Nine Over Ten 9/10

As promised, this is Part 2 of the Rom Report, this time featuring NES games run on the Nintendo DS with the help of a Slot-1 Flashcart and a piece of homebrew software called nesDS.

Before I begin, I’ll need to clarify that running SNES and NES games on the Nintendo DS are two separate things.

You’ll require two different homebrew emulator software, SNemulDS for SNES games and nesDS for NES games. The first part of the Rom Report has got the SNES part covered and if you interested in running SNES games, please refer to my guide here.

The NES games I’ve tried so far are:

• Mappy – This is a really fun game from Namco, where you run about a house as a rat named Mappy, avoiding, if possible, a gang of thieving cats. Don’t know who Mappy is? Well I’ve a 8-bit Dots puzzle depicting him right here.
• Ice Climber – This really is a classic in my book. I used to play this game on my cousin’s Micro Genius (a NES clone). On the emulator running on the Nintendo DS, the game is smooth and fast, retaining the sense of excitement and challenge as you try to get your eskimo up the ice mountain.
• Super Mario Bros 3 – If you don’t like the SNES make over of Super Mario Bros 3 in Super Mario All-Stars, this is the game for you. The game runs smooth on the emulator but there’s just a slight quirkiness with the buttons. I still don’t know how progress is saved though, and the emulator (nesDS) lacks a save state function.
• Metroid – Despite having played one of the more recent Metroid games, I can’t seem to put a finger on the original Metroid. It is a little boring. But if you were to ask me whether it runs fine, the answer is a definite yes.

Overall, the fun factor is there when it comes to these old school games. The only problem is while the emulator, nesDS, can adequately run the games, it is not up to scratch feature wise, lacking the ability to save and load states. Those features are not missing from SNemulDS when it come to running SNES games.

I seem to be spending more time with SNES and NES Roms on my Nintendo DS rather than my 30-odd Nintendo DS games.

So here’s a report on what really works, what works somewhat, and what doesn’t work at all.

The hardware I’m using:

• Dark Blue Nintendo DS
• R4DS Slot-1 Flashcart
• 1 gigabyte Kingston Micro SD card (made in Japan)

The homebrew software I’ve been using:

• SNEmulDS 0.6 for SNES games
• nesDS for NES games

So lets start with the SNES games that I’ve been playing:

• Chrono Trigger – Seems to run pretty well. Text alignment is just a teensy-weensy off but otherwise performed well during my brief time with the game.
• Contra III: The Alien Wars – There were graphical glitches in the main menu, but once I got past that, the game ran smoothly. Difficult games are not really my cup of tea, so, little play time as well.
• Earthbound – This game is probably the best of the lot, but like most games, it does have some kinks here and there when it is run using the emulator. The first boss fight with Frankie didn’t go so well because a graphical glitch prevent me from seeing all the important stuff…only the pyschedelic background was showing.It was only after I fiddled with the emulator’s graphics settings that I was able to continue with the game. And it’s so far so good! Definately a must have.
• F-Zero – I always heard that this game was fast, but maybe the emulator and the small Nintendo DS screen were the cause of speed being lost in translation. It does run fine though.
• The Lost Vikings – Not working.
• Super Castlevania IV – A finicky game which runs when it wants to.
• Super Mario All Stars – This compilation of NES Mario games, re-skinned with graphics to take advantage of SNES hardware is one of my favourite games, along with Earthbound. This compilation consists of the three Mario games release in the US, Super Mario Bros 1, 2 and 3, and the previously unreleased (in the US) Japanese Super Mario Bros 2, now dubbed as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels.The save system for Super Mario Bros 3 is abit cooky, and you’ll have to replay those levels that you have completed in a particular world again, so don’t forget to use the emulator’s Save State function instead to save your progress.
• Super Mario Kart – Not working.

I’m still running some tests on other games, but do stay tune for Part 2!

As promised earlier, this is the guide on how to run NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) games on the Nintendo DS using the R4DS.

In order to get started, you’ll need several prerequisites, the homebrew NES emulator for the Nintendo DS known as nesDS and a flashcart. In my case, I’m using a R4DS.

Steps:

1. First up, you’ll need to download a piece of Nintendo DS homebrew-ed software known as the nesDS. The download page is rather sparse, but just click and download the file over at this website. It should be a single file called nesDS.
2. Copy over nesDS over to the root directory of your flashcart’s memory card (usually a MicroSD).
3. Once this is done, create a folder called NES in the root directory of MicroSD card, to store all your NES roms inside. This step is not necessary but it’s good for proper file housekeeping.
4. Put in some NES roms into the NES folder.
5. Fire up the Nintendo DS with your flashcart and MicroSD card inserted.
6. Run the nesDS file and it should be able to list down all your NES games. Simply select one and enjoy!

This should work with other Slot-1 solutions as well.

Legality:

On the case of the legality of SNES and NES ROMs, I’ve come across several sites whereby they have taken down download links for ROMs of ESA protected games. What’s ESA? Well it stands for Entertainment Software Association.

From what I can see, they have the jurisdiction to ask sites to cease and desist any piracy activity involving ESA protected intellectual property.

Legacy:

So, where does this leave all the other ROMs? We are talking about ancient games which most people can’t and won’t play because the NES and the SNES are almost certainly extinct and playing these games has moved on to the realm of the old-school/retro enthusiast.

Do we classify them as abandonware, or have the publishers left them to public domain?

This is a grey area that needs to be addressed, but in the mean time, don’t let it stop you from enjoying these old classics but If they are ESA protected, leave them be. It’s pretty hard to find those titles anyways.

Get a Wii:

Or as an alternative, get a Nintendo Wii. I hear some of these games are on the Virtual Console. Imagine playing Super Mario Bros. on a 40-inch LCD TV. It’s mind-boggling.