SFC vs SNES

[doodude]

First, Im trying to keep these consoles "as is" without all the mods. Sort of a pristine thought goin' thru my noggin'...

Second, Ive got an import adapter that Im using on this dual finned JP cart ( its a Chatting Parodius: Complete ) & it dosent seem to be readable...

Whud up wit dat, hmmmm?

I do have a 2nd SNES console that I guess I could mod if it comes down to it...

[Dragon1952]

I have an extensive collection of SFC game in addition to SNES and not one has ever failed to play once this modification was made to the US version SNES machine! What carts specifically are you talking about? I used to develop many SNES/SFC games and I believe that this will work but I am open to your suggestions to which ones won't....

[pilotwings]

Dragon1952 is right!

doodude no one ever sees these 2 lttle shitty peices of plastic so your console will still be pristine.

Infact get the word mod out of your head and turn it into removing 2 little shitty bits of cartridge blocking plastic.

If you don't do it then meh! to you

[pilotwings]

There are several Super Nintendo games with a lockout chip; cutting off the plastic knobs in your SNES won't help. Solution: Get an import adapter.

No dude your mixed up!

You can play any jpn game on a US snes like we have been talking about. They are both NTSC so their is no problems. It's just the same way you can play any jap n64 game on Us n64 when you have the slightly more awkward n64 tabs removed.

Your thinking of the problems that a pal machine faces when it has been internally modded by disabling the lock out chip and fitting a 50/60hz switch.OR you can do a similar mod to a Us or Jpn machine to enable the play of pal games. But that would be stupid as you only really need Us or jpn games if you have a US snes. Read below!

disable the internal regional lockout chip which stops you playing foreign games. While this will enable you to play quite a lot of imports, it still won't let you play everything. Newer imported cartridges have a clever built in facility which actually checks what speed your graphics chip is running at, and will not load if they are running at 50hz. The 50Hz/60Hz switch gets round this check. As one or two UK games require this chip to be enabled to function properly, instead of disabling it, you can add a switch to select when you want this chip on or off.

Or you can use an adaptor like you were talking about. But not all games work with an adaptor.

But that's not what the rest of us were talking about!

We were talking about can you play any jpn super famicom game on a Us snes. And the answer is yes!

[BrianC]

There are several Super Nintendo games with a lockout chip; cutting off the plastic knobs in your SNES won't help. Solution: Get an import adapter.

I heard the lockout chip only applies if you mod your SNES to bypass a chip to play PAL games (or NTSC games on a PAL system). I heard that doing this keeps some games from the same region from working too.

[BAD]

I agree with Ceph and doodude; adapters are the way to go. No messes or anything like that.

As far as all the examples provided, I never knew about any of that stuff; pretty funny. The sperm thing was awesome...

[MR_Soren]

There are several Super Nintendo games with a lockout chip; cutting off the plastic knobs in your SNES won't help. Solution: Get an import adapter.

Name one.

I've only got a half-dozen Japanese games, but they all work fine and nobody I've ever talked to has ever had a problem with J games on a US SNES. Perhaps this is a problem with other regions. I don't know.

I think it's silly to spend money on an adapter when you can be up and running in a couple minutes with some needle nose pliers.


The US Phalanx box art is awesome. Okay, it's terrible, but it really caught my attention while flipping through EGM magazine back in the day.

Kidou Soukou Dion/Imerium: Wow, that does look good. I had never heard of it before today. Too bad there aren't any copies on eBay.

[Dragon1952]

Buying an unneccessary adapter just takes money away from buying more games! It also complicates what is actually a very simple arrangement. Whenever you add hardware between hardware and software you chance having problems that didn't really exist before.

[BrianC]

Some of the games the have the so called "lockout chip" are:
Super Mario RPG
Chatting Parodius
Jaki Crush?
Super FX games?
Rockman X3?

Would someone please try these games on a US SNES with the tabs removed and confirm if they work? I remember a couple posts saying that Chatting Parodius and Jaki Crush work, but don't work on SNES's with the NES10? chip removed or bypassed. I also remember reading that some adapters may prevent some games from working.

[Ganelon]

I know that SD Gundam X is unplayable with an adapter. Somehow, the extra chip commands aren't filtered through.

[pilotwings]

Some of the games the have the so called "lockout chip" are:
Super Mario RPG
Chatting Parodius
Jaki Crush?
Super FX games?
Rockman X3?

Would someone please try these games on a US SNES with the tabs removed and confirm if they work? I remember a couple posts saying that Chatting Parodius and Jaki Crush work, but don't work on SNES's with the NES10? chip removed or bypassed. I also remember reading that some adapters may prevent some games from working.

Are these jap games that you have mentioned?

It would maybe be quite pointless playing some of them jpn games on a Us snes. Surly you can get some of them games in the US anyway no?

[doodude]

Some of the games the have the so called "lockout chip" are:
Super Mario RPG
Chatting Parodius
Jaki Crush?
Super FX games?
Rockman X3?

Would someone please try these games on a US SNES with the tabs removed and confirm if they work? I remember a couple posts saying that Chatting Parodius and Jaki Crush work, but don't work on SNES's with the NES10? chip removed or bypassed. I also remember reading that some adapters may prevent some games from working.

I just purchased a Chatting Parodius & as stated earlier it wouldnt work with the adapter I have for my SNES where my Parodius DA, Parodius 3 & Cosmo Gang would.

I have a 2nd SNES console that I will remove the "2 shitty little pieces of plastic" ( as they were referred to as ) this weekend when I have time & see if it will work then.

BTW, what does 'meh' mean? And why does Pilotwings wish it upon me!?
And should I give a rats ass?

Oh yeah, why do some of the SNES games have 2 extra connectors on each side of the main connector where the connector connects to the connection? Dig!?

[BrianC]

Some of the games the have the so called "lockout chip" are:
Super Mario RPG
Chatting Parodius
Jaki Crush?
Super FX games?
Rockman X3?

Would someone please try these games on a US SNES with the tabs removed and confirm if they work? I remember a couple posts saying that Chatting Parodius and Jaki Crush work, but don't work on SNES's with the NES10? chip removed or bypassed. I also remember reading that some adapters may prevent some games from working.

Are these jap games that you have mentioned?

It would maybe be quite pointless playing some of them jpn games on a Us snes. Surly you can get some of them games in the US anyway no?

Someone asked which games had a region chip in them, so I mentioned some I thought might have them. Of the ones I mentioned, only Chatting Parodius and Jaki Crush are JP only, but if someone already has the JP SM RPG or other JP versions of the games with the so called "region lock", it can still be helpful to know if they work on US systems. Also, with Rockman X3, the region barrier is low and the JP one might actually be cheaper. The point is to find whether or not the so called "region locked" games work on US system. It shouldn't matter if they are Japan only. Anyway, do the games I mentioned work on a US system with the tabs removed or not?

Here's a list of SA-1 games from wikipedia which are listed as having "built in CIC lockout":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_SA-1

doodude, you said your adapter is the type that needs another game in it to work? Have you tried putting something like Yoshi's Island or SM RPG in it along with Chatting Parodius?

[doodude]

Some of the games the have the so called "lockout chip" are:
Super Mario RPG
Chatting Parodius
Jaki Crush?
Super FX games?
Rockman X3?


doodude, you said your adapter is the type that needs another game in it to work? Have you tried putting something like Yoshi's Island or SM RPG in it along with Chatting Parodius?

The adapter will only accept another oval shaped game cart in its rear connection. Not a square US styled cart.
Ive tried to use Parodius DA, Parodius 3 & Cosmo Gang but Chatting Parodius will not work with the combination of any of them where the 3 will all work with a combo af any of the 3.

[BrianC]

The adapter will only accept another oval shaped game cart in its rear connection. Not a square US styled cart.
Ive tried to use Parodius DA, Parodius 3 & Cosmo Gang but Chatting Parodius will not work with the combination of any of them where the 3 will all work with a combo af any of the 3.

None of those games use a special chip. I was suggesting that you may need another game with a special chip in the other game slot for Chatting Parodius to work with the adapter.

Here is a list of SA-1 games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_SA-1

[doodude]

The adapter will only accept another oval shaped game cart in its rear connection. Not a square US styled cart.
Ive tried to use Parodius DA, Parodius 3 & Cosmo Gang but Chatting Parodius will not work with the combination of any of them where the 3 will all work with a combo af any of the 3.

None of those games use a special chip. I was suggesting that maybe you need another game with a special chip in the other game slot for Chatting Parodius to work with the adapter.

Here is a list of SA-1 games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_SA-1

Ahhhhh sooooooo....I see.
I think Ill just try to remove the SNES scraps from my 2nd console this weekend & see if that helps before investing in anymore games that may be locked.

[Spartacus]

Hmmm, are you sure what you have is a Honeybee adapter? The Honeybee will accept all cart shapes in either pin connector. The rear pin connector isn't even enclosed to prevent a square cart from going on. The instructions that came with my Honeybee shows how to play all regions of carts on any SNES/SFC console. You would place a cart of the same region as the console in the back of the Honeybee. That is the cart the console will check for compatibility. The import cart goes into the top pin connector. My Honeybee has never given me a problem playing Japanese or PAL region carts as long as I had a US cart plugged into the back pin connector.
here's some pics of my Honeybee...





I've always used the Honeybee to play imports because I was too lazy to cut out the tabs. But I was curious if there were any SFC carts with region lock chips because I know some Genesis/Megadrive carts are locked. What I did was simply plug some SFC carts into a SNES Game Genie and then see if they would play. The Game Genie only acts as a pass-thru adapter. It wouldn't allow me to play any chip locked carts unless I input codes. I checked Jaki's Crush first, because it was suggested that that game might be region locked. Jacki's Crush booted up just fine using the Game Genie. I tried the rest of these games, using the Game Genie as a simple pass-thru adapter and all booted up normaly.

Acrobat Mission, Assault Suit Valken, Battle Cross, Battle Pinball, Battle Racers, Bishin Densetsu Zoku, Caravan Shooting Collection, Cosmo Gang the Video, Cotton 100%, Darius Force, Der Langrisser, Dezaemon, The Firemen, Flying Hero: Bugyuru no Daibouken, Front Mission, Front Mission Gun Hazard, Ganbare Goemon 2, Gegege No Kitarou, Gekitotsu Dangan Jidousha Kessen, Great Battle IV, Macross Scrambled Valkyrie, Parodius Da!, Phalanx, Pop N' Twinbee, Rockman & Forte, R-Type III Third Lightning, SD F1 Grand Prix, Sonic Wings, Spriggan Powered, Super Aleste, Super R-Type, Syvalion, Tekkaman Blade, Thunderbirds, Thunder Spirits, Xardion & Zig Zag Cat

I didn't have any of the carts from the SA-1 games list, but from my observations, I would say that there's no reason that you couldn't get any SFC cart to play on a US SNES with the tabs cut out to accomodate the different cart size.

I should note that when I tried Archer MacLean's Dropzone (PAL) with the Game Genie, it would not boot. Dropzone worked just fine when I used the Honeybee with a US cart plugged into the back. The Honeybee will definately bypass region checks.

[doodude]

Spartacus,

What I purchased or believed I was purchasing was the very item you displayed. The Honeybee adapter.

What arrived at my house from Game Asylum ( the seller ) was some generic game adapter with no branding that I believe is actually what the Europeans & Japanese use to play US games on their PAL/JAP consoles.

The back of the converter where I should be attaching a US SNES has a molded area that will only allow an oval JAP/PAL game cartridge to be inserted. It dose not allow for the square US cart to be inserted.

I am presently trying to get some knucklehead at Game Asylum to understand that this Honeybee thing is not just some cute little logo that some company put on their generic game converter.

[nem]

All carts have a lock-out chip, the CIC-161. It comes in two flavours, NTSC and PAL. This means that all NTSC games, American or Japanese, will work on all NTSC consoles.

I thought this was common knowledge.

*shrug*

[ccovell]

Another difference that I noticed early on is the 1st stage of Super R-Type. The JP version has an awesome asteroid field in the first stage, while the US version has some lame, garish planets.

[Ceph]

All carts have a lock-out chip, the CIC-161. It comes in two flavours, NTSC and PAL. This means that all NTSC games, American or Japanese, will work on all NTSC consoles.

I thought this was common knowledge.

*shrug*

I think there must be more region protection than just that one chip in some games. For instance Terranigma (PAL) won't run in a US console with a Honeybee adapter (you can play it with an Action Replay 2, but you need an Action Replay 3 if you also want to be able to save). There are also several PAL games which not only check your console's region but also if it's running at 50hz. For instance Demon's Crest (PAL) does that. If you have a PAL SNES with 50/60Hz mod and play it in 60Hz mode, then it allows you to play the first level and then after you beat the first Dragon it tells you that you are running the game in the wrong region and stops. Real swell.

[doodude]

Today I removed the offensive tabs that come with the US SNES console & kept me from playing SFC games.

They play perfectly. They being:
Parodius DA
Parodius Gokujou
Chatting Parodius
Cosmo Gang

What Joy!

[Dragon1952]

See, friends helping friends to enjoy life without unneccessary complications!

Happy Holidays!

[ccovell]

All carts have a lock-out chip, the CIC-161. It comes in two flavours, NTSC and PAL. This means that all NTSC games, American or Japanese, will work on all NTSC consoles.

I thought this was common knowledge.

*shrug*

I think there must be more region protection than just that one chip in some games. For instance Terranigma (PAL)...

Grr... those CIC chips are in ALL licensed SNES/SFC games, not just "one chip in some games". Without an adaptor, you can't play NTSC SNES/SFC games on your PAL SNES. So an adaptor was made. When Nintendo noticed the adaptors, they (and other companies) put further lockouts in the software of their games to defeat the adaptors. Then universal adaptors (with codes) came out. etc.etc.

But our friend doodude is in Missouri, USA, and his games are from Japan, so adaptors and PAL games just don't enter into it.

But Ceph, yeah, several games do have PAL/NTSC lockouts in software.

[MR_Soren]

Today I removed the offensive tabs that come with the US SNES console & kept me from playing SFC games.

They play perfectly. They being:
Parodius DA
Parodius Gokujou
Chatting Parodius
Cosmo Gang

What Joy!

Congratulations! Please enjoy your expanded game library.

[greg]

Doodude, you should pursue getting a refund from that game store. Tell them that they mismarketed the item and that it is not a true Honeybee adapter. Use this as an excuse to get rid of it. Since you are using an NTSC US SNES to play NTSC JP SFC games, you do not need that adaptor. Unless you really want to play the PAL Twinbee game, you won't ever have to worry about PAL games. And as somebody already mentioned, the adaptor will actually make a few games unplayable.

There are a lot of Japan-only shmups for the SFC. You already have discovered Parodius, and I'd recommend checking into Cotton 100%, Macross Scrambled Valkyrie, and Pop N Twinbee. You can find reviews for these games on shmps.com or on my SFC homepage (click the WWW button below my post).

One SNES shmup to avoid is Raiden, which seems to be the general consensus here.

To the best of my knowledge, the Area 88 / UN Squadron shmup experience is identical. It's been a long time since I've played the domestic UN Squadron, but I'm pretty sure that Capcom didn't change anything except for the text and title screen logo.

Does anybody know any differences with the domestic/ Japanese Gradius III? I bought the Japanese version a year ago but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet.

I never heard of Kidou Soukou Dion/Imperium. I'll have to check that out. Verts on the SFC/SNES are rare.

[doodude]

I did get a refund for the Honeybee imposter & they told me just to keep it or throw it away.

Its really funny cuz I believe that adapter was for playing US games on JAP or EURO consoles due to only being able to insert a curved cart into the back of the adapter. This cart being the one that tells the console which region to accept.

We exchanged several emails & they asked me how it was supposed to work. HUH!?
Anyway, I explained how this item was supposed to work fully as they had no idea & yet they still got it backwards & claimed you could use it to play Jap games on US consoles.