Manufactured by:Team NeoFlash
Review samples supplied by: IC2005 SmartShop
By The Technologist - 17th December 2013
Review Contents & Index:
- Introduction
- Packaging and Contents
- Cart Design
- Setting Up & Using
- Installation - Hardware
- Installation – Neo SMS Menu and USB Device Drivers
- Installation – Setting Up Neo SMS Myth flash cart SMS Menu
- Transferring ROMs
- Usage - General
- Usage – Sega Master System Games & Homebrew
- Neo SMS Myth GUI (Menu)
- ROM Compatibility
- Homebrew Support
- FM Synthesizer Support
- Conclusion
- Official Neo SMS Myth Flash Cart features list
In the mid 1980s, Sega released a console to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System. This console came shortly after the NES was released and was technologically superior. It offered a faster CPU and better graphics than the NES. Unfortunately, its sales were far behind due to Nintendo controlling a very large market share of the video game industry.
Fortunately for us, Team Neo Flash has once again provided a flash cart solution for yet another console. Their latest product, the Neo SMS Myth, is compatible with all Sega Master System cartridge games (also known as the Sega Mark III in Japan which is also compatible).
As usual, Neo Team offers continual product support and open source development among a team of hobbyists.
This review will show how to install, configure, and operate the cart as well as go into detail about which ROM images work and how to configure the Neo SMS Myth flash cart in the latest Windows based NeoFlash menu software.
What is unique about this flash cartridge is the built in FM synthesizer. That will be tested in this review as well to see if it works.
Neo SMS Myth flash cart Features:
- Supports All Sega Master System (Sega4) Games
- Supports Save
- Supports Cheat Codes, Can Enable/Disable the Cheat Codes While In-Game, Just Simply By Pressing One Switch. When the Cheat Code Function is Enabled, the LED = RED, When Disabled the LED = GREEN.
- Supports Return to Menu Function (Software Reset)
- Supports FM Sound
- Comes with 256M Neo2 Myth flash cart and SL4 Programmer
- Menu upgradeable
- Comes With One Driver CD
The Neo SMS Myth flash cart comes inside a nice re-sealable plastic clam shell and includes the Neo SMS Myth flash cart, 256M Neo2 Myth flash cart, USB Slim Loader IV, Software Installation Mini-CDROM, and a Cardboard Insert.
Inside are the following items:
Cart Design
Let's take a closer look at the Neo SMS Myth flash cart.
Like the Neo N64 Myth Cart and Neo SNES Myth Cart, the Neo SMS Myth flash cart comes in a black housing. What is interesting about this is the Neo Sega Genesis flash cart comes in a blue shell and the first photos of the Neo SMS Myth were in a blue shell as well.
On the top of the device is a GBA cartridge slot for the included 256M Neo Myth flash cart. This time, there is no flashy label on the front of the housing. Instead, the housing plastic has "NEO SMS MYTH CART" embossed. The rear of the cart has the FM audio plug with center color red, a video out port above it with a yellow center, an SMS audio in port with a white center, and a video in port above that with another yellow center.
Also notice that there is no USB port on this cartridge which means that all of the menu software and game programming goes directly into the Neo2 Myth Cart by itself and will not require a separate USB driver for the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
The Neo SMS Myth kit includes the USB Slim Loader IV. NeoFlash GBA products can be programmed with this device. This is what will be used to program the menu and games for the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
Setting Up & Using
Installation - Hardware
One unique feature about this cart is it does not require any original game cartridge to be plugged into it. It is a stand-alone device. Besides the RCA ports extending out of the rear of the unit, it is a pretty compact and clean device.
This sample was already pre-loaded with the Neo SMS Menu and some games, so all that is needed to be done to start is to simply insert it into the Sega Master System Power Base deck (or Sega Mark III if you are using the Japan version console).
Later in the review, how to program different games into the SMS Myth Cart will be shown.
Installation – Neo SMS Menu and USB Device Drivers
The only part of this package that requires driver installation is the USB Slim Loader IV.
To do this, install the NEO2 Manager Software from Team Neoflash from the support CD-ROM or the latest one from their web site. Then, plug the USB Slim Loader device into a free USB 2.0 port on a PC. The device will be automatically detected and installed by Windows.
The menu software setup is simple. After loading the Neo2 pro Manager software select MD in the Home menu and under NEO2 Properties BIOS Path make sure it is set to the path of MDBIOS.BIN. In this example, it is in C:\Program Files\NEO2\Manager\MDBIOS.BIN by default. Click the Format button, select Fast Format under Menu Format and ROM Format to Standard Format with Menu Type set to MD 3in1 Myth. Add NEOS4SRA.SMS as the first ROM of the list in the center of the screen then add the games afterward and program it to the flash cart within the NEO2 Manager Software on the PC.
Installation – Setting Up Neo SMS Myth flash cart SMS Menu
Transferring ROMs
The cartridge menu system currently supports headerless clean uncompressed *.SMS ROM files.
Simply drag and drop them to the center of the screen in the Neo2 Pro Manager software.
Then click Burn to transfer the ROMs to the Neo2 Myth Cart that is to be inserted afterward into the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
If there is a problem with the ROM or if it is not supported by the Neo SMS Myth Cart, the program will display the above messages accordingly.
Notice that the program fails to patch the Out Run game. This was due to the ROM containing a copier header. The game works, but a different tool was used to fix the ROM so it would run on the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
Usage - General
Start up of the Sega Master System Power Base is normal with the cartridge inserted. The console greets you with the SEGA logo and then loads the SMS Myth Cart's blue menu screen. The first ROM on the cart is displayed with instructions on how to navigate the menu system.
If the Neo2 flash ram cart is not configured properly or is absent from the Sega Master System deck, the console will bring you to its default display explaining that the user needs to turn off the console and insert a game to play before powering back on.
Pressing DOWN on the D-Pad will select the next ROM. What the menu does not say is that pressing UP on the D-Pad will select the previous ROM. Button I (I have found this button is actually Button 2) will run the ROM with FM sound and Button 1 (which here is displayed as blank) will run the ROM normally. After making the initial selection (Button 1 or 2), Button 1 is pressed to enter a cheat code and then Button 2 is pressed to launch the game ROM file.
So a short summary of the SEGA MASTWR MENU V1.0 (note: this does appear to be misspelled within the current menu software and will be changed/updated in the future but does not degrade the performance at all) to make it less complicated:
First screen:
Up/Down D-Pad -> Select ROM
Button 1 -> Play Game
Button 2 -> Play Game With FM
Second screen:
Button 1 -> Input Cheat Code
Button 2 -> Launch Game
Third screen (If Input Cheat Code was selected on the second screen using Button 1):
Up/Down -> Increase/Decrease Value
Left/Right -> Increase/Decrease Input Position of Cheat Code
Button 2 -> Launch Game
Usage – Sega Master System Games & Homebrew
All commercial ROMs that I tested function normally without any glitches or errors. Clean verified dumps from GoodSMS were tested and most functioned flawlessly.
However there was one caveat to this. I had to use a third party utility to get a couple of games to work. Those were Strider and Outrun verified clean dumps. The problem was each file had a 512 byte copier header from a previous backup unit and was not standard size. A simple tool patched them and they played perfectly afterward.
An update to the Neo2 Manager Software for the PC in the future should remedy this issue.
Homebrew ROMs function normally as well and require no tweaks such as padding or fixing. Some homebrew ROMs were programmed for PC based emulators, so they either did not run or displayed graphic glitches.
ROM Compatibility
All ROMs were tested on a 60hz TV set with a North America Sega Master System Power Base system (Made in China).
The ROM only and ROM with SRAM games I tested work flawlessly and are:
- Aerial Assault (NTSC/U) PASS
- Battlemaniacs (Brazil) PASS
- California Games (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS FM synthesizer support works
- California Games (Portuguese Translation) (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS FM synthesizer support works
- Bram Stroker's Dracula (PAL) PASS
- Bram Stroker's Dracula (Portuguese Translation) (PAL) PASS
- Castle of Illusion - Starring Mickey Mouse (NTSC/U) PASS
- Columns (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Cool Spot (PAL) PASS
- E-SWAT - City Under Siege (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Portuguese Translation) (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Mortal Kombat (PAL) PASS
- Ninja Gaiden (PAL) PASS
- Out Run (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS FM synthesizer support works. Needed copier header removed, CRC recalculated, pad to 4Mbit
- Out Run 3-D (PAL) PASS FM synthesizer support works
- Out Run Europa (PAL) PASS
- R-Type (Brazil) PASS
- Rainbow Islands (PAL) PASS
- Sonic Spinball (PAL) PASS
- Sonic the Hedgehog (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Spy vs. Spy (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Street Fighter 2 (Brazil) PASS
- Streets of Rage (PAL) PASS
- Streets of Rage 2 (PAL) PASS
- Strider (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS Needed copier header removed, CRC recalculated, pad to 4Mbit
- Super Monaco GP (NTSC/U / PAL) PASS
- Super Off-Road (PAL) PASS
- Super Smash TV (PAL) PASS
- Taito Chase H.Q. (NTSC/J) PASS
- Terminator 2 - The Arcade Game (PAL) PASS
- Tom and Jerry the Movie (PAL) PASS
ROMs that had some issues:
No commercial ROM had any issue.
Neo SMS Myth GUI (Menu)
When you turn on the Sega Master System, the SEGA Master System BIOS screen displays, then the SEGA Master Menu is shown.
This is menu version 1.0 which was the menu that shipped with the device and was used for the initial testing of included ROMs in this review.
When a ROM is selected, very basic options are displayed. The numbers in the lower left corner of the screen change corresponding to user input on the joypad.
Pressing Button 1 or Button 2 selects the game to run corresponding to whether the game with no FM or the game with FM is how it will run. This screen allows the user to determine whether or not he wants to play the game with cheat codes enabled.
The cheat code screen has basic functionality. Pressing up on the d-pad increases the value and pressing down decreases the value input. Also pressing the left and right d-pad buttons will navigate this selection allowing each individual digit to be changed.
Here are screen shots of a horizontal shooter called Aerial Assault running from the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
This is Battlemaniacs. The game works well.
Here is Bram Stroker's Dracula which was also included on the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
California Games was a launch title for the Atari Lynx and it was interesting to see it ship on the Neo SMS Myth Cart for review. This copy is in Portuguese which leads me to believe that whoever developed the first menu is probably from Brazil or Portugal although the Neoflash company is based in China. It shows that people from around the world contribute to these hobbyist projects.
Castle of Illusion was a very popular title on the Sega Genesis. This is the Sega Master System version of the game in its 8-bit counterpart.
Columns is a great puzzle game on the Sega Master System. Notice that it is similar to the Sega Game Gear portable version. Most games carried on to the portable counterpart were ports from the SMS.
Another great title for the Sega Master System is Cool Spot. This title was somewhat popular on the PC and NES of its day.
This is ESWAT. It runs fine on the Neo SMS Myth Cart. It was programmed onto the sample that I received.
Ghouls and Ghosts is a no brainer hit. This game runs perfect.
Mortal Kombat was tested and works properly.
Ninja Gaiden is an infamous platform hit title that made it to Sega Master System as well. These screen shots show that it is quite different from its competition, the NES counterpart.
A great racing game on the SMS is Out Run. It plays fine and sounds a whole lot better using the FM synthesizer. You would think you are playing the 8-bit version of the game on a Sega Genesis while tuning in to the FM port on the back of the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
I highly recommend plugging in speakers to the FM port before playing this game. It is fantastic.
Out Run 3-D functions properly as well. Do not let the screen shots fool you though. This game still runs in 3-D mode and the camera captured part of the gameplay action which turned out well for this review.
Here are some screen shots of Out Run Europa. This game plays fine and is quite unique to the series by riding a motorcycle instead of driving a sports car. Sega entertainment consoles were better known for the game called Road Rash by Electronic Arts for this type of platform motorcycle racing. There is a port of that on Sega Master System as well.
Most screen shots of R-Type did not turn out too well, but here are a few. The Sega Master System displays graphics more flicker than the previous reviewed consoles that I have done, but it is very playable.
Rainbow Islands is a nice colorful game on the Sega Master System. I just took a few quick photos of this game. It had no issues.
Above are Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 screen shots. This title also gained its fame from the Sega Genesis but it is interesting to see that Sega ported these games to a less popular console.
Sonic Spinball had a port to Sega Master System as well. A lot of games that were popular on Sega's newer system made it to this console and play quite well.
These are a few screen shots of Spy vs. Spy tested and running flawlessly on the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
One of the most popular Sega exclusive platform titles of all time, Strider, runs fine on the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
Streets of Rage was another first party title that was made popular on the Sega Genesis. Here are screen shots of Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2 in their 8-bit glory.
Formula 1 fans can relax because Super Monaco GP runs well from the Neo SMS Myth Cart.
Super Off Road was an isometric racing game made by Williams for many systems in the mid to late 1980s. Amazingly the SMS controller works wonderful in this great title.
Smash T.V. actually was most popular in its arcade form and on the Super NES. Although the gameplay is difficult on the Sega Master System, it is playable.
Taito Chase H.Q. also made it to various consoles and arcade. This title works great on this device.
Terminator 2 - The Arcade Game runs fine on the Neo SMS Myth Cart. It is a pretty decent game.
Although Street Fighter II made most of its fame in the arcade and then the highly acclaimed Super Nintendo version of the game, it made it to some 8-bit consoles as well. Here is the Sega Master System version.
Homebrew Support
Almost all homebrew ROMs function properly. I was pleased with this because a lot of homebrew ROMs are only 32k and I thought I might run into issues right away. There were a few that displayed graphic glitches or just did not run at all.
Most of the homebrew scene programming prior to Sega Master System flash cartridges depended on emulators such as Meka so it is to be expected that not all homebrew will work on the real console. This can be alleviated by the original authors of the homebrew tweaking their code, recompiling, and re-releasing the software so it can run on the real hardware.
- #gscept Intro by blindio color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- 64 Color Palette Test color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- AntiISDA Warrior by Ventzislav Tzvetkov (V1.00) color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Artillary Master 8k V0.9 by Haroldo O. Pinheiro color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Blockhead v20040714 by Proppy & Tet FAIL loads but causes black screen
- BMP2Tile Demo color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Bock's Birthday 2002 by Maxim (PD) color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Canyon Racer V0.01alpha by Haroldo O. Pinheiro color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Chkstate Demo by Dave color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Code 38 - Volume I color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Color & Switch Test color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Copyright Violation by Nicolas Warren color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Damiana color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- DCEvolution.net Intro color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Digger Chan by Aypok color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Draw Poker by Mike Beaver color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Driar (V0.05) by fx and ejdolf color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Elite Gaiden V0.1.8 by Ricardo Bittencourt color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Fri For Fransk! V1.02 by Marc Klemp color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- Genesis 6 Button Controller Test by Charles MacDonald color=#008000]PASS[/color]
- GoodAdvice by Nicolas Warren color=#008000]PASS[/color] Never put salt in your eye.
- Happy Looser by Zoop color=#008000]PASS[/color] Never put salt in your eye.
These are very good results.
Here are screen shots of some of the homebrew ROMs available.
FM Synthesizer Support
Unique to this review is the FM sound support of the Neo SMS Myth Cart. I tested a bunch of ROMs with and without the FM enabled and the difference in sound quality was amazing. I was not familiar with this before starting out on this review.
To enable the FM synthesizer output channel, first plug a cable from the yellow RCA connector labeled "FM Output" to external speakers. Then, with the Neo SMS Myth Cart inserted, turn on the console and use the D-pad to select the game which has FM support from the list below, using Button 2. Press Button 2 again to start the game and enjoy the superior quality sound output.
FM support is native to the device and the menu that ships with it and requires no configuration at all. Selecting it from the menu is as simple as can be.
Here is a list of all Sega Master System and Sega Mark III games that support FM sound:
- After Burner
- Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars
- Alien Syndrome
- Aztec Adventure
- Blade Eagle 3-D
- Bomber Raid
- Captain Silver
- Cyborg Hunter
- Double Dragon
- Fantasy Zone II
- Fantasy Zone: The Maze
- Global Defense
- Golvellius - Valley of Doom
- Great Golf
- Kenseiden
- Lord of the Sword
- Maze Hunter 3-D
- Miracle Warriors - Seal of the Dark Lord
- Out Run
- Parlour Games
- Penguin Land
- Power Strike
- R-Type
- Shinobi
- Space Harrier 3-D
- SpellCaster
- Thunder Blade
- Wonder Boy in Monster Land
- Zaxxon 3-D
- Zillion II - The Tri Formation
Certain games never released in Japan support the FM chipset, meaning that only with such setup you can hear
FM tunes composed 15+ years ago and unheard to both Japanese and US/European/Brazilian audience:
Also found: (SpooNMan)
* List compiled by SpooNMan and used with permission to Flash Cart Review Central for this review
Conclusion
The Neo SMS Myth Cart is a good addition to a Sega Master System hobbyist's collection. It is fairly straight forward to use right out of the box and runs every game flawlessly. In fact, I was impressed that it took very minimal effort to program the Neo SMS Myth Cart with different ROMs.
Even more impressive was the right out of the box built in FM synthesizer support. This is a first for any Sega Master System / Sega Mark III flash cart. The difference between music and sound effects from the console's ordinary sound output and the FM synthesizer output from the Neo SMS Myth Cart is incredible.
Unfortunately, the Neo SMS Myth Cart does not come with SD support right out of the box and currently it does not support the Neo2 Pro 1024M + SL4 with SD. This takes the score down a bit now because there are other SD solutions available.
SD support is planned to be added to the Neo SMS Myth Cart menu in the future.
Regardless of its shortcomings, Flash Cart Review Central is giving this product a Silver award on this review. It does everything that it is suppose to, including full commercial ROM support and sufficient homebrew support, although it does not currently support any common mass storage flash RAM cards. The user interface is simple and the frequency of software updates is outstanding.
This product will do fine for any die hard Sega Master System enthusiast. With the additional FM support, this is a very unique and possibly sought after device to own.
I would like to personally thank SpooNMan for helping me realize what the FM support of this device fully meant as well as providing a complete list of FM enhanced games, everyone on Team NeoFlash's support forum (mainly greets to mic_ and Conle) for help with commercial and homebrew ROM troubleshooting and configuration, and Cowering for his cataloging of the entire Sega Master System game library.
We at Flash Cart Review Central would like to thank, again, Team Neo Flash for submitting a fine product for review.
-vgs (reviewing stuff so you can play with it '2k11)
Pros
+ Matches the Sega Master System cartridge color
+ No need for original cartridges
+ 256Mbit Neo2 Flash Cart gives the ability to store many multiple ROM images
+ Supports all games of the region corresponding to the console
+ Stores cartridge based saves directly on the Neo2 Flash Cart
+ Supports homebrew ROMs
+ Games load instantly
+ More or less simple ROM copy and burn within the Neo2 Pro Manager software
+ ROMs are stored indefinitely until files are deleted or the Neo2 Flash Cart is formatted
+ Continued menu, firmware, GUI, and hardware development support
+ High quality printed circuit board and onboard components
+ Does not require interfacing with the Neo SMS Myth Cart to the PC
+ SMS Myth Cart menu is fully navigated with the gamepad
+ Reset button brings the user back to the menu
+ Built in FM synthesizer
+ Works with minimal configuration
Cons
- The included 256Mbit Neo2 Flash Cart, again, may be limiting
- Cheat codes are not saved after entering them
- No true drag and drop support (proprietary software required)
- Proprietary flash RAM cartridge required (included)
- No external supported popular flash card support (this feature is planned in the future for this device)
- No real time save
- No built in region fix (Just use the appropriate region ROM or region fixed ROM)
- No soft reset feature (this can be added to the menu in the future)
- Neo2 Pro Manager software currently does not fix ROM files that contain copier headers or have invalid checksum or size
- Additional software is required to get some games to run
External Links:
-Official Team Neoflash Website
-Official NeoFlash Worldwide Distributor
Where to buy?:
-IC2005 SmartShop
This review was written for Flash Cart Review Central ONLY. The article and all included photos are property of Flash Cart Review Central
If you see this review on any other site please let me know via e-mail - admin [@at@] videogamespotlight [.dot.] com
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