NES Powerpak Review

[satoshi_matrix]

Wrote a fairly detailed review of the NES Powerpak. You guys should enjoy and it should give those on the fence all the info they need to know about it.

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/nes-power-pak-review/

[MS-DOS4]

Excellent, I've been looking to buy a PowerPak soon.

Yes, the PowerPak is the ultimate multicart.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Although I like to own physical games, I use the PowerPak in place of FDS games.  I even had my NES modded to play the extra sound in FDS games!

Well worth the bucks.

[satoshi_matrix]

bucks? Isn't that mod just adding a single (or was it two?) resistor to the unused expansion port? I did it myself.

Is it just me, or does the powerpak seem to have issue playing the title theme for FDS Zelda? Even the nsf doesn't play right on my modded NES. It runs every other FDS expansion audio game fine though.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Yes, because I obviously have awesome soldering skills.

[crade]

One of the things I found myself using the powerpak most often for is translation patched famicom games.

[satoshi_matrix]

The Powerpak is great at playing homebrew, battery back up games and fan translations. It is also excellent for playing many excellent hacks, with the notable exception of Mario's Adventure, which due to errors in the code will not on the real hardware. A shame really.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

That's how I'll probably play the Ganbare Goemon games.

Now the only concern is with the quality of the translation hacks.

I've come across questionable ones before... not necessarily the translations themselves, but quality issues.

And if Mario Adventure doesn't work on an actual NES, why does Leon have it on his site?

[ericj]

And if Mario Adventure doesn't work on an actual NES, why does Leon have it on his site?

I have the NES cart of Mario Adventure and it works fine, even if it is hard as fuck. Maybe the rom was fixed.

[crade]

That's how I'll probably play the Ganbare Goemon games.

Now the only concern is with the quality of the translation hacks.

I've come across questionable ones before... not necessarily the translations themselves, but quality issues.

It's not an easy process by any means, but most of the translations that claim to be finished don't cause any issues.  It's when you start running the ones that were started and never finished that you often have your game crash on you (I assume this is what you mean by quality issues)

I've been playing destiny of an emperor 2, and I am blown away by the amount of work that must have gone into translating it.  I tried to find someone to thank, but wasn't able to.

[satoshi_matrix]

I'm puzzled. It doesn't appear that the Mario Adventure ROM was patched, yet there are now reproductions of it. If there are reproductions, then it must also work on the Powerpak. Does anyone have a Mario Adventue ROM that DOES work on the powerpak?

[arfink]

The Mario Adventure will never work on the Powerpak because repro Mario Adventure carts have hacked hardware as well as a hacked ROM.

[nintendodork]

The PowerPak is designed to emulate an NES cartridge perfectly.  The only thing I can think of that would stop the PowerPak from not being able to play a game is usually a strange mapper, but so far the only game I've seen with that problem is the JY 45-in-1, which hasn't been reproduced at all.  If they can get it to work on a regular NES cartridge, they had to get the mapper from somewhere, right?

[Medisinyl]

The PowerPak is designed to emulate an NES cartridge perfectly.  The only thing I can think of that would stop the PowerPak from not being able to play a game is usually a strange mapper, but so far the only game I've seen with that problem is the JY 45-in-1, which hasn't been reproduced at all.  If they can get it to work on a regular NES cartridge, they had to get the mapper from somewhere, right?

For Mario Adventure, NESRepro mentions a $7 charge to modify the donor cart hardware, so there are no standard NES carts that will work without modification. 

[satoshi_matrix]

All this talk has convinced me it's a good idea to write a follow up article detailing the top picks for first time powerpak owners to check out.

Since top NES gamelists are dime a dozen, I think I should narrow the field to specialty games that the Powerpak excels at playing. I'm thinking of a top 25 or so list of hacks, improvements, homebrew, and fan translations that no powerpak owner should be without. Basically anything that you couldn't get unless you paid for reproduction cartridges. Suggestions MUST be playable on the powerpak using the newest firmware.

Can I get some suggestions guys?

I've already got a short list of:

Rockman 5 Endless (hack)
Metroid 23rd anniversary graphics (enhancement hack)
Sweet Home (translation)
D-Pad Hero (homebrew)
Earthbound (abandonware)

Looking for about 20 more suggestions.