<div align="center"><u><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Acekard 2 Review<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></u></div>
<div align="center"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/acekard2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
The acekard 2 is a budget entry from the Acekard team being one of the most user friendly(GUI-wise) and cheapest flashcards out in the market today. So lets check it out. From the acekard website itself, here's what it boasts; <ul><li>Perfect compatibility. No need to convert, No need to flash!</li><li>Save file is written directly to TF card. No need to manually select save size, no data loss.</li><li>Automatic DLDI patching. Run homebrew programs without converting.</li><li>Support soft-reset, Download Play and WiFi gaming!</li><li>Support SDHC TF card. Virtually unlimited storage size !</li><li>Support any brand of TF, with no slowdown!</li><li>Support Action Replay cheats . Build-in editor!</li><li>Low power consumption for longer operational time!</li><li>Built-in multiple languages and DIY skinning!</li></ul>For this review i will be using a 4gb A-data Class 6 microSD and a EZflash 3 in 1 along with Bliss's custom OS menu 4.07.k09.p1
<b>
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->The Review<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
1. Packaging & Build Quality
2. GUI & Features
3. Rom Compatibility & Homebrew
4. Download and Play
5. Conclusion
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->1. Packaging and Build Quality <!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
The acekard 2 comes in a plastic package (as seen in the opening picture) which is fairly strong, it would take some effort to tear it open. Luckily enough its not a blister package. The package itself is fairly easy to open, just grab the top and pull out ways. It should just come apart.
So now lets look at the acekard itself.
Front:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0222.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Back:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0226.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Now this is where a few of the faults of the acekard come into play, the build quality isn't the best of cards. As you can see from the bottom image (well not really) the acekard is held together by 5 clips, which do require a little bit of effort to take off but not much. The plastic of the card is fairly flimsy, you can hold opposite sides, move your fingers in opposite directions you can hear a creaking sound between the front and back two pieces which hold the card together. Which doesn't invite much fun at all. Also if you look at the back picture the acekard, there seems to be much protection of the PCB at all, there also seems to be.... BITEMARKS ON THE PCB??!??!?!. No not really, its possibly just the machine used to separate the PCB's in the production line.
Now for what it looks like in the DS.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0227.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0228.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Doesn't stick out much and fits fairly flush into the DS. If you noted that on the front image before that there was a square piece sticking out under the sticker, you are correct if you did. If you didn't you must be pretty blind. That little square doobie is a chip on the backside of the PCB. It doesn't interfere much though, it only sticks out by 0.1mm or so. It makes no difference when inserting the acekard.
Overall Build Quality isn't that great but who cares? its going to be in your DS the whole time if you decide to get one.
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->2. GUI & Features <!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
We will be reviewing Bliss Menu here seeing as it is the best and only has a few changes to it. (and review with the best stuff right?)
This is where i creamed myself a few times. The GUI is so userfriendly and has so many extra features. It also looks extremely pretty as well ^^
Top Screen:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0230.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Bottom screen:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0229.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
The menu itself is extremely easy to use. ALL of the options can be accessed through the start button on the bottom right (other skins its on bottom left but it can pretty much be anywhere depending on the skin) So lets look at the start menu of it.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0232.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Pretty simple, the Cut/copy/delete/paste is a very good feature, mini file browser and menu in one ^^. Lets look at the "Patches" menu first
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0233.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Pretty standard menu, only bad thing here to go enable something you HAVE to move it to the right. same with disabling something, you HAVE to move it to the left. *Clicks on 3 in 1*
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0234.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Now this option is only avaliable if you have a ezflash 3 in 1 in your slot-2. But it is pretty useful, saves you from having to use Gbaexploder or any ezflash software to play gba games. You can set it to always load games onto the NOR memory and you can set the rumble levels as well. now lets get out of that and move onto the "System options"
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0235.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Another pretty standard system menu for flashcards these days, what i like about this menu is the ability to change the skin whilst in the menu, only requires a quick reset too ^^. With showing file types, it can be either .nds, .nds + .sav or all. I care little for this mini feature but i'm just throwing it out there. Lets see what the 'Advanced' Option has for us.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0236.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Not much here either, i find the "Show Hidden Files" Pretty handy though relieves clutter of the card. "Show rom name in list" is pretty self explanatory, this is where you can change what it displays for the rom on the list. You can change it Normal - which just shows what the rom looks like on the computer (e.g Zelda.nds), Hide ext. - hides the extension of the rom (e.g instead of Zelda.nds it displays Zelda) and Internal name, which reads the rom header and displays that (e.g instead of Zelda.nds/Zelda it will display "The legend of Zelda e.t.c.....") Lets move onto the Properties panel.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0237.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
This just displays the rom details such as size, name, code e.t.c Rom info is pretty nifty as well, it brings you to another "Patches" menu however its a menu set aside for that specific game. Here you can set all the patches for this game <b>only</b>. This menu also has a "save slots" feature, extremely useful especially for games like pokemon where you are only allowed 1 save file. Now here is another feature i absolutely love. The Shortcut feature, when you load the Acekard 2, it originally displays this screen:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0231.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
(without gba_exploder though), i find this feature extremely useful, what it does is sends a "shortcut" to this screen for easy access. Saves time as well when you have plenty of games to scroll though. Lets go to the "Help" screen.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0239.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Pretty simple, all it does is show you what the button control of the menu is. What i like though is the big red button on the top right corner ^^, its a power off button.
One feature I creamed myself and is stopping me from going to other carts is the ability to play gba games straight from the menu (this only shows up if you have a expansion capable of gba games). The game itself is listed in the menu and depending on how you set your expansion pack up it will either run from PSRAM or NOR memory (iirc default is PSRAM). Heres what it looks like in the menu:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/gba.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Overall, the Bliss Menu is a very good (if not best) Menu. Its extremely user friendly and looks extremely pretty. Skinning is also reportedly easy as well, especially with the Acekard 2 Editor released.
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->3. Rom Compatibility & Homebrew<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
Now here is the main challenge ^^. Lets do some testing
Animal Crossing - Works!
Mario Kart DS - Works!
42 All Time Classics/ Club House Games - Works!
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Works! <b>No Lag!</b>
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Works! <b>No Lag!</b>
Trauma Center: Under the Knife - Works!
Pokemon Pearl and Diamond - Works!
100% rom compatibility is expected of all new flashcards these days and acekard delivers. Please not that i get No lag in both Castlevania games Because i am using the a-data and I have tested about 200 games.
So now time for the other test - homebrew.
ComicBookDS - Works!
Lameboy - Works!
DSorganize - Works!
Moonshell - Works!
VNDS - Works!
WabbitDS - Works!
Auto-DLDI works like a charm on the Acekard.
As said earlier, 100% rom compatibility and Auto-DLDI are expected on all new flashcarts and the acekard 2 Delivers ^^ there is one hiccup im getting though, with Soft-reset enabled I wasn't able to play the minigames in mariokart.
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->4. Download and Play!<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
Probably the hardest test of all, the Download and Play test. Please note that to enable download and play, set it up in the "patches" Menu.
Mario Kart - Works!
Meteos - Works!
Metroid Prime: Hunters - Works!
Worms: Open Warfare - Works!
Only Games i have tested over Download and play but reports suggest that it works %100 fine.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Conclusion</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The Acekard 2 is a GREAT buy especially at 23USD. It supports all games (So far) and has perfect Download and Play (so far). The developers are very active on the acekard forums, giving lots of support. Also the userbase is growing quite large as well again offering a lot of support. Its must buy for Nintendo DS owners who wish to have a hassle free card. There are minor gripes here and there but they can be fixed through future upgrades. Here is a quick summary of the acekard in Pros/cons.
<b>
<u>Pros </u></b>
+ MicroSDHC support
+ 100% Rom compatibility
+ 100% Download and Play Compatibility
+ Completely Drag and Drop, No need to convert anything
+ Very nice, Fast GUI
+ Easily Skinnable
+ Cheap! (23 USD from DX)
+ Multiple languages
+ Cheat System Works
+ Included MicroSDHC reader.
<b><u>Cons</u></b>
- Crappy Build Quality
and last but not least. Reviewed by:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0241.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<div align="center"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/acekard2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
The acekard 2 is a budget entry from the Acekard team being one of the most user friendly(GUI-wise) and cheapest flashcards out in the market today. So lets check it out. From the acekard website itself, here's what it boasts; <ul><li>Perfect compatibility. No need to convert, No need to flash!</li><li>Save file is written directly to TF card. No need to manually select save size, no data loss.</li><li>Automatic DLDI patching. Run homebrew programs without converting.</li><li>Support soft-reset, Download Play and WiFi gaming!</li><li>Support SDHC TF card. Virtually unlimited storage size !</li><li>Support any brand of TF, with no slowdown!</li><li>Support Action Replay cheats . Build-in editor!</li><li>Low power consumption for longer operational time!</li><li>Built-in multiple languages and DIY skinning!</li></ul>For this review i will be using a 4gb A-data Class 6 microSD and a EZflash 3 in 1 along with Bliss's custom OS menu 4.07.k09.p1
<b>
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->The Review<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
1. Packaging & Build Quality
2. GUI & Features
3. Rom Compatibility & Homebrew
4. Download and Play
5. Conclusion
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->1. Packaging and Build Quality <!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
The acekard 2 comes in a plastic package (as seen in the opening picture) which is fairly strong, it would take some effort to tear it open. Luckily enough its not a blister package. The package itself is fairly easy to open, just grab the top and pull out ways. It should just come apart.
So now lets look at the acekard itself.
Front:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0222.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Back:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0226.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Now this is where a few of the faults of the acekard come into play, the build quality isn't the best of cards. As you can see from the bottom image (well not really) the acekard is held together by 5 clips, which do require a little bit of effort to take off but not much. The plastic of the card is fairly flimsy, you can hold opposite sides, move your fingers in opposite directions you can hear a creaking sound between the front and back two pieces which hold the card together. Which doesn't invite much fun at all. Also if you look at the back picture the acekard, there seems to be much protection of the PCB at all, there also seems to be.... BITEMARKS ON THE PCB??!??!?!. No not really, its possibly just the machine used to separate the PCB's in the production line.
Now for what it looks like in the DS.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0227.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0228.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Doesn't stick out much and fits fairly flush into the DS. If you noted that on the front image before that there was a square piece sticking out under the sticker, you are correct if you did. If you didn't you must be pretty blind. That little square doobie is a chip on the backside of the PCB. It doesn't interfere much though, it only sticks out by 0.1mm or so. It makes no difference when inserting the acekard.
Overall Build Quality isn't that great but who cares? its going to be in your DS the whole time if you decide to get one.
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->2. GUI & Features <!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
We will be reviewing Bliss Menu here seeing as it is the best and only has a few changes to it. (and review with the best stuff right?)
This is where i creamed myself a few times. The GUI is so userfriendly and has so many extra features. It also looks extremely pretty as well ^^
Top Screen:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0230.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Bottom screen:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0229.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
The menu itself is extremely easy to use. ALL of the options can be accessed through the start button on the bottom right (other skins its on bottom left but it can pretty much be anywhere depending on the skin) So lets look at the start menu of it.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0232.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Pretty simple, the Cut/copy/delete/paste is a very good feature, mini file browser and menu in one ^^. Lets look at the "Patches" menu first
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0233.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Pretty standard menu, only bad thing here to go enable something you HAVE to move it to the right. same with disabling something, you HAVE to move it to the left. *Clicks on 3 in 1*
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0234.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Now this option is only avaliable if you have a ezflash 3 in 1 in your slot-2. But it is pretty useful, saves you from having to use Gbaexploder or any ezflash software to play gba games. You can set it to always load games onto the NOR memory and you can set the rumble levels as well. now lets get out of that and move onto the "System options"
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0235.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Another pretty standard system menu for flashcards these days, what i like about this menu is the ability to change the skin whilst in the menu, only requires a quick reset too ^^. With showing file types, it can be either .nds, .nds + .sav or all. I care little for this mini feature but i'm just throwing it out there. Lets see what the 'Advanced' Option has for us.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0236.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Not much here either, i find the "Show Hidden Files" Pretty handy though relieves clutter of the card. "Show rom name in list" is pretty self explanatory, this is where you can change what it displays for the rom on the list. You can change it Normal - which just shows what the rom looks like on the computer (e.g Zelda.nds), Hide ext. - hides the extension of the rom (e.g instead of Zelda.nds it displays Zelda) and Internal name, which reads the rom header and displays that (e.g instead of Zelda.nds/Zelda it will display "The legend of Zelda e.t.c.....") Lets move onto the Properties panel.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0237.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
This just displays the rom details such as size, name, code e.t.c Rom info is pretty nifty as well, it brings you to another "Patches" menu however its a menu set aside for that specific game. Here you can set all the patches for this game <b>only</b>. This menu also has a "save slots" feature, extremely useful especially for games like pokemon where you are only allowed 1 save file. Now here is another feature i absolutely love. The Shortcut feature, when you load the Acekard 2, it originally displays this screen:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0231.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
(without gba_exploder though), i find this feature extremely useful, what it does is sends a "shortcut" to this screen for easy access. Saves time as well when you have plenty of games to scroll though. Lets go to the "Help" screen.
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0239.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Pretty simple, all it does is show you what the button control of the menu is. What i like though is the big red button on the top right corner ^^, its a power off button.
One feature I creamed myself and is stopping me from going to other carts is the ability to play gba games straight from the menu (this only shows up if you have a expansion capable of gba games). The game itself is listed in the menu and depending on how you set your expansion pack up it will either run from PSRAM or NOR memory (iirc default is PSRAM). Heres what it looks like in the menu:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/gba.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Overall, the Bliss Menu is a very good (if not best) Menu. Its extremely user friendly and looks extremely pretty. Skinning is also reportedly easy as well, especially with the Acekard 2 Editor released.
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->3. Rom Compatibility & Homebrew<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
Now here is the main challenge ^^. Lets do some testing
Animal Crossing - Works!
Mario Kart DS - Works!
42 All Time Classics/ Club House Games - Works!
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Works! <b>No Lag!</b>
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Works! <b>No Lag!</b>
Trauma Center: Under the Knife - Works!
Pokemon Pearl and Diamond - Works!
100% rom compatibility is expected of all new flashcards these days and acekard delivers. Please not that i get No lag in both Castlevania games Because i am using the a-data and I have tested about 200 games.
So now time for the other test - homebrew.
ComicBookDS - Works!
Lameboy - Works!
DSorganize - Works!
Moonshell - Works!
VNDS - Works!
WabbitDS - Works!
Auto-DLDI works like a charm on the Acekard.
As said earlier, 100% rom compatibility and Auto-DLDI are expected on all new flashcarts and the acekard 2 Delivers ^^ there is one hiccup im getting though, with Soft-reset enabled I wasn't able to play the minigames in mariokart.
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->4. Download and Play!<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>
Probably the hardest test of all, the Download and Play test. Please note that to enable download and play, set it up in the "patches" Menu.
Mario Kart - Works!
Meteos - Works!
Metroid Prime: Hunters - Works!
Worms: Open Warfare - Works!
Only Games i have tested over Download and play but reports suggest that it works %100 fine.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Conclusion</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The Acekard 2 is a GREAT buy especially at 23USD. It supports all games (So far) and has perfect Download and Play (so far). The developers are very active on the acekard forums, giving lots of support. Also the userbase is growing quite large as well again offering a lot of support. Its must buy for Nintendo DS owners who wish to have a hassle free card. There are minor gripes here and there but they can be fixed through future upgrades. Here is a quick summary of the acekard in Pros/cons.
<b>
<u>Pros </u></b>
+ MicroSDHC support
+ 100% Rom compatibility
+ 100% Download and Play Compatibility
+ Completely Drag and Drop, No need to convert anything
+ Very nice, Fast GUI
+ Easily Skinnable
+ Cheap! (23 USD from DX)
+ Multiple languages
+ Cheat System Works
+ Included MicroSDHC reader.
<b><u>Cons</u></b>
- Crappy Build Quality
and last but not least. Reviewed by:
<img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh224/googlebotgfx/review/IMG_0241.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Always touching 
] brb
