A New Flash Cart for the Nintendo DS // EZ-Flash Parallel Review
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- It's 2024 and companies are still out here creating new flash carts for the Nintendo DS. In this video, we review the new EZ-Flash Parallel "R4" cart for the DS to see if it is worth buying.
EZ-Flash Parallel: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFg...
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00:00 - Unboxing / Pricing
01:01 - EZ-Flash Parallel vs. R4 Carts
02:42 - Overview
05:13 - Dumping DS Games
06:25 - Twilight Menu
08:31 - Homebrew Support / Emulation
10:05 - GBA / DS Concerns
Disclaimer: This review includes affiliate links. Anything you purchase from those links helps support the channel. - Ігри
The fact you used a Nintendo branded SD card 😂
Doing that makes piracy legal :)
@@VIRACYTVlmao the secret the Nintendo Ninjas don’t want you to know
@@VIRACYTVthis is 100% true. Using a Nintendo SD card means you can download entire sets of Nintendo ROMs to it legally.
Just adding salt to the wound as payback for killing Yuzu
@@VIRACYTVi mean, it's not really piracy when you already own the games
I definitely like the transparent look. For those who are fans of visual novels, DS homebrew is pretty dope for that. It's how I played Tsukihime for the first time and Says no Uta
Are those DS visual novels? Cause I would like to play older VNs that were only available on pc.
@@kevinfromsales9445 Those are PC visual novels that were converted to work on VNDS, a piece of homebrew for DS. There's a nice selection if you Google though finding them is a little harder now than it was back then since the site they used to be hosted on died years ago.
@@kevinfromsales9445 PC VNs converted to be played with VNDS, homebrew you'd need a flashcard or twilightmenu to play.
i played saya no uta on the psp. found it through a collection of homebrew vns that were ported onto the psp. one hell of a risky game to play in public
@@korewaonigiri9069 Cool! I'll check homebrew for these systems then, thanks!
Its really good see a reputable brand make an r4 card ill definitely be buying and supporting this the r4 card market has been needing something like this for a while c:
The best flashcart for DS I ever found was a CycloDS Evo. It had some really handy realtime stuff (realtime saves/loading, text file loading in-game for handy things like looking up the entire list of usable words in Scribblenauts or checking to-do lists when practicing runs for games like metroid, 1/2x + 1/4x + 2x speed, brighteness adjustment in-game anytime, etc)
it was NOT a 'power saving' chipset whatsoever, partially due to how it ran some of those functions, but it was so worth it for me.
I still have mine and to this day I use the tin box it came with to store all my sd cards with their adapters. USB sticks and whatnot.
@@oledevoyeah! the case was sooo nice.
@@oledevosame!
I have an ancient Acekard 2i that still works with my n3DS XL. So much value out of that thing, lol.
Yeah, I have the same card. I dug it up last month so my kids could play. Had find some files using the way back machine and to my surprise I got it running again. Had to stick a piece of paper behind the board but it works like a charm!
The link you give is at 27 euros, which makes more than 30 dollars. So I guess the price has risen a lot. Thanks for sharing/testing
its at $17.44 currently, dont know for how long tho
I guess with border fees and taxes it will be around 30 $/€. ☮️
Thanks for the tip with Rufus, didn't know that. Again, Thank you!
I wish they made a DS Flashcart that has extra RAM like the Supercard DSTWO did.
what was the extra ram for?
@@arial012 Exclusives homebrew and better performance with emulation, making GBA emulation possible.
@@anga156u1 wow nice
@@anga156u1 But GBA runs natively on all the DS family, including the 3DS, with Twilight menu.
@@Wobble2007 Supercard DSTWO was made yesrs before GBArunner2 was in development. And it has some advantages like save states.
Overall GBARunner2 give you better performance but there are also exclusive hombrew on the Supercard DSTWO that were not just emulators.
I ordered mine a few days ago. Not SO MUCH for what it is now but for what it will be able to do down the line in future updates. Right now it doesn't add too much to my 3ds homebrew setup other than let me store a few dozen more games. BUT WHAT THIS CAN POTENTIALLY be is EPIC coming from E-Z!
dang, i was hoping this was more than just another r4 clone. twilight menu is so much better and actually gets updates, and a card built from the ground up for that would be great, instead of the crazy old and barely usable r4/wood based firmwares. as it is right now it's just not compelling enough to want over my current flash card.
them being open about their fpga is pretty neat though. hopefully someone makes a custom firmware that just chainloads twilight menu without any other bloat. ezflash is also a much more reputable brand than [insert randomly generated r4 clone brand name here].
I have a TTDS that I bought last 2008 and it still works today.
The last twilight menu++ has improve a Lot, and they keep working to make it better 👍.
I think aside from coming from a more reputable brand and not having a time bomb, there isn't an absolute ton of reason this is any better than some of the existing options. You can get a lot of decent R4s even off Amazon these days dirt cheap, and as you've mentioned if you've got a DSi, your use case for a R4 is already slimmed down quite a bit.
That said, if this can come in for around $20 eventually, I feel like it'll be an easy recommendation just based on EZ Flash's brand recognition alone.
It is 20
I mean it's $25 right now. That's totally worth it imo for something I can trust more.
they shoulda done sum nonone has done yet and made a 3ds flashcard
@@mickeyisscared5708It's significantly more difficult on the 3DS compared to prior handhelds. Closest you got was the Action Replay 3DS, which only allowed you to do save backups.
games still run better on flash carts vs twilight menu
Dude... Jungle climber is so good. I put in my r4 cart last month into my (new) dsi xl and I've been hooked
This is great in 2024. I already the acekard and a few years ago I wanted to pick up another one but they're discontinued. Was looking at Supercard dstwo plus and nothing. I also didn't want to get an r4 with all the problems there and this coming from a company I trust and is reliable, this is a no brainer.
No fancy bells or whistles on it but it's not really needed, especially at the price point. Saw someone bring up an ir sensor and while that could have been good, it's not really needed. Can't wait to get mine.
moving the sd card to the side is brilliant, can't tell you how annoying my current r4 card is to put into my 3ds because the locking mechanism you need to put pressure on to insert the cart is directly underneath the sd card and so i need a tool or to be very forceful w my nails everytime i want to load it.
I paid 25$ on aliexpress 3 days ago. Prices are going up.
This is the price I saw in a video. If like one for closer to that $10 for sure, since I hadn't ever gotten an R4, etc
Seems par for the course. Once it's on sites like UTube prices go up.
It's back down to $16 with an 8gb card. Probably wouldn't want to use that card anyway but it's still cheaper than $25.
Just look for DS one cards
I paid $16 for my EZ-Flash Parallel
Can you compare the battery life of the power usage of this newer flash cart vs old ones?
$35 for USA customers as of right now
£20ish for my UK folks
It's $25 on retrogamerepairshop, and I had to pay about $5 for shipping
Around $30 for me. USA from ez flash website.
Not if you get it on AliExpress. Paid 26$ with shipping included to a P.O Box in Miami.
@@RicSim137Nice!
wow, I've never heard of time bombs but that explains now why my flash card suddenly crashed on 2010 new year's and why I had to revert the system date to fix it. I always thought that was some kind of bug.
FYI there is a “time bomb fix” patch out there if you absolutely need to have the correct date.
Crazy I was just talking about getting one of these with my cousin
How did you keep the screens from getting yellow? Did you replace them?
I really like the clear shell on the card
Bought one yesterday. This one is the best of all. I have an Acekard 2 (third one) and is a time bomb. Once I have the new one, I'll keep the Acekard for digital music cause it takes so much memory.
Where did you get that theme I'm struggling to find a real site for themes for Wood R4.
I still got my DSTwo, I'll recommend this flashcart from now on.
The real question is, does the soft reset works natively in Pokemon Gen 5 games on this flashcart?
Yes, just checked.
@@TakiUdon Thanks man 👍🏻
I'm looking at this card for only one reason -- I have a modded New 3DS XL & a (as of yet) non-modded DSi XL. And yes, I could obviously just mod the DSi XL, but I was thinking of having a card that I could use between both the DSi XL and the 3DS XL (since the 3DS can't do perfect scaling of NDS games). That way, I could play the games "natively" on the DSi, but also on the 3DS if I'm feeling too lazy or only want to travel with one system. Do you think it's worth it to "splurge" fo this one, or just go with the cheapest R4 card available?
if you go for a cheap flashcard, there are alternative firmwares you can put on that don't have the timebomb issue, just google your model of flashcard + alternative firmware and you should be able to find something
For that reason alone you mentioned , you should definitely get one. These clear shells look awesome too
The cards work nicely with the 3DS
I hope to see them add an infrared for some of the ds game that had it
I've been waiting for a flashcart like that. I still have my original copy of Pokemon Heartgold but being able to have it on a flashcart and being able to use the Pokewalker would be amazing. And I would be able to use it with Soul Silver without having to fork over hundreds of dollars. Releasing a cart like that might even bring those prices down at least a little.
If you don't feel like naming your files you can change how it displays the roms, I think it's the Select button.
Got myself a DS too but im sure takis DS have its screen color more saturated than mine😂.
My current DS are decent with transparent housing with r4 card but damn,that cart could be perfect for mine..
Hope it works just as R4 card
Would be cool to get save states, like the supercard dstwo had. That's available in emulators, of course, but many DS games just don't play well without the original hardware.
They really need to add more basic functionality to compete with current cards. I hope it can match the dstwo on basic functionality (minus cpu homebrew obviosly) so that we can get better battery
I'm curious if this cart supports running DS games in DSi mode. I know it's possible to hack the DSi and run things off an SD card internally, but there's odd latency going on when I do that which causes weird issues in some games like a tearing image on the boot screen of Dragon Quest IX. Running it off the cart slot seems to bypass that issue, but the R4 I currently have can't run games in DSi mode.
I love how innocent you are. Dumping your own games and kindly asking Nintendo not to sue you. 😂 ❤
at first I really wish it'd play gba naturally like the ez flash omega but via the DS cart slot
kinda dissapointed it just an "another R4 Clones"
I remember hearing somewhere that the DS slot can't actually access the GBA hardware. That's probably why there haven't been any solutions for native GBA playback using the DS slot.
@@qactustick yea and I thought they've been figuring out when I see this
Gbarunner2 can kinda doing it tho if I not mistaken.. since it isn't an emulator but hypervisor for the hardware
>another R4 clone
That's it, just have transparent case and cost 6 time bigger
Still rocking my Cyclods card.
Is that a ds PHAT shell at 9:01?! Where can I buy that one?
they sell it on places like aliexpress as the "DS ML"
R4 Wood SDHC works on Wood firmware, supports cards with more than 2gb (I've used 32gb with no problem), has no timebomb and costs $3,5. So why do we need this new parallel flashcard if it's do the same, but costs 6 times bigger?
The other video I saw said these were $26 which is a good price since most flash cards are $100+
is this thing so new theres no themes for it? i cant seem to change it into another theme or find one online
7:00 I just instal this version too few hours ago
ah, so it looks like just using the stock firmware from EZ - and not using Twilight yet is the way to go? and it looks like the emu's FROM a card that has Twilight will work too for emulation from the EZ card... not bad! thanks for walking through all that!
Do you think that gw1 is used in the mig switch card
No, it uses an MCU (ESP32) and an FPGA from Lattice. The FPGA size is similar though.
Now we need the same but for Nintendo Switch
I wonder how the battery life will compare vs other R4 cards!
Does it support DSLinux tho... I actually use DSLinux and like porting software to it for fun sometimes. The problem is that a lot of newer flash carts don't seem compatible with it, so I'm forced to use older ones.
It be cool to add GBA support for the DSi XL
Ive only gotten gba runner to work dsi actually r4 wont let me run it idk what im doing wrong. Ive dldi patched used latest version but yeah. Also what do u mean like allow for like a cart reader or like native support restored ?
@@jennid8123 Usually running GBA games on a lite requires some kind of slot-2 memory expansion. If you have the extra money, I'd just get an EZ Omega for GBA games which will have way better compatibility, anyway.
How did you been able to play Ni No Kuni? I tried to patch it. But it doesn´t work with modded DSi twillight++.
all I want right now is a cheap flash cart for gba my dsi xl has me covered for ds
I am dying for a SuperCard DSTWO Plus, because of it's added processing power and SNES emulation capabilities. The Parallel has an FPGA, do you think this could somehow improve or be leveraged for SNES emulation? My DSi XL with its nice big IPS is such a strong candidate for SNES emulation!
im just glad my og r4 from way back still works!
is there a way to make something like this with IR compatibility? I like to play pokemon games and would like to trade them between consoles
I still need a reason to buy it when I already own a knockoff r4.
Question can heartgold or soul silver connect to a pokewalker with this ez flash cart
Can I ask, with R4 cards being like $5-10+ from almost anywhere these days. Is there a need for a NEW card ?
A flash cart is still usefull in my opinion if you have a dsi or dsi xl. If you have more devices and want to play on them for different reasons it is easy swappable. this is a big positive to me.
This would fit so well on a transparent Nintendo ds lite😅
This looks like a more modern supercard dstwo
except that they haven't made any programs for the chip on the card for this yet
i still have my dstwo working toobad its so powerhungry when you put the ds on sleep / idle ;(
@@brokeuh Same. I bought into the emulator hype. I ended up getting an EZ Flash V forever ago to play GBA games, which works much better and doesn't drain the battery like emulating, and honestly snes emulation just isn't worth it. 3DS, Vita, or even a PSP are going to be better, not to mention there's a million cheap handhelds if those systems are something you care about.
I am surprised Pokemon B/W's AP is triggering with the wood kernel.
What was that black theme you used?
Is this working in your DSi? I tried three DSi consoles, and it didn’t work in any of them. It also did not work in my Japanese DS Lite.
Just ordered one, I love EZFlash products. Can finally get rid of my garbage R4
lol that's the same
I definitely find it weird that it only supports fat32 and 32GB, it's a different product with it's own use and limitations, but considering the Omega supports 128GB bit weird. Glad to see that it works and hopefully it'll be added to official support, even if 128 might be a bit overkill, it'd be nice to have some assurance it works.
As far as I know, the card doesn't have a real time safe. Does this have a big impact on playing Pokemon, for example?
It has no impact. RTS would just allow you to make and load save states. You can still do a normal save in games that have them.
@@TakiUdon Thanks for the quick reply.
33€ for Spain customers right now.
what is real time saving? does that mean u can save where ever u want in you're ds games?
I believe so yes.
I'm only using an original R4 with Wood kernel. Waiting for 1 of these to come. Their website is a bit dodgy though. Mainly want more storage as OG R4 is only 2GB max. But it's one of the best still, no time bomb.
I have an R4 i got like 12 years ago and it still works fine on my ds lite so why wont they last forever?
I was referring to real DS cartridges.
@@TakiUdon So you say authentic DS games wont last forever?
@@AstrosCinemayeah, the save battery dies after a while. I have one like that. I suppose the rom chip itself can even go bad but that would take a long time.
How does it compare to the DStwo card though
Well, sure it uses way less power since it doesn't has a power demanding processor running at all times. And the GBA and SNES emus on DStwo aren't something to write home about either 😅
to be honest the biggest use case for this being IT HAS NO FRICKING IR SENSOR so no you cant use a pokewalker with it or use it to trade in several pokemon games for everything else tho its ok
what are the difference between this and the ex flash redux?
I feel like I'm in the minority. I never had the original DSi, I went straight to the DSi XL from the OG DS. The large screen is GLORIOUS. Just wish I could use my EZ-flash Omega with it.
Hmm i was happy with my dstwo till now.
I like ezflash for gba
How save files works about r4 to ez flash?
Macho Nacho Productions already made a video covering this flashcart and I'll say the same thing I said on that video. This flashcart doesn't really do anything that existing ones couldn't already and the FPGA isn't a selling point because it doesn't do anything right now. As you briefly mentioned, this product is basically pointless for a DSi since those can be softmodded via the built-in SD card slot to run custom firmware. Not only is CFW on a DSi free, but it also gets access to DSiWare (which accounts for a good deal of games a regular DS cannot play) and some small enhancements in a handful of DS games. I can see this flashcart being a decent choice for those who have an old DS lying about and don't wanna shop around for a DSi, but with DSi CFW being both free and superior to flashcarts in just about every way, anyone who is serious about DS games should really be using a DSi instead (especially the XL model with its gorgeous IPS screens).
Best R4 clone jejee
I have a New 3ds xl. I use to use a dstwo+ card and a Sky3ds+ card, but then I finally hacked it.
Wish someone would make a definitive DS flash card. If this had an IR sensor, extra on board RAM and the realtime features of the Acecard it would be perfect
Maybe the fpga is for these features. Of course it cannot simulate an ir sensor. ☮️
Something I just remembered is that…. A lot of these carts used to have issues with the two games that used a NAND for saving, those being WarioWare DIY and Jam with the Band. Do you happen to know how those games fare on that cart?
It’d be nice if they could
Somehow make it where you could also put gba games on it without emulation since the DS’s have that feature in them
You can’t play GBA games natively on a DS cart because the console expect you use the slot 2 to run GBA games.
The only way to play GBA games on a DS is using a GBA flashcart unfortunately.
9:14 Could somebody please tell me the name of the game he's playing?! I remember playing that on an old famiclone plug-in controller when I was young at it was one of my favorite games ever!!!!!!
I did a search using google lens but couldn't find anything :/
be cool if there was comparable one for 3ds.
there are lol, but Softmod is 200% better
timebombs were never a scummy way to make people buy more flashcards.
they used to be 'traps' for clone cart makers and those who stole firmware.
the assumption was that the clone guys would quickly run out of interest to update their websites with the newest firmwares, so their clone carts would eventually timebomb.
meanwhile, the origninal cart people got more updates and every other update moved the time bomb ahead (until eventually, no more updates).
Thanks for pointing this out. So many creators that are reviewing this card keep getting this wrong.
It may have targeted clones specifically, but it also negatively affected the consumers since they would in fact have to buy another flash cart. So at the end of the day, it's still a scummy practice that made people buy more flash carts, regardless of its original intention
@@chrish6301can you blame them? Clearly the time bomb strategy didn't work in favor of the og devs
@@begottenbaker It's usually just the menu itself that doesn't boot after the cut off date it doesn't usually mean that the card itself is dead, just that you need to update the firmware on the SD card. If they don't do more updates you usually could also load YSmenu or Twilight Menu on them. Case in point, you do not have to buy a new card altogether, maybe in some rare cases but ultimately from my experience this is a lie, and it's the same lie that these creators keep pushing.
@@draconic5129 I'm well aware of ways to get around it, but there are a decent amount of consumers who aren't aware of them and just end up buying new carts altogether thinking that's their only option. So the point still very much stands
Using a Switch SD card on a DS.
You monster!
Wait, I swear I just saw a video about this where it said the card was like 40 dollars haha.
30 usd here in Florida 😢
Is it spring loaded?
does this work on 3ds or is this exclusive to 2ds?
It can be used on any DS/3DS/2DS, but it will only play DS games.
Is worth getting for the 3ds?
❤
cool
As someone who is new to this why wouldn’t you use a DSI with R4?
Because you can just softmod a DSi without special hardware.
Supercard dstwo still the best for me 🤘
dstwo is much better, but the problem is they are not available anymore.
@@zandatsu07 yeah. Im so lucky have 1
I bought this card. I used it for about 30 minutes, and realized what a mistake this purchase was. The sleep bug makes this card completely useless to me. I reverted back to my old ACE3DSx almost immediately. I will never trust UA-cam reviews anymore.
You go boy! Work that card!
So many flash carts for ds.
Gotta make some for 3ds and switch when out..
Ds lite needs some shells that are more strong. Got a cracked hing ds lite...
There's one for the Switch (MIG switch) but I don't see the point of having One for the 3DS when using hshop is much easier.
I see gba mod ds shells. My ds is full and working...just cracked hinge..
Maybe all metal shell...
Last I checked the 3ds one needs a downgrade firmware. no point. from long time ago i chacked who knows now.
There is a jailbreak. I don't have time and think I can possibly be ban?
There is no point in making them when you can install custom firmware and run 3DS games natively without needing to buy anything besides a micro card unless you meant something else?
I bricked my r4 (don't judge) so I think I'll buy this card to replace it
It’s $25 USA now
does this have the timebomb virus/program on it like the R4s? It would be nice not to deal with that bs.
No it doesnt