Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom Cartridge Guide v1.0f (beta) This document is written by FM2000 (fm2000@iname.com) Last updated 6/19/99 Please do not distribute this document as of yet, it is still incomplete. However, a "non-beta" version should be released in the near future which may be distributed. Thanks. Special thanks to Marten Nielsen for some of the PAL game info which I gleamed from his PAL NES document. Lastest update news: ==================== Added more info on how to identify a pirate cart Added info on prototype carts Since starting the NES/Famicom cart list, the question "What exactly should constitute a unique cartridge to add to the list?" has come up. The list, as well as all of my game lists, are lists of unique cartridges (and disks). That is, a list of each and every different NES and Famicom cart (and disk) released. One or more factors make one NES/FC cart different from another, even if they are the same game: lockout chip inside the cart, label variations, different versions of the same game, etc. Because of my confusion, I have asked a lot of questions of fellow NES/FC fans, especially those living outside the US, about cartridges released in the world outside my own country. This document therefore is an effort to clear up any confusion concerning NES and FC cartridges that may exist, though many, many questions still exist. This document will deal with (legal) NES and FC cartridges released around the world, info on what makes one set of carts different from another, and issues involved for those who wish to collect NES/FC carts outside of their own native market. (The discussion of pirate cartridge game collecting is beyond the scope of this document, due to the fact that there is no formal catalog of pirate cartridges, lack of info on them, and the fact there is such diversity among them in terms of cart design, internals, labels, and such.) There is, however, a brief section which may help one determine whether or not a cart is a pirate or the 'real thing'. This document is useful by itself, as well as a companion for the NES/FC cartridge list, which offers more info on many of the games referenced here. Please remember, this document is a work-in-progress, and there are bound to be errors, omissions and obvious blunders. If you have any corrections or info to add to this list (I really need more info from those who live outside the US), please let me know. Several possibly ambiguous terms are used in this document, please make note of them. ===================================================================================== * A "cart" (or "cartridge") refers to the physical cartridge itself, including its internal hardware * A "game" is the program on the ROM chip inside a cartridge * A "market" refers to all countries a cartridge is designed to be used in, and its corresponding lockout chip * "CIC" and "lockout chip" are the same thing, except "CIC" is the formal term for the lockout chip * "NES" refers to all 72 pin NES cartridges regardless of market/country of origin. "FC" refers to all 60 pin Famicom carts. "NES/FC" refers to NES and FC cartridges, collectively * "PAL carts/cartridges" refers to all NES carts released in all of Europe, including the UK and Italy, as well as Australia and Asia. Basically, any carts released in countries where the PAL television standard is used. NOTE: There is no SECAM fomat NES/FC games that I know of IMPORTANT NOTE: None of the info in this document, except for the section "Unlicensed Cartridges" itself, applies to the unlicensed NES/FC carts, because their great variance from licensed carts. ========= Contents: ========= * The 5 Major NES Markets * NES Vs. FC Carts * CIC Lockout Chip Issues * Game ROMs Themselves * Specialized Country Carts * Cartridge ID Codes * Game Name Change Variations * PAL/NTSC Issues * Unlicensed Cartridges * Pirate Carts Vs. 'The Real Thing' * Prototype Carts * Unanswered Questions The 5 Major NES Markets ----------------------- There were five major markets, in which Nintendo and its licensees released their games. If a game is released in more than one market, each market has its own unique cartridge of that game. For example, a unique cartridge of the game Super Mario Bros. exists in all five markets. In some cases, the carts themselves each have minor differences in the games themselves, in others, the game is the exact same copy of a game (see "Game Variations" below for more info). All cartridges from each market (or country if released for use in a specific one) carry a unique ID which indicates which market (or country) they are from (see "Cartridge ID codes" below for more info) The 5 markets are: * UK/Italy/Australia (the "Mattel Markets"), PAL * North America, NTSC * Europe (other than UK and Italy), PAL * Asia (Hong Kong, China, Singapore, etc.), PAL * Japan, NTSC All NES games in the different regions use a different lockout chip, and a NES cart from one region cannot be used in another NES without an adaptor of some kind, or by disabling the lockout chip inside a NES. All FC consoles contain no lockout chip at all, so a 72-to-60 pin adapter will allow you to play any NES game on a FC, provided there are no NTSC/PAL conflicts (see "NTSC/PAL Issues" below for more info). A 60-to-72 pin adaptor containing the same lockout chip (or chip defeating technology) used in your market's NES will allow you to play FC games. Some countries within a specific market will receive their own versions of a cart, for example, a copy of SMB was released specifically for Hong Kong. In this case, the cart has the exact same CIC as the rest of the carts released in the market at large, so you can play a country specific game on a NES/FC from that same larger market (for example, the HK cart of SMB will work in an Asian NES, and vice versa). See CIC Lockout Chip Issues and Specialized Country Carts for more info. NES vs. FC Carts ---------------- The first obvious difference that exists is the design of the carts themselves. NES carts are all one design, shape and appearance, regardless of market or country of origin; an NES game from the US looks and functions the same as one from Europe or Asia, and vice versa. Famicom cartridges are also all one design, but do vary in general appearance, however, a non-Jap Famicom cart fucntions the same as a Japanese Famicom cart. Famicom games are roughly the same size as a SNES/SFC cart, and use 60 pins to connect to the Famicom deck. A NES cart is about the same width and about 1.5 times as long, and uses 72 pins to connect to the NES deck. What separates one NES cart, or one Famicom cart, from another depends on the internals (and sometimes appearance) of the cart itself. Among FC carts, there are cart appearance variations and one thing a FC collector will notice quickly, is that there is no standard look for a FC cartridge as there is for NES games. NES carts are all manufactured by Nintendo themselves (licensed to them by the companies which wrote the games, hence the term "licensed by Nintendo"). FC carts are manufactured by the game companies themselves, and you will find a great deal of appearance variation among FC carts; different colors, warning labels on the back, shape and overall look of the carts, etc. Unlike all NES games, FC games are not licened. A game company is "authorized" by Nintendo to produce FC carts. Of course, there were "unauthorized" companies which made FC games as well. Nintendo made a big mistake (from their viewpoint) that Atari made with the 2600, they put in no lockout system in the FC, and it was easy for any who had the know-how to make "unauthorized" games (to say nothing of pirate carts!). Few unlicensed companies actually sprang up, because of Nintendo's stranglehold over the market, and few outfits were willing to sell "unauthorized" carts and risk backlash from the Big N. CIC Lockout Chip Issues ----------------------- There is a CIC in every NES cart and control deck. There must be a CIC in the cart, and that CIC must be the same as the one in the control deck, else the screen will just blink. The purpose of the CICs is to prevent the use of "unauthorized cartridges" in a NES deck; "unauthorized cartridges" being cartridges from a market other than the NES is from, unlicensed carts, as well as pirate carts. There are five lockout chips total, one for each of the five markets. FC carts and decks do not have CICs, and therefore any NES/FC cart will work, so long as an adaptor is used in the case of NES games to convert to 60 pins, and there are no NTSC/PAL conflicts. Important Note: =============== One of the things you will note, from the list of makets in the section above, is that the UK and Italy collectively are a separate market from the rest of Europe. You may be asking, "Why does Italy and the UK have the same CIC, while the rest of Europe has a different CIC? Why doesn't the UK and all of Europe use the same CIC?". "Why do Australian carts have the same CIC as UK and Italy"? It was because that because Mattel Toys originally distributed the NES (in 1987) to the UK and Italy, as well as Australia, while the NES was distributed by Nintendo themselves to the rest of Europe. (Nintendo later took over the distribution of the NES in the UK/Italy/Australia from Mattel, but the CICs remained the same). A special Mattel NES, as well as the standard-looking Nintendo NES, were released in UK/Italy. You will notice on European game boxes, something to the effect of "This game is not for use on the Nintendo or Mattel version of the Nintendo Entertainment System"; the UK/Italy NES is often referred to as a "Mattel" or "Nintendo" NES (why they call it a "Nintendo NES", since all NESs except for the Mattel UK version are distributed by Nintendo and all look the same, I do not know). UK boxes, likewise, say something like, "This game is for use only with the Mattel or Nintendo version of the Nintendo Entertainment System". A UK/Italian/Aussie NES cart will obviously not work with the NES released in the rest of Europe, and vice versa, because of the different CICs. UK/Italian carts are unique from other Euro carts because of the different lockout chips. This is an important consideration when collecting (as well as cataloging) NES carts; most references elsewhere to UK/Italy carts is under the blanket description "European", along with games from the Euro market itself, which is clearly inaccurate to say, because they are from an entirely different markets. While it is true most games released in Europe were also released in the UK/Italy, and vice versa, and most carts and games in them are virtually identical, there are occasionally some cart and game variations, the CIC chips are different, and the carts have different cart IDs, and therefore it is *very* important to note the difference in market origin (which the NES game list does). You can identify which lockout chip a European cart has inside by looking at the label; carts from the UK and Italy and have the corresponding lockout chip for that market have a big "A" on the label, those from the rest of Europe and have that market's corresponding lockout chip have a big "B" on the label. Aussie carts have no "A" or "B" on their label, as far as I know. The Game ROMs Themselves ------------------------ One important thing to understand, is that any two or more different cartridges can contain the *exact* same copy of the game, that is, the sam ROM chip which stores the game data itself. A cart can be different in terms of lockout chip, FC or NES cart design, and even PAL/NTSC designation, and use the exact same ROM chip in all carts. All first generation NES carts (SMB, Kung Fu, Hogan's Alley, Metroid, etc.) use the exact same ROM chip in all NES and FC carts. All game ROM chips, have their own ID to identify them, independent of the cart ID. For example, every SMB cart, regardless of market, has a ROM chip with the same ID. Specialized Country Carts ------------------------- Usually, the exact same cartridge is released in all countires in whatever market it released in. But, there are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes a country will get its own unique cartridge (sometimes also, but not necessarily, a unique version of the game itself). There are two reasons for this, one of which isn't wholly understood: one is, a game makes extensive use of text, and it is necessary that the game be translated into a specific language other than English, to sell in a particular country. The other reason is has something to do with a desire for Nintendo to release specific carts of their first generation NES games (Rad Racer, Metroid, etc.) for distrubution exclusively in specific countries; the ROM chips inside, however, are the same as all carts released in that region, and being 1st generation NES carts, probably the same as found in all NES/FC carts. In terms of cartridges which have been released in a specific country, with the game itself translated from English, I have been able to track down some Swedish cartridges of Deja Vu, Shadowgate, and Maniac Mansion. All of these games have cart IDs beginning with NES-xxx- SWE. Most likely more games like this were released in various countries. I have also come across a German (I assume) Smurfs game. I do not know if this was released anywhere else in Europe (including UK and Italy) in English. It is very possible there are some games which were released only in one country (such as Germany). If anyone has more info, please let me know. In the UK and Italy, carts were made for each country, separately, despite the fact they use the same lockout chip, and therefore have separate ID codes. A majority of the time, the ROMs are the same and therefore the games are identical; I'd assume the packaging and manual were in each country's repective language, though I could be wrong. One exception I have found is an Italian cart "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", which was called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" in the UK (which is also what the European version was called). The title screens have been changed to reflect the different names, but this game itself is otherwise identical to the UK version (as well as all versions of the game actually). Why the "Ninja" in the name was not changed as it was elsewhere in the UK and Europe is unknown. In Canada, a small number of games were released, with bilingual and/or French manuals, boxes, and cart labels. Some games have French text in game (such as Kirby's Adventure), some are still in English (such as Zelda 2). Cartridge ID Codes ------------------ All cartidges have ID codes assigned to them, which is usually printed somewhere on the cart label, as well as the cover of the manual and sometimes the front of the box. With the exception of Japanese carts, ID codes can be very useful to determine a cart's market or specific country it is intended for (Japanese carts do not use a standardized code system, but it is obvious if a cart is Japanese or not). Common Cartridge ID Codes ============ Europe (Market "B") * NES-xxx-FRA (France, and Belgium/Holland?) * NES-xxx-NOE (German releases?) * NES-xxx-EEC (used by early European releases?) * NES-xxx-FRG (early code for Germany/Austrian? Game text is in German?) * NES-xxx-ESP (Spanish releases) * NES-xxx-SCN (Scandinavia = Denmark/Norway/Sweden/Finland) * NES-xxx-SWE (Swedish carts, all game text is in Swedish, few exist) UK (Market "A") * NES-xxx-UKV (post Mattel-era NES carts) * NES-xxx-GBR (only on Mattel-era NES carts) Italy (Market "A") * NES-xxx-ITA North America: * NES-xxx-USA (US releases) * NES-xxx-CAN (Canadian releases) Hong Kong: * NES-xxx-HKV Australia * NES-xxx-AUS Later UK/Italy and Euro carts have codes on the warning label on the back of the cart itself. They are, probably but not absolutely, to indicate which countries the cart is intended for (not necessarily the market as a whole itself). PAL UK/Euro Warning Label Codes =============================== EAI-x England and Italy FAH-x France and Holland DAS-x Germany and Spain About Japanese ID Codes... ========================== As stated before, there is no standardization of Japanese FC ID codes. However, some companies used a consistant ID code system to identify their carts. Below I will attempt to explain some of the company ID systems. Bandai: FDS games BAN-xxx cart games none Bothtec: FDS games BTC-xxx Hudson: cart games HFC-xxx Jaleco: cart based games JF-xx, where xx is a 2 digit number FDS games JFD-xxx Konami: cart games RCxxx, where xxx is a 3 digit number FDS games KDS-xxx note: some Konami carts have no writing (Jap or English) on carts except ID! Namcot: cart games none (some have a 2 digit number promnently on them) Natsume: cart games NAT-xx Nichibutsu: cart games NBF-xx Nintendo: FDS games FSC-xxxx/FMC-xxx cart games HVC-xxx SNK: cart games SFX-xx Square: FDS & cart games SQF-xxx Taito: cart games TFC-xxx-xxxx, where xxxx is a 4 digit number Takara: FDS games TFC-xxx Toei: cart games TDF-xx Tokuma Shoten: cart games GTS-xxx Note: ========= What makes things even more bizarre, some Japanese companies didn't put any kind of ID code on their carts at all! On the other hand, some companies used an ID code system which was related to the ID code system used everywhere else, in that the two middle chars in the standard ID code are also found in the Japanese ID code; for example, the ID for Abadox in Japan is NAT-A3, and the ID code everywhere else is NES-A3-xxx. Game Name Change Variations --------------------------- Some games, when ported to another market from another, have their names changed, even though the game is for all practical purposes the same. This section will explain some of these name changes, and why they occur. * Most Japanese games with Japanese titles (as opposed to Japanese games with English titles, such as Final Fantasy, Pac Man, Super Mario Bros. etc.) had their names changed or modified for the non-Japanese market, primarily the English speaking markets. For example, "Algo no Senshi" was changed to "Rygar", "Akumajo Dracula" was changed to "Castlevania", etc. in all markets outside Japan. * Some Japanese games have their names changed for the English market, even though the game title is in English, because it sounded better and is more appropriate for the English markets. For example, "God Slayer" was renamed "Crystalis" for the US market, and "Exciting Basketball" was renamed "Double Dribble". * Some Japanese games were renamed for the English market, because the title makes reference to the Famicom. For example, "Family Stadium" was renamed "R.B.I. Baseball". * Most games released in Europe and UK/Italy have the same name as their US counterpart. However, sometimes the title is changed, due to pressure from groups concerned about video game violence, to something they felt did not suggest violence; the word "ninja", in particular, was prohibited for while (eventually the restrictions were relaxed presumably, and later NES did appear with "ninja" in the title). So, as a result of this issue, "Ninja Gaiden" was changed to "Shadow Warriors", River City Ransom was changed to "Street Gangs", etc. A more extreme case is "Contra", which was changed to "Probotector", and had actual game content modified (humans changed to robots), as well as its title. Note: Since the titles have been changed, the game had to be modified, and therefore the game ROM chip inside are different than all other versions of the game with different titles. Unlicensed Cart Issues ---------------------- Unlicensed carts are a faily complex issue. Because these games are not authorized by Nintendo, they do not carry a standard cart ID, have nonstandard internal hardware, and compatibility with an NES deck is not guaranteed. Below is a list of countries/markets, and the unlicensed game companies which released game in that market, and some of the issues involved with their carts. US Carts ===================== * Tengen All Tengen carts contain an identical lockout chip to the ones found in licensed US carts. There are no compatibility problems with using Tengen carts on any US NES. Without a US NES-to-whatever adaptor, Tengen games will absolutely not run, just like licensed US NES carts will not. As for non-US NES decks, in theory, using a US NES-to- whatever adaptor ought to allow you to play Tengen games, assuming there is no PAL-NTSC conflict (see below). Based on accounts I have seen, they will not work in a PAL console. * Color Dreams/Bunch games/Wisdom Tree * American Game Carts Inc. * American Video Entertainment * Caltron/Myriad All of these companies used the Matronix method to "knock out" the lockout chip inside the US NES. These carts *should* successfully disable the lockout chip in any early model NES (made before circa 1990. There are compatibility issues with later US NESs, not just non- US NESs! Many later NES decks were modified by Nintendo to prevent these carts from disabling the lockout chip in the NES. A US-to- whatever NES adaptor *should* allow you to bypass the unlicensed cart lockout chip altogether and allow it to run on a non-US NES. There may still be PAL-NTSC conflicts (see below). * Camerica These games will work 100% on a US NES. There is a small switch on the back, which, I assume, allows you to switch lockout chip-defeating methods. The same compatibility issues regarding the lockout chip getaround and the newer NES decks may still exist. UK Carts ===================== * Codemasters These were the developers behind the US Camerica titles, who released their titles themselves in the UK. These carts come in two versions; a cart with a device attached which is used for attaching a licensed cart to get around the lockout chip, and a standalone cart, with some sort of lockout chip defeating circuitry inside (the Macronix design?). Some games may have come in both cart versions, I do not know; I assume all games came out in one cart version or the other, and not both. Japanese Carts ==================== * Hacker International No lockout chip like all FC carts. May have PAL conflicts if played on PAL consoles with a 60-to-72 pin adaptor. * Sachen No lockout chip like all FC carts. May have PAL conflicts if played on PAL consoles with a 60-to-72 pin adaptor. Australian Carts ==================== * Home Entertainment Suppliers (H.E.S.) Like the unlicensed UK Codemasters carts, some of these games come in versions with a pass-through device in which you plug a licensed cart to get around the lockout chip (H.E.S. calls it a "Dongle"), and there are some versions which are standalone carts with some lockout chip defeating circuitry inside (the Macronix design?). Some games may have appeared on both cart versions, I don't know; I assume all games came out in one cart version or the other, and not both. In theory, these games should work on any NES, just attach a licensed game from the same market as the NES you wish to use. But again, if these are played on a FC or US NES, there may be PAL-NTSC incompatibility (see below). In all the above cases, disabling the lockout chip in your NES deck is the best bet. It *will* allow them to run (but don't forget, there may be a PAL-NTSC conflict, so they may not run correctly). NTSC-PAL Issues --------------- North America and Japan uses the NTSC television standard, and the rest of the world (at least for our purposes) uses PAL. Because the NTSC standard displays 60 frames a second (or 60hz), and PAL displays 50 frames a second (or 50hz), timing in some games for use in a PAL console use must be adjusted to work properly. This is where we run into problems. Even when you get past the lockout chip in your NTSC or PAL console, getting a PAL or NTSC game to run on it is a different matter. Some PAL games will work fine on an NTSC console (US NES and Famicom), some will not, and vice versa. If you purchase PAL or NTSC carts to play on your NTSC or PAL console, it is a pure gamble to whether or not it will work. The only 100% way to play NTSC or PAL games on your PAL or NTSC console, is to buy an NTSC or PAL console, and either a NTSC or PAL television or a NTSC-to-PAL or PAL-to-NTSC convertor. A list of PAL games that work on NTSC consoles and a list of NTSC games which work on PAL consoles may be forthcoming in the future. Pirate Carts Vs. 'The Real Thing' --------------------------------- If you collect Famicom carts, you will no doubt come across pirate cartridges, simply because in the Orient, they are as common, sometimes even more so, than actual legal cartridges. Pirate FC carts are also found ouside the Orient, as well, especially in Eastern Europe and Russia. There are also pirate NES carts, found worldwide, but are far less common in this format, especially in the US, where piracy is almost unheard of. There are two types of pirate carts, single-game and multi-game pirate carts (often called multicarts), each is explained below. There are three types of pirated games, games copied verbatim and put onto a cartridge, games which are copied, hacked/edited and then put on a cartridge, and original games created by pirates and distributed on a cartridge. Original games created by pirates are pirate games because they, unlike unlicensed games, use copyrighted characters, ideas, trademarks, and so on, without the copyright holders permission; examples of these games are Somari and Super Donkey Kong Country 2. Any of these three types of pirated games can appear on either a single pirate cart or a multicart. If a FC cart contains more than one game, almost always it is a pirate. Some legal carts with more than one game exist (the Final Fantasy I + II compilation come to mind). However, a majority of all FC carts (and NES for that matter) only contain one game; certainly if a cart has more than four games, there is no doubt at all it is a pirate. If in doubt, keep the following advice about single cart pirates in mind. How to Identify a Single Pirate Famicom Cartridge ================================================= If you can answer yes to any of these questions, there is very little doubt the cart is a pirate. * Does the artwork on the label look like a close-up or zoomed-in section of other artwork? * Is the artwork on the label blurry? * Is the artwork on the label not match the game in any obvious way? * Is there a name of a known pirate outfit on the label? (see section below) * Is the cart and label not consistant with the real publisher's label? Many companies, such as Namco and Konami have their own unique cart/label design * Is there an 4 character ID code on the cart that starts with L, such as LB58? All ID codes starting with "L" and have any other 3 characters are pirate ID codes. As to whether one company uses this code, or if many companies use it, is unknown, but these ID codes appear on *many* pirate carts. * Are there spelling errors, off-centered labels, obvious cut-and-paste artwork jobs, etc? * Is there odd or illogical statements on the cart label? Some pirate FC carts state they are 16-bit, some have references to the game being for Game Boy, etc. * Is the title of the game obnoxious, or a title of a game that was obviously never ported to the Famicom/NES? For example, "Super Mario World 14", or "Road Rash". * Is the word "Family Computer" written on the cartridge, in English? If the words "Family Computer" are written on a real FC cart, the words are written in Japanese, never English There are a number of pirate single carts, and this is really where the confusion comes in, because they are less obvious pirates than multis. One easy way to help identify pirates is the label art, virtually all pirate carts have horrendously bad art on the label, or poorly strewn together bits and pieces of art from other carts/boxes/manuals (sometimes from different sytems altogether!). This is usually a good offhand indication that a cart is a pirate, but unfortunately, there are some legal FC carts which also have some truly awful and bizarre label art as well (remember the US Mega Man 1 label art?). Another indication of a pirate is lack of a licensee name on the cart and/or copyright info, as well as the "Family Famicom" logo or verbiage (in Japanese) on the cart. However, as you may have guessed, there are legal carts with no licensee, copyright, or the "Family Famicom" logo or verbiage on them, there are even some with no writing on them at all, just label art and maybe an ID code (Early Konami carts such as Contra and The Goonies look like this). ID codes don't help much in most cases, though, since not all licensees put them on their FC carts, and oddly, some pirate outfits put their own IDs on their pirate carts. In short, if you are buying FC carts, buyer beware; look carefully at the cart, actually try it if you can, and ask questions. Since pirates are usually as valuable as the licensed carts, at least to non-Japanese collectors, if a seller knows it is a pirate or not, he will usually be upfront about its status. NES carts are much eaiser to distinguish. All of the above that applies to FC carts applies here, but it is more absolute (if an NES cart has no licensee on the cart, it is certainly a pirate, etc.) Also, unlike FC carts, all NES carts (even those outside the US) have a standardized look. If the cart label is not typical, if the cart is not the standard shade of grey (there are exceptions such as the original Legend of Zelda carts of course), *and* it is not an unlicensed cart, then it is a pirate. The Unanswered Questions ------------------------ The following are unanswered questions I, and others, have concerning NES and FC carts. If you have any info on any of these, please email and let me know. 1. Was there a (licensed) Chinese/Asian Famicom, and cartridges released in China/Asia? An Asian (Korean) NES is known, but not a Famicom, but it is rumored to exist. 2. Were there more country-specific Asian carts (besides Hong Kong)? Singapore carts, perhaps? 3. What do some of the unknown ID codes mean? Are there more codes not listed? .EOF.