Sites with Famiclone and pirate cart information?

[nintendodork]

The majority of clones have the same guts.  NOAC
Xtincted is selling some pirates in both NES and Famicom ports, and his Famicom ones all come with converters.

[shoggoth80]

Speaking of Xtincthed, I got a couple games from him. No problems. Shipping takes a little bit to the US, but the transction went quite well.

The NES pirate carts aren't seen as much in the US, and are pretty interesting. as a general rule, many of the pirate  multi carts contain the same games, or reiterations thereof. I was pleased to see a few different ones in the carts I got... Adventure Island is one that I don't see on multicart compilations much.

Nintendodork has it about right. The bulk of the modern NES/Famiclones do use Nintendo On A Chip... keeps them small, and I am guessing really quick, easy, and cheap to manufacture. These do have some drawbacks....depending on the clone/generation/time of manufacture. Usually these come in the way of imperfect sound, occasional color saturation (the colors are more rich than the original hardware would display), and a handful of game compatibility issues (major common non-compatibility with most clone consoles happens to be Castlevania III, due to extra chips in the game or something along those lines). One clone has fewer problems, and that is the Retro Duo, if you are after a US top loading clone.

If you want a clone with a board and chip set... keep your eyes peeled for an older clone. They pop up from time to time, and the one older clone I have has really nice compatibility. I don't have Castlevania III for the Famicom, otherwise, I'd give it a test run in it to see how much difference the board and chipset make. 

[nintendodork]

My clone I have now, the Retro Entertainment System, is small, uses original controllers, I couldn't see any differences in music or gameplay or color, and it was cheap.  I got it at videogamecentral for $30

[shoggoth80]

I CAN say the Retro Entertainment System is NOT compatible with Castlevania III....
one of the three games I got to test before mine bricked out on me. However, the retailer I bought it from is sending a replacement out. Aside from the general NOAC compatibility issues (ie: some games won't work), the RES shows some promise. I imagine the compatibility is close to the same as the YOBO or the Hyperkin Super Loader. I like the controllers for the RES though.
I DO agree that it had pretty good sound, and the color looked correct.

Nintendodork, do you have a copy of Adventure Island to test? Listen to the music track... does the Bass/percussion sound drown some of the more treble-ish stuff? My FC Twin does that, and it uses the average NOAC for the NES side of the machine.

[nintendodork]

Nope, don't have AI, sorry
I've never played Adventure Island...ever...now that the Famicom has one more than the NES, I guess I better start

[ericj]

I can't believe you never played adventure island!!! I remember back when I was a kid that game was in arcades. It's on soooo many multicarts and is pretty easy to find for the Famicom.

[shoggoth80]

Was gonna say, not to get too far off topic,...
but Wonder Boy/Adventure Island is more or less made of win. Sure it's "just" a platformer that repeats its general formula while increasing difficulty... but I still love the game!

[Rogles]

yeah, I laughed when... (wasn't it Takahashi Meijin?) first got on the skateboard. So unexpected.

[shoggoth80]

I believe that was the Japanese title for the game. I hate the skateboard... gets me killed more often than not... even now, damn near 20 years later!

To be more on topic, if you want information about particular clones, someone mentioned the Ultimate Console Database... TONS of clones on there, and not just NES/Famicom stuff. Fun site. As far as carts go... I am not as sure about that, I'd say google search it. There are some sites that sell clones and multicarts... likely based in China, there was a thread about it somewhere in the general chat area I think. I bookmarked the site, but I am not posting from my computer at the moment.

Though, I HIGHLY recommend a console type clone if you are going to go the clone route... the controller based clones just don't hold up as well, or for as long. I have a Micro Genius clone, that I bought second hand (lucky eBay find), I know it is older, but not sure HOW old.... but it still works fine many years down the road.

[nintendodork]

The controller based clones SUCK ASS
The pin connectors are awful.  Get a RES, and a converter, and it'll be better than a Top-Loading NES and A/V Famicom

[Blue Protoman]

Controllers-based clones are bad?

Mr. Power Joy would like to have a word with you.

[Rcoehrs]

Thanks for all the info! I was almost gonna waste money on a converter but since I have a famicom, I wisely will skip it and spend more on the carts themselves. so just curious, Is thier a holy grail of multi-carts? the best of the best?

[nintendodork]

Personally, I think FamicomFreak has the "Holy Grail" of multis...
But he thinks otherwise
But, no one has really declared any specific multi to be a "Holy Grail" of any sorts.  Just look for ones that are cheap, look fun, and/or have a games list on the back.  No matter how deceiving the front label is, the back list always has the right games.  Except games like Dream Mary are almost always called something different on every multi I see.

[Blue Protoman]

I like the Power Joy PJ-008 cart.  It's got 84 games.  I think I saw a picture of one with a different label somewhere.

[L___E___T]

It's kind of a matter of opinion what's the best, as everyone has different favourite games.