Flash carts are a good tool to use in order to play old, retro games. Some games have become very expensive and rare. It’s good for video game preservation that we can access ROMs to play rare games. Whole communities develop because of the love of retro games. One brand has grown to almost define flash carts. That is the Everdrive brand. The Super Nintendo is one of the classic systems that has hundreds of great games (unlike its successor, the N64, which has about twenty good games), and nowadays they can be downloaded quickly, even if you have a poor internet connection. The FX PAK Pro is Krikzz’s new Everdrive for the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo. The custom cart can enter a Super Famicom or SNES from any region. Read on for a review of the FX PAK Pro Everdrive.
Set-up
The cart itself resembles a Super Famicom cartridge, but don’t worry, it will work in any Super Nintendo or Super Famicom. I have tested it using a Retron 2. Hyperkin has been somewhat criticised for having poor-quality products. However, I can confirm that the Retron 2 does run the FX PAK Pro. Some clone consoles dump the ROM from the cartridge, and somehow, because of this, flash carts won’t work. That issue is not a problem with the SNES side of the Retron 2. It is running the Everdrive perfectly. To set up the FX PAK Pro, you will need to download the firmware. The firmware is easy to find with a simple Google search. You then create a ROMs folder and put your ROMs into that folder. Then turn on the console with the cart inserted, and you’re ready to go. It really is a simple, quick process.
Compared to other Everdrives such as the NES N8 or the N64 X7, the text and art on the user interface seem to be less plain and have a style rather than being simple text such as the other Everdrives. I’m not really a fan of the angle that they’ve gone for. I’d prefer the layout of the interface to be simple text like the other Everdrives. Furthermore, getting the save states to work and understanding the options almost requires a computing degree. It’s not simple or easy to set up save states.
Performance
To expand on the save state issue, don’t buy the FX PAK for save states. The magic and glory of seamlessly playing the SNES classics on one cartridge is enough value for me. Many games don’t support the function and it can be a hassle getting the feature to work. I don’t use them because the system of how the save states are implemented is hard to get your head around. You’ll need to adjust a lot of settings which are technical and may as well be in another language for some people.
The opinion that the save states are hard to use on the FX PAK Pro is confusing since they work very well and are easy to use on the Mega Everdrive Pro, and even the cheaper Mega Everdrive Core. Maybe the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive is just easier to work with technically, and the SNES brought issues that couldn’t be overcome. I’ve learnt that by pressing X, L, R, and Select, the cartridge will reboot back to the main menu. The native game saves within the games work like they would on a real cartridge.
Games
The games are the reason we own Everdrives. The SNES library has some great titles. Some of the titles have extra chips on the cartridge that maximise graphical potential. The FX PAK Pro has run every ROM that I’ve tried on it. It will play titles with extra chips, such as Star Fox and Donkey Kong Country. I’v even been playing the homebrew New Super Mario Bros game on the SNES, which looks like a DS game and is amazingly playable. The compatibility of the FX PAK Pro is high. It probably has the highest compatibility score of any flash cart for the SNES. Classics like Earthbound, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Chrono Trigger all work really well. There are thousands of games released for the SNES. This cart will give you access to 99% of them.
Conclusion
The FX PAK Pro is a premium flash cart with a high compatibility rate and smooth presentation. The cart itself is stylish, and it will run on any Super Nintendo or Super Famicom. Even classics that make use of extra chips will run on the FX PAK Pro. The flash cart will allow access to thousands of games and that doesn’t take into account ROM hacks and homebrew games of which there is a thriving community. However, the save state functions of the FX PAK Pro are not as refined as in other Everdrives. It will be hit and miss in terms of the games that can use that function. Furthermore, many of the settings on the FX PAK Pro are technical and not easy for everyone to understand. Despite this, the FX PAK Pro is the best flash cart for the Super Nintendo. It is a great way to relive classics such as Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound. Pick one up if you can, and happy gaming.
BongoBongo123 is an avid Zelda fan who also likes the odd game of Smash. His interests in gaming are broad but he loves a good Metroidvania or action RPGs.