Game Accessories Part 2: Super Adaptor

Time for another game accessory, the wonderful Super Adaptor. This is a useful cart that allows the use of imports on the super famicom.

The cart has a weird design, the bottom is shaped like a SFC cart and the upper part is shaped like a SNES cart. The label says "For use with Super Famicom" but it has the concave space SNES carts have in order to fit through the plastic tabs.


Unlike some other import carts, the cart connector has the extra space for games that need the extra pins on the sides and there is enough space and also provides enough space to fit either a SFC or SNES cart.

As far as compatibility goes, i haven't found a game that won't work, though I only tried japanese and american games, perhaps PAL carts will have issues.

Here's what it looks with a US cart and a japanese cart (Sorry for the glare).

Game Accessories Part 1: Game Action Replay

Once again I'm back from the dead, this time to bring lots of useless (and a few useful) game accesories that i have collected over the years, updates will be brief but constant so get ready because here it goes.

To kick off with a good start, here's the Game Action Replay for NES, this is sort of a primitive version of savestates provided by emulators, only a lot less useful.


This is how the front of the cart looks like. It is a very nice looking transparent case with a board much bigger than regular NES carts and a visible battery and cart slot.


Here's the back, it has 5 regular philips screws and for some reason there is nothing protecting the pins on this side. The part of the board that has the pins is also thinner than regular NES carts, which means that if your NES has an old connector it is likely to not make contact.

The installation is fairly simple, though you do have to open your NES and remove a piece of metal shielding and leave the cart permanently there.


Once it is installed you are ready to insert a cart into the GAR's cart slot, doing so is tricky, you have to insert it at an angle and leave the cart door open while you play.


Now comes the fun part, using it with the games, by pressing A + select you are treated with this menu (picture shamelessly stolen from The unlicensed world of Nintendo).

Here's what it does:

Slow Motion: Real Slow motion, not that wimpy start button autofire.

Slow Motion Flash: Sometimes fixes some bugs that slow motion causes.

Function Key: Switch between the select and start buttons to access the menu (for games that use select as a pause button).

Game Type: Depending on the letter selected and the game inserted changes the number of available save states, I'm not sure how this is determined, maybe the manual says.

Save Screens: Save current state.

Load Screens: Load state.

Scan Screens: Get a glimpse of all saved states.

Quit: Exit menu.

Unfortunately its not as useful as it sounds, many games crash or get corrupted graphics when loading, this happens most when trying to load from the title screen or from a level different to the one you saved on, mostly a hit or miss. Another issue is not being compatible with the top loader due to the cart's shape.

Despite everything, this cart usually goes for more than $80 on ebay, whenever you can find it that is.

My current Puyo Puyo obsession

I wasn't dead again, I was just gathering games and my current obsession (for a couple of years actually) is Puyo Puyo. As you may or may not know, Puyo Puyo is a blob stacking puzzle game that is very big in Japan but is almost totally ignored in the rest of the world for who knows what reason.

It all started a few years ago when I was asked to make a Puyo Puyo clone as part of a job interview, and luckily I had a copy of Sonic Classics that a friend gave to me back when I got my first Genesis.

Sonic Classics comes with Sonic 1 and 2 and also with "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine" which I had seldom played until that point but had to in order to understand the game. That's when I got really into it and that quickly became an obsession.

So a while back I managed to get Puyo Puyo Sun for the Saturn



Pretty good game and it came complete with all the things a weirdo obsessive collector wants, not that I am one, but they're still cool to have.



First off there is this poster thingy I have no clue what it says but if you do let me know. OK that wasn't very exciting but I was too lazy to unfold it.



Second up is this sheet with stickers but not just any stickers, GLOW IN THE DARK STICKERS!!



Last but not least comes the spine card, why do people make such a big deal about spine cards is a mystery to me and probably always will. It comes with some writing I'll probably never be able to understand and a piece of artwork that is also on the CD case. I have known people that rebuy games online because the first they got didn't have this piece of cardboard that serves no purpose once you remove the shrinkwrap.

Anyways, some time passed and I managed to get some more games, starting off with Kirby's Avalanche, the US localization for Super Puyo Puyo.



Nothing too exciting, pretty much the same game, except Puyos are now "Ghosts" and the cast was replaced with Kirby characters.

Some more time passed and I happened to know someone who was in Japan at the time (the same person who sold me Puyo Puyo Sun), so the logical thing to do was ask for more Puyo games.



This is Super Puyo Puyo, the one Kirby's Avalanche and Dr. Robotnik's are based on. This one has a certain charm to it with all the original characters, at least more than the american releases.



Finally, there's Puyo Puyo Tsuu, my favorite of the old series, this one came cart-only, it's the one I play the most.



Finally, the cart that started it all, this one went through a lot back when my friend owned it and it shows, but I treasure it.

I have yet to get the Puyo Puyo Fever games but those ones are a bit though to find at a reasonable price.

If anyone has any puyo game that they're willing to sell don't hesitate to contact me!

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Some NES games..........and a NOMAD!

Today there was a good loot, first a few crappy beat up NES games, all in poor condition but working, they are: Anticipation, Rollergames, NES Play Action Football, Tecmo Bowl, Gotcha and Al Unser Jr. Turbo Racing, out of the whole lot perhaps only Kung Fu and Rollergames are worth more than 10 minutes, but the guy wanted 3 dollars for the lot, anyways, this isn't about those ugly games, its about that other thing I found.

......A SEGA NOMAD!




Yes, that ill-fated, not-so-portable Genesis that SEGA released in the old days. I just love it, this is the third one for me, but one got stolen, that thing is so huge I wish I could beat the guy who stole the other one with it, that would do some serious damage.

Anyways, back to this NOMAD, the screen isn't too scratched, unnoticeable while playing thanks to the battery draining backlight. It came with no battery pack, I've actually never seen a NOMAD battery pack and there is no place in it to put regular batteries, but I've read those things only give you like 2 hours of play time and that you are better off with the AC adapter, which thankfully is the same one as the Genesis 2, 3 and 32x, so it isn't very hard to find.

The NOMAD's screen looks great.......as long as nothing is moving, Sonic looks like a blur in it, which is actually kind of normal, but Eric Lecarde of Castlevania does too and also the bullets from Contra, and pretty much every sidescrolling hero, but most games are pretty much playable, like Street Fighter or Puyo Puyo, er...Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.

Another cool feature of the NOMAD is that it has a controller port at the bottom and an A/V out jack at the top, also like the ones on the Genesis 2, 3 and 32x so you can hook it on a TV and play with a friend.

Definetily recommended if you are a Sega or at least a 16-bit fan.