[REVIEW] Supercard DS ONE Mk. II (SDHC) Opzioni

[Evrain]

Supercard DS ONE - Mk. II (SDHC)
[ English Version | Versione Italiana ]

Quick Links
Homepage: http://eng.supercard.cn/
Updates: GbaRL.it Download Area

Our thanks to Supercard Team and RomMan for the sample provided.

Supercard: unless you're a complete newcomer in GBA/DS hacking, this name won't be unknown to you. This brand encompasses a wide range of successful and largely popular products going way back, to when touch screens were something you'd find on Star Trek and the GameBoy Advance was all the rage: that large, bulky blue cartridge with a taste for SD cards was, for many (and for myself), the first step into this side of the gaming world.

Their winning streak isn't over, either: after a slow start, due to a system software with a fair amount of rough edges, the Supercard DS ONE Slot-1 kit affirmed itself as one of the most reliable, well-supported and feature packed flashcards on the market. The sale figures were more than enough for the team to just sit back and relax, yet over the last year there was a steady trickle of firmware updates, each of them improving performance or adding a new function; now, our site is proud to review the latest update of this already appreciated hardware, the Supercard DS ONE SDHC, which we'll commonly refer to as a 'Mk. II'.

Introduction & Features

Ease of use, excellent build, constant support: these three traits have always been Supercards' distinguishing features. That was true for the (relatively) old SD-and-CF-powered GBA flashes, and it still holds true for this new DS ONE: everything you need is in the cart, be it homebrew patching, advanced gaming options or music playback; a microSD is the only real requirement. Given how the team has always set the bar quite high, we expect nothing short of excellence from this hardware.

As we briefly mentioned above, this is not a completely new design, but rather an upgraded version of the widely spread non-SDHC DS ONE, up to the point that system updates are shared between said models.

As usual, let's open our review with a quick look at the feature list, as provided by the manufacturer:

• Plug 'n Play(No FlashMe, No PassMe, No convert).
• 100% Clean Rom Support. 100% game capatibility.
• Support PASSME function. Can boot GBA slot. Hotkey L+B at OS menu.
• GBA union function, support GBA game union and can be saved. Enable GBA game be loaded to slot 2. need SCCF, SCDS, SCL.
• no PC software required, just Drag 'n Drop file from PC to flash memory card.
• Hardware save support. Easy to backup and exchange save with other players.
• THREE mode designed
  Clear ROM mode: (100% Clean Rom Support. Just Drag 'n Drop file from PC to flash memory card.)
  Patch Mode: (RESET, Realtime Cheat Code, Realtime Game Guide, Realtime Save, Multiple Saver, save to flash card directly without any save lost. Just Drag 'n Drop file from PC to flash memory card.)
  Super Mode: (Need extra software, ROM needs to be converted by PC. This Mode is designed for future functions. Such as if there is a game save more than 4M.)
• Unlimited storage. Support FAT/FAT32. (Recommend FAT)
• Blue-Light engine included. Support High speed flash memory card without any slow down.
• DS original cartridge size, the perfect solution of slot 1.
• TFlash/MicroSD slot Push'n Push design, easy to use.
• Micro firmware designed, and extended skin which is fully upgradeable.
• MoonShell built-in design. Can play MP3, Ogg and DPG2 directly in SuperCard DS system. Capatible with DPG0/DPG1. It also support eBook and view picture. It's a real multimedia system.
• Support DS Browser, need SCCF, SCSD, SCL.
• Support SC Rumble Series as a rumble package.
• Powerful OS Menu System. Game list support text list, small icon list and big icon list. Support touch operation.

Apart from the Engrish we've come to know and love from flashcard manufacturers, it's hard not to notice the size of the list: among some more common capabilities, unique ones such as Real Time Save and multiple saver files for each game, in-game text reader for taking a quick look at a walkthrough and modularity for future enhancements. Also, the older Slot-2 Supercard series is fully integrated with the DS ONE, which is capable of using them for a number of advanced tasks, such as providing additional RAM for homebrews and the Opera DS Browser alike, uplinking DS and GBA games, enabling vibration via a SuperCard Rumble. The system software, as we'll discuss farther in this review, is one of the aspects of this flash kit that has evolved the most, getting rid of the performance and reliability issues of the earlier revisions to become a robust and accessible interface.

Knowing the SC Team, though, we wouldn't define this list as "final": given certain design choices, we wouldn't be surprised if more features were added or expanded upon - real time save was announced completely out of the blue, after all - so is with these subtle promises in mind that we proceed with testing this unit.

[Evrain]

Compatibility and Performance

After taking care of the descriptive part, we can field test our DS ONE Mk.II. Given the card's unique features, we altered our standard testing protocol to give a full overview of all its specs.

In order to perform our tests, we used a retail DS ONE Mk.II for comparison, along with an older Supercard SD (Slot-2) and two microSD's, HC and non-HC. Here is the customary detailed breakdown:

• Supercard DS ONE Mk.II - provided sample
• Supercard DS ONE Mk.II - retail
• Supercard SD (Slot-2) - older model
• Nintendo DS "Classic" v3 (with FlashMe v7), Nintendo DS Lite v7
• Kingston microSD 1GB, Kingston microSD High Capacity 4Gb
• Kingston Secure Digital 512Mb

Even though a 4 Gb microSDHC was used, keep in mind that the results refer, unless otherwise specified, to tests performed with the 1 Gb one, due to this being the average user's setup. All memory cards are either new or restored to factory settings via formatting.
The software revision used is version 3.0 SP2, the latest available as of March 2008, with default options (Enable Patch, Enable Reset, Patch SD Card Speed, Saver Patch).

Homebrew

Homebrewing on the DS ONE is as simple as it can become: just copy the relevant files over and you're ready to go. DLDI auto-patching has become a common feature among recent flashcards and has significantly reduced the hassle for less experienced users. Also, the need of a specifically compiled executable, as was the case with Slot-2 Supercard units, is no more: we tested ScummVM DS, DSOrganize, ClIRC and Beup Live without encountering a single glitch.

DS Games

And now, DS games. What follows is the complete list of the titles we tested, their color showing their compatibility.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber
CSI: Dark Motives
Real Football 2008
Warhammer 40k: Squad Command
Drawn to Life
Mario Party DS
Megaman Star Force: Dragon
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Contra 4
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Pokèmon Diamond
Sonic Rush Adventure
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
Asterix & Obelix at the Olympic Games
New Zealand Story
New Super Mario Bros
Yu-GiOh! World Championship 2007
Zoo Keeper
Bubble Bobble: Double Shot
Another Code: Two Memories
Nanostray
Electroplankton
Pac'n Roll
Lost in Blue
Kirby Canvas Course
Battles of Prince of Persia
Burnout Legends
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Fifa Street 2
James Pond
Puyo Pop Fever
Bomberman DS
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!
Megaman ZX
Megaman ZX Advent
Star Trek Tactical Assault
Cooking Mama
Yoshi's Island DS
Zendoku
Ratatouille
42 All-time Classics
Animal Crossing
Bee Movie
Brain Training
More Brain Training
Crash Bandicoot Titans
Ferrari Challenge
Imagine Baby-sitter
Giulia Passione Stilista
Left or Right
Luxor: Pharaoh's Challenge
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Mario Kart DS
Metroid Prime Hunters
Ultimate Mortal Kombat DS
Mistery Detective
Shrek the Third
Lunar Knights
Picross DS
Orcs & Elves
Tetris DS
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

One-hundred percent, but we weren't expecting any less. With the team's quick response to problems and constant stream of update releases, the DS ONE continues to be perfect under virtually every aspect, DS-wise. Moreover, Real Time Save and multisavers come in handy in countless situations, with minimal impact on performance: we finally managed to clear Megaman ZX with the former.

GBA Games

As we've pointed out on a few occasions during our review, the DS ONE is fully integrated with its older Slot-2 brothers: this extends to being able to run GBA homebrews and games. Obviously, you will be able to benefit from this feature only after plugging in a Supercard SD/CF/miniSD, and quite literally for that matter: the OS autodetects compatible hardware and allows files with .gba extension to be displayed in the browser; after that, simply pushing A will start the game, or rather load it into the GBA cart and run it.
Also, the same principle is used by GBA Union: after enabling it as we explained while describing the system software, all you have to do is load the corresponding GBA game into the Slot-2 Supercard by selecting it in the browser and tapping the tiny Load button (and subsequently running the DS game, of course). It's the same concept as with the EZ 3-in-1, with the difference that GBA code is stored on volatile memory (32Mb on our Supercard SD) until the console is turned off.

We tested said integration with three GBA games and with the Opera DS Browser: Sigma Star Saga worked fine, thanks to patching on the fly, although there were minor graphical glitches; Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow showed no problem in being recognised by its DS sequel and we effortlessly surfed the web with Opera, albeit painstakingly slowly.
The most obvious advantage of this is finally getting rid of the patching software, of course, although older Supercard models are quite infamous for their GBA compatibility; neverthless, if you own one, it will effectively open up new possibilities.

Download Play

There isn't much to say: the DS ONE's performance on local multiplayer is on par with its high-end competitors. By applying patches on a per-game basis (whereas other flashcards prefer a more generlc "all fixes on, all fixes off" approach), Download Play fixing doesn't affect the overall compatibility, with the only downside of having to be activated manually via the patching dialog.