a couple slight revisions. My copy is the Greatest Hits version, if that makes any difference.

Anyway, I'm sorry you had a few bad experiences, but overall I'm extremely pleased with the Super Retro Advance. I haven't encountered any problems other than the Play-Yan Micro.



I just ordered the Japanese version of this adapter from eBay today

Just so you know, the Japanese, Hong Kong or US versions are all the same internally, just different branding. Thanks for the S-Video mod link though... I might end up doing that. I love the idea.



[In regards to the Australian bloke with the tv issues]What makes you think that?

His problem is clearly that he's using PAL tvs. I think this because of the problems he reported. No video or black and white only display are common occurrences when you try to run 60Hz NTSC content on a PAL 50Hz television. Plus, given that his status says he's from Sydney Australia and Australia is a PAL country, I put two and two together and concluded that he's probably suffering from the ills of PAL tvs trying to run NTSC content.


Are the colours correct with this gadget, any image shift like with the crappy GBA Converter; any image bleed?

If the colours are right, no bleeding, and crisp image, then this sounds like a good product.

Yes, the colors are perfect and accurate to the real hardware. The video output to a tele is only composite video, so yes, there is some color bleeding, but its much better than any real classic game hardware, especially Sega stuff like the MegaDrive. The image is very crisp and clean. Just go back to page 1 and click on the screenshots I took of my tv playing various GBA games.

It IS a good product. That's kinda what I've been saying all along.

If you have a pile of GBA games and want to play them on a tv with a SNES controller, it's worth buying for sure.

[redfoot12]

I just ordered one of these the other day and I'm really excited. The SNES is probably my favorite console and I missed out on a lot of the good GBA games. I'm going to keep a close eye on this thread!

[Greg2600]

EZ Flash doesn't work on it? Another strike.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

My flashcart - the M3 Perfect SD - works perfectly. I don't know what the "EZ Flash" is. Is that a low-end flashcart? perhaps it doesn't work because the 5v VCC pin isn't sufficient to power the device and that flashcart, especially if it uses an additional source like a micro SD card.

So yeah, strike against the EZ Flash, but negated since the M3 Perfect functions...perfectly.

[davidbrit2]

My flashcart - the M3 Perfect SD - works perfectly. I don't know what the "EZ Flash" is. Is that a low-end flashcart? perhaps it doesn't work because the 5v VCC pin isn't sufficient to power the device and that flashcart, especially if it uses an additional source like a micro SD card.

So yeah, strike against the EZ Flash, but negated since the M3 Perfect functions...perfectly.

http://i.imgur.com/82y6Giq.jpg

EZ Flash is pretty well respected, to my knowledge.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I think I remember that one when I was shopping for a GBA Flashcart a few years ago. I recall they needed to be hooked up to a computer through a USB cable, had some funky firmware and severe limitations. Also they were much much cheaper than the M3 flashcarts. The one I bought outclassed the E-Z offerings in every way. Maybe they progressed over the years, but rather than jumping to conclusions, my assessment is based on what I know when I compared flashcarts and decided which to buy. Also, isn't that a whole range of flashcarts rather than just one? The real jumping to conclusions would be to assume that because whatever cart was tried doesn't work, none of them do.

It seems people want to declare the SRA crap because of highly specialized cases - Mother 3 repro cart, E-Z flashcart, GBC/GB games - stuff that's outside of the GBA library.

I've tested over a hundred GBA games and found none to be problematic. Even weird games like Boktai with its solar sensor or WarioWare Twisted with its gyroscope function properly.

Is it absolutely flawless? no. but like everything, you take the bad with the good and overall it is debatably better than the GameBoy Player, or at the very least equal when all things are considered, such as its superior video and and audio clarity.

[Greg2600]

The M3 perfect hasn't been available for years so most people have an EZ flash. Without gb/gbc. support, about the only non-novelty use is if you don't have a GameCube gameboy player.

[Jorpho]

I think I remember that one when I was shopping for a GBA Flashcart a few years ago. I recall they needed to be hooked up to a computer through a USB cable, had some funky firmware and severe limitations.The EZ-Flash IV takes mini SD cards (I'll admit that's a little odd) and generally works just peachy.

I have observed – and this might be corroborated with others – that it seems to have an unusually high power draw; specifically, when I use it on a GBA SP, the power light tends to blink from green to red with alarming frequency. Perhaps this is related.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah. Lower end flashcarts consume more current than higher end flashcarts and commercial games. I don't own an E-Z flash, but based on that, I would guess you would probably get only half the battery life from that compared to the m3 perfect SD.

It's likely that the current draw exceeds what the SNES cartridge port can provide and thus that particular flashcart crashes. That's a limitation of the SNES, not the SRA.

[nusilver]

The EZ Flash IV is actually one of the most desirable flash carts for GBA enthusiasts now - largely because it boasts 100% GBA compatibility, and sits flush with the GBA in the cart slot, unlike the M3 Perfect... but also because you can still buy it today. I replaced my SuperCard with it years ago because it played Mother 3 perfectly, actually... when I first played through Mother 3, it was via a SuperCard SD and I had to save-state through the hole thing, which felt wrong :)

I don't know anything about the EZIV being "low end" or not, just that it plays every game I throw at it, and that, like my Mother 3 repro, it does not work with the SRA. Alas! I have one of those Hori SNES-style controllers for my GBP and an S-Video cable that makes everything look marvelous on my HDTV... plus the audio leads are hooked up to my receiver so I get nice, deep, rich sound. I guess I will just learn to ignore the stupid "Z Button for Options" overlay.

Also, a friend I made recently offered to give me his GameCube component cable when he can get it back from his friend in another state, so, that's another reason for me to stick with the GBP. Hopefully retro-bit makes another revision of the SRA with better video output (s-video or component)... not holding my breath, but I'd be glad to test that version too because this is definitely a product I want. It just doesn't work for me currently.

[nusilver]

Yeah. Lower end flashcarts consume more current than higher end flashcarts and commercial games. I don't own an E-Z flash, but based on that, I would guess you would probably get only half the battery life from that compared to the m3 perfect SD.

It's likely that the current draw exceeds what the SNES cartridge port can provide and thus that particular flashcart crashes. That's a limitation of the SNES, not the SRA.

I get the technical reasons you're saying this, but it's hard for me to consider this anything but a fault of the SRA, since the SRA is the only GBA hardware - clone or otherwise (I've only tried one other) - I've ever tried that doesn't work perfectly with every game, flash cart, etc. I own. And as I've mentioned previously, I can't find anyone at retro-bit/Innex to actually discuss these things with. I don't like Hyperkin's products, but I've at least been able to have conversations with those guys about their shortcomings.

[bacteria]

As the GBA adaptor outputs the video and audio by its own board, it means the unit takes the voltage from the SNES as well as the controller actions - is it possible to bypass the SNES altogether and just identify the components used by the GBA adaptor to make a controller work - for example, can you tap onto the GBA adaptor directly for the d-pad and buttons or do you have to use the SNES console?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

[response]

nulsilver, I'm sorry you didn't like the SRA. You do good reviews and I have as much respect as I hope you do for me. It's just that you and I reach totally different conclusions on this matter.

I love my M3 Perfect. It works on the SRA. I can't comment about the E-Z flash or other flashcarts. I don't own a Mother 3 repro, but it works perfectly on my SRA.

It would be nice if the SRA did S-Video or RGB, but again....the composite video signal is extremely strong and vivid. Complaining about it only being composite is the retro gaming equivalent to all the next gen gamers who are complaining about that call of duty game only supporting 720p on Xbox One.


As the GBA adaptor outputs the video and audio by its own board, it means the unit takes the voltage from the SNES as well as the controller actions - is it possible to bypass the SNES altogether and just identify the components used by the GBA adaptor to make a controller work - for example, can you tap onto the GBA adaptor directly for the d-pad and buttons or do you have to use the SNES console?

You know, I have no idea. I'm not that skilled of a hacker/modder. I do know that the button mapping is stored on a custom chip. Ace has mentioned that if that could be dumped, then the mappings could be altered rather than hacking a controller as I've done.

Keep in mind it's NTSC only, but by all means, if you buy one I'd love to hear if you can turn it into a standalone console that works without the SNES.

[nusilver]

nulsilver, I'm sorry you didn't like the SRA. You do good reviews and I have as much respect as I hope you do for me.

Sure do. Love your stuff. Keep it up!

[MaxWar]

Have you taken pictures of the inside of the adapter?
The picture on the first page is from Tototek website and is linked to the AD adapter, not the SRA.
I believe they are the same thing with a different label but still curious.

I have the AD adapter but not the SRA.
In the review you say it outputs stereo sound. This got me curious as I had to mod the AD adapter to get stereo. Otherwise it outputs mirrored mono.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I think the AD Adapter is an older revision of the SRA. The two are very similar.

Now you've got me curious. I said it outputs stereo, but that may be an error and it might be like you say and it produces dual mono.

What's a good GBA game to test stereo sound with? I want to check that.

[MaxWar]

I think the AD Adapter is an older revision of the SRA. The two are very similar.

Now you've got me curious. I said it outputs stereo, but that may be an error and it might be like you say and it produces dual mono.

What's a good GBA game to test stereo sound with? I want to check that.

The intro of super mario advance 2 (port of super mario world.. ) Is an easy one to hear stereo. As the drum roll starts during the intro it has a very clear panning effect. Then the bass is also clearly panned.
You might also do something simpler as connect the AV cable to the SRA and check resistance between the L and R channel with a multimeter. On my AD adapter the outputs were bridged right at the end so you would get full continuity.

In any case if you could take a detailed picture of the PCB in your SRA this would answer many questions. I itch to compare both options but I do not feel like throwing the 50$ for the SRA just to check the motherboard.

Also, If you are interested I modded my AD pretty hard and it sounds great now.
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?48386-Sound-fixes-for-the-Tototek-GBA-SNES-AD-Adapter
If the SRA turns out to be the same PCB those mods would also apply to it.
Thanks for replying