SNES Cartridge Support

The SN Operator supports virtually all officially licensed Super Nintendo® games. Here’s a technical breakdown of the mappers and enhancement chips we support.

Supported mappers

SNES® cartridges use different memory mapping schemes to organize game data and save memory access. The SN Operator supports:

• LoROM: Standard low-ROM mapping
• HiROM: Standard high-ROM mapping
• SA-1: SA-1 chip mapping
• ExHiROM: Extended high-ROM for larger games
• Fast LoROM: Fast access low-ROM
• Fast HiROM: Fast access high-ROM
• SDD1ROM: SDD1 decompression chip mapping
• Fast ExHiROM: Fast access extended high-ROM
• SPC7110 HiROM: SPC7110 decompression chip mapping

Supported enhancement chips

Many SNES games include coprocessors for advanced graphics, math, or compression. The SN Operator supports:

SuperFX

The SuperFX chip enabled 3D polygon graphics on the SNES.

Example games: Stunt Race FX, Vortex, Doom

SA-1

A fast coprocessor that significantly boosted SNES capabilities.

Example games: Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3

CX4

The Capcom CX4 chip handled wireframe graphics and math calculations.

Example games: Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3

DSP (DSP-1, DSP-2, DSP-3, DSP-4)

Digital Signal Processors used for Mode 7 enhancements and 3D math.

Example games: Pilotwings, Top Gear 3000

SDD1

A decompression chip that allowed larger games on smaller memory chips.

Example games: Star Ocean, Street Fighter Alpha 2

SPC7110

An advanced decompression chip for data-heavy games.

Example games: Far East of Eden Zero, Momotaro Dentetsu Happy

OBC-1

A sprite chip for specific games.

Example games: Metal Combat: Falcon’s Revenge

ST010/ST011

DSP chips used by SETA Corporation to enhance AI in racing and strategy games.

Example games: F1 ROC II: Race of Champions (ST010), Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi (ST011)

ST018

An ARM processor used for advanced AI calculations.

Example games: Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi 2

S-RTC (Sharp Real-Time Clock)

A real-time clock chip for time-based game events.

Example games: Daikaijuu Monogatari II

RTC-4513 (Epson Real-Time Clock)

A real-time clock chip accessed via the SPC7110 for time-based events.

Example games: Far East of Eden Zero (Tengai Makyou Zero)

Real-Time Clock notes

The SN Operator fully supports reading and writing RTC data for games with real-time clock chips. However, some cores may not support RTC functionality. Check your core’s documentation for RTC compatibility.

Regions

The SN Operator supports cartridges from all regions:

The SN Operator is region-free, so region doesn’t affect compatibility.

Save storage

SNES cartridges with save functionality use battery-backed SRAM. The SN Operator fully supports reading and writing saves to these cartridges.

If a cartridge’s battery is depleted, saves won’t persist when the cartridge is removed. Consider replacing dead batteries in valuable cartridges.

Reproduction cartridges

Reproduction (counterfeit) SNES cartridges may work with the SN Operator, but compatibility varies:

• FRAM-based reproductions: Generally work well (no battery needed)
• Flash-based reproductions: Usually compatible
• Non-standard mappers: May have issues

See Flashcart Support for more details.

Compatibility issues?

If you have a licensed game that doesn’t work correctly, contact us. We may be able to add support.