Gooday Gaming Guests - SNES Super Metroid Cartridge Code and More

Episode Date: January 12, 2025

Both Metroid NES and SNES are my early Game playing Favorites.

Alright, so we're going to pick another thing to do today. So yesterday I was doing the NES cartridges. They found out the first ones made. So we'll stick with the Super Nintendo and we'll do, I mean we'll go to Super Nintendo now. So let's see. So we'll do NES first cartridges. I do have what they call a burnout test one. First cartridges launched in 1990.

So Super Fancom is basically the equivalent of Super Nintendo. The design is much better. Super Mario World f-zero futuristic racing pilot wings another title leveraging mode 7 used to showcase in mode 7 graphics so mode center graphic provided a 3d perspective that was groundbreaking for the time so mode 7 graphics uh so that's the super nintendo so in north america it was mario same thing f F-Zero piloting SimCity console adaptation of the PC game. These titles

set the tones for 16-bit graphic. Are you just discussing design and gameplay of any of these games? This is... Yes. Let's do... First, let's do a game library. How about a game library. How about game library?

And we'll go back So let's see a game library here Let's see what we come up with No, actually no We'll Let's see, so Super Mario I want to know know what is mode 7 is mode 7

mode mode first I need to know what that is so it's something mode 7 is a graphical rendering technique used by the Super Nintendo entertainment to create illusions of a

3d environment using 3d sprites sprites that we determined are little dots that are on the screen and then you put a bunch of them together and make some kind of characters or you can explode those little dots and make like explosions and stuff. Which was used on 2D graphics before the 3D graphics came out. So they were using something in that environment to perform simple geometrical transformations

on background layers such as scaling, rotating, stretching, making it possible to simulate a three-dimensional perspective on a flat plane. Interesting. Mode 7. How Mode 7 works.

Operates a single background layer in the graphic engine. By manipulating this layer, the system could rotate, the background shear it and transform it this effect was achieved by adjusting the mapping of texture background tiles in real time essentially gave a illusion of a depth by dramatically changing how the flat 2d image was rendered that That's pretty wild. Adaptations. Mode 7 was commonly used in racing games. Makes sense. Super Mario Kart. Flight simulations.

World maps. Final Fantasy 7. No, 6 in Secret Mana. Special effects. Super Castlevania 7 or 6. Resolution was 256 by 256. Each tile was 8 by 8 pixel. Mode 7 manipulated the background matrix

to apply line transformation to real time. Limited 3D simulation. The true 3D was not possible with Mode 7. Instead, it was a clever trick to fake depth as an object, like cars and characters were still sprites layered on a transfer. So it was just an illusion. Limitations. No real 3D geography.

Objects were not actually in 3D. They were 2D sprites. One background layer. Only one background could be transformed using Mode 7. Objects were not actually in 3D, they were 2D sprites. One background layer, only one background could be transformed using the mode 7. Performance constraints. Complex scenes could strain the hardware, limiting how much development could do. Why was it revolutionary? It was a groundbreaking feature it allowed develops to create immersed in dynamic environments that were previously only achieved with more

powerful hardware like arcade arcades it became a hallmark of the NES game and instructions with Denver what example of specific games or breakdown let's go to so I like Metroid so let's do a Metroid Super Metroid right Super Metroid big fan Metroid was really cool but after that that I didn't like the other ones. But Super Metroid. Metroid with a D. Super Metroid. Carch. Because we did Mario yesterday, so we're not going to do Mario.

We're going to do Zelda. We'll do Super Metroid. I think I spelled that right. Or did I? Maybe I did. Metroid. Super Metroid. Cartridge code process. I used to play that for hours when I was a kid or younger I should say. Super Metroid code processes. Alright so if we look at the Super Nintendo game ROM, read-only memory, holds the game code.

And save ROM, optional. Non-volatile memory, so you need to have it backed up by a battery to store the data. Mapper chips, optional. Enhance the capabilities of the game for Super Metroid the cartridge contains 4 megabyte ROM code graphics sound and data it had a 256 kilobyte battery backup SRAM stored for three slot saves when you insert the cartridge memory mapping was at dollar sign 8000 address super Metroid 4 megabyte ROM mapped out to the low ROM formats chunks of 32 in the lower addresses ranges so we're gonna learn

all about that eventually but for for now, I'm just different pieces of the chip, I guess. So execution begins. Starts executing the code, hardware setup, the NES, including the PPU, picture processing unit for graphics and APU, audio processing unit for sound. Mode 7 isn't used here, but the PPU is configured to use high resolution tiles. Memory application. CPU does registers and allocates memory for the game. The game checks for SRAM backup or save games uh main game loop um processes player movement physics uh enemy ai uh collisions and item interactions uh so ai would be anything like those characters that just move back and forth in the same place. Update the missiles.

Sends the PPU to draw the background sprites in FX. I never knew what sprites was until I started doing this. Audio playback. Commands are sent to the APU for the sound. Super Metroid's haunting soundtrack relies heavily on the Super Nintendo's SPC-700 processor. State management. Monitor triggers for transistors between rooms, bosses, and cutscenes.

That's when you go from one scene and then it cuts to the next one. Updates the SRAM. Special features in Super Metroid's code. Room loading. The Super Metroid's code. Room loading. The Super Metroid's load and unload rooms dramatically to save memory. Each room's layout, enemy positions, and scripts are loaded under memory as Samus transfers between areas. The transitions are smooth because of a careful program that manages memory efficiently.

Boss fights. Each boss has unique scripts and AI routines stored in the ROM. So even back then, there was AI of some kind. For example, Kraid. The specific logic of sprite scaling to simulate his size growing during the fight. Energy and missile replenishment.

Special routines manage how pickup replenishment enemy and ammo. Save system. Save stations. Write critical game data location inventory on the RAM. End game logic.

When the game reaches its climatic moments, the escape sequence. Countdown timer is managed in time sequence between CPU and PPU. Credits. Credits use layered scrolling and sprite manipulation. So modern reverse engineering. So this will be interesting. Fans and developers have reverse engineered Super Metroid. Create ROM hacks.

Modify versions of the game like Super Metroid Redesigned or Project Base. Exploring how the game handles memory and graphics making it a benchmark for understanding Super Nintendo Yeah, more details. Yeah, more details. About that. So we'll go into that direction.

Let's see how we have more details. What do we have about graphics save system in ROM hacking? Here's a deeper dive into the cartridge process. PPU has four layers that it supports. Layer 1 is primary environment layer two is secondary three background animation four is static background so that's four layers uh sprite rendering so sprites are really really important in the early days of games before 3D.

But even after 3D, I believe sprites are still around. OAM, Object Attribute Memory. There's 128 sprites. Samson's animation, the game was smooth animation. Transfer, let's see what I'm looking for. looking for saved system ran we don't save three slots you had three slots 256 dynamic room loading that was the main thing as soon as you went through that tube to the next room into the room it compressed into the room. It compressed into the double RAM,

W RAM, work RAM, for fast access. Old room data is overwritten with new rooms loaded. So it was everything back then, which still now is all about the memory. AI and scripting. Enemy AI. So those would be the things that you'd be fighting.

Obviously, they would be controlled by themselves. Boss were dedicated to behavior script. Scripts control movement patterns, attack cycles, and interactions with event triggers. Triggers in the room, spawning, unlocking doors. Music and sound. Use the SPC700. Memory management, read-only memory, which is pretty much, again, WRAM and VRAM, 64 kilobytes.

WRAM was 128 kilobytes. And then SPC 700 RAM. So the reverse engineering Super Metroid over the years has been one of the most studied and modified games. I never knew that. I just kind of picked that off the top of my head. Fans created Super Metroid Redesign, Hyper Metroid,

and Super Metroid Ancient Chaios Hacks Modified Level Layouts Enemy AI and even Gameplay Mechanics to create fresh experiences I see AI being able to do that with any game in the future pick a game that you like

even old games and new games and some sort of AI program that could go into your game and make it something new. Tools like Lunar Magic allows modders to edit room data and enemy placement. This is called Speedrunning Tools. ROMHacks speedrunning tools. Speedrunners use reverse engineering knowledge to exploit glitches like wall jumps, mock balling, and sequence breaking. The game's code has been dissembled and documented, revealing its inner workings. Developers use this knowledge to port Super Metroid to other platforms and improve emulation accuracy.

I knew Super Metroid was one of the ones I remember being really good back then. Super Metroid cartridge code represents incredible achievement. Dynamic loading. Establish the. Metroidvania. General. So that's pretty fun. Now we'll go to see what's the. SNES.

Game library. Just one. I'm just going to do just one kind of game per thing. Let's see how many games were in. There was a lot of Super Nintendo games. I forget how many I said there was. Can we say about 2,000 for the NES?

Including Super FanCon. So Super FanCon. The cartridges are different It's 1300 titles In North America, which is us 700 titles Europe at 500 titles Platform, Super Mario

Donkey Kong Mega Man, Yoshi Island Super Castle Castlevania Secret of Mana pretty cool The Final Fantasies Act Razor

I don't know what that is of course Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past Street Fighter those are the fighting games racing games sports games

are silly puzzle games shooting games are silly. Puzzle games or shooting games are kind of silly. Region specific titles. So in Japan there was Tales of Fantasasia. I might even have one of those.

Secret of Mana 2 officially. Those are Japan Fire Emblem. North America we had Super Mario and Earthbound. PAL versions was a Terragamer and Secret of Evermore.

Unique features of the Super Nintendo games. Mode 7, we talked about that. Special chips in the cartridge. Super FX chip. Enable 3D graphics in Star Fox and Yoshi Island. So there was some 3d action going on that on ssa1 chip enhanced the games like Super Mario and then DSP

chips performed in racing games like Super Mario Kart I got some more stuff you hold on some quick and then we'll go. All right. Let's see what other information we got here. So best-selling Super Nintendo games. Super Mario World, obviously. 20.6 million copies. Packed in games with many consoles. Super Mario All-Stars. Gave you all the different Mario's in one.

I have one of those actually. A couple of those I can think. Donkey Kong Country. Super Mario Kart. About 8 million. Donkey Kong Country is like 9.3 million. Street Fighter II. The World Warrior.

I don't like fighting games. So 6.3 million. So rare and valuable super Nintendo games earthbound rare due to poor initial sales North America version chrono trigger known for its enduring popularity and high quality game playing. That one's cronology. Harvest Moon. The start of a beloved farming simulation series. And Mega Man X3.

Expensive due to limited production and included special chips. Mega Man X3. Emulation and Legacy. So, Emulator's Legacy and ESC Classic Edition.

Nintendo Switch Online. You can play the games. Interesting Super Nintendo Library Facts. Longest title. Pachy Slot Mago Polar 3. Unreleased library facts longest title Paki slot mango parlor parlor 3 unreleased title star facts 2 never never officially at least multiplayer bomberman games sport up to four players with a with a multi tap right so that's about it for the Super Nintendo

again I've been trying to come up with things to do I think maybe tomorrow I'll work on PS1 we'll look at Resident Evil how that gets works because of course that would be the first thing

I'd pick because PS1, that would have been the game I would have played the most as me being a kid. I can also look at Super Fancom and Fancom because they're basically the same, just Japan versions.

The cartridge is completely different on the Super Fancom than on Super Nintendo. However, and of course the Super Fancom is a much better design console than our silly Super Nintendo we got. But if you go inside, they're the same motherboards, pretty much. There's the one with a soundbox and one without a soundbox. And they look almost identical inside I don't think you can play unlike an n64 where Japan and US the n64 motherboard is just

one motherboards I mean it's different models of it but if you pull that cartridge slot off the top you can play either US or Japan games there's no regional code lock on it I'm not sure the... I don't think you can play Super Nintendo if I took the top cover off. Because the actual cartridge slot is the same as on a Super Nintendo. More of them don't come off

on the Super Fancom. On the Super Nintendo, most of those cartridge slots come off. Except for like APG and RGB or something. The last ones. It's kind of soldered on there.

So, that's some Super Nintendo stuff today. So, we did Super Metroid. Pretty fun. So, we'll end it up with that for today and then tomorrow i'll pick uh like a little ps1 tomorrow we'll have some fun with that see where that takes us all right you guys have a good night talk to you later bye