 Flash2Advance
: F2A USB
Flash2Advance is one of the older carts, so in consequence,
the hardware is inferior to many of the newer carts and lacks
many of the advanced featured. However, the Flash2Advance is
one of the few carts that can perfectly run PogoShell, which
is an incredible way to manage your GBA ROMs.
The Flash2Advance cart has many missing features when compared to a next generation
cart, such as the GBA X-ROM and Extreme Flash Advance: you have to patch many
games to make them save correctly (1Mb Flash, EEPROM V_1.24...), there is no
real-time clock, there is no cheat function, and the cart's power consummation
is above average. For the good news, the cart does features the same inner battery
(what keeps your saves) as official Nintendo cartridges so that means that
you won't ever need to recharge it, though the battery will die quicker than
a rechargeable one. Still, don't expect your battery to die within the next 3
years or so, and in the meantime you won't have to worry about your game saves
at all.
Despite the hardware, the Flash2Advace has got some really good software, like
the feature filled flashing software called "Little Writer" ( only available
with the parallel linker F2A, not the USB F2A ), or the Operating System
style program called "Pogoshell". Pogoshell is basically a desktop for your GBA.
It features icons, folders, backgrounds, and you can even customize your theme.
However, the best part of Pogoshell is the ingenious save compression method,
which lets you keep an incredible amount of gba rom game saves on your cart by
compresing them. With this, you will never run out of RAM before you run out
of ROM. The downside with Pogoshell is that you have to rewrite the entire cart
if you want to simply add one ROM, and you will need to trim/patch ROMs manually.
This requires a slight amount of patience, but if you are not in a rush, Pogoshell
can seriously pay off.
Without Pogoshell, this cart's official software really falls apart. The software
is sub par: it only lets you have 4 save files on your cart at a time, and it
though it is stable, it is very plain. However, the software combined with Pogoshell
makes a very powerful combination. With the software's flashing speed and Pogoshell's
features, it's no question why so many peoples use the Flash2Advance.
GB-Bridge , an add-on which only works with old Visoly carts, works perfectly
with the Flash2Advance. GB Bridge will let you play Gameboy Color ROMs on your
flash cart. Though the GB emulator Goomba will let you play certain GBC games,
you are restricted from more than 3/4 of them. While you do have to buy this
accessory separately, it is well worth it for fans of the Gameboy and GB
Color.
This is a fast and very reliable cart that works marvelously with Pogoshell.
GB Bridge is also an added bonus. Just keep in mind that this cart lacks a bit
of hardware features, especially when compared to others such as the EZ Flash
Advance, XG2 Turbo or the GBA X-ROM. As Pogoshell becomes better compatible
with other newer carts, the Flash2Advance is loosing most of its advantages..
Summed up:
+ Pogoshell
+ Little Writer for Parallel Linker version
+ No need to recharge save battery
+ GB-Bridge support for GB/GBC roms
- No RTC
- Save Game limitations
- No cheat function
- Official software is subpar
Flash2Advance Features:
- Reading out GBA game ROMs
- Writing GBA ROMs to Flash-2-Advance Cards
- Play ROMs from the internet on
Gameboy for FREE!
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Download
Flash 2 Advance Software
