Original Gameboy Flash Cart
Jan 04, 2016 Trying to Find a Gameboy Color Flashcart. Discussion in 'Other Handhelds' started by dj505, Jan 4, 2016.
Guide to help you pick a flashcart for each device
Flash Cart Gba
I was doing research the past few days on getting flashcarts for my Nintendo systems to play my old games, so here's what I have so far:
(Feel free to leave a comment if you spot a mistake)
Gameboy Advance Flash Cartridge
For the most part, any device older than a 3DS no longer has any updated products. This isn't a guarantee- for example, the best flashcart for the GBA (the Everdrive GBA) was released in 2016. However, for the most part, this guide should be 'up to date' for all old devices, even if you're reading this a few years after I write this.
If you own a Gameboy/Gameboy Color: Get an Everdrive-GB by krikzz
If you own a Gameboy Advance: Get an Everdrive GBA by krikzz
If you own a Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi: Get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn, and also get an EZ 3-in-1 Expansion Pack if you want to play GBA games on your DS/DS Lite but don't want to buy an Everdrive GBA
If you own a Nintendo 3DS or New3DS: Hack your 3DS with B9S to run 3DS/GBA/GBC/etc game ROMs from the built-in SD card, and then get a DS flashcart (like the R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn) if you want to play DS games. If you only want to play DS games, hacking is optional; just get a DS flashcart.
Be careful of scammers/spammers on this subreddit! If someone says 'hey, you should buy a flashcart from xyz.com', you should check their comment history and see if they're trying to spam it. There is no official website that sells any of these flashcarts, all sellers are unofficial! If anyone claims to be 'the official seller', that's a lie. The closest to 'official website' for flashcarts is nds-card.com since they sponsor gbatemp (gbatemp is basically the biggest forum for console hacking right now), but they aren't official either.
Gameboy/Gameboy Color ROMs on Gameboy/Gameboy Color: Get an Everdrive-GB by krikzz
Gameboy Advance ROMs on Gameboy Advance: Get an Everdrive GBA by krikzz
Gameboy/Gameboy Color ROMs emulated on Gameboy Advance: Get an EZ-Flash IV 2015, and run Goomba Color Emulator (the Everdrive GBA flashcart also works just as well but is more expensive if you only want to run GB/GBC games)
Nintendo DS ROMs on a Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi: Get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn
Gameboy Advance ROMs emulated on Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi: Get a SuperCard DSTWO by supercard.sc (it has a special CPU needed for emulation)
Gameboy Advance ROMs natively on Nintendo DS/DS Lite: Get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn and a EZ 3-in-1 Expansion Pack
Gameboy/Gameboy Color ROMs emulated on Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi: Get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn (or any homebrew-capable card) and run any GBC emulator
Nintendo DSi ROMs on Nintendo DSi: Not possible since DSi 1.4.5 update (nobody cares about DSi games)
3DS info (may be subject to change):
Nintendo 3DS ROMs on Nintendo 3DS/n3DS: Hack your 3DS (if possible), it's the best way to run games. For practical purposes, flashcarts (Gateway, etc) are all blocked.
Nintendo DSi ROMs on Nintendo 3DS/n3DS: Not possible with a flashcart (nobody cares about DSi games); can be done if 3DS is modded
Nintendo DS ROMs natively on a Nintendo 3DS/n3DS: Get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn
Gameboy Advance ROMs emulated on Nintendo 3DS/n3DS: Hack your 3DS and run mGBA or the gpSP emulator. If you really want to spend money on a flashcart, get a SuperCard DSTWO by supercard.sc (it has a special CPU needed for emulation)
Gameboy Advance ROMs natively on Nintendo 3DS/n3DS: The only native GBA option on 3DS is via hacking your 3DS and running homebrew
Gameboy/Gameboy Color ROMs emulated on Nintendo 3DS/n3DS: Get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS by r4ids.cn (or any homebrew-capable DS flashcart) and run any GBC emulator; alternatively, mod your 3DS and install an emulator app
If you have the original GameBoy or the GameBoy Color, you should get the Everdrive-GB (released 2014). It's the best flashcart product on the market for the GB/GBC; the ElCheapoSD is slightly worse but a good cheap alternative if it's not sold out. There are several other very very old products, but they're really bad. 'You need a special driver that works only on WinXP in order to load games' and 'only contains 8MB of space' bad.
Everdrive-GB (about $90 in 2016)
Supports any GBC or GB game ROM (including MBC1, MBC2, MBC3, MBC5, and no MBC)
Can directly copy a GB/GBC ROM onto MicroSD card and play
Compatible with all Nintendo systems which supports GB and GBC cartridges, including Super Game Boy
Currently supports MicroSD cards up to 32GB (MicroSD and MicroSDHC support), supports FAT32
No Real Time Clock (RTC) support
Natively supports Game Genie codes
Has battery; the battery will need to be changed after a few years
Made by krikzz; buy from the krikzz store or an official USA retailer
ElCheapoSD 2.0 (about $75 in 2017)
Often sold out
Less compatibility than Everdrive-GB, doesn't support some games (only supports MBC3/MBC5 mapper games)
Can directly copy a GB/GBC ROM onto MicroSD card and play
Needs a 2/4/8GB micro SD card, formatted to FAT32
Compatible with all Nintendo systems which supports GB and GBC cartridges, including Super Game Boy
V2.0 has Real Time Clock (RTC) support (older versions ElCheapoSD V1.5/1.6 lacked RTC)
Has battery; the battery will need to be changed after a few years
Made by bennvenn; buy from the bennvenn shop
Drag'n'Derp (about $100 in 2016)
This flashcart was designed mostly for making music
Can directly copy a GB/GBC ROM onto device, using microUSB cable
Compatible with MBC5 based ROM cartridges
Limited compatibility with MBC1 based ROM cartridges
It only holds one ROM at a time
Does not need an internal battery (!)
USB 64m smart card (EMS 64)
Obsolete
Not recommended
8MB of onboard memory
Only stores one save at a time
Has battery; the battery will need to be changed after a few years
This means playing on a GBA, a GBA SP, or a GBA micro. Any GBA form factor flashcarts only support GBA games (no native GB/GBC game ROMs); it is physically impossible to run GB/GBC games on the same cart natively. GB/GBC cartridges runs at 5V, while GBA runs at 3.3V; the GBA device hardware will physically switch between the different modes when inserting different Nintendo cartridges.
You can use the Goomba Color emulator to run GB/GBC ROMs on a GBA device.
Also, if you want DS-GBA connectivity (for example, trading Pokemon using Pal Park from a GBA to a DS game), you need a flashcart with NOR ROM that can load games onto the NOR ROM, where it is saved even when the device is powered off. You may also need to patch the DS ROMs (See Pokepatch).
Often, older generation flashcart devices need software to patch ROMs before copying it over. This is because ROMs need a special header patch in order to handle saves properly.
Everdrive GBA (newly released as of summer 2016) (about $100 in 2016)
Compatible with all systems which supports GBA cartridges, including Gamecube
Supported micro SD up to 64GB (SDXC), supports FAT32
You can directly use any ROMs, no tool to pre-patch ROMs needed
Has a RTC (Real Time Clock), all games that need a RTC will work
Has battery; the battery will need to be changed after a few years
Does not have NOR memory (GBA games does not remain loaded when device is powered off)
Made by krikzz; buy from the krikzz store or the official USA retailer
EZ-Flash IV 2015 (Also known as 'EZ-flash MicroSD') (about $50 in 2016)
2015 version is MicroSD and supports SDHC cards (2GB up to 32GB, FAT32)
Older EZ-Flash IV versions use MiniSD cards up to 2GB (no SDHC support, no FAT32 support); a firmware update (version 1.75+) adds SDHC support
Older EZ-Flash IV versions using adapters from MiniSD to MicroSD may be flaky
New firmware removes DS mode; the flashcart still works on a DS, but only standalone, not in conjunction with a DS flashcart
Firmware Updates: http://www.ezflash.cn/downloads/
You used to need to use a tool to patch each ROM you copy to it; new firmware update 2.0 removes this requirement
Does not have a RTC (Real Time Clock); you will need a modded ROM to play games that rely on RTC time passing
Has battery; the battery will need to be changed after a few years
Has NOR memory; this allows a GBA game to be loaded into it and stay loaded even when powered off
Guide: https://gbatemp.net/threads/a-noobs-guide-to-ez-flash-iv-2015-release.412339/
Made by www.ezflash.cn
M3 Perfect SD
No longer sold new, is hard to find
Costs a ridiculous amount of money on the used market, due to rarity
Only supports SD cards (no SDHC or SDXC) up to 2GB
You need to use a tool to patch each ROM you copy to it
Has a RTC (Real Time Clock)
Has battery; the battery will need to be changed after a few years
Has NOR memory
Superseded by the Everdrive GBA flashcart in general, unless you need NOR memory
If you have a DS or a DS Lite, and you want to play GBA games, you have 2 options: run GBA games natively, or emulated.
The best method, running GBA ROMs natively on a DS, would require using two different cartridges (a Slot-1 DS flashcart and a Slot-2 GBA expansion cartridge). However, the combined price would still be less than a single EZ-Flash IV flashcart for GBA standalone; you also don't need to patch the GBA ROMs beforehand if you are using a two-cartridge solution. The GBA expansion cartridge must be used in conjunction with a DS flashcart; the DS flashcart has software that loads the GBA ROM onto the GBA expansion cartridge, and then runs the DS in GBA mode.
If you don't want to use a Slot-2 flashcart to run GBA games natively, your only option to run GBA games on the DS is via the SuperCard DSTWO with emulation. The SuperCard DSTWO flashcart comes with an additional CPU (the DS is not powerful enough by itself to emulate GBA games). This means you don't need to use the GBA slot on your DS; the downside is that emulation tends to have worse performance/compatibility compared to natively running GBA games. Since the 3DS does not have a GBA slot, this is the only way to run GBA games on a 3DS without installing homebrew onto it.
Slot-2 Card (you will need a DS flashcart as well; see the 'Playing NDS ROMs on NDS/3DS' section):
EZ 3-in-1 Expansion Pack (for DS Lite) or EZ 3-in-1 Fat Version (for Original DS) (about $30 in 2016)
It also offers RAM expansion and rumble features for official DS software that supports it.
Comes with 256Mb NOR flash, 2Mb SRAM, Battery
Does not have a RTC (Real Time Clock)
Natively supported by most DS flashcarts, otherwise will work with all DS flashcarts (that support homebrew) after you install GBAexpLoader
Made by www.ezflash.cn
M3 Real GBA Expansion Pack
No longer being sold new
Comes with 256Mb NOR flash, 2Mb SRAM, Battery
Does have a RTC (Real Time Clock)
Works best with M3 Real DS Slot-1 flashcart; otherwise, needs GBA ExpLoader MX patched to be installed
The GBA ExpLoader 'MX' build should be used only if necessary (ie. if you're using the M3DS Real and iTouchDS flashcarts). The 'MX' build had a couple of quirks, for instance if you tried to switch to 'ram expansion' mode in GBA ExpLoader, it would cause the DS to lock up if certain Slot-1 cards were being used (eg. the DSTwo). This didn't happen in the 'b0' build. Most flashcarts can use the 'b0' build.
Slot-1 Card:
SuperCard DSTWO (about $60 in 2016)
Not recommended, consider using a Slot-2 method instead if you have a DS; if you're using a 3DS, try homebrew in order to play GBA games.
Supports playing GBA and NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
Can also play GBA games by itself via emulation
Has heavier battery drain than other flashcarts when in use, due to the built-in CPU
Will cause battery drain even when device is in sleep mode
Supports Real Time Clock for GBA games
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by supercard.sc
Slot-1 Card:
Some old (no longer available new, but used to be top notch) options include the 'M3 DS Real', 'DSTT', and the 'Acekard 2i'. They will work on any DS/DSLite system and also play GBA games when used with a Slot-2 card (see the above section). They don't work on the newest DSi and 3DS Nintendo firmware, so I'd go with the newer options, which will play DS games on a 3DS as well (See this chart).
Nintendo has stopped blocking DS flashcarts on 3DS since version 6.0.0 firmware. Any flashcart (that plays only DS games) that work with 3DS firmware 6.0.0 should work on the current 3DS firmware; this does not apply to 3DS flashcarts (Nintendo is currently still actively blocking any flashcart that plays 3DS games).
Nintendo DS (and DS Lite) devices are not able to receive any software updates, so if you're short on money, most dirt cheap old flashcarts would work. These old flashcarts include the original R4 DS Revolution, which can be found for under $10. Those old and cheap flashcarts usually won't operate on a DSi, let alone a 3DS, though.
Some R4i flashcarts have firmware that are designed to break after a certain date (forced planned obsolescence). Avoid anything made by r4isdhc.com[1][2][3]. If your flashcart has 'r4isdhc.com' printed on it, it'll probably stop working in a year or two. For R4i cards, try to stick to the cards named here (the r4ids.cn card is probably the best DS card on the market).
Try different firmwares for your card: http://www.linfoxdomain.com/nintendo/ds/
R4i Gold 3DS RTS (about $20 in 2016)
Runs R4 Wood kernel software
Supports playing NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by r4ids.cn
R4i-SDHC 3DS RTS (about $20 in 2016)
Default kernel is very ugly and slow, I recommend replacing it with YSMenu
Supports playing NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
Will work with a DS forwarder on a modded 3DS; this means using a r4i-sdhc.com card may be the best option if you own a modded 3DS.
Unlike the flashcarts made by r4isdhc.com, these flash carts do not have a timebomb (will not break in 2018)
Made by r4i-sdhc.com
Ace3DS+ (Ace3DS Plus) (about $12 in 2016)
Runs R4 Wood kernel software
Supports playing NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
May have compatibility issues with Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver, due to anti-piracy protections on newer games
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by ace3ds.com
SuperCard DSTWO (about $60 in 2016)
Supports playing GBA and NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
Can also play GBA games by itself via emulation
Has heavier battery drain than other flashcarts due to the built-in CPU
Will cause battery drain even when device is in sleep mode
Supports Real Time Clock for GBA games
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by supercard.sc
SuperCard DSTWO+ (SuperCard DSTWO PLUS) (about $60 in 2016)
Supports playing GBA and NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Supports playing 3DS games on 3DS systems with firmware <= 9.2.0 with a Gateway 3DS clone
The DSTWO+ uses more battery than the DSTWO due to this added support for playing 3DS games
The 3DS game playing feature does not work on the latest firmware
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
Can also play GBA games by itself via emulation
Has heavier battery drain than other flashcarts due to the built-in CPU
Will cause battery drain even when device is in sleep mode
Supports Real Time Clock for GBA games
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by supercard.sc
If you want to play GBA games on a 3DS, the best method is to just install homebrew and run a GBA emulator (this is free). Check out the /r/3dshacks subreddit.
On the 3DS, there is only one brand of flashcart that can run GBA games: the SuperCard DSTWO (and the newer SuperCard DSTWO+). These flashcarts are expensive, but it's the only flashcart brand that works (since they have a built in CPU that does the GBA emulation processing). The DSTWO+ supposedly has a faster chip that does GBA emulation slightly better than the original DSTWO flashcart.
SuperCard DSTWO (about $60 in 2016)
Supports playing GBA and NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
Can also play GBA games by itself via emulation
Has heavier battery drain than other flashcarts due to the built-in CPU
Will cause battery drain even when device is in sleep mode
Supports Real Time Clock for GBA games
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by supercard.sc
SuperCard DSTWO+ (SuperCard DSTWO PLUS) (about $60 in 2016)
Supports playing GBA and NDS games on NDS/DSi/3DS systems
Supports playing 3DS games on 3DS systems with firmware <= 9.2.0 with a Gateway 3DS clone
The DSTWO+ uses more battery than the DSTWO due to this added support for playing 3DS games
The 3DS game playing feature does not work on the latest firmware
Can play NDS games natively; can play GBA games if you have a Slot-2 card
Can also play GBA games by itself via emulation
Has heavier battery drain than other flashcarts due to the built-in CPU
Will cause battery drain even when device is in sleep mode
Supports Real Time Clock for GBA games
No timebomb (this flashcart will work without disabling itself in 2018)
Made by supercard.sc
I'm not going to maintain this section, as Nintendo updates can change things (since the 3DS is still supported).
Consider modding your 3DS with B9S (see the /r/3dshacks subreddit for information). The B9S mod for 3DS is basically 'the perfect hack', where it doesn't require modifying hardware (software only), it completely unlocks the 3DS (allows removing region locks, allows playing play 3DS ROMs, any homebrew software, allow GBA/GBC/GB/etc emulation, etc), Nintendo can't patch it once the mod is installed, it's compatible with future 3DS firmware updates (updating the 3DS won't remove the hack), and you can easily remove the hack if you want to sell the 3DS or something. The only downside is that it's slightly time consuming to install.
The guide to run homebrew on your 3DS is here: https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki
If you just want to play DS game ROMs on a 3DS, get a R4i Gold 3DS RTS flashcart.
However, if you just want to spend money on a flashcart (which lacks savegame backups, cheats, etc) to play 3DS games... as of right now (mid 2016), the best (only) flashcart with support for the latest 3DS firmware and all 3DS games, is the Sky3DS Plus. (Sky3DS clones may work too, but I don't recommend them since quality may be questionable). Older flashcarts like Gateway, DSTWO+, etc no longer work with the latest 3DS firmware.
Look here as a reference: http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/3DS_Flashcart_Comparison
A flash cartridge is one of several cartridges containing flash memory that have been developed for use in video game consoles. These cartridges enable homebrew applications and games to be used. The capacity of the cartridges can range from 64 Mbit up to 8 Gbit[citation needed] (Commercial carts range from 32 Mbit to 256 Mbit). More recent cartridges use external memory cards as memory, in place of onboard memory, such as Compact Flash, Secure Digital, etc. memory cards.
These cartridges remain the best-known way to create and distribute homebrew games for many consoles, such as the Game Boy Advance. (another option in this case being the GBA Movie Player, which can run specially designed homebrew programs but cannot run illicit copies of commercial GBA Game cartridges due to the lack of onboard RAM for fast data access).
Linkers[edit]
Games are written to the cartridge with a device called 'linker'. Depending on the brand of flash cartridge, the linker either connects to a link port on the console and writes to the cartridge through the console, or connects to a mini-USB slot on the cartridge itself and writes directly to the flash cartridge. These linkers usually connect to a PC through a USB or parallel plug on the other end. Most linkers that connect to a link slot are capable of copying ROM information from commercial software cartridges. Some more recent flash cartridges use digital media cards (SD,MMC,CF, etc.) in which files are placed via a memory card reader.
Flash card adapters[edit]
Recently a number of devices have been released which use popular flash memory cards such as SD and CF for storage. These have proven popular since the development of techniques to run Nintendo DS software from a GBA cartridge, due to the smaller size of DS games and the low price of these cards compared to conventional GBA flash cartridges. Examples of such devices include the M3, R4 and Supercard.
Software[edit]
There are those that use a program called LittleWriter to write games to the cartridges. However, some people (especially people with older computers) use other software to write games to the cartridge. An example of this software is X-ROM Frontend by DanSoft Australia.
Some flash cartridges use specialized software designed for the specific cartridge, such as Power Writer and USB Writer software for the Flash2Advance Ultra cartridges. This presents several conflicts in regard to homebrew, as Power Writer uses a large database for proper naming and saving of games. ROMs that are not in the database (such as emulators or any other GBA homebrew) are prone to saving issues, and editing the database manually is difficult and involves the use of a hex editor. Such cartridges often have a proprietary interface, making it difficult or impossible to use operating systems other than Microsoft Windows for writing to the cartridge with a few exceptions.
Other Flash Carts[edit]
Flash cartridges such as Supercard DSTWO are also available directly for other consoles, like the Nintendo DS and DSi, and the 3DS. The Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo 3DS have the ability to update their system firmware via the Internet, which makes it possible for Nintendo to fix the exploit that allowed the flashcarts to work, and essentially block the flashcart from loading on the console. There are also project files existing on the Internet that guide people through creating their own flash cartridge for the original Nintendo Game Boy.[1]
Legality[edit]
The legality of flashcarts has been called into question many times, primarily by Nintendo. In a 2010 high court case, the court ruled in Nintendo's favour, and flashcarts were outlawed in the United Kingdom.[2]
Official flash cartridges[edit]
Some game consoles have official flash cartridges (and official emulators) used by developers to test prototypes of their games. These cartridges are usually part of the console's software development kit and are only available to licensed developers.
References[edit]
- ^http://www.digital-circuitry.com/DOC/NINTENDO/GAMEBOY/DIY%20Nintendo%20GAMEBOY%20Classic%20Flash%20Cartridge.pdf
- ^'high court case'. Nintendolife.com. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2012-05-02.