NTSC & PAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the NES era TV screens were slightly convex, not flat, and were definitely not made up of millions of microscopic high-definition LED's. The analog "tube" TV's that the NES was designed for used a CRT (cathode-ray tube) to shoot electrons at the back of the screen which was coated with light-emitting phosphors that would activate when the electrons made contact. The CRT literally drew a picture on the screen from side-to-side one line at a time at a speed fast enough that the human eye wouldn't see the lines. Unfortunately there was not a universal global standard for this technology and two main versions existed in territories that sold the NES that would draw these pictures using a different amount of lines, and at different speeds.
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The first version was developed in 1953 in the Unites States and is called NTSC (National Television System Committee). In addition to the USA, NTSC is used by Canada and a majority of North and South America, and Japan along with some other countries in Asia. NTSC uses 525 lines per frame (picture screen) and operates at 60Hz. This means it can refresh a full screen 30 times per second. The more frames-per-second a screen is capable of, the more smooth and life-like the video will be. By comparison some higher-end TV's today operate at up to 240Hz.
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The second version is called PAL (Phase Alternating Line), and was introduced in the early 1960's. PAL is used by Europe, Australia, and some countries in Asia and South America. PAL uses 625 lines per frame which results in a higher
Mr. Gimmick
PAL-Exclusive NES Game
quality picture, but only operates at 50Hz, or 25 frames-per-second. To make things more confusing, Brazil has a unique version called PAL-M which operates at 60Hz and is compatible with NTSC.
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There is another TV standard that exists called SECAM (Sequential Color and Memory) that is used primarily in parts of Russia, China, and Africa, but only NES or Famicom clone devices existed in SECAM regions as Nintendo did not develop distribution agreements there.
The Zapper Light Gun and R.O.B. both relied on the technology in the tube TV's picture creation process to accurately read light and interpret it as data for the NES. The technology used in today's TV's is completely different, so unless you have an old tube TV, your Zapper is useless and you'll be playing Gyromite and Stack-Up alone.
PAL VERSIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to sell the NES in other parts of the world, Nintendo had to release PAL-compatible versions of the games and the NES console. But it wasn't just the hardware that needed to be localized. There were also other things to consider such as different languages, regional marketing strategies, and even different cultural norms. Some elements of a game's characters, storyline, or dialog might not translate well in another culture, and could make the game unpopular or even improper. Most PAL versions of the games will have some differences from the USA versions on the label art, and possibly in the software, but typically the game play is not affected in any significant way.
Like their Famicom counterparts, many PAL versions of the black box games featured cartoon artwork on the label, as opposed to the actual 8-bit pixelated characters on the USA labels. They didn't specifically say PAL, but instead were labeled as regional "versions", such as European Version, Version Española, etc. Other PAL black box games were produced to look basically the same as the USA games, and are primarily identifiable as a PAL version by their ID Codes on the front and back labels.
Ice Climber
European Version
Ice Climber
Famicom Cartridge
Games released as Asian Version or Hong Kong Version were manufactured in a different color cartridge than those used in the rest of the world. They are a very light gray, almost off-white color.
Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt
Asian Version
Selling the NES to the rest of the world required Nintendo to sign distribution agreements with different companies throughout Europe and other regions. In order to reduce encroachment into protected sales territories they eventually created their own two regions out of the non-Asia PAL countries, and started labeling most games released by 3rd party publishers as either PAL-A or PAL-B. This gave them control of which versions of the games and consoles were sold in which countries. Nintendo-published games did not get the PAL-A/B designation, but did often get a regional version label as described above. Below is a breakdown of which Region Codes belong to which group.
PAL-A
Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers
PAL-B
Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers
Nintendo used the lockout chip to prevent PAL-A games from being played on PAL-B consoles and vice versa. One way to be sure which regional version of a game you have is to identify the software code on the lockout chip, as each region has a unique code to match up with its corresponding NES console. This is especially useful for the Nintendo-published games that don't have PAL-A/B on the label. The code for NTSC games is either 3193 or 6113, PAL-A is 3197, PAL-B is 3195, and PAL Asia is 3196.
CIC Lockout Chip
3193 - NTSC
CIC Lockout Chip
6113 - NTSC
CIC Lockout Chip
3197 - PAL-A
CIC Lockout Chip
3195 - PAL-B
CIC Lockout Chip
3196 - PAL Asia
There are several versions of the NES console such as Mattel Version, NES Version, European Version, Asian Version, and Version Española to name a few. You can tell which format each version is by looking at the model number on the bottom of the unit. NTSC consoles are model NES-001, PAL-A consoles (and all PAL consoles pre-dating the PAL-A/B system) are model NESE-001, PAL-B consoles are model NES-PAL-001, and PAL Asia consoles are model NESA-001. Disabling the lockout chip on a PAL NES console will allow you to play both PAL-A and PAL-B games on the same machine.
NES model NES-001
NTSC
NES model NES-PAL-001
PAL-B
NES model NESE-001
PAL / PAL-A
NES model NESA-001
PAL Asia
The NES that was released in South Korea (KOR) is called the Hyundai Comboy, aka NES Korean Version. It has a unique model number HGM-2000, operates at 60Hz, and is identical to the NES-001 NTSC model except for its PAL-B 3195 lockout chip. Therefore the Comboy is technically an NTSC-compatible PAL-B model.
Hyundai Comboy Console
NES Korean Version
There are two different models of the standard NES controller that was included with all console sets, NES-004 and NES-004E, which can create some compatibility issues between consoles. The model NES-004E controller that came with the model NESE-001 (PAL-A) console will work on all versions of the NES, but the "E" consoles will only accept an "E" controller. The model NES-004 controller that came with every other model of the NES will not work on the NESE-001 console.
Model NES-004 Controller
works on all NES consoles except model NESE-001
Model NES-004E Controller
works on all NES consoles
Because they don't have a lockout chip the NES-101 (NTSC) and NESP-101 (PAL) Top-Loader consoles are "region free". They will play any NES cart, even unlicensed carts, as long as they are the correct TV format.
NES model NES-101 Top-Loader console with model NES-003 "Dogbone" controller
ALTERNATE TITLES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the more interesting things that a handful of PAL games have in addition to different label art is a different title. Some titles are almost the same, and some are completely different. Usually the game itself is the same beyond the standard regional tweaks, except in the case of Contra and Super C where the human characters were replaced with robots. There are a total of 30 PAL games that have an alternate title, shown below with the USA titles in parenthesis. Phantom Air Mission and Snowboard Challenge are extremely rare.
Action in New York
(S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team)
The Adventure Island Part II
(Adventure Island II)
The Bugs Bunny Blowout
(The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout)
Dynablaster
(Bomberman II)
Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja
(Joe & Mac)
McDonaldland
(M.C. Kids)
Probotector
(Contra)
Shadow Warriors
no mask PAL-B
(Ninja Gaiden)
Solomon's Key 2
(Fire 'N Ice)
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Tournament Fighters
(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters)
Adventure Island Classic
PAL-A/B
(Adventure Island)
Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja
(Bad Dudes)
Corvette ZR-1 Challenge
(Alex DeMeo's Race America)
Adventure Island Classic: In The Pacific PAL-B
(Adventure Island)
Blue Shadow
(Shadow of the Ninja)
Dragon Ball
(Dragon Power)
Eric Cantona Football Challenge: Goal! 2
(Goal! 2)
Life Force: Salamander
(Life Force)
The New Zealand Story
(Kiwi Kraze)
Four Players' Tennis
(Chris Evert & Ivan Lendl Top Players' Tennis)
Mario & Yoshi
(Yoshi)
Phantom Air Mission
(Flight of the Intruder)
Probotector II: Return of Evil Forces
(Contra: Super C)
Shadow Warriors II
(Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos)
Street Gangs
(River City Ransom)
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles II: The Arcade Game - red logo
(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game)
Track & Field in Barcelona
(Track & Field)
Shadow Warriors
with mask PAL-A/B
(Ninja Gaiden)
Snowboard Challenge
(Heavy Shreddin')
Tecmo Cup Football Game
(Tecmo Cup Soccer Game)
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles II: The Arcade Game - purple logo
(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game)
Turbo Racing
(Al Unser Jr.'s Turbo Racing)
The only game produced with both regional title variations of NTSC and PAL carts under the same region code is Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles. Both versions of the game title appear in PAL-A format with an ITA region code. "Ninja" has the same U2 game code as the NTSC version but has a different silver label. "Hero" has the 88 game code, same as all the other PAL releases of the game, but has a black label just like the NTSC version. Completely backwards and very confusing. Why not?
The reason for this multi-title situation is that the ITA region code (Italy, PAL-A) was also used for Australia (PAL-A) before there was an AUS code. ITA and AUS carts also share a common series of back labels with the EAI text in English and Italian. Therefore there are tons of ITA carts in Australia. So what does that have to do with TMNT? Just like in the US, the characters are known as the "Ninja Turtles" in Australia, but in all of Europe they are the "Hero Turtles". So of course the Australian PAL-A ITA version would have to be "Ninja", but the Italian PAL-A ITA version would be "Hero".
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
NES-U2-ITA
PAL-A
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
NES-88-ITA
PAL-A
PAL EXCLUSIVES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of my personal favorite sub-sets of the NES catalog is PAL exclusive releases. There are 35 licensed NES games that were exclusively released in PAL format, outside of the USA. Most of these games have multiple variants from different regions. The Smurfs, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast all have versions with their titles in different languages. Mah Jong was a "Hong Kong Version" exclusive. All found in this category, Mah Jong, Devil World, Mr. Gimmick, and Rodland are some of the rarest NES games in existence.
Aladdin (1995)
Virgin Interactive
Asterix (1993)
Infogrames
Aussie Rules Footy (1991)
Laser Beam Entertainment
Banana Prince (1992)
Takara
Beauty and the Beast (1994)
Hudson Soft
Championship Rally (1991)
HAL Laboratories
Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque:
La Legende D'Or (1991)
Bandai
Crackout (1992)
Palcom Software
Devil World (1987)
Nintendo
Dropzone (1993)
Mindscape
Elite (1992)
Imagineer
Formula 1 Sensation (1993)
Palcom Software
Hammerin' Harry (1993)
Irem
International Cricket (1992)
Laser Beam Entertainment
Kick Off (1992)
Imagineer
Konami Hyper Soccer (1992)
Konami
The Legend of Prince Valiant (1993)
Ocean Software
The Lion King (1995)
Virgin Interactive
Mah Jong (1987)
Nintendo
Mario Bros. Classic Series (1993)
Nintendo
Mr. Gimmick (1992)
Sunsoft
New Ghostbusters 2 (1992)
HAL Laboratory
Noah's Ark (1992)
Konami
Over Horizon (1993)
Takara
Parasol Stars: Rainbow Islands II (1992)
Taito
Parodius (1992)
Palcom Software
Rackets & Rivals (1993)
Palcom Software
Road Fighter (1991)
Palcom Software
Rodland (1993)
Storm
The Smurfs (1994)
Infogrames
Super Mario Bros. / Tetris /
Nintendo World Cup (1991)
Nintendo
Super Turrican (1992)
Imagineer
Tecmo World Cup Soccer (1991)
Tecmo
The Trolls in Crazyland (1993)
American Softworks
Ufouria: The Saga (1992)
Sunsoft
Here's a fun NES trivia question: Other than Zelda and Link, what is the only other official licensed NES game released in the gold cartridge? A trick question you say? There were no other gold NES games? Actually there was one more. Super Spike V'Ball / Nintendo World Cup was released in Brazil in the gold cart.
Super Spike V'Ball / Nintendo World Cup
Gold Cartridge
Playtronic Version (Brazil)
REGIONAL RELEASES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is a chart of every licensed NES game and all of their regional releases. This chart is meant to serve as a reference for finding all of the games with a particular code. This information is also listed game-by-game on the Licensed Games pages of the site.
