# R4 like cartridges for consoles like GB, GBC, GBA?



## Silithas (May 28, 2014)

Is there any R4 like cartridges for those consoles?`

Cause i want to get one of each nintendo handheld and get a cartridge for each that supports sd cards to load my favorite games on.


----------



## reprep (May 28, 2014)

Everdrive GB for GB/GBC and Ez Flash iv for GBA. There are some others, but they are either performing worse than these or they are hard as hell to find one to purchase.


----------



## Foxi4 (May 28, 2014)

I recently covered the Everdrive GB in the Temp's Review Center, it's a flashcart for Game Boy/Color games, you can read the review here. As far as GBA games are concerned, I suggest hunting down an EZ-Flash IV, it's the best you can get unless you'll miraculously find an M3 Perfect _(doubt it )_.



reprep said:


> Everdrive GB for GB/GBC and Ez Flash iv for GBA. There are some others, but they are either performing worse than these or they are hard as hell to find one to purchase.


USB SmartCard 64M is relatively easy to find but no SD slot equals zero convenience in MultiROM - Everdrive GB is indeed the most modern and convenient solution to date.


----------



## migles (May 28, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> I recently covered the Everdrive GB in the Temp's Review Center, it's a flashcart for Game Boy/Color games, you can read the review here. As far as GBA games are concerned, I suggest hunting down an EZ-Flash IV, it's the best you can get unless you'll miraculously find an M3 Perfect _(doubt it )_.


 
thats it D: i will camp ebay until i find m3 perfect!

to OP, what foxi said, everdrive for GB and GBC and EZ IV for the GBA,

both support SD cards; everdrive uses micro sd.
ez iv unfortunately uses MINI SD (NOT HC, you need to find either a MINI SD card or a good MICRO to MINI SD adapter)


----------



## Sakitoshi (May 28, 2014)

I agree with the above posts, for GBA the best you can find is the EZ-Flash IV, I own two and the only important flaw is the lack of RTC. stay away from the Supercard miniSD or Supercard SD.
in the other hand, for GB/GBC the Everdrive GB seems to be the best but I haven't tryied it, I do own, though, a EMS GB Smartcard 64MB USB(rather long name, lets call it EMS) and works very well and has 2 banks of 32MB each, you can fit many games in each bank and all that, but has a flaw, the EMS can only hold 1 save in total. there is a workaround though, the version 1.0.8 of the flasher(the program used to copy the games to the EMS) allow to hold saves for many games(up to 11) thanks to the new menu(thanks Mottzilla), but games like Pokemon that use 32kb save can't do that and the save end up corrupt(if you copy any Pokemon game alone without the menu it'll save fine), other games that cannot be flashed with the menu, like Shantae that use a whole bank and thus can't use the menu, cannot share the sram will erase other games saves. some games will need be patched before to work correctly(Pokemon Red/Blue are one of these) but is a good cart and very compatible. another thing is that can be a PITA to install the drivers but you can ask me as I installed them successfully on Windows 7 and 8 x64


----------



## matpower (May 28, 2014)

I feel kinda special for having a M3 Perfect right now.(Sadly, I don't have my GBA anymore to use it[Stupid "Friend") 
Well, the best solution for GBC is the Everdrive GB/GBC like everyone said, it should work with most popular games and some obscure stuff, it also lacks RTC, so you will need a patch for Pokémon GSC.
(I wonder if EMS supports Robopon)
You can get a EZ-Flash IV for GBA, and if you are lucky like me, a M3 Perfect, AFAIK, you need to patch the ROMs in both flashcards using their tools, so you may need a VM if you are using an obscure system/newer system.
Also the correct term for "R4-like cartridges" is flashcards btw.


----------



## tbgtbg (May 28, 2014)

migles said:


> ez iv unfortunately uses MINI SD (NOT HC, you need to find either a MINI SD card or a good MICRO to MINI SD adapter)



Also it doesn't support SDHC, so if you use the micro/mini adapter, you need to be sure and get a non-SDHC card and are limited to 2GB in size. Not a big deal, as if you can't fit all the GBA games you're really going to play into 2GB you're crazy, but it's something to be aware of. Also might be tricky to find non-SDHC cards these days, I dunno.


----------



## Psionic Roshambo (May 29, 2014)

A few things to randomly consider...

Pro list.
1. These ever drive things are fantastic!!! Playing on real hardware cannot be beat.
2. Near or at 100% compatible, meaning every game will work and work pretty much as it should.
3. Easy to use!

Con list.
1. Expensive, these flash carts are expensive as hell!!! (Well not nearly as expensive as buying 500 games... lol) but expect to pay at least $50 per device. GB then GBA then DS plus any other thing you want to play.

Random pro and con list tossed in to consider buying a different machine to emulate it on (Like a PSP or a JXD or something.)

1. Emulation is not nearly as compatible but it can always get better, or worse... lol
2. One machine can play lots of great systems all in one device! Woot! Usually on a fantastically better screen than the old machines ever dreamed of having.
3. Reliability, this one could be a pro or a con depending on your point of view. Old machine could break and be tough to replace. New machines surely are not built as tough as the original GameBoy need to drop a nuke on it to kill one off...

I myself if given the option would do both, buy those Everdrives AND a system to do emulation on. (Why sacrifice anything! If you can get the best of both worlds why the hell not? lol)

Edit: I am sure I missed a few thousand factors but these are some of the things I look at.
A big one I missed was battery life, new machines can last like 6 hours on a single charge, I think the original GB could go for like 12 hours on a set of batteries? (Too lazy to look it up.)


----------



## Foxi4 (May 29, 2014)

Psionic Roshambo said:


> _*Snip!*_


I agree, both original hardware and emulation have their benefits. When I want to _"improve"_ the game by playing at an increased native resolution _(especially important with 3D polygon-based games)_ or when it's simply more convenient I emulate, when I want the real, genuine retro experience of the games I play on the original platform and no emulator can really replace that blast from the past feeling. If you want to play the games the way they were meant to be played and don't feel like walking around with several cartridges in your pockets a flash cart is a good solution.


----------



## Psionic Roshambo (May 29, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> I agree, both original hardware and emulation have their benefits. When I want to _"improve"_ the game by playing at an increased native resolution _(especially important with 3D polygon-based games)_ or when it's simply more convenient I emulate, when I want the real, genuine retro experience of the games I play on the original platform and no emulator can really replace that blast from the past feeling. If you want to play the games the way they were meant to be played and don't feel like walking around with several cartridges in your pockets a flash cart is a good solution.


 

Yeah one of the things that kind of bugs me about emulation is when playing a game that requires 1/100th of a second button press timing. Hard enough to pull off on original hardware but usually emulators are ever so slightly off... Just enough to make you re-learn the exact timing. 

Less of a problem on newer systems, very few games after the 8 and 16 bit gen require you to "wall jump" like Super Metroid or Ninja Gaiden. 

Some emulators I can tell they go to great pains to get it exactly right and it's so awesome when they do, makes me feel like I can get my cake AND eat it!!!


Edit: The timing thing isn't just homebrew emulation, the reason I mention Super Metroid was on the Wii-U it is just so slightly off. You can play like 99% of the game and not notice it at all. Then do a wall jump and learn new meaning to the words "Pain in the ass". Ironic to me that it's less noticeable on almost any other emulator in the same game. (Come on Nintendo... really? lol)


----------

