NeoFlash DS Flash Cart Review
The first NDS ROMS flash card & linker set is here!
At first before actually testing it we were a little septic about the NeoFlash. In particular it seemed somehow odd that it used XG2 Slim Loader III for writing roms and that the images posted at the Neo Flash Team website were photos edited with Photoshop and not from a real existing product. (Don't know why NeoFlash Team hasn't change the images on their site so for a real picture take a look at our photos)
Now we have managed to get one of these "First NDS Flash Linkers" for a hands on review and we can assure you that Neo Flash is REAL and it does play NDS ROMS.
Download NDS Roms for R4DS and R4i DSi.
Play DS ROMs on DS Lite or DSi or new DSi XL with R4i card.
Play Gameboy games on DSi with GBA emulator and iPlayer microSD card adapter.
Neo Flash Linker Set:
- 1 x NeoFlash Card 512Mb or 1Gb
- 1 x Magic Key for NDS
- 1 x Neo Flash Linker / USB Slim Loader III
- 1 x USB Extension cable for the flash writer
- 1 x CD with Drivers and Software
(we suggest downloading latest software from the net)
- 3 x Batteries for the Neo Flash Card
NeoFlash card can be used for GBA roms and all the emulators that have been created for GBA and you can load DS.GBA, NDS.GBA and NDS roms to it. HomeBrew and Commercial.
+ For Neo Flash to work you need ONE (any) original Nintendo DS game. In the pictures we used Metroid demo card but for gamesaves to work correctly you might have to use another cart.
DS game card in the Magic Key has to have the same Game Save size as the NDS ROM you have on the gba flash card. For example to play WarioWare Touched! that has a 64Kbit save - you can use Super Mario 64 DS. Keep in mind that when you save the game it will overwrite whatever you had saved on the card that is in NeoFlash Magic Key and so you can loose all your game progress.(Mario GameSaves and unlocked Mini-Games in this case).
Magic Key adapter enables you to run your own programs on Nintendo DS
by booting from a commercial DS game card (for authentication) and redirecting the NDS to a GBA Flash Cart (NeoFlash 512Mb or Flash Card) that holds your programs that is NDS ROMs.
Magic Key is an exceptionally well manufactured PassMe - nothing more and nothing less.
NeoTeam USB Slim Loader III is analog to the flash writer used in XGflash2 2005kits. In GBA Mode NeoFlash inherits all the features of XG2 - in fact you can choose to use the XG2 software as it has some features in it that Neoteam has not added to the NEO Power Kit. But XG2flash doesn't have a NDS mode for writing Nintendo DS roms.
NEO NDS Flash Cards 512Mb and 1Gb 
Same story as with the Linker, just that here we have a different sticker on the flash cartridge. Other than that they are interchangeable with the XG2 Turbo 512M and 1Gb cards. (GOOD!)
Note that 256M XG Flash cards including the PRO card in the above image will work only with the FreeWare roms and Nintendo Wireless DEMOS - you need a 512M / 1G Neo or XG2 card to play COMMERCIAL NDS ROMS like Mario 64 DS and Metroid.
Neo Power Kit Software
Works in 2 modes - NDS for single roms and GBA mode for NeoBoot.bin + ROM1 + ROM2 + etc.
Installation Users Guide
Drivers should be installed before connecting the linker.
PROS
+ First and currently the only full DS flash linker set for playing commercial NDS ROMS !
+ With MagicKey tool can dump RAW nds roms to NeoFlash card.
+ Works with NeoFlash and XG2 Flash 2005 512M and 1G carts
+ One linker for GAMEBOY and NINTENDO DS roms as well as all the emulated systems.
+ Compatible with all USA, EUR & JAP Nintendo DS consoles and roms from all countries.
+ (For GBA roms) Compatible with all GAMEBOY Advance, Micro and GBA SP consoles.
CONS
- Software still has some bugs in it. (new versions of Power Kit come out fixing them)
- Have to wait for GST (Golden Sun Team) patched DS roms. GBA_Save GST / GBA_Save
- When saving game progress to NDS cart - requires cartridge with matching SRAM size.
- The kit is still rather expensive although the price was reduced from $199 to $164 USD.
Neo Flash Set - DS console and Metroid cart not included :) 
Neo Team is working on Game Save and ROM backup from NDS cards NDS USB Loader
GBA Flash Cards
Compatible with
Nintendo DS
Results and Details at Nintendo DS Flash Card page
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NeoFlash and Neo MK2, MK6 & MK5 cards do not work on the new updated DSi console, and firmware updates do not help, but there is a new generation of nds rom backup tools that work on DSi:
R4i SDHC, SuperCard DSONEi, AceKard 2i, iTouch2, DSTTi and EZ-Flash Vi. In addition to being compatible with all versions of the DS they can now work with SDHC cards that can hold as man as 32GB of nds roms. (Older model microSD cards have a 2GB memory size limit).
When ordering pick a store near you so you get a free delivery and fast shipping.
Buy DSi Flash Cards ( USA & CA )
Buy R4i SDHC Cards ( UK & EU )
reviews of all stores we have tested |
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