• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

SNES Game Collecting (Tips, discussion, and info for like minded collectors)

Danielsan

Member
So I have a Super Famicom on the way from Japan (by snail mail, so who knows when it will turn up) and I'm also still contemplating getting an American SNES. What would be the best way to power these consoles in Europe? I know I can get a step down converter (230v to 110v), but I've also read that some people use the original Megadrive (not the Megadrive II) power adapter to power their foreign SNES consoles. I figure I'm better off asking SNES GAF for advice before I purchase a Megadrive power adapter and blow up one of these consoles.
 

-KRS-

Member
So I have a Super Famicom on the way from Japan (by snail mail, so who knows when it will turn up) and I'm also still contemplating getting an American SNES. What would be the best way to power these consoles in Europe? I know I can get a step down converter (230v to 110v), but I've also read that some people use the original Megadrive (not the Megadrive II) power adapter to power their foreign SNES consoles. I figure I'm better off asking SNES GAF for advice before I purchase a Megadrive power adapter and blow up one of these consoles.

For SFC, from here:
Q2: What type of Power Supply Unit / AC Adapter should (or can) I use with my Famicom?

A2:The specific and original AC Adapter for the Famicom and the Super Famicom has the following specifications:
Input: 100VAC 50-60Hz
Output: 10VDC 850mA
Polarity: Centre Pin Negative
(+)------------(o------------(-)
Barrel Size: Outer Diameter 5.5mm; Inner Diameter 2.1mm

I have a third party one that takes 220-240VAC and outputs 9VDC 1.5A actually and it's been working fine for years. As for the US SNES, they have a pretty unique plug that goes in the console so it could be hard to find a third party one that isn't specifically made for the purpose. Both types should be available on ebay though.

Edit: Oh and yeah you can use a MD adapter as well for the SFC, as is noted on the page. But that'd probably be more expensive than getting just a standard AC adapter.
 

empo

Member
So I have a Super Famicom on the way from Japan (by snail mail, so who knows when it will turn up) and I'm also still contemplating getting an American SNES. What would be the best way to power these consoles in Europe? I know I can get a step down converter (230v to 110v), but I've also read that some people use the original Megadrive (not the Megadrive II) power adapter to power their foreign SNES consoles. I figure I'm better off asking SNES GAF for advice before I purchase a Megadrive power adapter and blow up one of these consoles.

I've gotten all my replacement power adapters from https://retrogamesupply.com
I'm not sure how good they are and I haven't really heard anyone talk about them but so far nothing has exploded.
 

Danielsan

Member
Thanks guys! That will at least have the SFC covered. :D
If I end up getting an American SNES as well, I'll just use a step down converter I guess.
 

-KRS-

Member
You can get cheap replacement power supplies with euro plugs to power both the Mega Drive 1, Genesis 1, PAL SNES and Super Famicom on ebay. They are all the same power supply.

Here's one I've used for both my Super Famicom and Genesis:

http://r.ebay.com/VPs7Py

Doesn't the PAL SNES take AC output though? I know the SFC has a rectifier that works with both AC and DC, but one time I accidentally used my official PAL SNES adapter on my SFC, and while it sort of worked it didn't seem to like the SD2SNES with it. I believe it outputs 9VAC. Once I switched to a 9V DC adapter it was fine.

What I mean is that an original PAL SNES AC adapter might not be good for a Super Famicom in the long run. The one you posted might work on both, i dunno.
 

D.Lo

Member
Doesn't the PAL SNES take AC output though? I know the SFC has a rectifier that works with both AC and DC, but one time I accidentally used my official PAL SNES adapter on my SFC, and while it sort of worked it didn't seem to like the SD2SNES with it. I believe it outputs 9VAC. Once I switched to a 9V DC adapter it was fine.

What I mean is that an original PAL SNES AC adapter might not be good for a Super Famicom in the long run. The one you posted might work on both, i dunno.
PAL SNES adapter is not so good for a SFC, no. It will work but slowly damage it.

SNES can take DC fine of course, it just bypasses the rectifier.
 

HaL64

Member
Anyone have this SNES fiber optic sign?

canthaveit13-24.JPG


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjdefl08iu8

PM me if you do. :)
Or if you know someone who does. I will make it worth your while.
 
Doesn't the PAL SNES take AC output though? I know the SFC has a rectifier that works with both AC and DC, but one time I accidentally used my official PAL SNES adapter on my SFC, and while it sort of worked it didn't seem to like the SD2SNES with it. I believe it outputs 9VAC. Once I switched to a 9V DC adapter it was fine.

What I mean is that an original PAL SNES AC adapter might not be good for a Super Famicom in the long run. The one you posted might work on both, i dunno.
Just checked the one I posted here, it says AC/DC and the output is 9V
 
Couple of recent pickups. I've heard Robotrek is really good and frequently underrated/overlooked on the SNES. I've played Legend of the Mystical Ninja before and have been wanting to pick up a complete copy. Unfortunately, this copy doesn't have the manual but I can pick it up at some point in the future.

Definitely happy to add these to my Super Nintendo collection.

Wg8Wg5k.jpg
 
Couple of recent pickups. I've heard Robotrek is really good and frequently underrated/overlooked on the SNES. I've played Legend of the Mystical Ninja before and have been wanting to pick up a complete copy. Unfortunately, this copy doesn't have the manual but I can pick it up at some point in the future.

Definitely happy to add these to my Super Nintendo collection.

Wg8Wg5k.jpg

I like Quintent's output generally speaking, but I've never played Robotrek. I should give it a try.
 

SeanC

Member
I like Quintent's output generally speaking, but I've never played Robotrek. I should give it a try.

Thread lurker chiming in. Robotrek is one of my favorites, but I'll even admit it's a little rough around the edges. I think it's a game where the parts are better than the sum as a whole, but it's also incredibly charming and I think that's what sells me on it.

I was lucky enough to get a complete copy before the prices went high a few years ago. I used to have an old rental cartridge but not sure whatever happened to it (probably lost in a move sometime) so it was nice to add it back to my RPG collection.
 

Cactus

Banned
Robotrek is a hidden gem. Terrible translation aside (which unfortunately renders the ending near-indecipherable), the game is really fun and memorable. Also, the game can be legitimately funny, at times.
 

TheMoon

Member
Yea, most of their output is pretty good and worth owning. Whatever happened to them anyway?

From Terranigma's 20th Anniversary thread:

Miyazaki never left Quintet until the company went down.
He (and other members of Quintet) outsourced their work for other companies projects.
The creation of Shade is deeply associated with Quintet but at the same time the two are separated company.
Basically when the next gen came in new possibilities arise.
Quintet completed their final work for 16 bit market in late 1995 and seem that they were soon after snatched up by Sega to do a sort of a remake of the first Actraiser for Sega Saturn (with some sort of involvement by Enix) which would later become Solo Crisis.
At the same time the creation of Shade let them work on PS1 (for non other than Sony itself, SCEI to be precise).
Shade was tasked to do an action RPG for PS1 while collaborating with Arc Entertainment (Arc the Lad dev) thus Granstream Saga was created.
Later on the same formation did another action RPG for PS1 called Brightis.
Quintet returned to work under Enix ( in conjunction with Zeque, the dev behind the cult game Kowloon's Gate) for the bizarre Project Laika for PS1.
At the same time Quintet published its first and only game, Solo Crisis (probably the Quintet-iest game they have done after the 16 bit era), for Saturn (oddly enough it doesn't seem Sega published it despite everything).
A few months after SC Quintet released through ESP the weird adventure-racing game Code R.
Around 1999 they began to do a string of work for hire jobs for big publishers like Sega (Godzilla) and Koei (Mystic Heroes).
The company quietly disappeared in early '00s.

From what I gathered in the early '00s members of Quintet were subcontracted to work on other company projects.
They surely never worked again on game they could call their own.
I do think Quintet doesn't exists anymore despite nobody saying a word.
In December 2008 Tomoyoshi Miyazaki founded a company named Giga Factory which should have worked on online games and web based applications.
One project they've developed was a gambling game portal called WebPachi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JylDHrE_7I

The company filed for bankruptcy in mid 2010 and from that moment nothing more is known about Miyazaki's fate.
 

Peltz

Member
Robotrek is a hidden gem. Terrible translation aside (which unfortunately renders the ending near-indecipherable), the game is really fun and memorable. Also, the game can be legitimately funny, at times.

I played the opening on an emulator decades ago. It has a charming art style and has some of the best sprites on the SNES.

35103-Robotrek_(USA)-1.jpg


robotrek-05.png


13-Robotrek_(USA)_00554.jpg


robotrek.png


59-Robotrek_(USA)_00983.jpg


Something about the color palette and shape of the sprites gives the game a very clean look.
 
Robotrek is a hidden gem. Terrible translation aside (which unfortunately renders the ending near-indecipherable), the game is really fun and memorable. Also, the game can be legitimately funny, at times.

Yea, I've heard it's one of the most overlooked games and wanted to add it to the collection since, especially since I like most of the good 16-bit RPG's.

Good question. Wikipedia article suggests they went defunct by 2002. I wonder what the former staff went on to do, if anything.

From Terranigma's 20th Anniversary thread:

Thanks for the info. I had read some of that but couldnt help but think there was more to it than what I had read. It's a shame regardless :(
 
Got Big Run the other day! Raster based rally game, rather than Mode 7. Looks pretty nice and controls good. Although it's a Super Famicom 1991 release only, a sort of sequel to a 1989 arcade game, all the text is in English.

 

-KRS-

Member
Got Big Run the other day! Raster based rally game, rather than Mode 7. Looks pretty nice and controls good. Although it's a Super Famicom 1991 release only, a sort of sequel to a 1989 arcade game, all the text is in English.

Damn the condition of that box is immaculate! Don't think I've heard of this game before. Interesting seeing a non-mode 7 racing game on the SNES.
 

Teknoman

Member
After beating Mega Man 6, it's on to 16 bit Blue Bomber action. But should I give Classic a rest and kick off X, or just go ahead with 7, 8, and Bass?

Been itching to replay X1-3 lately but I also feel like I should finish the classics pre 9 too.
 

Mr. Virus

Member
After beating Mega Man 6, it's on to 16 bit Blue Bomber action. But should I give Classic a rest and kick off X, or just go ahead with 7, 8, and Bass?

Been itching to replay X1-3 lately but I also feel like I should finish the classics pre 9 too.

I kinda like 7, and Bass is probably my favourite "standard" MM game so I'd say hive them a shot. 7 looks a little... chunky compared to how clean the NES MM games and a bit slower than the X series which is probably it gets a bit of a bad rap.
 
Shame nobody can seem to get one.

...except me, who was up way too late and saw Wario64 tweet out Best Buy's pre-order link at just the right time...
 

Peltz

Member
Nice haul! Umihara Kawase is such a great and overlooked game.

Still need to get Doremi Fantasy one of these days.
Umihara Kawase is so darn difficult for me. I agree it's a cool game though. I haven t played my copy in far too long.
 
I've posted about this other places over the years, but maybe you Gaffers can recommend something. I have a yellowed old US SNES that no longer works with the later SNES games. Super Street Fighter 2 doesn't have sound, and SuperFX games don't run at all. The weirdest thing is that in the first level of Yoshi's Island, I run into a necessary platform that I pass right through.

Based on all my reading, I think power isn't being fed into the cartridges to use coprocessors built in to certain games. That suggests that my Yoshi's Island problem is a copyright feature, which I think is super interesting, albeit unfortunate.

I've got a pretty nice SNES collection (Chrono Trigger being the pièce de résistance), and can only play my games in my Retron 3 where the audio is always too hot.

I've tried cleaning as best I can, as well as using a Game Genie to no avail. Any suggestions?
 

BTails

Member
I've posted about this other places over the years, but maybe you Gaffers can recommend something. I have a yellowed old US SNES that no longer works with the later SNES games. Super Street Fighter 2 doesn't have sound, and SuperFX games don't run at all. The weirdest thing is that in the first level of Yoshi's Island, I run into a necessary platform that I pass right through.

Based on all my reading, I think power isn't being fed into the cartridges to use coprocessors built in to certain games. That suggests that my Yoshi's Island problem is a copyright feature, which I think is super interesting, albeit unfortunate.

I've got a pretty nice SNES collection (Chrono Trigger being the pièce de résistance), and can only play my games in my Retron 3 where the audio is always too hot.

I've tried cleaning as best I can, as well as using a Game Genie to no avail. Any suggestions?

How adept are you with electronics? Could be a capacitor or a resistor (or multiple) on the PCB that have failed. You'd have to use a multimeter to check each one vs the value on the component itself to see if it's failed. Or, of course, if a cap is leaking on the board, it might be visibly noticeable!
 
Top Bottom