Difference between revisions of "NDS Game Loader Comparison Chart"

Revision as of 07:11, 7 May 2022

This is the comparison chart for methods of running DS games on your Nintendo DS, DSi, or 3DS. Most of the options here are flashcarts, however TWiLight Menu++ is a homebrew app that can be run on DSi or 3DS consoles using a softmod or as an alternative interface for any flashcart. Despite its reliance on a flashcard on DS/DS Lite, it has been included in the comparison as it makes a good alternative to buying a flashcart on DSi and 3DS.

Hover your mouse over the categories on the left to view a short description.

Current

	Ace3DS+^{[fn 1]}	SuperCard DSONE SDHC^{[fn 1]}	r4isdhc.com^{[fn 1]}^{[fn 2]}	TWiLight Menu++
Hardware
DS	Yes	Yes	Yes	With flashcart
DSi	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
3DS	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Expandable Memory	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	N/A^{[fn 4]}
SD Slot	Top	Top	Top	N/A
CPU	No	No	No	N/A
Software
DSi Games	No	No	No	Yes^{[fn 5]}
DSiWare Games	No	No	No	Yes^{[fn 6]}
Kernel	Custom Wood R4	Evolution OS, YSMenu, TTMenu	YSMenu	nds-bootstrap, Varies^{[fn 7]}
Cheats	Usrcheat.dat	Usrcheat.dat	Usrcheat.dat
Autoboot (DS\Lite)	No	Yes	No	N/A
Auto AAP	Yes^{[fn 8]}	Yes	Yes	Yes
Slow Motion	No	No	No	No
Real Time Save	No	No	No	No
Real Time Guide	No	No	No	Yes
Wii Connectivity	Yes	Yes	No	No
Other
Clone	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Updatable Bootloader (DSi)	No	No	No	N/A
ntrboot Compatible	Not clones^{[fn 9]}	No	Yes	N/A
Battery Life for DSLite + Flashcart + Commercial ROM	?	?	?	?
	Ace3DS+	SuperCard DSONE SDHC	r4isdhc.com	TWiLight Menu++

Historical

Slot-1 flashcarts
	Acekard 2i	CycloDS iEvolution	DSTTi	iEDGE	EZ Flash Vi	iPlayer	iTouch (2)	M3i Zero	R4DS/M3 Simply and Clones	R4i Gold 3DS Plus	SuperCard DSONEi	SuperCard DSTWO	SuperCard DSTWO+
Hardware
DS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DSi	v1.4.3/1.4.4^{[fn 10]}	v1.4.2?	??	v1.4.2?^[1]	v1.4.4^[2]	v1.4^[3]	v1.4^[4]	Yes^[5]	No	Yes	Yes^[6]	Yes	Yes
3DS	v2.1.0/v4.3.0^{[fn 10]}	??	??	??	v4.0.0^[2]	??	??	v4.5.0^[7]	No	Yes	v4.4.0^[6]	Yes	Yes
Expandable Memory	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDSC^{[fn 11]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDHC^{[fn 3]}	SDXC^{[fn 3]}^{[fn 12]}
SD Slot	Top	Top	Top	Top	Side	Top	Top	Side	Top	Top	Top	Top	Top
CPU	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Software
DSi Games	No	Yes^{[fn 5]}	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
DSiWare Games	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Kernel	AKAIO	CycloDS Evolution Firmware	YSMenu, TTMenu	EDGE Firmware	EZ Flash 2.0 Firmware	None	iTouch firmware	YSMenu, Sakura	Wood R4, YSMenu, R4li	Wood R4	Evolution OS, YSMenu, TTMenu	Evolution OS, YSMenu	Evolution OS, YSMenu, Moonshell, bagplug, iMenu
Skinning	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cheats	Cheat.dat, Cheat.xml, Usrcheat.dat	user.EVOcheats	Usrcheat.dat	Usrcheat.dat	Cheat.dat	Cheat.dat, EZARcode.dat	None	Cheat.db, cheat.xml	Cheat.dat, Usrcheat.dat	Usrcheat.dat	Cheat.xml, Usrcheat.dat(EOS)	Usrcheat.dat	Usrcheat.dat
Autoboot (DS\Lite)	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	???	Varies^{[fn 13]}	No	???
Auto AAP	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Slow Motion	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Real Time Save	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	With Wood R4	Yes	Yes	Yes
Real Time Guide	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	???	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wii Connectivity	With AKAIO	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	With Wood R4	With Wood R4	Yes	Yes	Yes
Other
Clones	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes^{[fn 14]}	Yes (Many)	Yes	DSONE SDHC only	No	Yes
Updatable Bootloader (DSi)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ntrboot Compatible	Yes	No	Varies^{[fn 15]}^[8]	No	No	No	No	No	No	Internal switch	No	No	No
Battery Life for DSLite + Flashcart + Commercial ROM	7hrs 13min	?	?	?	?	?	?	3hrs 44min	4hrs 15min	?	?	6hrs 04min	?
	Acekard 2i	CycloDS iEvolution	DSTTi	iEDGE	EZ Flash Vi	iPlayer	iTouch 2	M3i Zero	R4DS/M3 Simply and Clones	R4i Gold 3DS Plus	SuperCard DSONEi	SuperCard DSTWO	SuperCard DSTWO+

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c Only clone cards are commonly available.
^ As of 2022, any card from r4isdhc.com from 2014 and later. Not to be confused with r4isdhc.hk or r4isdhc.com.cn, which are both Ace3DS+ clones.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o SDXC cards are supported if reformatted to FAT-32
^ On DSi and 3DS, the console's internal SD(HC) card. On flashcard subject to the restrictions of the flashcard it's running on.
^ ^a ^b Only on Nintendo DSi and 3DS consoles, not DS Phat or DS Lite.
^ Only a small number of DSiWare are compatible with DS Phat and DS Lite, most/all are compatible with DSi and 3DS.
^ On Nintendo DSi and 3DS, TWiLight Menu++ can only be used with nds-bootstrap. When running from a flashcart, TWiLight Menu++ sometimes supports other kernels as well.
^ Missing patches for some of the last releases, such as 5th generation Pokémon. Those games must be manually patched.
^ Original Ace3DS+ cards can be flashed for ntrboot, however the modern clones cannot.
^ ^a ^b HWID 44 supported until DSi v1.4.3/3DS v2.1.0, HWID 81 supported until DSi v1.4.4/3DS v4.3.0 via bootloader update.
^ Only cards up to 2 GB can be used. Some clones are SDHC.
^ SDHC only for NDS mode.
^ Only the SuperCard DSONE and DSONE SDHC autoboot, DSONEi does not.
^ M3 Adaptes, M3 Adaptor
^ Only some flash chips are compatible

References

[clone-1] Only clone cards are commonly available.

[2] As of 2022, any card from r4isdhc.com from 2014 and later. Not to be confused with r4isdhc.hk or r4isdhc.com.cn, which are both Ace3DS+ clones.

[sdhc-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o SDXC cards are supported if reformatted to FAT-32

[4] On DSi and 3DS, the console's internal SD(HC) card. On flashcard subject to the restrictions of the flashcard it's running on.

[dsi-only-5] Only on Nintendo DSi and 3DS consoles, not DS Phat or DS Lite.

[6] Only a small number of DSiWare are compatible with DS Phat and DS Lite, most/all are compatible with DSi and 3DS.

[7] On Nintendo DSi and 3DS, TWiLight Menu++ can only be used with nds-bootstrap. When running from a flashcart, TWiLight Menu++ sometimes supports other kernels as well.

[8] Missing patches for some of the last releases, such as 5th generation Pokémon. Those games must be manually patched.

[9] Original Ace3DS+ cards can be flashed for ntrboot, however the modern clones cannot.

[ak2i-update-10] HWID 44 supported until DSi v1.4.3/3DS v2.1.0, HWID 81 supported until DSi v1.4.4/3DS v4.3.0 via bootloader update.

[18] Only cards up to 2 GB can be used. Some clones are SDHC.

[19] SDHC only for NDS mode.

[20] Only the SuperCard DSONE and DSONE SDHC autoboot, DSONEi does not.

[21] M3 Adaptes, M3 Adaptor

[22] Only some flash chips are compatible

[11] EDGE Bootstrap updater v4 released

[ezflash-download-12] DOWNLOAD - EZ-FLASH

[13] DS iPlayer - iPlayer OS v1.1 & firmware v1.0

[14] Touchds Home

[15] M3i Zero Core

[dsone-firmware-16] Unlimited Upgrade for DSONEi only_SuperCard Official Site

[17] M3i Zero Core

[23] shcart_core DSTT supported chips

[fn 1]

[fn 2]

[fn 3]

[fn 4]

[fn 5]

[fn 6]

[fn 7]

[fn 8]

[fn 9]

[fn 10]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[fn 11]

[fn 12]

[fn 13]

[fn 14]

[fn 15]

[8]

@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 |{{Yes}}<ref group="fn">Only a small number of DSiWare are compatible with DS Phat and DS Lite, most/all are compatible with DSi and 3DS.</ref>
 |-
-|<span title="Firmware that can be used besides the normal firmware">Alternative Firmware</span>
+|<span title="Carts with well supported kernels can play the most games">Kernel</span>
-|{{No}}
+|{{Yes|Custom [[Wood R4]]}}
-|{{Yes|DSTT Firmware, YSMenu, Evolution OS}}
+|{{Yes|[[Evolution OS]], [[YSMenu]], [[TTMenu]]}}
-|{{Yes|YSMenu}}
+|{{Yes|[[YSMenu]]}}
-|{{Partial|Varies}}<ref group="fn">On Nintendo DSi and 3DS, TWiLight Menu++ can only be used with nds-bootstrap. When running from a flashcart, TWiLight Menu++ sometimes supports other kernels as well.</ref>
+|{{Yes|[[nds-bootstrap]], Varies}}<ref group="fn">On Nintendo DSi and 3DS, TWiLight Menu++ can only be used with nds-bootstrap. When running from a flashcart, TWiLight Menu++ sometimes supports other kernels as well.</ref>
 |-
 |<span title="Filename for Cheats">Cheats</span>
@@ Line 287: / Line 287: @@
 |{{No}}
 |-
-|<span title="Firmware that can be used besides the normal firmware">Alternative Firmware</span>
+|<span title="Carts with well supported kernels can play the most games">Kernel</span>
 |{{Yes|[[AKAIO]]}}
-|{{No|None}}
+|{{Yes|CycloDS Evolution Firmware}}
-|{{Yes|YSMenu}}
+|{{Yes|[[YSMenu]], [[TTMenu]]}}
-|{{No|None}}
+|{{Yes|EDGE Firmware}}
 |{{Yes|EZ Flash 2.0 Firmware}}
 |{{No|None}}
-|{{No|None}}
+|{{Yes|iTouch firmware}}
-|{{Yes|Sakura}}
+|{{Yes|[[YSMenu]], Sakura}}
-|{{Yes|YSMenu, R4li, Wood R4}}
+|{{Yes|[[Wood R4]], [[YSMenu]], R4li}}
-|{{Yes|Wood R4}}
+|{{Yes|[[Wood R4]]}}
-|{{Yes|DSTT Firmware, YSMenu, Evolution OS}}
+|{{Yes|[[Evolution OS]], [[YSMenu]], [[TTMenu]]}}
-|{{Yes|YSMenu}}
+|{{Yes|[[Evolution OS]], [[YSMenu]]}}
-|{{Yes|YSMenu, Moonshell, bagplug, iMenu}}
+|{{Yes|[[Evolution OS]], [[YSMenu]], [[Moonshell]], [[bagplug]], [[iMenu]]}}
 |-
 |<span title="Can use Skins">Skinning</span>