One of my friends gave me a retro duo. I tried to play Mario RPG, but I just got a black screen. I just now tried the trick you explained to get it to work, and it did! Thanks so much!
I got my Retro Duo (the black and red one) for Christmas. Definitely a great clone and I hope to get more games for it soon. I really wasn't expecting Super Mario RPG to work at all without making any modifications to the board. Great review/stress test. :)
Yes, the Super Gameboy works on the RetroDuo and other Super Famiclones. The Super GameBoy has little to do with the SNES hardware. It contains the entire GameBoy chipset in the cart itself.
I don't have a 3.0, but if I had to guess I'd say the likely reason is the power regulator has more clearly defined states than the 2.0. The only reason this works is because it's essentially (safely) shorting the SNES side.
This IS the RetroDuo. The trick works with the North American Super Mario RPG revision 1.1 onward. The trick does not work for 1.0 as it's unnecessary. Version 1.0 simply boots as a normal game.
No, expansion audio is not possible from an NES "toploader". The NES "toploader" (model NES-101) is a cost reduced version of the AV Famicom with a 72 pin connector. It removes all unused connections from the NES-001 "toaster" which include all traces for cartridge produced expansion audio. Only Japanese Famicom variants have the traces for expansion audio - most Famiclones do not either. You'll need to buy a Famicom, Sharp TWIN Famicom or AV Famicom to enjoy the VRC6, FDS FM, MMC5, etc.
No, it just means you have the first revision of Mario RPG that does not enforce the lockout with Super Famiclones. If you check the cart label, its extremely likely it will say it was made in Japan rather than made in Mexico like in later revisions. The trick I show is how to get Mario RPG 1.1 onward to work on the RetroDuo.
@Kefka44 EarthBound does indeed run on this, but has the x2 enemy encounter rate due to the lack of the lockout chip and thus the anti-piracy measures kick in.
@Ace9921 Yes indeed I have. The Retro Duo seems to be designed after the NES-101 - it is completely incapable of Famicom expansion audio. The pins for extra audio are grounded and don't lead anywhere, and the fact that NOAC is of course a globtop means any hope of tracing it to perhaps build a new circuit for expansion audio is near impossible. The Retro Duo may be the very best NOAC on the market, but until there's a Famicom/Super Famicom version, I wouldn't expect to see FC expansion audio.
Many Famiclones have issue with Kirby as it stretches the Famicom's hardware to it's limits. As for audio issues, preforming my audio dampener mod will indeed correct anything wrong with Kirby on the RetroDuo.
@Ace9921 That sounds great in theory, but I don't want to mess up my Retro Duo by doing that. If you wanna experiment on your own, please inform me of the results. I'd love to read a tutorial on how to get expansion audio out of the Retro Duo. That would be awesome.
@SatoshiMatrix1 - Are the pins grounded or left floating? Either way, I believe the way the NES cartridge slot is soldered onto the NES board, you could pry out the audio output pin from its solder spots on the motherboard with a small screwdriver while heating up the solder at the bottom of the board. You could then run a wire to the fully-amplified NES audio signal on the NOAC and place a resistor if the audio is too loud. I'll retrace the NES audio amp for you to make things easier.
@alleycatstrike Also keep in mind there a few revisions of the Retro Duo. The first ones were white/blue and black/red. Do you have one of those? The game compatibility might be different from my newer silver one. Or try cleaning the cart. It should load up on pretty much any clone, so try it a few more times.
Yes, but EarthBound has a very strict copy protection algorithm that checks for pingback latency with the CIC in order to thwart cartridge copying devices of the mid 90's. If the game detects latency, it doubles the enemies in every location making it unfair and not fun, and if you do manage to play through to the end, the game will reset and erase the SRAM save. As all clones lack the CIC altogether, EarthBound cartrs trigger the copy protection algorithm when played on them.
Depends. PAL NES games will work, but this is an NTSC clone that runs at NTSC clockspeed. That means PAL NES games will run 1.7x faster than they should, because the PAL NES is 1.7x slower. So everything including the music will play 17% faster. PAL SNES games are more complicated. Games made prior to the middle of 1993 will play on an NTSC console, but after that they won't. StarWing will work, but Super Mario All Stars won't. So while PAL SNES games will work, it will be only early ones.
@SatoshiMatrix1 - Problem is: I don't have a single Famicom cart with custom sound chips in the cartridge. So even if the mod would work, I wouldn't know if the volume balance is correct. About prying the pin out with a screwdriver: it might be better to first desolder the pin with a desoldering pump and then bending the pin up and out of its solder spot. Either way, I'd still need a cartridge with extra sound hardware to know if the mod works or not.
OHHH THEMS FIGHTING WORDS! 3 Has such as exciting boxart as Princess toadstood being pulled by an invisible Luigi and Mario poorly photoshopped out of the image and replaced with with a crudely drawn sky. DOES 2 HAVE THAT?! I DON'T THINK SO! Also, remarks: this is a sophisticated apparatus. Should avoid touching end field with the hands, or else it may result in the dofaults.
This is cool stuff! You're first video showed me why my Star Fox cartridge wasn't working, (don't ask how lol) so a huge thank you! My question is, would "FE4 Genealogy of the Holy War" for the Super Famicon work with the RetroDuo? If you know, it would be great, because I may want to purchase it on ebay. Another curiosity would be to know if "FE5 Thracia 776" works. FE5 is the VERY LAST GAME that was released for the Super Famicon, officially released on Super Famicon cartridges in the year 2000!
Do you have something in the NES slot? Keep trying - if you have a RetroDuo 2.0 and a Made in Mexico Mario RPG, this should work. However, there are many revisions of the RetroDuo and Mario RPG, so this might not work for everyone.
I got my theory why super mario rpg runs fine once you put an nes game into it,ibecause it's possible that those cartride pins still recieves power in either modus and so it's possible that those pins for the nes lockout chip are routed to the snes cartride pins to ansure feedback from the 50/60hz detection chips inside many snes games to trigger the rom to load itself. I will be not amezed if both lockout chips from the nes and snes are just the same.so once run it in nes modus, the sa1 chip can read the nes lockout chip to trigger it's rom,sothat once you switch it into snes modus,it can finaly run the game,either way it's amezing.
I heard about that when you reach the end of the game, it erases, but I didn't know about the enemies. However I played the game on an emulator and manged to beat the game without such problems. I wish Zsnes had a hardware version like the Retro Duo.
Maybe you´re shooting a voltage spike with your Mario RPG trick there... knocking down the anti piracy chip in the cartridge as they used to with the 10nes
I got the audio mod sorted for the NES part of this clone and it's great. I'm having an issue with the SNES side though. Super Mario RPG rarely loads at all with the mentioned tip and when it does sometimes it wipes the saves. Any ideas?
by "it" I assume you mean Mario RPG? It's not a perfect method, but to vaguely tell what version you have, read the label where it was made. if it was made in Japan, then it's likely 1.0, but its Mexico, it's a revision.
It's average quality plastic. The "RES" isn't made by Retrobit, just licensed and distributed by them. The RES is yet another renaming of the original Neo-Fami, which was then renamed the Yobo FC Game Console. Feel free to look up those if you want info on the "RES".
Modern emulators disable the algorithm. For the actual cart though, you need to use a Nintendo produced console. It doesn't matter if it's an SNES or Super Famicom though.
I guess I have bad luck; I’ve purchased two Retro Duo consoles - a Mascot edition (Blue, red and yellow) as well as a silver one like yours and neither plays Castlevania 3. When attempting Castlevania 3, they both behave like any other famiclone and have a messed up intro, and lock up after the intro right before the game starts. The Trevor graphics are garbled like any other famiclone I’ve seen with the exception of my Hyperkin FC Mobile ii. It plays Castlevania 3 just like a NES. Weird eh?
Have you hooked up the expansion audio pins on your Famicom to NES converter? On any converters, be it one in a Gyromite cartridge or a third-party converter, the audio output pins on the Famicom end are not hooked up to their respective pins on the NES end. If you've done that(if you've done it before making this video, the expansion audio pins on the cartridge slot are not hooked up to the RetroDuo's NES audio amp), do you plan on getting expansion audio to work on your RetroDuo?
Yes, Kirby's Dream Course will work on any clone. Kirby's Dreamland 3 though, is problematic. It might or might not depending on the revision of the cartridge itself.
I have a Retron 3 and I tried your trick to get Super Mario RPG to work. It didn't work, this must be unique to the Retro Duo which may mean it's one of the best clone consoles out there, since Super Mario RPG is excellent!
+MechaWingZero Right. You cannot do this with the RetroN3. The RetroDuo can switch modes with LoROM powered so to confuse the anti piracy measures to run.
Do a barrel roll. Press Z or R twice. In other words, what the heck do you expect me to tell you? Obviously you've got a defective unit and you should replace it. What kind of question is that, "what can I do". You can use your head.
The RES is a rebranded Yobo FC revision 2, which apparently fixed the sound problems from the original. I'm considering getting it. I would get the Retro duo, but I don't want to solder anything, and I already have a real snes. I mainly want to play famicom games though, so is getting a legit famicom + us cart adapter a better choice? Sorry for long comment.
Damn brobro , you need to get your hands on every brazilian famiclone ever made and dissect them like this. A lot of them suffer from reverse duty cycled audio (turbo game/top game, hi top game, dynavision 2 and 3 and some later builds of the acclaimed Phantom system) I own a dynavision 4 since childhood and since it was released in the 90s it uses a Noac, all the others above use standalone CPUs and PPUs. The dynavision 4 in question has accurate audio, it even runs castlevania 3 perfectly, but it cant run battletoads, it crashes on the second stage, we had to play the pirated copy that worked for some reason. I don't even know if you're still around and interested into doing famiclone videos, but the brazilian real is currently worth pennies for americans/canadians, so you could get yourself every brazilian famiclones from the 80s/90s for the low low and test them. If you're interested in the brazilian famiclones from the old days ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fOj367wBk3A.html This video is a really good watch, it's in portuguese sadly, and i don't know how good the youtube translation is with the subtitles.
Then you have early models. This is the review of the RetroDuo 2.0. You probably have red/back ones, or perhaps white/blue. Those are the first revisions, and have inferior NOACs. Newer RetroDuo consoles such as this one (which isn't new anymore, since this was shot in 2011) do work with MMC5 games such as Castlevania 3 and Koei strategy games.
Satoshi Matrix Not to be argumentative, but I'm not entirely sure this is true. I purchased a newer version 3.0 in 2013 (sealed box, confirmed 3.0 on the instruction book, and there's a 6/2013 sticker over one of the screw holes) and Castlevania III definitely does not work. It is a red/black model but as noted it is newer. I thought for some reason they might have recycled an old board in mine, but I can't find anyone else with the same issue. BTW it is a thoroughly cleaned game and the graphical issues it is displaying in the opening sequences match descriptions from others who've attempted to use CVIII on other non-compatible Famiclones. Ever heard of this or know of a fix?
Shoggoth Bebop Yeah, I've got a fix for MMC5 games like Castlevania. If they dont play on your RD 3.0 for some reason you can fix that by adding a hex inverter along pins 65 and 58. I made a image tutorial. pretty strightforward, just four wires need to be soldered. 37.media.tumblr.com/30786bf5d94dacc8027525fb29cf721d/tumblr_n5hvvzhHKM1rc7qlzo1_1280.jpg
Satoshi Matrix Much appreciated! Will attempt this weekend. Not sure why I got Retro-Bit's Easter Egg for 3.0 - it's a shame because the rest of the games play very well. It resurrected my nes library.
Well lets see. Romancing SaGa 3's board uses a single rom chip, 64k battery backed SRAM, and uses the MAD-1 mapper chip. Yes, it'll work with any SNES clone. Nothing about it will prevent it from doing so. Its board is pretty basic.
Super Mario RPG runs perfect on my retro duo just fine without the NES Trick, then again, instead of silver and blue, mine it white and blue, is it that different?
I'm not surprised that enhanced Famicom sound chips don't work. On a 72-pin NES connection, there are no pins dedicated to additional sound channels. (One of the dumbest design decisions for the North American model, if you ask me.) You'd need to have a dedicated Famicom cartridge slot; not a 72-pin adapter.
That's not necessarily true of all Famiclones. For example, The Gen-X only has a 72 pin connector for NES games, yet supports expansion audio. You'll need an 60 to 72 pin adapter, but with one you can get expansion audio from Famicom games via a 72 pin adapter clone. Check my series Attack of the Famiclones for my Gen X video series.
oh ok, so it only has problems with the (European) games? do you know if there is any difference in the gameplay,graphics,sound in SNES and SFC games? other than the Japanese dialogue of course? thanks for your answer.
+John J The RetroDuo is a decent 7/10ish Famicom, but it's _not_ the best Famiclone out there. That goes to the Super 8. Take a search through my channel of the Super 8 Review. Now *that* is an awesome Famiclone. and yes, Battletoads level 2 onwards is unplayable as it is on all Famiclones.
The Super Mario RPG trick does not work on my Retro Duo. I have the same model of Retro Duo as shown in the video, after several attempts it will only show the black screen. (have tested the game on a friends SNES and it works flawlessly) Any tips? I might just end up going into the cartridge and lifting the pin so it will begin to work.
Is the plastic on the controlers and the console (retroduo) good plastic or a cheap kinda dollar store type plastic? I just wanted to know because the RES (Retro Entertainment System) is very cheap plastic, and is by the same company.
I've noticed in your reviews that these clones hardly have trouble with SNES or Sega games but always struggle with the NES. Why do you suppose that is? Is the NES really that much more complicated?
The fault is in the history of the NOAC. Because of how wildly popular the NES and Famicom were all around the world, it was extremely lucrative for Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese pirates to produce clones of the Nintendo hardware and sell them in those sorts of markets where copyright law wasn't enforced. The first clones started to appeal as early as 1989. So it's 1989: long before there are Nintnedo-On-a-Chip clones. If you want to make a Famiclone, you need to build it using discrete hardware. That meant for every component in the original Famicom, the pirates would use an off-the-shelf component. Doing that got them 95% done, but then they had the problem of the CPU and PPU, both custom Ricoh parts designed specifically for the Nintendo Famicom. So, the pirates had no choice by to attempt to copy and recreate the CPU and PPU. Afterall, the CPU in the NES was a variation of the MOS Technology 6502 core, a cpu used commonly in all sort of other consoles and computers from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64. And how hard could it be to copy a PPU? The problem of course, was they were reverse engineering these vital chips without the benefit of modern equipment which would do it far more accurately, nor of course did they have access to any technical documentation. So, they initially had to get design clones on a trail and error basis until they got games up and running. Problem was, there were errors in the design in both the CPU and PPU, with both visuals and sound, but at least they got most games working for the most part. So once that happened production began and the age of Famiclones was at hand. Many years later after the Famicom was no longer officially supported, pirates decided it was time to expand their enterprise and produce Famiclones in far greater numbers and do so more cheaply than before. The obvious way to reduce costs was to scrap discrete hardware clones for integrated System on a Chip designs (SoC). What did they use as the basis for SoC Famiclones? Existing discrete Famiclones of course, design flaws and all. And since then for at least the past twenty years, Famiclones have consistently been based off one another. Oh sure there are NOACs that fix minor errors (mostly Retro-Bit's sole efforts) but how little the NOAC itself has changed. In order to make a clone with a fully funtional NOAC, clone makers would have to engineer a NOAC from the ground up, which would be expensive and take R&D time. Or they can simply use their existing flawed designs that cost almost nothing to produce. That is why these clones constantly struggle with NES. The situation would have been the same for the Genesis and SNES, but those systems were too complex for pirates to clone in the early days, and by the time they were able to clone them, Many design documents were leaked on the internet and equipment evolved to allow for modern, fairly accurate clones. This is why a friend of mine who designs ICs and is an avid retro gamer is currently working on designing a Famiclone himself, essentially doing the pirate's work for them to design a NOAC that isn't based on a flawed understanding of the original hardware.
Damn, you really know your stuff. So they're using old flawed designs made back when the patent on the Famicom was active so they couldn't directly use the actual technology. Now the patent has expired but companies continue to use the old designs because they're cheaper to produce and no one has taken the time and money to properly recreate the Famicom/NES?
+Satoshi Matrix Thanks for all the info. How if your friend's design coming along? Will he publish the schematics so Chinese companies can start pumping them out cheaply?
Thanks. Like 99% of GBA ports of SNES games, the GBA build of Rockman & Forte is nowhere near as good as the original. It might more or less look the same, but the saturation, music, and even the controls aren't as good. The only way to dash as Forte is to double tap the dpad left or right - Try playing Megaman X that way without mapping dash to anything else but that.
The Famicom to NES adapter shown is a official Famicom to NES adapter found in early copies of Gyromite. All I did was cut the plastic shell above the pin connector to allow other Famicom games to interface.
***** Yes, and not only Gyromite. All of the 1985-86 production run NES games produced were in fact the Famicom versions inside NES shells using Famicom to NES adapters. At the time, Nintendo of America did not have the facilities to manufacture game circuit boards themselves, and so the Japanese arm of Nintendo produced these adapters and shipped them to North America for the launch of the emerging NES market. By 1987 this practice was reduced, and at the end of the year cancelled completely. As such, there is a slight chance any of the five screw NES carts from Excitebike to Super Mario Bros. may contain a Famicom to NES adapter hidden inside. The chances are pretty low though - I own about 30 copies of Super Mario Bros. 5 screw and only two 2 of them have adapters.
Question: I'm thinking about getting this system, but heard that for some people that it broke within a month of having it. Did you have this problem, or does yours still work?
Do not buy an RES. The RES is merely a rebranded Yobo FC/Neo Fami. Every clone out there save for the Super 8 (watch my review of that) is VASTLY inferior to the RetroDuo in both performance and compatibility. If you know what you're doing, the mod for the RetroDuo is easy. Now, if you manly want to play Famicom games, there's no substitute for an actual Famicom, and if you go that route, go with the AV Famicom. Check the huge detailed guide to the pros and cons of each choice on my site.
Hey man. There was mention by someone that you couldn't mod the 3.0 and mine will be getting to me tomorrow. Is this a 2.0 or 3.0 because I hate to think the 3.0 has audio problems and can't be modded.
As long as you take care of them. I've only had two clones die on me - The FamiEight and the Famulator - and both of those I bought used so who knows what their previous owners did.
OK, now I'm interested. Since DasCheap is jerking me the hell around on the SRT, I might just get this instead and wait for the SRT to be available elsewhere.
Satoshi Matrix Well, they keep pushing back my process date, and when I emailed to complain, they told me it was still a preorder, DESPITE their website listing it as in stock and ready to ship. I've sent an email to their admin, and I'm hoping to get some relief, but it's looking increasingly like I'm not getting my SR3.
Yuko Asho Oh okay, please keep me informed as to what their admin tells you. See, when you suddenly said you had bought a SRT from DasCheap, I felt pissed and betrayed by Retro-Bit. They're one of my partner companies I work with to help improve their product line. They send me products, and I showcase and review them in depth while sending them private feedback as to how their products can be improved in the future. RetroBit hasn't sent me a review unit of the SRT yet, nor have I received an email when to expect that yet. DasCheap having them before Retro-Bit sends me and other partners advanced review units just does NOT make any sense. Unless DasCheap somehow got a premature stock somehow, you'll have to wait at least several more weeks since again, Retro-Bit hasn't even sent out review units, let alone made it available for retail yet.
Satoshi Matrix I'm surprised that you say there's been no review copies, as I've seen reviews from NintendoLife and an Australian whose name I forget. It's starting to sound more and more like Retro-bit doesn't know what the hell it's doing. I got this off their facebook. Retro-Bit Unfortunately, I am not sure which shops received SR3s from our exclusive distributors, Innex Inc. Like · Reply · 1 hr Retro-Bit If you would like, I can suggest checking Amazon.com or sending an email to info@Innexinc.com to ask directly. I hope I have been of some help Like · 1 hr I'm going to email innex and see if that leads anywhere, but holy crap, this is almost as bad as Hyperkin's handling of the Retron5 (which is the clusterfuck that DROVE me to Retro-Bit to start with). So yeah, it looks like it'll be a while.
Yuko Asho I have a contact at Innex, so I can tell you right now that emailing them would be a waste of time. When they tell me something, I'll tell you.
I got a TV just like yours and a retro duo and connected the things on the TV and when I put the thing on 8bit or 16bit the little light don't turn on. what do I do?
+Julian Jaimes Clearly the joke went over your head. You asked me what to do. As in, diagnose your extremely vague problem asked over the internet in a youtube comment. Sorry, but I'm not a Time Lord. I can't troubleshoot for you without seeing it, much less running diagnostics with a multimeter over the internet. Sadly that hasn't been invented yet. So I did the only thing I could do and answered your video of what you should do rather than ask a vague question that has enumerable answers. You effectively just asking something akin to "I feel pain. What is wrong with me, doctor on the internet?"
+Julian Jaimes Read what I wrote. Of course I don't know what your problem is. It's not possible to diagnose what your problem is over the internet knowing nothing other than what you said. You need to troubleshoot it yourself using your own multimeter. I nor anyone else can solve your problem for you. Again, it's akin to asking a doctor why you're in pain over the internet and giving no other information.
No need to be rude! may a trick like puttin it on 8bit 10 seconds then back on the 16bit...or punching it a few time..maybe blow in it..or just smash the hell out of it..or maybe open it up and just fix a wire or something!! But thank your ignorant comments..
It's amazing how far Nintendo has come in terms of mandating censorship. Given Nintendo's free market approach of allowing the end consumer to decide what content is suitable for them on the Switch e-shop, it is almost unbelievable the same company strictly enforced censorship to such a degree that words like "Bar" needed to be censored to "Cafe" and "Holy" be censored to "Pearl". I think we're all better off for it. Censorship still exists in the gaming space, but it's not nearly as awful as it used to be.
what does it mean by this game pak is not desigined for your super famicom or super nes for retro duo i have super mario all stars do i need a adapter to get it to play.
+darren warren You're probably trying to run the European PAL version. You cant run PAL games on the RetroDuo unless you buy the PAL version of the RetroDuo.
The NES hardware was designed in 1983 to reproduce simple arcade games. Later, more advanced NES games were only possible through the use of what are called memory mappers, or simply mappers. Mappers allow for effects the NES hardware alone cannot, such as vertical and horizontal screen scrolling, sub menus, split screen effects, and so on. Clone systems don't always exactly match the NES hardware specs for mapper commands to work correctly. This is what causes some games like Castlevania III and Paperboy not to work. It's a defect within the Nintendo-on-a-chip.
THIS MEANS WAR RAWR 2 has all of that plus crudely drawn DOORS and barely visible dark worlds and a overly masculine toad so yea does your precious 3 have THAT MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
the "Retro Entertainment System" is the Yobo FC Game Console with a new name. BAD Famiclone. Look up reviews of the Yobo FC Game Console. Do yourself a favor and buy a RetroDuo instead.
TheRetroGamer1287 lol really? I've never thought of myself as having any particular accent, at least no different from say, anywhere else from the midwest United States on north. About the only real way you can tell I'm Canadian is because of my Canadian refusal to pronounce the letter Z and "zee" like most Americans would. Instead, I like other Canadians follow the British, Japanese, Australian, German, and Spanish pronunciation of "zed". Only Americans and French say "zee".
TheRetroGamer1287 again, haha really? Maybe it's again lack of externalizing, but I don't think I pronounce those words were an accent. To me, "about" is pronounced like "A bow-t". Not like some overthetop "A boot" or something. Is it really all that unique?
