Retron 5 Plays Repro & Homebrews: A list of what works and what doesn't

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  • Question for the folks who know way more about this stuff than i do. I noticed that Mother 3 was on the non-working list. I have two carts, one is a flash card with the game put onto it, and one is the one sold by Piko from last summer that from what i remember was actually manufactured with the game on it.



    Is it possible that one will work and one won't, i.e. it's the mechanism for getting the ROM onto the cart that determines compatibility (so one might while one won't), or is it more likely based on the ROM itself (in which case if one doesn't work, the other won't either)?
  • Both the Final Fantasy II and Secret Ties proto releases play fine. I updated the doc.
  • Today I went back and retested all the games that didn't work on the first testing. I found two games that actually do work and edited my previous post. They are both picky though. You can put them in 5 times and they might work 2 of those 5.



    Classic Kong (Piko) – “Unknown cartridge” – Plays fine

    Super Back to the Future Part II (R) – “Unknown cartridge” – Plays fine

  • Originally posted by: GibbyVA



    32 more NES homebrew & reproductions tested. R5 was 0/32 on these. That's all of my HB/Repro atm, minus nwc/ncc/glider which are sealed and I don't feel like opening them just to test, with the results I just got.



    So far Battle Kid 1 is the only homebrew I've had work.

     

    Not Working

    2 in 1 Geminim/Siamond – “No Cart Inserted”

    8-Bit Xmas 2011 – “No Cart Inserted”

    8-Bit Xmas 2012 – “No Cart Inserted”

    8-Bit Xmas 2013 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Action 53 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Airball – “No Cart Inserted”

    Assimilate – “No Cart Inserted”

    Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment – “No Cart Inserted”

    Chuck Yeager’s Fighter Combat – “No Cart Inserted”

    Chunkout 2 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Donkey Kong Pie Foundry – “No Cart Inserted”

    Dragon Leap – “No Cart Inserted”

    Free Fall – “No Cart Inserted”

    Gemventure – “No Cart Inserted”

    Happy Camper – “No Cart Inserted”

    Homebrew World Championships 2012 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football – “No Cart Inserted”

    Mystic Pillars – “No Cart Inserted”

    Nomolos: Storming the Castle – “No Cart Inserted”

    Pirate Booty – “No Cart Inserted”

    Sara Parker’s Pool Challenge – “No Cart Inserted”

    Sneak ‘n Peek – “No Cart Inserted”

    Super Maruo – “No Cart Inserted”

    Super NeSnake 2 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Tecmo Super Bowl 2014 – “No Cart Inserted”

    The Grind – “No Cart Inserted”

    Ultimate Frogger Championship – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Castlevania – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Duck Hunt – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Hogan’s Alley – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Super Mario Bros. – “No Cart Inserted”

    War on Wheels – “No Cart Inserted”





    I am going to Add these to the list, are they all NES?
  • I feel this thread is going to be very long within a year.

  • Originally posted by: Johnny



    I am going to Add these to the list, are they all NES?



    Yes, those were all NES games



  • Originally posted by: Johnny




    Originally posted by: GibbyVA



    32 more NES homebrew & reproductions tested. R5 was 0/32 on these. That's all of my HB/Repro atm, minus nwc/ncc/glider which are sealed and I don't feel like opening them just to test, with the results I just got.



    So far Battle Kid 1 is the only homebrew I've had work.

     

    Not Working

    2 in 1 Geminim/Siamond – “No Cart Inserted”

    8-Bit Xmas 2011 – “No Cart Inserted”

    8-Bit Xmas 2012 – “No Cart Inserted”

    8-Bit Xmas 2013 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Action 53 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Airball – “No Cart Inserted”

    Assimilate – “No Cart Inserted”

    Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment – “No Cart Inserted”

    Chuck Yeager’s Fighter Combat – “No Cart Inserted”

    Chunkout 2 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Donkey Kong Pie Foundry – “No Cart Inserted”

    Dragon Leap – “No Cart Inserted”

    Free Fall – “No Cart Inserted”

    Gemventure – “No Cart Inserted”

    Happy Camper – “No Cart Inserted”

    Homebrew World Championships 2012 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football – “No Cart Inserted”

    Mystic Pillars – “No Cart Inserted”

    Nomolos: Storming the Castle – “No Cart Inserted”

    Pirate Booty – “No Cart Inserted”

    Sara Parker’s Pool Challenge – “No Cart Inserted”

    Sneak ‘n Peek – “No Cart Inserted”

    Super Maruo – “No Cart Inserted”

    Super NeSnake 2 – “No Cart Inserted”

    Tecmo Super Bowl 2014 – “No Cart Inserted”

    The Grind – “No Cart Inserted”

    Ultimate Frogger Championship – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Castlevania – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Duck Hunt – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Hogan’s Alley – “No Cart Inserted”

    VS. Super Mario Bros. – “No Cart Inserted”

    War on Wheels – “No Cart Inserted”





    I am going to Add these to the list, are they all NES?

    And I'm about 99% certain that Super retro Trio will play all of them. Well except for MMC5 and Powerpak...
  • Well that's what you get with a crap on a chip setup, permanent flaws that can't be fixed.
  • Well I have some updates as I got one of these things locally a couple hours ago:

    (Below mixed into the famiclones are chipped namco/konami(vrc) legit carts, they all work so I noted that.)





    SNES Issues



    DOOM -- NOT Recognized or Working

    Street Fighter Alpha 2 -- NOT Recognized, boots, gets stuck if it tries to load fighter sprites or title



    Multicarts Fail (have 2)



    Macross - Taco made bootleg - detects right and works

    Star Fox 2 -- Doesn't detect name, works 100%





    NES Issues



    115in1 Supervision -- Not Recognized

    DK Orig Ed (retrozone) -- Not recognized

    Gradius II (retrozone) -- Recognized and works!

    I'm Kid Dracula (retrozone) -- Not recognized



    Famicom Issues (using honeybee or ntdec adapter no difference)



    260in1 Golden Game -- Not Recognized

    Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa Baby Mario Famiclone -- Not Recognized

    Crisis Force famiclone -- Not Recognized (tries to load, gray screen)

    Moon Crystal famiclone -- WORKS

    Splatterhouse -- WORKS

    Super Mario Bros 2 Golden Mario Famiclone -- Not Recognized

    Twinbee 3 -- WORKS

    Wai Wai World 2 -- WORKS

    Yume Penguin Monogatari -- WORKS
  • My real Crisis Force, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, and Kid Dracula for Famicom all play fine, so it must be the NES conversions.
  • Those games Kid Dracula is a retrozone cart, the other two are famiclones with real chips on board. They probably will work if they can increase the capabilities of their internal checker to read what they are. They're early clones that use the same basic chips legit carts did so there's little difference.
  • Are there any "unrecognized" NES games that actually work? Many "unrecognized" SNES and Genny work, but the 16-bit consoles don't have "mapper hell" to contend with. No amount of CRC hashes will ever get every game cart in existance to load. There will always be some obscure "unknown" titles.
  • I don't have many repros, but I've tested what I do have (operating on out of the box firmware, I haven't update yet):



    Doesn't work:

    Dankey Kang (NES - bootleggers deluxe on Nintendo Age)

    Study Hall (NES - RetroZone)

    Dragonball Final Bout (Game Boy - unsure, bought on ebay years ago)

    Super Mario Bros 2 (Genesis - unsure, bought on ebay years ago)

    My Little Pony Dr Discord's Conquest (NES - DejahThoris on Nintendo Age)



    Works:

    Mr Gimmick *Recognized as Gimmick! by the RetroN 5* (NES - SavePoint)

    Pulseman *not recognized, but plays* (Genesis - unsure, bought on ebay)

    Devil World *recognized as Devil World by the RetroN 5* (NES - unsure, bought on ebay)

    Fix it Felix Jr *not recognized, but plays* (Genesis - Lost Classics)

    Fix it Felix Jr *not recognized, but plays* (Genesis - dr600n on NintendoAge)

    Pokemon Green *recognized as Pokemon Green by RetroN 5* (Game Boy - unsure, bought on ebay years ago)

    Pokemon Shiny Gold *not recognized, but plays* (GBA - unsure, bought on ebay years ago)

    Boneless *not recognized, but plays* (GB music cart with special chip - Ferris Bueller on NintendoAge)

    Power Base Mini *RetroN 5 recognizes the Master System game plugged in to the power base mini, not recognized on it's own* (Genesis - Stone Age Gamer)

    MegaMan and Bass *not recognized, but plays* (SNES - SavePoint)

    Super Mario World Return to Dinosaur Land *not recognized, but plays* (SNES - SavePoint)
  • guys, make sure to update the op's spreadsheet. i just did for mine
  • I've got another to add few here will own. DXS about 2 years back made a very very few copies using all new parts of Dragon Quest Monsters Caravan Hearts for the GBA with the english translation. This one surprisingly works but not. You can dump it, it will do that fine, but claim it doesn't recognize it. You can play, you can save on the system, but it will actually spit a warning out about it not being able to copy a save back to the cart. I know saving isn't working, but it didn't even fake save, it refused.

  • Originally posted by: drclaw411



    Works:

    Mr Gimmick *Recognized as Gimmick! by the RetroN 5* (NES - SavePoint)

    Is your Mr Gimmick Repro the RetroUSB version, or one of those third party repros using a BROTJ donor?. There are several versions of this game floating around.




  • " IT Came from the desert " - Genesis reproduction = recognized and works !

    " New Ghostbusters 2 " = it wouldn't even register the cart . Kept saying no cart inserted.



    I am running firmware 0.2.0 which according to Hyperkin is not compatible with the current update available for some reason
  • Yeah it's not, so upgrade it.



    http://retron5.in/node/2



    THey set it up really dumb, go to the bottom of the page and update the firmware to 1.1 first, then run the 0.2.2 application software. If you do it backwards it would make a fool think they bricked the machine, but if you do it out of order, just boot it, let it get stuck complaining about the application software, and then put the SD card in the back with the big firmware update(150MB~) and let it update and you're solid.



    That newer firmware really does clean things up on a lot of different things.





    I wrote their tech guy the other day about SFA2 and DOOM on SNES along with the save failure problem and I was told they have more updates coming pretty soon, like within a week if I remember the comment over facebook right.
  • I updated it this morning.



    Sfc street fighter two turbo says no cart inserted, won't even read it.



    Same for new ghostbusters 2 still, I got my copy off eBay so who knows if it's simply an issue with the system not being able to read the pins for some reason



    Everything else had worked fine so far barring gameboy games taking a couple tries
  • I had this question in another thread, and I meant to ask here but couldn't remember where this thread was. But I was wondering, how do the GBA Video (the cartoon/movie based lighter color carts) turn out on the Retron 5? Has anyone tried those yet?
  • I'd test it but I don't have any. If the system detects it like a GBA it should work fine, but if it detects it like the GB Player they'll be blocked.
  • I've got the Shrek and Shrek 2 full length movies on GBA (on two separate carts). If anyone in the ArkLaTex area has a Retron5, I can bring over some carts for testing. The max file size limits of GBA are 32Mb. I believe the Sonic, Pokemon, and Cartoon Network GBA Video packs were made to fit on 32Mb carts, but the larger full length movies required bank switching.



    There were three full legnth movies made available, Shreks 1, 2, and Shark Tale, and a couple of late releases had two full length movies on one cart. I'm not sure if the Retron will support the bank switch scheme. Even if it does, the movie carts will probably take a very long time to dump. It's also possible the Retron5 will only dump the first bank, play the first few minutes without issue, then glitch or crash when the cart attemps to bankswitch.



    Either way, I've watched both movies and can say that while passable on the tiny screen, the 240x160 resolution (exactly 1/3 the horizontal and vertical resolution of a standard DVD frame), very low frame rate (movies are 24, TV is 30; GBA video I'm not sure exactly but it's definitely less than 10 fps), and low quality codec (similar temporal quality to 90s codecs like Cenipak, with posturization and blocking artifacts), will probably not look very good upscaled to HD regardless of upscale filters used.



    The sound is also mono and low bitrate. Lots of volume compression, distortion, and harmonic artifacts which were audible on my tinny GBA speakers. I haven't tried using headphones or HiFi speakers but the loss in audio quality would likely be glaring on a system with accurate sound reproduction.
  • If anyone wants to help collect some information I know the retron tech wants to add the various homebrew, retrozone, infinite lives boards to the system so they work and they're working on a better mapper routine for proper detection of things so stuff like that should finally fire up and work.
  • I'm Kid Dracula (Akamajou Special Boku Dracula Kun) now detects 100% and plays. Even the snapshot on the system has the original rom name to it with the T+Eng patch v1.03 being used.





    It appears the fixes to routines done in 1.31 have improved something.



    DK Original Edition retrozone still doesn't detect.

  • Just got my Retron 5 and damn does this thing have a death grip on some carts. The SNES slot was very tight but after testing some games it loosened up a bit. The Genesis slot is very troublesome as it seems the cart is stuck in the slot. I had some luck by pulling on one of the top ends and the cart came out easier. The NES slot wasn't as tight but is very wobbly. GBA/GBC/GB slot is fine and had no problems inserting or taking out games. Don't have famicom games to test so I can't comment on the slot.


     


    I'm disappointed with the controller because the stick is too sensitive and registers the slightest movement. Playing Super Mario or any side scroller was kind of difficult with it and I think if they would've given the thumbstick more resistance and a bigger dead zone it would improve the controller. The bumpers could've been shaped better as they don't quite feel right. Maybe if they were concave. The controller plays fine with overhead type games like Legend of Zelda.


     


    I was able to test out some SNES repros that I have and all of them worked but not all were recognized. Here's the list:


     


    The Firemen - Unknown Cart


    Front Mission Gun Hazard - Recognized (game glitches out and resets when going to Orobos)


    Ganpuru Gunman's Proof - Recognized


    Secret of Mana 2 - Unknown Cart


    Terranigma - Unknown Cart


    Twin Bee Rainbow Bell Adventure - Unknown Cart


     


    Overall I really enjoy the system and the different options available to configure how the image displays and controller configuration. I'm now looking into getting some original style SNES and Genesis controllers. Can anyone recommend some good third party controllers.



    Edit: Spoke too soon, Front Mission Gun Hazard glitches out and resets.



    Edit: Cleaned the cart and tried Front Mission again. I had to restart from the beginning since the save on the cart was deleted. Cart works fine now. I have played 6hrs without any problems.
  • Famicom slot is like the NES one and SNES, it's fine, and you saw the more you use it the grip will settle fine on it. The stick I agree a bit with but you can get used to it. It's not so much a sensitivity issue of the stick but the user because it's just not a d-pad which people are more comfortable with in playing such things. I keep going back and forward between it and the real things.



    I'd suggest getting just a nicely treated used real pad as those modern ones while they work fine they're not durable but if you do I'd go with retrobit style because the tomee ones are junk.



    You said the games come up as unknown cart, yet they work fine. That seems to be a common issue they're working on as they improve the detection routines, power to the cart handling, and the crc checker. My Starfox 2 does the same and works great.
  • Tested last night



    Genesis

    Time Trax (repro/Sega Age) - Works as unknown



    NES

    The Adventures of Dr Franken (repro/Atomic Punk Games)- Reads fine

    The California Raisins (repro/Atomic Punk Games) - Reads fine

    Super Mario Bros. X-mas Rekringled (repro/Atomic Punk Games) - doesn't work "no cart inserted"
  • My Mother 3 reproduction cart works fine, but it does come up as unknown. It also ate my save file upon first putting it in, but that was before the 1.31 patch (which also pissed me off). Any or all attempts at writing any kind of save data back to the cart causes the system to stall despite the 1.31 patch with FLASH type of save ram.

    I also have a reproduction of Earthbound or Mother for the NES that runs perfectly and is actually recognized by the system as "Earth Bound". However, when I tried to import the save files, it said that it "either has no save data, or accessing its save data is currently unsupported". It is also not the demiforce hack due to the lack of a "Zero" on the title screen.

    I also tried two of my everydrive flash carts, those of which being the Super Everydrive v1 and the Everdrive-N8. The Super Everdrive was recognized and came up as unknown and loaded to a black screen, and the N8 was not recognized at all. One funny thing was that the system actually tried to import the save file from the game I had loaded onto the Super Everdrive (being Chrono Trigger Flames of Eternity) which in turn deleted the first slot save in the game.

    That's my two bits for right now.
  • Great idea! I just tested the NES homebrew of Mario 2 (FDS game put onto an NES cart), unfortunately it does not work.
  • I have just joined this site so that I can add my 2Cents to the compatibility listings here. I just updated the Google doc with these findings.



    FYI

    I have the Black Retron 5 with the most current firmware 1.31 installed

    I have fully tested the following (FAMICLONE) cartridges. If It is listed as not working than I assure you it is NOT dirty and currently just doesn't work.



    First Titles that worked ALL TITLES ARE FAMICLONE BOOTLEGS!!!

    1. Mickey Mouse 3 Plays fine but comes up as Unknown Cartridge (yellow # K110)

    2. Little Nemo Dream Master (Japanese ver) comes up with correct name (yellow #VT-355)

    3. FC Genjin (Bonks Adv) Japanese ver comes up with correct name (yellow no number)

    4. Mighty Final Fight (Japanese ver) comes up correct name (yellow #WZ1038)

    5. Gremlins 2 (us vers) comes up Unknown Cartridge plays fine (yellow NT 804)

    6. Power Rangers 1 (Japanese ver) comes up Kyouryuu Sentai Juuranger (yellow VT-409)

    7. Robocop 3 (us vers) comes up Unknown Cartridge (plays but has some minor graphical issues) (yellow #VT-306)

    8. Kage (Japanese shadow of the ninja) comes up correct (white cartridge A1037)



    Now for titles that DO NOT WORK AT ALL (STILL FAMILCONE GAMES)

    1. Lickle Party Ed (4in1 Little Samson jp, bonks adv jp, simpsons, some jp soccer game) Black cartridge (DTF-LK)

    2. 4in1 (rockman 1, Jackel, Mario boy, 2100 adv,) random yellow case no label

    3. James bond JR English ver (yellow # AT-27B)

    4. Robocop 2 (English ver) yellow # torn off)

    5. Super Contra 3 (Contra Force us ver) yellow #KT2077 (funny that it worked perfectly in my US model 1 NES without 10nes chip active)

    6. Battletoads 3 (Battletoads 1 us vers) yellow B-S3

    7. Addams Family (us vers) yellow AT-27F

    8. Ninja of Kage (Japanese version of shadow of ninja) this one acts up in other famiclone units (yellow #AB2009)

    9. Cross Fire 2 (Japanese Cross Fire) yellow #A1033

    10. Turtles 4 (US TMNT Tournament Fighters) yellow #AT-22A

    11. Monster in my Pocket (us Vers) yellow #AT-27D

    12. Darkwing Duck (US Vers) yellow #A1006

    13. Bird Fighter (Japanese Choujin Sentai Jetman) yellow #B-D5

    14. Rockman 5 (Japanese ver) Black Cartridge no number

    15. Rockman 3 (Japanese ver) black Cartridge no number

    16. Rockman 7 (Japanese ver rockman 6) black Cartridge #K1901

    17. Super Chip & Dale II (Japanese Rescue Rangers 2) yellow Hi.games1999 #KT2060

    18. Power Blade (English Power blade 2) yellow Trump Series #FK8305

    19. Ninja Ryukenen 3 (Japanese Ninja Gaiden 3) yellow #K1121

    20. Ducktales 2 (Japanese Ducktales 2) yellow D-K2 (strange as this also worked in my US model 1 NES without 10nes chip active. motherboard had chips and not the typical glop drop.

    2.
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