SENTRY of THUNDERDOME

THIS IS NOT AN AD!!!



This is a short review of the Game Boxer and Super Wild Card.  I have both

to play with for a while and  want to clear mis-conception about these new

copiers.  One main thing I want to point out: they work as well as claimed,

so if you end up getting one, you won't be stuck with a piece of junk like

some people want you to believe.



<<<<< SENTRY of THUNDERDOME >>>>>



GAME BOXER:



Very slim design with a new slimdrive.  This unit is made by Makko Toys,

also know by the name "Doctor SF" in Hong Kong. It still requires an

external power adapter. 



Features: instant save, multiple game load/play, play P.A.L. games, reads

SWC/SMC and MGD2 formats, slow motion, Game Finger.



Good points: all the features work great.  The games stay in memory even

when the SNES is turned off.  I could load 4 8meg games and select one to

play, then turn the Boxer off/on and select another one.

Slow motion cuts the CPU speed in half but increases flickers  (for those
who haven't had enough of SNES' slowdowns and flickers, ok so this is not

a good point).  Instant save requires 8meg free so only 3 games can be loaded

in this mode.  Memory upgrade is a simple snap-in in a little window on the

bottom of the Boxer.  I had mine upgraded to 32M.  The PAL chip a socketted

so replacement is also easy.  The onscreen menu is graphic and easy to use.

The cartridge slot fits American and Japanese carts.



Bad points: the memory is partitioned into 8M each to allow the multiple

game and instant save features.  If a game is larger than 8M it has to be

splitted into 2 files and load separately into each partition.  8M games

with extra LAME intros are a pain in the ass for this system.  The screen

flickers real bad (as mentioned above) in slow-mo, much like the old Amiga

interlace mode.  NO PC LINK. 



I'm buying this one for the extra features it offers (except slo-mo!)



SWC



The next generation of Super Magicom is as good as the last (that's not

saying much, is it?).  This unit is well built, with built-in disk drive.

The location of the drive is weird: it faces to the left so right handed

people may not be all that comfy.  But if you have a PC, this unit is the

one to get.  It draws power from the SNES.  Don't worry, it won't blow it

up.  Why is it that when a new copier comes out, some idiot always spread

the "blow up" "burn up" rumors.  I had it on for 2 hours on a 9V 850mA

powered Super Famicom, and it worked fine.  There's no need to plug in

a cart anymore so it looks flatter now.  You still need an adapter to plug

in an American cart.



The SWC has a crude but functional 3 icon menu.  Extra features include

Game Finger and playing PAL games.  Let me remind you again that PAL games

does NOT mean games for European TV, it means Programmable Logic Array, the

protection chip that Nintendo put in Ranma II cart.  The SWC read SMC format

and FIG files with minor header change (a few bytes).  What more can I say

about this copier?  If you have a SMC, then you know what it can do.



COSTS: Both Boxer and SWC should go for about the same price under $300

       from any US dealer for a 16M unit.  Don't be overcharged.



If you have any further questions, contact SENTRY at Thunderdome.

I'm also going to get my hands on a Fighter next week and will HONESTLY

review that too.