Don't say it couldn't be done, as this 'programmer' has done it, with a bit of modding and hacking!

You own some SNES cartridges, but you only have NES console, well no problem, as you can now run SNES games on your original NES!

Tom Murphy, aka Tom7, has found a way to manipulate NES cartridges so that they can truly outperform what would usually be expected from them. Tom hacks the circuit boards of these cartridges, equipping them with Raspberry Pi 3 mini-computers. The Pi plays host to a number of SNES ROMs which are all filtered through a special program, translating the necessary data into something the NES can read and essentially display on a TV.

If you want to see all of this happening in action, check out the video below. The idea starts to take shape at around 5:40, and if you skip ahead to 16:12, you'll see Tom placing the finished NES cartridge into the system, allowing the NES to play the SNES classic Super Mario World. This is some kind of Back To The Future-style wizardry that goes well over our heads, but it's pretty amazing to see.
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This isn't the only interesting project that Tom7 has created, though. A few years back he created a computer program that could learn how to play NES games on its own, with just tiny amount of instruction from the player. Somehow, though, seeing Super Mario World be played on a NES just seems even more crazy. We're all used to Virtual Console, where retro games are played on newer systems, but reversing that is very interesting indeed.

I want to see Super Mario Odyssey for the newest console, the Nintendo Switch, running on my NES console, or better yet the NES Classic Mini, to prove you don't need the latest shit!



Source: MaxConsole

 

[The Catboy]

Anybody with the slightest bit of tech knowledge should know that wouldn't be possible, even before clicking on this topic. If it was called "PSX games running on SNES" I certainly wouldn't think the methodology was jamming a disc in SNES's cartridge slot. The title is fine, that is indeed a SNES game being output (run) by a NES.

That doesn't change that the title is clickbait. I am not disagreeing with anything, just pointing out the title is an example of clickbait

 

[Deleted User]

That doesn't change that the title is clickbait. I am not disagreeing with anything, just pointing out the title is an example of clickbait

So, titles describing the content of the article are clickbait now?

 

[Xzi]

That doesn't change that the title is clickbait. I am not disagreeing with anything, just pointing out the title is an example of clickbait

It really isn't, there are several better examples of clickbait titles. Including one of my blog entries. If he hadn't delivered on images and videos of NES running a SNES game (with working controller input), then it could be considered clickbait. OP did deliver, though. "SNES cartridges running on NES" would've been bullshit.

 

[The Catboy]

So, titles describing the content of the article are clickbait now?

The title is misleading and requires clicking on the thread in order to see details, that's clickbait. This isn't snes games running on a nes, it's snes games running through a nes.

 

[Xzi]

The title is misleading in requires clicking on the thread in order to see details, that's clickbait. This isn't snes games running on a nes, it's snes games running through a nes.

Semantics. It's a SNES ROM being encoded by a Raspi with a NES game chip soldered on, and then decoded by NES hardware. Basically just a custom cart, and something similar is always going to be a necessity in backward emulation.

 

[linuxares]

What kind of black magic is this?!

 

[PhyChris]

The game is running on the raspberry pi. the nes is acting like a 'frame buffer' with 'user input' to the raspberry pi, is my understanding.
cool as hell this was not easy and damn near breaks my understanding of nes pallets .

 

[Straximus]

People are acting like using the Pi is 'cheating', but Nintendo's cart-based systems were specifically designed to have their hardware extended, and many of the games we played on a NES or SNES had a mapper or enhancement chip to extend the capability of the system past what it could do on its own.

 

[Xzi]

People are acting like using the Pi is 'cheating', but Nintendo's cart-based systems were specifically designed to have their hardware extended, and many of the games we played on a NES or SNES had a mapper or enhancement chip to extend the capability of the system past what it could do on its own.

They never even did anything with the "EXT" port on the bottom of SNES AFAIK, and I think there was one on the bottom of NES, too. These consoles were obviously designed in a time before electronics were built to be replaced by the next big thing every 2-3 years, and I wouldn't be surprised if we keep discovering new uses for them down the line.

 

[Taleweaver]

ingenuity : 10/10
practicality : 1/10

On top of that...
"Because we can!"-factor : 9001/10

 

[DarthDub]

What's a good top loader NES? I need this.

 

[chrys]

Now make it run the original PlayStation games just like the unreleased Nintendo PlayStation console.

 

[SkittleDash]

Pfff, come on. I'll be impressed when I can play Starfox 64 on my Game & Watch. (In all seriousness though, this is amazing.)

 

[BlueFox gui]

SEGA on SNES already exists :-)

never heard about this, how this works?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

this looks better than SNES

 

[WiiHomebrew+Snes]

never heard about this, how this works?

AFAIK it's just a hardware clone inside that takes the SNES Inputs. Also I think it only outputs the video through a wire connected to the cart unless you are using a clone console, or that might be the GBA to SNES adapter.

 

[MockyLock]

People are acting like using the Pi is 'cheating', but Nintendo's cart-based systems were specifically designed to have their hardware extended, and many of the games we played on a NES or SNES had a mapper or enhancement chip to extend the capability of the system past what it could do on its own.

Like this exemple :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Deck_Enhancer

AFAIK it's just a hardware clone inside that takes the SNES Inputs. Also I think it only outputs the video through a wire connected to the cart unless you are using a clone console, or that might be the GBA to SNES adapter.

Actually yes it just uses the SNES for power and inputs. It ouputs vidao and sound through a composite cable connected to the cartridge itself.

This NES hack playing SNES games is a bit more elaborated. It really uses the NES hardware.

 

[Kioku]

Using a full blown computer to do the heavy lifting while the nes just acts as a throughput for input and output isn't cheating? Okay Then. It's a cool concept, but the game isn't running off the NES itself....

 

[Giodude]

Using a full blown computer to do the heavy lifting while the nes just acts as a throughput for input and output isn't cheating? Okay Then. It's a cool concept, but the game isn't running off the NES itself....

I believe the way that it manages the colors and input signal is extremely close to running the game on the actual NES. Back then even displaying the image was half the battle, and the fact that the NES is doing that in of itself is pretty impressive.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

It's just a cart, I don't care what extra chips someone stuffed inside... if he had like external power cords and video cables and controller cables running to the cart I would be wayyy less impressed.

The fact that he managed to do this all through the pins of the cart with nothing external is amazing. Although I feel like the results of something like this for the SNES would be crazy better and could even have a market for a commercial flash cart (where the Pi can handle emulating all the different FX chips and maybe even "overclock" them.)

 

[KiiWii]

Would have been great if the pi also acted as passthrough and connected snes cart to nes hardware.