NightSprinter Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Hey everyone, just to start out, this is regarding the actual Famicom/Famicom AV (and the 100% compatible clones, not the NOAC stuff). I've been playing several of my NES carts on an unmodified Nintendo Famicom witha converter I bought from SAG (thanks, this helps me out a lot while I don't have either NES or Famicom of my own). I've noticed a few discrepancies. To start, the DPCM channel on random occasion seems to play a sample two or three times in a row. Also, I've found ONE game for the NES that's wholly-incompatible with an original Famicom: Castlevania III. Does anyone know why this would be the case? I mean I know that I can get Akumajou Densetsu, but given that this system is going to be a gift for a friend (as I also will be having his Disk System repaired and tested), is there a reason an actual game like this won't work? In terms of how Castlevania III "doesn't work", it's basically the exact same problems that've plagued Famiclones for years (nothing showing during the intro screen, graphics are garbled, game ceases to respond when starting a game). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadlyDiskKun Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Simply put, the game CV3; takes to much memory for the Famicom to play correctly... thats why CV3 comes on a disk for the famicom. The Disk system has a ram enhancer so that it can support higher graphic games. NES = Superior Graphic capabilities, Also has A/V Famicom = Superior controls, Superior Cartridge Conector and Superior Design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) Uh, Castlevania III never came on disk. That's the original Castlevania/Akumajou Doracula. Both games are 384KB in size, and aside from graphical/audio differences there's not anything aside from mapper seperating them. I just want to know why an NES MMC5 game refuses to work on a Famicom. Keep in mind, that a lot of cartridge games used a technique called "bankswitching" from all the posts I've read in the past several years. Edited May 27, 2009 by NightSprinter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadlyDiskKun Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Uh, Castlevania III never came on disk. That's the original Castlevania/Akumajou Doracula. Both games are 384KB in size, and aside from graphical/audio differences there's not anything aside from mapper seperating them. I just want to know why an NES MMC5 game refuses to work on a Famicom. Keep in mind, that a lot of cartridge games used a technique called "bankswitching" from all the posts I've read in the past several years. Does you CV3 play on a NES alright, because maybe your cart has a blown capacitor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 It plays just fine on the real NES, and on the RetroDuo at the local Play'n'Trade locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadlyDiskKun Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I dont know what to tell you then, other then my original assumption its probably a ram problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Psionic Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 It's a hardware issue. Japanese CV3 has two chips that the American version lacks... The original Japanese version contained a specialized "VRC6" music microprocessor chip which was removed in the North American and European releases. This chip added two extra pulse-wave channels and a saw-wave channel to the system's initial set of five channels. The majority of the music combines the channels to imitate the sound of a synthesized string section. See: Multi-Memory Controller. The reason for this removal was that the western versions of the NES didn't have the ability to support external sound chips, so the game was re-programmed for the western releases. Some of the percussion instruments were also slightly changed, even though the low-quality PCM channel was no less capable without the VRC6 mapper. The Japanese version had slightly better graphics than the North American version. The backgrounds in many stages had special effects not seen in the North American and European releases, also due to the lack of the special mapper chip found in the Japanese cartridge (which was manufactured not by Nintendo, but by Konami itself). I highly suspect the problems you're having are related to the absence of these two chips in the NES cart (with the result that the game had to be reprogrammed). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 What chips were these, ouside of the VRC6? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Psionic Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 What chips were these, ouside of the VRC6? I believe the other was the VRC2 (the same chip used in JP Contra), but I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 What chips were these, ouside of the VRC6? I believe the other was the VRC2 (the same chip used in JP Contra), but I'm not sure. Found a thread on the MSX forums regarding it. This is interesting, it contains the VRC6 for the memory mapper and the Konami SCC-I (part number K051649). But here's where things don't make sense: if Castlevania III won't work, wouldn't that prevent Rad Racer II and any Famicom "cassette" if you will with the MMC5 mapper from working on the system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Well, I just picked up Rad Racer II for the NES at the local Play'n'Trade for three bucks. Loaded it into my Famicom with the cartridge adapter. It has the exact same issues as it does on the Yobo Famiclones (including the Retro Entertainment System). Despite being a North American exclusive it seems, this game uses the MMC3 mapper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 (edited) Did more testing with Rad Racer II. There's just minor graphical artifacting. Edited June 7, 2009 by NightSprinter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Postman Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I don't remember the exact reason, but Castlevania III won't play on any Fami clones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I don't remember the exact reason, but Castlevania III won't play on any Fami clones. I believe it's because it uses a weird and unsupported mapper. Tempest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 No, it's not a wierd mapper. It uses Nintendo's MMC5. This mapper (from a Famicom standpoint) added 1K of extra memory, two additional square-wave channels (functionally-identical to the 2A03's), and improved graphics capabilities. CV3 never used the additional audio channels due to the rather foolish hardware design choice made for the NES. Still a great game. As stated in a thread for the FDS, I think the reason it won't work on the Famicom that I have is due to the fact that there's some issues with the Yobo converter. What converters are out there that work with no issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMOS_85 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Adventure Island is another one that doesn't work on Famicom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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