Hacking Best Flash Card Options?

[WiiFit_Guy]

I have a Nintendo DS original (grey). I really want to get a Flash cart for my GBA games. Though I hear that it is really hard to find a good working one. I hear about DS Super Card 2, but I really want good speed, no slowdowns and overall an authentic expericance (hence Im leaning towards something like a EZ Flash 4). I was wandering if anyone can please suggest me a good brand (GBA Flash) or their opinion and a link to a good trustworthy store.

Another thing is that I also want to be able to play my Gameboy/GBC roms. I heard of EverDrive GB. Although expensive, I guess thats the price I have to pay for good quality/lack of good working GBC flash carts in 2015. I would buy a Gameboy SP, since DS doesnt play Gameboy games.

Though I do find that it would probably be a good idea to just maybe buy a PSP Go instead and have both GBC and GBA along with NES/SNES and N64 emualtors. Though the their goes the authentic experience on playing on an actual Gameboy Color/GBA/DS.

Summery:

-Want to buy a flashcart for GBA games for my DS.
-Also a flash cart for GBC games.
-Thinking its just easier to buy a PSP Go for emulation, though authenticity is lost.


Thank You

 

[migles]

ez iv is the best one that is available. its really great....
for GBC games you need to get a GBC flashcart, like everdrive.. you can use goomba emulator to run on ez iv (its a gbc emulator for gba) but i heard its not that great...
everdrive GB, is good but expensive...
as for the ez iv, i think its a really good card and for average price.. (i am ok at paying 50 for a card, but nothing more..)


psp is a very good ideia... i remember playing pokemon emerald on it, it was damn good..

if you preefer the real things, get GBA SP..
if you preefer to don't spend a lot of money and want to be portable\hate to have 1 device for a single thing, get the psp.. the emulators are not bad...

 

[sudosilman]

i have also been looking to get into the DS Flash Card arena, and i have learned that the SuperCard DSTWO is the best flashcard on the market with its own RAM and CPU for better emulation.​

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Unfortunately it looks like every single place i have looked is completely sold out of this card and i dont know where to get them​

 

[DanTheManMS]

Your best bet is an EZ-Flash IV. They've actually come out of hiding and are updating their software and firmware, becoming the first GBA cart to allow microSD cards larger than 2 GB (most carts are not SDHC-compatible, that didn't come until the DS era). It's also the only one you're reasonably going to find nowadays, conveniently enough. I don't know where exactly to find one, but you're in the right section of the forum for searching that out.

You could go for an Everdrive GB or something similar, but be prepared to pay a lot. Instead, I would go ahead and give Goomba Color a try, to see if it works well with the games you want to play. I don't know what the person above is talking about, it's very compatible with almost every game nowadays and even supports savestates in the latest update. See http://gbatemp.net/threads/still-working-on-goomba-color.373395/ for the latest version of that. You can either use the Goomba Frontend to make your compilation or, if you're familiar with the command line, run the following line of code to create a compilation:

copy /b goomba.gba + *.gb + *.gbc OUTPUT.gba

(you can even copy and paste that line into Notepad, save it as "go.bat", and double-click it and the code will run and produce your output file for you).

Run the resulting file in VBA or whatever your preferred GBA emulator is, and give it a try. L+R brings up the menu where you can change control settings and manage saves and such.

I completely understand if you'd prefer to go with a real GBC flash cart for the truly authentic experience. I'm just saying that for me at least, Goomba Color worked great with all the games I wanted to play.

 

[sj33]

How concerned should I be about the fact that EZ-Flash cards use a battery for backup? I'm concerned this will die a few years down the line and I'll have to resolder a new one. Is this unavoidable with GBA carts?

It's tempting to wait for the Everdrive GBA but its essentially vapourware at the moment.

 

[160R]

No problem about saves, when "battery dry" displays in EZ IV, battery is not totally dead, so you can copy the save to microSD memory, and after replacing hte battery, keep using the old saves

There is some online store selling them with an additional replacement battery. They do worldwide shipping and accept credit card payment.

 

[tvoretz]

If you aren't comfortable soldering in a new battery, you could soft reset back to the EZ-Flash's menu whenever you're done playing a game. You'll have to wait for the game to save, but you won't have to depend on the cart's battery for power.

 

[sj33]

So the battery saving is only necessary if you don't want to exit to the menu first? Seems like doing that woulde be a much better idea that using the battery power.

My soldering skills are terrible but I'm sure I could solder a battery. I just don't like the idea of essentially ticking time bombs in cartridges. It wouldn't be so bad if they were socketed rather than soldered.

 

[TecXero]

So the battery saving is only necessary if you don't want to exit to the menu first? Seems like doing that woulde be a much better idea that using the battery power.

My soldering skills are terrible but I'm sure I could solder a battery. I just don't like the idea of essentially ticking time bombs in cartridges. It wouldn't be so bad if they were socketed rather than soldered.

If you want, you can solder in a holder, so swapping out batteries in the future will be much easier. Heck, I was thinking about making a new housing for mine that would allow me to slide the battery in and out without having to open it up.