I suggest using it with SuperFW firmware. I will also share some usage tips.

I want to play GBA games. The fun and sense of ritual of playing with cartridges is completely different from emulators. I bought an original DS console. Its shape is very recognizable. Chinese players also call it the lunchbox machine. This is an interesting folk name.

Note: This is a personal review, not a commercial promotion. The tutorial link comes from the creator’s official documentation. The document may contain a QQ group contact for the Chinese community, which is the official support channel provided by the creator and does not involve payment.

GBA flashcarts are discussed a lot among retro game players. I still remember when I first came into contact with this kind of product seven years ago. At that time, the mainstream products in the Chinese market included Super Card, EZ Flash, and EverDrive series, corresponding to entry-level, advanced, and high-end positioning respectively. They are all products worth paying attention to.

Last week I came into contact with Super Chis by chance. This is an open-source project. ChisBread is responsible for the hardware architecture reconstruction, and Davidgf (the author of SuperFW firmware) is responsible for the firmware. By the way, ChisBread is a Chinese hardware expert.

Disclaimer

1. This is my personal usage experience. Mistakes are unavoidable. Friendly discussion is welcome.
2. The hardware prices appearing in this article are only current reference prices in the Chinese market. Overseas players need to pay attention.
3. I will not provide merchant information or game download services. I can help test.
4. This is an open-source project. If someone sells public content for a fee, please report it.
5. I will not pretend to be a DIY hardware expert. The content of the article comes from real testing and the internet.
6. Making a Super Chis flashcart requires soldering. You need to find tutorials yourself.
7. For purchases in China, it is recommended to find merchants cooperating with ChisBread. He himself does not sell it.
8. Due to hardware cost, RTC function is not supported for now. Someone has implemented it for Pokemon rom hacks.

Super Chis flashcart price, and why I am very optimistic about its development

Its current price is about $15 USD. It uses SRAM battery and does not support RTC (real-time clock). It has a certain impact on playing the Pokemon series. For example, berry growth time cannot be synchronized with the real world. If you only want to play the story, you can use an emulated clock. The time accuracy may not be perfect, and some fun is missing.

At present, the parts that can be modified are mainly save battery memory and NOR, such as ferroelectric (battery-free) and MT 01G, and upgrading SDRAM. The price of EZ-Flash Air is about $24 USD, which is about the same as the price of a modified Super Chis. If you play Pokemon series games, I recommend EZ-Flash Air more, after all, it has RTC function and better compatibility with modified versions of Pokemon. The battery design is similar to the modified Super Chis. This battery is used for saving. If it runs out of power, the save will be lost. After replacement, it will become a blank save. It is recommended to back up the .sav file in advance.

Secondly, EZ-Flash Air can only write games to NOR when loading. I remember Super Card also has this limitation. However, Super Chis can write directly to the storage card.

SuperChis lacks support for the GBA-DS link feature and rumble function found on the EZ-Flash Air. These were interesting designs back in the day, which makes sense when you look at the product positioning.

I think there are two aspects in which Super Chis truly has development:

In hardware, it has reached a balance between cost and player needs. At around $15 USD, it seems very friendly. Super Card is about $11 USD. Perhaps it is even better in cost performance. After all, Super Card also has a problem: no virtual clock.

The role of SuperFW. Super Card looks completely new, and Super Chis is even more unique.

1. In software, it remains open, enhancing the subsequent product vitality. SuperFW has more possibilities in soft reset, cheats, save states, and even emulators.
2. When I was playing Tekken A, I found that choosing to load to NOR can significantly improve the playing experience.
3. You can also save SuperFW settings on the storage card. Changing to another Super Chis saves the time of setting up again.
4. The interface is relatively user-friendly. It supports folder secondary directories, history play records, multiple languages, and a more powerful soft reset function.

Let me first explain that Super Card is a classic entry-level GBA flashcart developed by the SC team. Its representative works also include DSTWO, which can be considered a high-end DS flashcart.

The Super Chis flashcart is a hardware reconstruction based on Super Card, improving some of the original defects. It is not from the same production team as Super Card. The main connection is that it uses SuperFW firmware. When downloading, be sure to choose the corresponding file. Cross-file kernel upgrades are not supported.

Super Card was not designed to support playing GBA games without flashing at the beginning. The capacity limit for storage cards is a maximum of 2GB. Some games have slowdown problems. SuperFW solved no-flash playing and storage limitations, and slightly improved the slowdown problem. Note that the slowdown problem is a hardware design defect. If you can accept this situation, then you may not necessarily need to buy a Super Chis flashcart. If you know DIY hardware relatively well, you can also make it yourself. I do not know whether ChisBread has written an English tutorial.

What hardware upgrades does Super Chis have compared with Super Card?

More efficient CPLD, larger capacity NOR Flash, optimized storage card read and write speed, and SDRAM latency optimization.

At the software level, compatibility with Pokemon series games is better, but compatibility with modified versions has certain problems. When the ROM file reaches 32MB, it is very likely that it cannot run even with a patch. This is a design limitation of the GBA.

For example, the modified work Pokemon Edicion Team Rocket is called the Spanish Team Rocket in China. Super Chis cannot run it directly. It is said that flashing a modified version of SuperFW can play it. However, in order to avoid freezing problems with the flashcart, I did not try it. But I can provide three ideas:

1. Use an emulator to play. It can break through the GBA native limit on ROM and also supports RTC. 2. When ordering custom cartridges, RTC can be added as an option. Chinese finished-cart vendors profit from this technical work.
2. Choose other GBA flashcarts. EZ Flash series products can play it, and the cost performance is also good.

Super Chis production tutorial

Source from Super Chis official community. Players who love DIY hardware can refer to it. Overseas netizens can use translation software. Specific material prices can be found by yourselves.

https://docs.qq.com/doc/DVmpqR3V5ZXZ4aWpT I don’t know much about DIY hardware, but I can still help test whether a ROM runs properly. I will not actively share ROM files. If you want me to test a ROM, you can reply with: game name + language version + whether it is homebrew or a mod. I will help as much as I can.

ChisFlash V1.1 RTC single cart has both hardware RTC and FRAM save memory, but it is not SuperChis. SuperChis is the TF-card flashcart series that only uses firmware-emulated RTC. The ChisFlash V1.1 is a NOR single-cart with no TF slot, requiring a programmer to write ROMs. Although they share the same project developer, they belong to completely separate hardware product lines.