Action
Replay Plus 4M Auto
Platform: Sega Saturn
Action
Replay Plus 4M Auto
Platform:
Sega Saturn
Most people didn't see any need to play import games for a long time. Sure, converters were available as long as region locks were put in place. Even when the region locks were as rudimentary as different cartridge shapes on the Famicom and NES for instance, there were always ways around them but this was far from the mainstream. Chopping the region tabs out of the inside of a Super Nintendo to play Super Famicom games? Well, more people did that as the anime wave was catching on in the United States and importing online was becoming popular. (check out how to perform this procedure here) Then of course came the PlayStation mod chips, an industry onto themselves, but moding PlayStations was usually to play duplicate games rather than genuine imports. Well those that were Saturn loyals soon began to realize that the bulk of the great games, especially the amazing shooters and 2D fighting games, that were released for the Saturn were Japan only. Sure you could put a region switch in your Saturn to play Japanese games but most went for a simpler although more expensive answer, conversion cartridges. There were a few on the market including the very popular ST-Key but the one that promised to do anything and everything for your importing needs was the Action Replay Plus 4M Auto.
Action Replay was a name pretty well known since the SNES days as a cheating device similar to the Game Genie. The difference was the Action Replay could get in there and do more with the dynamics of the game. Where the Game Genie was a cheating device the Action Replay was more of a hacking device. During the time of the Saturn E.M.S. Industry Limited would release the Action Replay Plus 4M Auto and people would line up at import stores to purchase this wonder cartridge, shipped from Hong Kong, and box coated in a mix of Engrish and Japanese.
The Action Replay Plus 4M Auto offered the following features:
To use the region override function simply open the disc lid, insert the game you wish to play, close the lid and select "START GAME." The confirmation screen will come up and after confirming to begin, the game will load as if it was running on its native hardware. You should be good for all Japanese games sans a couple titles that the Action Replay is known to have issues with (why a region switch is still a good idea). As for European PAL games most will work without a hitch except for a few "PAL optimized" titles released in the later years of the Saturn in the UK. To play these with 100% compatibility a 50Hz / 60Hz switch will need to be installed in the Saturn. With some Action Replay carts there was a problem that prevented the 4M RAM expansion from working in conjunction with the region override for some games, namely Vampire Savior. If you have one of these older cartridges an override repair can be done that involves cutting a trace on the board inside the Action Replay and soldering in a jumper. Directions on how to do this can be found here, it's an offsite link not related to ClassicPlastic.net or DVGI. Even with these hiccups the Action Replay Plus 4M Auto still has the highest compatibility rate for imports of any cartridge ever released.
One
of the biggest draws with the Action Replay Plus 4M Auto was just that,
the 4M auto RAM expansion. Many of the high end 2D sprite pushing
games such as most of the fighting games released by Capcom required additional
RAM to drive the enhanced graphics. At first there was a 1M RAM expansion
cartridge that was used for the earlier games that required a jump in memory
but soon enough the 4M cartridge hit the market and pushed the Saturn's
2D power through the roof. The Action Replay Plus 4M Auto functions
as both a 1M and 4M RAM expansion cartridge, automatically switching based
upon what the game requires. This means the Action Replay meets any
RAM expansion needs you could ever come across, except for The King of
Fighters '96 which requires the ROM cartridge that was bundled with the
game. Once one totaled the cost of a 1M and 4M cartridge together,
the Action Replay Plus 4M Auto was a great deal for a bit more money once
you took its other features into consideration.
What would an Action Replay product be without cheat codes. The cartridge comes loaded with cheats for many of the most popular Saturn games. What's cool is there are cheats for just not the US version of the games, but the Japanese and European versions as well. The cheat menu is easy to navigate (take that, GameShark) with clear text and very descriptive cheats and menus. Now where it gets really cool is that you can input new cheats with a robust cheat editor and your cheats are retained on the cartridge as if they came that way from the factory. It doesn't stop at adding new cheats for the games already listed on the cartridge. You can actually input a new game name to include in the cheat menu, then you input a description for each cheat (like "Infinite Lives" for instance), then input the cheat codes themselves. It's almost like creating your own custom cheat library cartridge. Customizability is the name of the game. The instruction booklet describes the entry procedure very well although it's pretty easy to figure out. Additionally if you happen to have an Action Replay PC Comms package you can link it to the top of the cartridge and hack new cheat codes. (this really isn't a feature since I've never known anyone that owned one of these) However there are plenty of Saturn Action Replay codes out there online!
The feature that nails the performance of the Action Replay Plus 4M Auto home is the huge amount of internal backup memory. The Action Replay has an insane amount of internal memory, over 8,000 blocks (base memory before adding any new cheat codes) which is enormous considering that the Sega Saturn internal memory only holds 510 blocks. The Action Replay uses flash memory to retain all data so you don't need to worry about a battery doing dead and losing your saves, as is common with lost saves on the Saturn. This also is the ideal way to retain your saves while replacing the internal battery in the Saturn. While you can't save and load in-game directly from the Action Replay (games don't see it, only the internal memory) you can shunt data back and forth between the internal memory and Action Replay cartridge. In other words you select the save data of the game you wish to play and copy it to the internal memory from the Action Replay before beginning play, it's like a big file cabinet for your save data. For instance in the above picture data for Daytona USA, Asuka 120%, Capcom Generation 1, and Manx TT SuperBike is on the internal memory, so these would be the games that I'm currently playing and need save / load access to. These games are also backed up on the Action Replay cartridge along with my very large NiGHTS save data. Using this method I can transfer the game save files I'm using to the internal memory but not have to sacrifice any progress made on other games that wouldn't all fit on the Saturn internal memory. Additionally with the huge amount of memory on the Action Replay you can have backups of all your game saves just in case the battery in your Saturn dies, which will happen sooner or later. This also gives you the ability to take your save data with you between different Saturns, to trade data with your friends, or sell Saturn consoles with popular save data unlocks already onboard.
Given everything that the Action Replay
Plus 4M Auto does, it is a must have for any serious Saturn owner.
If you don't need it for the region overrides it's still indispensable
for the RAM expansion and massive internal backup memory. You can
still buy these cartridges in most import stores or online at many independent
game retailers. Honestly I have region switches in all my Saturns
and really purchased one of these cards simply for the RAM expansion since
a 4M card was the same price. However now I realize how much I rely
on the internal backup memory of the cartridge. The cheat functions
aren't a bad extra either. If there is one drawback with the Action
Replay Plus 4M Auto it is that the cartridges have a reputation of being
easy to break. Usually if a cartridge is working good from day one
it will work forever and any problems will become evident from the start.
So if you are going to purchase one get it from a reliable source or a
store that will honor returns. Also be sure to take good care of
your Action Replay, it's not a PlayStation memory card, remember that.
The only other downside is the compatibility error with some Japanese 4M
games that requires the little repair override. Most sellers of these
cartridges can't tell you if you're going to get one of the problem cartridges
or not since it's impossible to tell without trying it. Lots of people
whine about this but without the cartridge you couldn't play the said games
anyway and a fix is known and given. An Action Replay Plus 4M Auto
is an essential complement to any Saturn collection and for the $30 - $45
it will cost you it's well worth it.
Written on 10-04-05 by David, insanedavid@classicplastic.net
Last amended 04-13-06 by David, insanedavid@classicplastic.net