[NES] Can NTSC ROMs be patched for PAL consoles? Freedom Force (U) is really glitchy on my PAL console.

Charli · Jul 22, 2017

Freedom Force seems like a great game to play with the NES light gun. But as far as I can tell it's only been released for NTSC regions.
It's really glitchy when I try to play it on my PAL console and not really playable. The graphics are totally garbled up most of the time.
I thought probably due to 50/60Hz timing issues?

Would there be a workaround? Can NTSC ROMs be patched for PAL consoles?
Or is it actually an issue with the EverDrive N8 Flashcart not supporting the game?

Alex4U · Jul 25, 2017

I think it's the Hz timing issue.
this happends with SMB 3 and SMB 2 when it's PAL and playing it in a NSTC console.
i don't think overclocking the nes is a option.
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=22451
there is something useful
``It's normal and doesn't have to do with your TV.
PAL runs at 50 hz and NTSC at 60 hz so if you play a NTSC game on a modified PAL console the game play and music will go slower.
I do not know if there is any way to fix it. If it possible, it's probably not very easy.``
Probably games that have expansion chips gives graphic glitches i guess.
also, probably your flashcard probably is PAL i guess, i never had one of them, there is a switching option for PAL and NTSC in you flashcard?

Charli · Oct 3, 2017

Hey Alex4U, I'm so sorry for not getting back to you! Somehow I missed your reply until now...

The EverDrive N8 supports both PAL and NTSC consoles. I can reconfigure the CIC chip by pressing the console's reset button a few times to switch regions.
I guess the CIC chip is part of any original cartridge? And that chip is different per region so that NTSC/PAL consoles would only load cartridges for their respective regions?
Unless you've modded your NES to circumvent region checking.. But I'm really not sure about any technical details here ^^

Anyway, thanks for your input and the link.
It's also still my best guess that Freedom Force might heavily rely on correct timing. I don't know if it's using an expansion chip though.
I'll probably only know for sure if I ever get my hands on an NTSC console and TV.

For a moment I thought maybe the game itself just isn't compatible with the flash cart. But the game is listed on an unofficial compatibility list for the EverDrive N8:
http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=340.0
So I guess it's not an unsupported mapper that's causing the problems (whatever a mapper might be anyway ^^).

Charli · Oct 5, 2017

I got the question answered on another board. Timing issues really seem to be the reason and I don't think there's anything I can do about it other then getting a NTSC console + TV.

How can I mark this question as answered? I don't see a button anywhere...

[NES] Can NTSC ROMs be patched for PAL consoles? Freedom Force (U) is really glitchy on my PAL console.

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