Recommend me a fun repro

I really want to get a repro, not sure why seeing as how I still have hundreds of NES games to get, maybe because they're more unique in a way. Anyway, I'm out of work and I can only afford one (maaayyyyybbbbbeeeee two) for the time being so I want it to be a good one. I don't particularly care if it's a translation, hack, homebrew or prototype rip etc... Here's what I'm thinking:

Adventure Island 4
One of those Zelda hacks
Riki Kunio
Sweet Home
Time Diver

That's just what grabs me off of gamereproductions.com There's a bunch of other ones without any info/videos/reviews so I have no idea what they're all about. So if you really had fun with a particular repro, let me know.

Does anyone recommend nesreproductions.com over gamereroductions.com? I notice nesrepro has Moai Kun, which I already know is fun and Mario Adventure which sounds good. I have no experience with either site, and have no idea how they compare in quality. Then again, nesrepro requires I send a donor cart which is an extra step I'd rather skip. I'm willing to forego both sites if anyone here wants to sell me a repro :-)

Finally, for my own amusement; can someone shed some light on eprom shelf life? Are they destined to die out much faster than a normal rom chip? Also, why doesn't anyone burn standard roms instead of eproms? I mean, there has to be a way to do it...

Comments

  • time diver is my favourite, its a nice pick up and play beat em up, which i really like. ninja gaiden type game and very fun
  • Thanks for the input, it does look pretty cool.

    I just realized I can get burned eproms, labels, and cases and make my own repro. This sounds like a more cost effective way, since I'm no slouch with a soldering iron and I could have a bit of fun putting it all together. It would be a bit more personal too which is always nice. Again, I'd like to offer my monies to NA members since I've never seen such an active and badass community for NES collecting. So if any duders would like to sell me some burned eproms/labels/etc... let me know. I see retrousb has colored cases, but I think I'd rather have plain grey if they're out there.
  • Only way to get the cases is to cannibalize a cart. If you're using brand new boards though, I'd say recycle any old common cart you can get for 25 cents apiece...stuff like Silent Service, SMB/DH, etc. As for Time Diver, you can get it CIB for $55 in another thread here image Or you could go with the easiest type of repro, where you take a Famicom game that's fully playable in English, use a Gyromite cart with the Famicom adapter, and plug the Famicom board into it. Then you just need to make a label. Wouldn't mind doing that with Holy Diver...
  • Oh, I didn't realize Time Diver was released legit. I'd scratch that off of my list of wanted repros then, I'd rather have a game that HAS to be made to play. I can't believe I didn't think of using the same cart that I'd sac to make the repro...

    I must have 25+ copies of Gyromite that I got in search of the converter and had no luck finding one. :-p
  • Oh, it's not LEGIT. Someone just made a box and manual for the repro. It's actually a pretty sexy package too image



    As for the converter, remember it's only in first-run copies. Someone made a list of games known to have converters, although I'm not sure where it is exactly. Basically you look for 5 screw copies first, then check the weight of it...not to mention certain markings on the games (not sure what offhand). My copy with a converter is noticably heavier than the copy I have without one though. They do turn up, so just ask around to see if someone has any available for cheap image
  • I really like Spy Vs. Spy II, but mostly because I had it for C64 as a kid.
  • time diver is very fun and well worth the money
  • Zelda Outlands

    Rockman No Constancy

    Adventures of Bass
  • which one is the original Zelda but with upgraded graphics???
  • Mario Adventure is a sweeeeeet Mario hack
  • Originally posted by: ulasamosa

    which one is the original Zelda but with upgraded graphics???


    I think it was simply called Zelda DX.

    It's just a graphical update with no other changes.
  • Originally posted by: arch_8ngel

    Originally posted by: ulasamosa

    which one is the original Zelda but with upgraded graphics???


    I think it was simply called Zelda DX.

    It's just a graphical update with no other changes.


    gotta get one of those.  BS Zelda on SNES is slick too.  Its Zelda 1 with LttP graphicsl
  • Time Diver rules hard. Even though you're looking to go the DIY route, I'd definitely suggest you pick up one of the CIB's from coinheaven. Here's the thread: http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=30447&keyword1=time%20diver

    Originally posted by: riskVSreward

    I must have 25+ copies of Gyromite that I got in search of the converter and had no luck finding one. :-p


    I have three Gyromites with converters. If you're looking to buy any, let me know!

  • Time Diver is awesome, very fun and sweet music.
  • don't recommend buying SMB/DH for any repro's they are a crap shoot russian roulette kind of deal... either your going to get a board with actual PRG and CHR chips that you can desolder or your going to get glob tops that are useless...
    edit to  add here is what I mean by glob tops (thank you boot god)
    image

  • Originally posted by: i2a2n2

    don't recommend buying SMB/DH for any repro's they are a crap shoot russian roulette kind of deal... either your going to get a board with actual PRG and CHR chips that you can desolder or your going to get glob tops that are useless...
    edit to  add here is what I mean by glob tops (thank you boot god)



    I recommended them for the cases, not for anything to do with the boards.

  • yep, I know but I figured that I'd put that out their instead of using 2 games to make 1 just use one game and save the case it came in image
  • True enough, although he might have to cannibalize multiple games to do that anyway.
  • find a game that you want that uses UNROM as the donor cart it would be cheaper, same with your Zelda hack's they only use 1 eprom... their are others....
  • zelda outlands is amazing. if you like Zelda (TLoZ) you'll love this.
  • Originally posted by: i2a2n2

    find a game that you want that uses UNROM as the donor cart it would be cheaper, same with your Zelda hack's they only use 1 eprom... their are others....


    So Zelda Outlands would only need one eprom? I haven't researched it all fully. I've decided I'm gonna go with Outlands, Earthbound and Time Diver for my first attempt at making some repros. I have about 5 gold Zelda carts, so it'll be cool to have a gold Outlands when I finish it. For Earthbound, I'm gonna have to go hit up some local shops for a donor. The only games I have that I could use as donors are good and I would feel wrong sacrificing them, despite maybe having a few doubles. It'll be cool if retrousb comes out with a cart that supports all of the mappers, I mean you can only sac so many carts before they don't exist anymore. :-p

    While looking up repros, I thought Just Breed looked pretty cool... until I saw it needs a Gemfire board which is an uncommon game that I don't have. That's a sad state for repros right there, Just Breed looks awesome, but you have to sac a semi-rare cart that's worth a bit on it's own as it is. Could you use a fami Just Breed cart, solder on the new chips, and then put in a converter? I'm not even sure if the fami cart is any more or less rare/valuable, but it seems like a viable alternative.
  • zelda outlands - great new twist

    buzz and waldog - great platformer

    earthbound - awesome rpg

    recca - best shooter ever
  • Originally posted by: riskVSreward

    Originally posted by: i2a2n2

    find a game that you want that uses UNROM as the donor cart it would be cheaper, same with your Zelda hack's they only use 1 eprom... their are others....


    So Zelda Outlands would only need one eprom? I haven't researched it all fully. I've decided I'm gonna go with Outlands, Earthbound and Time Diver for my first attempt at making some repros. I have about 5 gold Zelda carts, so it'll be cool to have a gold Outlands when I finish it. For Earthbound, I'm gonna have to go hit up some local shops for a donor. The only games I have that I could use as donors are good and I would feel wrong sacrificing them, despite maybe having a few doubles. It'll be cool if retrousb comes out with a cart that supports all of the mappers, I mean you can only sac so many carts before they don't exist anymore. :-p

    Zelda Outlands should require replacing both chips, since it has heavy graphical changes to go with updated program code.

  • nah, just replace the PRG chip. the CHR RAM chip on the left doesnt need to be changed.
  • Originally posted by: coinheaven

    nah, just replace the PRG chip. the CHR RAM chip on the left doesnt need to be changed.


    Huh.  I thought all of the graphics were stored in the CHR RAM, and they're definitely different.

    Learn something new everyday image
  • Originally posted by: arch_8ngel

    Originally posted by: coinheaven

    nah, just replace the PRG chip. the CHR RAM chip on the left doesnt need to be changed.


    Huh.  I thought all of the graphics were stored in the CHR RAM, and they're definitely different.

    Learn something new everyday image

    graphics are stored on CHR ROM chips, not ram chips.   i am not a tech guy, but i guess the games with CHR RAM have them for better performance, everything else is on the PRG ROM chip (grapics, program).   zelda outlands uses the SNROM, so it has a PRG ROM chip and a CHR RAM chip, same thing for UNROM boards and FF3 (TNROM). 

  • Excuse my earlier typo...I meant CHR ROM.



    Anyway, I originally had the impression that when you had this extensive a hack, you had to replace two ROM chips (PRG and CHR)
  • Nope Unrom boards and SNROM boards only use one chip for the stored game instead of 2 for alot of the others.. minus the saves ofcourse image



    California Raisins UNROM- 1 Eprom etc

    Zelda Hack's SNROM- 1 Eprom
  • I can't recommend EarthBound (Zero) enough. It is a top notch RPG and IMO one of the best available on the NES. It's only hard at the beginning and end, through the middle it's quite good.
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