Supercard DSTWO - The R4DS Killer.
Many of us already own a flash cart or two. If you are like the millions of other gamers out there, there is a really good chance you have an R4 or R4 clone. These early flash carts were one of the first widely marketed and mass distributed units on the market. In the beginning, the R4 technology was quite impressive. As time went on, DS game software became more robust and the R4 flash carts started to show their age.
Now there is a lot of competition on the playing field. Many of these flash carts are simply copies of the R4 and do not offer much change. There are a few exceptions however. One of the flash carts that is really drawing a lot of attention these days is the Supercard DSTWO. This flash cart is a Nintendo fan’s dream and not just for the DS games. The Supercard DSTWO also comes with a GBA and SNES emulator. The staggering amount of titles available for these three platforms is mind boggling.
The features on the Supercard DSTWO are a mix of upgraded standards in flash cart technology plus some new innovations. The feature that has everyone talking is how the unit can emulate original game cartridges. Basically this means you will never need a patch file and you can play every single DS ROM. Other standards like the cheat menu are included but with a bonus feature. In free cheat mode you can program your own cheats. For example if you have 5 lives you can search for the number ‘5’. You will get several results for such a broad search. To trim it down, you kill off a life and search for ‘4’. Soon free cheat mode filters your results until you figure out which value is for lives. These cheats can be saved and it is easy to imagine gamers posting new cheats for new games instantly. There is also a slow motion feature with four speeds that is helpful for action games. The real time save feature allows you to save anywhere in a game which is quite convenient in portable gaming. Another great addition is the text reader you can access while playing your game. Upload your walkthroughs and it even keeps track what page you are on. If the GBA and SNES emulator are not exciting enough for you, you can even watch movies in DivX and XviD formats.
You may be wondering if the Supercard DSTWO is worth the hype or if you should just stick with what you got. Maybe you are happy with your flash cart and do not need a GBA and SNES emulator. But there is a compelling reason why you should think about upgrading. Besides the obvious next generation features, there is the issue of software. The R4 no longer has any official software updates after version 1.18. Also, if you have one of the millions of R4 clones, chances are you have already been left behind. The reality for R4 users is they will have great difficulties in the future playing new games. Some games may even be impossible to play.
As DS gaming software becomes more sophisticated, many R4 uses will be left out of the loop. Since the Supercard DSTWO emulates the actual game cartridge, you will never be left behind. Game testers have yet to find a ROM that cannot be played on this flash cart. Plus the folks at Supercard are well known for their software updates. There are still new updates available for their first carts so you know the Supercard DSTWO will be very well supported.
