General Category > General Discussion
Region Free SNES?
steveprudden:
I'm going to be visiting Japan in about a month and plan on picking up a few Japan-exclusive games while I'm there.
My question is this: What is the best way to play SNES games from PAL, NTSC and Japanese regions on the same console?
I don't actually own a SNES but I've heard that the US SNES is the easiest to mod to be region-free. Anybody got any experience with this?
I'm from the UK by the way.
Arseen:
I have switched US SNES so it can be done.
US console is the best starting point as the US carts are biggest, thus the cart slot is biggest.
Modding US console to play Jap games and vice versa is easy, just cutting the pegs in the cart slot so both carts fit. (in Jap console you also have to widen the slot so US carts fit). This BTW applies to N64 as well.
To play PAL games you need mod chip and switch, and compatibilty still isn't 100% (99.99% thogh).
So I'd say cheapest option would be US console and PAL console.
tiktektak:
--- Quote from: Arseen on October 23, 2011, 05:19:19 PM ---I have switched US SNES so it can be done.
US console is the best starting point as the US carts are biggest, thus the cart slot is biggest.
Modding US console to play Jap games and vice versa is easy, just cutting the pegs in the cart slot so both carts fit. (in Jap console you also have to widen the slot so US carts fit). This BTW applies to N64 as well.
To play PAL games you need mod chip and switch, and compatibilty still isn't 100% (99.99% thogh).
So I'd say cheapest option would be US console and PAL console.
--- End quote ---
There is no mod chip for a SNES. You just need to install a region switch and also a second switch for 50/60 Hz.
Arseen:
--- Quote from: tiktektak on October 24, 2011, 01:06:18 PM ---There is no mod chip for a SNES. You just need to install a region switch and also a second switch for 50/60 Hz.
--- End quote ---
I always though they put some chip inside my SNES, anyway the mod to my console is done with just one switch.
satoshi_matrix:
--- Quote from: steveprudden on October 23, 2011, 04:57:26 PM ---What is the best way to play SNES games from PAL, NTSC and Japanese regions on the same console?
I'm from the UK by the way.
--- End quote ---
Just like with the NES/Famicom, you have to jump through some hoops, but this time it isn't a matter of different number of pins, but region locks. The PAL SNES has region locks that can only be accessed through PAL SNES games. North American and Japanese games both use the same region lock, but the cartridges are physically shaped differently. A North American SNES cart is much more rectangular than a japanese Super Famicom or European SNES cartridge is.
You can modify a North American SNES by simply taking a pair of pliers and removing two plastic tabs in the cart bay so Super Famicom games will fit, but it still won't play PAL games. On a European SNES, the cartridge bay itself will need to be cut and extended, ruining the exterior beauty of it. There are pass through plugs that you can buy that piggyback an Euro SNES cart so your system can run North American/Japanese games, but these are bulky, ugly, rare and expensive.
What I highly recommend you do is buy yourself a Super Powerpak.
http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?products_id=84
The Super Powerpak is $145 USD plus postage but is the perfect solution to your problem. The cartridge is a special shape so that it will fit into ANY model SNES or Super Famicom. It has a cycle lockout chip that will work in any region, and boot games from any region.
Put your games on a CF card and play them on the system. It'll play fan translations and rom hacks as well as all the commercial games. Built in GameGenie support and saves directly to the CF card for easy backup.
The only thing the powerpak won't do is run games with special co-processors like Star Fox or Super Mario RPG. For these games you'll need the original carts.
Any questions feel free to ask!