Flash Cart Options?

I'm looking into playing roms on the original systems using flash carts that go into the system and have enough space on them to fit a good number of games. After doing some research, I was wondering who makes the best flash carts for each system, and where can they be purchased? As I understand it, most if not all of them require transfer of the data by parallel port? Tototeck and retrousb come to mind, but what others are there? I'd like to get the best possible one for each system.

NES: Power Pak http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?products_id=34
SNES: http://www.retrousb.com/product_info...products_id=84
GENESIS?
MASTER SYSTEM?
N64: ?
PCE: Pro 32M http://www.tototek.com/store/index.p...products_id=30

I used to recommend MegaCart but there hasn't been really any support.. It's like they abandoned it, so anything tototek I kinda stay away from now. I don't like it when products are released then no support ever.

There's a few bugs that some people have and no fix, like restoring Sega CD saves, and EA games not working.. For the purpose of playing Sega CD games from other regions it works fine, but it "is" still sold as a flash cart too..

There's another brand that has some good flash carts you can use a SD card on but I forget who makes it..

Fonzie does the support for the Mega Cart.

For Genesis / MegaDrive, Master System and SNES systems, i recommend the flashcards with SD slot from www.krikzz.com

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Originally Posted by Zebbe

Fonzie does the support for the Mega Cart.

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Well there haven't been ANY updates on the software to address a couple bugs, and the MegaCart forum is completely abandoned, it hasn't had any "real" activity in over a couple years..

You see, the absolutely BIGGEST bug, is that the MegaCart utility allows you to receive the backups, but ZERO way to even restore them.

the NES powerpak is really the only NES flash cart right now. It works well, but is pretty expensive. Having to hold the reset button down to save games is a little annoying, but not a big deal.

For the PC Engine there is a Neoflash flash cart that supports USB. The software is a little annoying, but it works, and you can use it on US or Japanese systems. Keep in mind that like many other carts, its 32 or 64 mega BITS, I was disappointed that I couldn't fit more than a few games at a time on my 32mb cart.

The Super Everdrive is awesome for SNES stuff. It's cheap compared to other carts, and works really well. Only issue really is that you have get your own cart case to put it in, unless you buy ithe deluxe version from Stoneagegamer.

I wholeheartedly recommend Igor's Everdrive for the Genesis, along with his Super Everdrive for the SNES. The whole process is simple, the ordering process is a breeze, and they're among the cheapest on the market. The Genesis/MD ED works with almost anything you throw at it, supports 32x and SMS games, and has options for import playing, as well. the SNES ED lacks add on chip support, so no DSP, C4, etc. support, but the list of games using those chips is relatively small, so you can pick those up separately if you so desire.

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Originally Posted by wargod

I'm looking into playing roms on the original systems using flash carts that go into the system and have enough space on them to fit a good number of games. After doing some research, I was wondering who makes the best flash carts for each system, and where can they be purchased? As I understand it, most if not all of them require transfer of the data by parallel port? Tototeck and retrousb come to mind, but what others are there? I'd like to get the best possible one for each system.

NES: Power Pak http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?products_id=34
SNES: http://www.retrousb.com/product_info...products_id=84
GENESIS?
MASTER SYSTEM?
N64: ?
PCE: Pro 32M http://www.tototek.com/store/index.p...products_id=30

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I personally would go with:

NES: Powerpak. Had it for a long while now and love it. Even with a complete NTSC licensed set I still find it useful for translations, PAL exclusives, and fami/translations.
Genesis: Everdrive. Fantastic device and my favorite flash cart by far and away. Also supports 32X.
SMS: Everdrive or Master Everdrive. Depends on if you want the extra support of SG-1000 games and Japanese exclusive Mark-III games. If not, the regular Everdrive will likely cover you.
SNES: SNES Powerpak or Super Everdrive. You'll get slightly better compatibility with the SNES Powerpak, and a slightly better price with the Super Everdrive. Depends what you're looking for.
N64: Bung Dr.V64. Not a flash cart, but a system that attaches to the bottom expansion port of the N64 and allows you to play ROMs (or dev if you have the ability) from a CD drive. There are other back up players, but this is the only one I have experience with and I really liked it.
TG-16: The one you linked to looks solid, though I haven't used one to be able to comment.

Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by evildragon

Well there haven't been ANY updates on the software to address a couple bugs, and the MegaCart forum is completely abandoned, it hasn't had any "real" activity in over a couple years..

You see, the absolutely BIGGEST bug, is that the MegaCart utility allows you to receive the backups, but ZERO way to even restore them.

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The software hasn't been updated because... well, check the link in my sig. You can PM Fonzie or write in the Mega Cart thread if you need any help.

I dont care if they released something else. If you make a product you need to support it, especially when an important feature is outright missing. Theres no point to a backup if you cant restore it! And I will contact them later when I get home from work, but if I get no response or a generic brush off, I will be back on this matter. Cause frankly im not alone on this, after seeing the megacart boards at tototek.

NeoFlash makes flash carts for GBA, NDS, N64, SNES, MD, SMS, and PCE. They're a bit more expensive than others like the Everdrive, but usually also have more features. You can check out what's available at ic2005.com. The SMS flash cart is very close to being released - us folks who work on the menus for the various Neo flash carts got ours in Jan to work on the menu.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by evildragon

I dont care if they released something else. If you make a product you need to support it, especially when an important feature is outright missing. Theres no point to a backup if you cant restore it! And I will contact them later when I get home from work, but if I get no response or a generic brush off, I will be back on this matter. Cause frankly im not alone on this, after seeing the megacart boards at tototek.

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As I said, the support is there if you contact Fonzie. The point of the backup is so you can use it with your emulator. If it was intended to include restoration, it would have been there already.

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Originally Posted by Lastcallhall

the SNES ED lacks add on chip support, so no DSP, C4, etc. support, but the list of games using those chips is relatively small, so you can pick those up separately if you so desire.

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The new Super Everdrives allow you to install a DSP-1 chip. If you don't have a game to pull a chip from (Super Mario Kart or, I believe, Pilotwings), some of the distributors are selling a Super Everdrive with the DSP-1 chip installed (though these seem to sell out quickly thus far).

Yeah, it also costs about 40.00 USD more. I already own Pilotwings, and I can pick up Super Mario Kart for cheap. The rest of the games I want have either the SA-1, C4, or SFX chips in them. Not worth it, IMO.

Thanks everyone. Just the info I was looking for!