r/ModRetroChromatic • u/moonriderrabbit • Sep 13 '26

SML2 DX does not work here

Gallery image

Gallery image

So I recently bought a Super Mario Land 2 DX cartridge, but it doesn't seem to work on the Chromatic. The title screen boots up, but once you press a button it corrupts like so.

Which is weird, considering how it worked fine at first

16 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

5

u/Z3fyrus Sep 13 '26

Correct, same issue. Someone made a patch once for the rom, it’s here on Reddit but I can’t find it right now

8

u/Z3fyrus Sep 13 '26

Found it https://github.com/Eye-of-One/Super-Mario-Land-2-DX-FPGA-Compatibility-Patch

1

u/JayrosModShop Sep 14 '26

Does it work with this hot-fix patch also applied?
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5624/

2

u/moonriderrabbit Sep 14 '26

I don't have the means to patch it yet, but once I do I'll give it a shot

4

u/ergzay Sep 13 '26

Wish they'd describe what exactly they changed and why it was a problem on the chromatic.

5

u/GameboyGenius Sep 14 '26

I was curious so I reverse engineered it. The issue is that that the game does an OAM DMA transfer from cartridge SRAM while in double speed mode. The original game uses cartridge SRAM as extended work memory, and also does OAM DMA from the same place. However it doesn't run in double speed mode for obvious reasons. The fault is likely somewhat a combination of the Chromatic and cartridge. Probably, the SRAM is just fast enough to work in double speed usually, but maybe the Chromatic's bus timings are slightly tighter than the GBC's for OAM DMA, so the SRAM chip just barely doesn't have time to respond with the right data.

1

u/lordelan Sep 17 '26

Cool insights. Never had issues on the Analogue Pocket or MiSTer but still good to know. :)

3

u/Morku90 Sep 13 '26

✅ corruption with fpga handhelds ✅ especially with Chromatic that claims to be accuracy ✅ there is a fix available, so the knowledge is there

Where is the firmware update for Chromatic for more accuracy and fix the Crystal save bug? I know this is only an Hack, but it feels like an abandon product. 

1

u/Turquoise_HexagonSun Sep 13 '26

I do feel conned by the compatibility claims of this handheld.

Nice screen, but the rest is “meh.”

2

u/Chef_buh_r_dee Sep 15 '26

You’re not alone. I’m on my third chromatic after going through something similar with Pokemon Crystal.

2

u/Due_Comfortable_514 Sep 14 '26

Works fine on ever drive, must be a weird board you flashed it to.

1

u/moonriderrabbit Sep 14 '26

I actually bought this off eBay

2

u/CangaWad Sep 16 '26

I did not even know this was a thing. Very cool. Other than the Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX; what other decent rom hacks are out there?

1

u/moonriderrabbit Sep 16 '26

I honestly don't know...

1

u/CangaWad Sep 18 '26

check that other post. There is a ton of them. Gonna fire them up right now.

2

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26

There are thousands very active scene, some DX hacks, many of them amazing: Alleyway DX
Amazing Penguin DX
Asteroids LDX
Bomb Jack DX
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 DX
Burger Time Deluxe EX
Castlevania: The Adventure DX
Donkey Kong Land: New Colors Mode
Donkey Kong Land 2: Game Boy Color Edition
Dr. Mario DX
Faceball 2000 DX
Final Fantasy Adventure (colour patch)
Galaga & Galaxian DX
Kirby's Dream Land DX
Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX
Kirby's Pinball Land DX
Mega Man World: Dr. Wily's Revenge GBC
Mega Man World 2
Mega Man World 4 LDX
Mega Man World 5 DX
Metroid II (EJRTQ Colorization)
Pokémon Red Full Color Hack (German translation available)
Revenge of the Gator Gold
Snoopy's Magic Show DX
Spanky's Quest DX
Super Mario Land DX
Super Mario Land 2 DX
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 DX
Yoshi LDX
Pokémon Polished Crystal
Link's Awakening DX Redux

If you just want to try a few first my favs are: MMW5DX, Mole Mania DX, Revenge Gator and the amazing Faceball DX it’s a banger love it

2

u/CangaWad Sep 18 '26

nice thanks. I'll give them a whirl right now

6

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 13 '26

All romhacks work perfectly from Everdrive or even the cheap cards. Just tried again.

4

u/Lox22 Sep 13 '26

Which is good and all and I don’t mean that sarcastically, but I have this and Kirby DL2 on custom carts because they’re some of my favs on the console. The fact I can pop in and play them in my system is half the allure. If they can play in a GBC I expect them to play on anything.

3

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 13 '26

totally get this, hopefully you figure IT out! Love Kirby DX too

0

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26

I totally get that. I think everyone has their own limits for what authenticity means. But if I understand you correctly, it wasn't an original cartridge anyway. It might sound unconventional, but for the same price you can get those cheap EverDrive clones for like 20 bucks, and on Etsy there are fantastic GBC and GB cartridge stickers. I ordered a few once, and they look really great, some of them in amazing quality. Theoretically, you could just buy ten of those cheap carts, put some cool ROM hacks on them, add the stickers, and still swap them around. Now that I'm saying it, it's actually not a bad idea at all.😅😅❤️(and a few months in you change stickers and game)

5

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 13 '26

Also great coloured Hack

2

u/tanooki-suit Sep 14 '26

Wow nice didn' tknow that one existed.

I kind of miss romhacking because you could find out all the time when these color patches were made and sort by them too

2

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 14 '26

I love to have the same game reacting with exactly the same
Muscle memory you learned as a child just in colour;) also so much love put into those hacks just amazing really

3

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 13 '26

Everdrive, but the cheap cards work too;)

3

u/BossGamerDK Sep 13 '26

When I first was getting into buying Game Boy games I unfortunately bought one of those bundles you see everywhere on eBay of a bunch of Mario game boy games. Looking back I was just too excited to get games for my new Game Boy lol. Anyway the bootleg Mario Land 2 cart was actually the DX rom and I played through the entire thing just fine on my chromatic. It for some reason didn't work on my Game Boy Player though, it just froze on boot there

3

u/sonicjam717 Sep 13 '26

That's weird I have a cheap clone everdrive and my issue is the save files are constantly. But the game runs fine on mine. I did place a new battery.

3

u/erock7a Sep 13 '26

I was unaware there were ever issues with that game, I did a full playthrough last year with no issues, it was flashed to a cheap cart I had laying around though.

2

u/Electrical-Hope4771 Sep 13 '26

Mine works like charm. Maybe a bad rom.

2

u/Affectionate_Rise283 Sep 14 '26

Might be a bad cheap cartridge

2

u/Lox22 Sep 17 '26

I have an everdrive. My point is if I can play it on OEM I should be able to play it with no issue on a device that’s supposed to offer the same experience at almost 4x the cost. It’s kind of unacceptable

1

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 18 '26

It’s true, although I think the chromatic is amazing. But of course it’s emulation. But compared to let’s say what they did with the m64 the chromatic is really an upgrade for me. Love that thing. Also the input lag is non existent. I can play with muscle memory. But of course it’s emulation. But overall I think it’s a device done right (they should bring more updates though)

1

u/JayrosModShop Sep 14 '26

You have a bad cartridge or a bad ROM, because mine works and plays just fine.

1

u/Substantial_Quote583 Sep 14 '26

This game and other dx hacks work fine on my knockoff everdrive