Super Famicom and Super Key Converter

[BluntX]

I used to use a Super Key converter on my old PAL SNES to play imports but now I have a Super Famicom and got to wondering if I can use the convertor to plug and play US carts on the SFC. I'd rather do this then cut a wider cartridge hole in my beloved Super Famicom.

Also, can I play PAL carts on the SFC with the convertor and if I do will it run them fullscreen 60Hz? Cheers lads.

[BluntX]

Did some testing with my SFC and PAL SNES and different region carts and unfortunatley it seems the converter only works with NTSC carts on PAL consoles, not the other way round. Looks like I'm in the market for a US SNES now. Slightly disapointing but interesting, plus it gave me an excuse to pull out the PAL machine and lose a couple of hours to Terranigma, hehe.

[Max P.]

You need a bridging (straight through) adaptor - the US/Jap to Pal converters divert some of the pins to read the country code from the piggy backed Pal cart. You may be able to take yours apart, strip off the unnecessary bits and rejoin the diverted pins with new wire - this is what I did. Make sure it is a full length convertor that allows FX chip games etc that use the extra pins to the side of the cart slot.

An NTSC 60 machine will play most PAL games at 60 hz, but much better to just modify the console with a 50/60 hz switch to give more control.

[BluntX]

The Super Key is a converter that needs no piggy backed boot PAL cart and has the extra FX chip pins. It has booted any NTSC cart I threw at it back in the day and still does. Just plug and play. Best converter ever.

[Max P.]

Sounds good but it still won't work for what you want to do ie NTSC-US to NTSC-J.

There is a another way - simply buy a junk Pal SNES for a £ or two, dismantle the casing and widen the top of that to replace the SFC top half casing. You will always have the original to put back un-molested...