Author Topic: PAL NES games  (Read 6473 times)

theflea

PAL NES games
« on: February 10, 2014, 07:12:34 pm »
I have been collecting the PAL exclusive games for some time now, I'm not sure who here is even interested in collecting PAL NES games but I thought I'd let you guys know which ones work in a US NSTC Top Loader and which ones have issues.
Most all of mine are PAL B, i've heard conflicting stories if PAL A or B work better but maybe this will help someone know that if they buy this game that it will work in their Top Loading NES.

Aladdin – The titles and cut scenes play fine but the game itself freezes up and crashes.

Asterix – Titles and cut scenes play fine, but game is a glitch fest, you can play the character and see bad guys but background is glitched beyond playable.

Banana Prince – Plays great (only issue the text is in German)

Corvette ZR-1 Challenge – Starts off good but once race gets to first person view it glitches pretty bad. Pretty much unplayble.

Crackout – Plays fine no issues.

Dragonball – Plays fine no issues. (only issue is text is in French)

Dropzone – Plays fine for the most part, the score area in the middle is a little glitched. But game is playable.

Duck Maze – Plays fine no issues.

Konami Hyper Soccer – Plays fine little issues.

Legend of Prince Valiant - Plays fine no issues.

Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque – Plays fine no issues (only issue is text is in French)

Lion King – Game plays like its having a seizure, background flips out really bad. Funny thing if you pause the game its a clear screen.   

Little Red Hood – Plays fine no issues.

New Ghostbusters 2 – Plays fine no issues.

Noahs Ark – Plays fine no issues.

Parodius – Plays fine no issues.

Smurfs – Plays fine no issues.

Trolls in Crazyland – Plays fine no issues.

These are the only two games that where released in the US that I have PAL version

Digger T. Rock – Game backgrounds are glitched barely playable.

Mario & Yoshi – Plays fine no issues. (this game is Yoshi in the US) 

If you have a PAL NES collection and a US Top Loading NES then please add to this list. Its nice to know which ones work.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2014, 12:40:24 am by theflea »
"Happy game hunting!!!"

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2014, 08:56:24 pm »
Cool! Thanks for the info.
Have you been able to try them in a normal NES with the lockout chip disabled?

retromangia

PRO Supporter

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2014, 04:50:50 am »
thanks for the info TheFlea... by the way, awesome collection my man... I thought I had a lot ;)

anyhow... I had no idea top loader NES's are region free.. is that true for all of them?

also, whats the difference between Pal A and B?

thanks again,

retromangia

turf

PRO Supporter

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2014, 07:41:53 am »
Is that a complete list of games released in Europe and not in the US?  If not, do you know where I could find one?


viktokai

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2014, 08:47:26 am »
New Ghostbusters 2!!!! Good game, awesome soundtrack! We got robbed here in NA.
My first games were Megamania and PacMan and yes, I still own them along with all of my other Atari 2600 carts from when I was a child.

theflea

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2014, 10:26:07 pm »
I tried many of the games on a model 1 front loader and every game flips out and you cant play. Yes all Top Loaders are the same. (unless it was modded.)
Little Red Hood & Duck Maze do work on a front loader. These are non licensed games and they don't have any issues. 
I personally don't own a Modded front loader, but I think it plays everything a Top Loader does.

PAL A & B are just different region frequencies, US and Japan are NTSC, PAL B is most of Europe and PAL A is mainly Australia & South America. There's also SECAM but I've honestly haven't seen much games offered as SECAM, This is mostly Russia & Africa.
If you bought a PAL NES and tried hooking it up to a NTSC TV you wont get anything on the screen. Some HDTV's can read PAL.

The other part that's a problem is the voltage difference, To use my PAL consoles I have to plug them into a volt converter. And while you can plug a Japanese system into a US outlet it's technically not good on it. I use a volt converter on my JP consoles as well. US has a higher voltage then Japan does, and this can fry out your JP console over time. 

There's a lot of games you can find that may have you think its a PAL exclusive but its just been renamed overseas. Like Yoshi in the US is called Mario & Yoshi in EU.
Heres a list of games released in PAL but never in the US. Many of these have been released in Japan.

Aladdin 
Asterix
Aussie Rules Footy
Banana Prince
Beauty and the Beast
Championship Rally
Corvette ZR-1 Challenge
Crackout
Devil World
Dragonball
Dropzone
Duck Maze
Elite
Four Players Tennis
Hammerin' Harry
International Cricket
Jackpot
Kick Off
Konami Hyper Soccer
Legend of Prince Valiant
Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque
Lion King   
Little Red Hood
Mr. Gimmick
New Ghostbusters 2
Noahs Ark
Over Horizon
Parasol Stars
Parodius
Rackets & Rivals
Road Fighter
Rodland
Smurfs
Super Tarrican
Trolls in Crazyland
Ufouria

And yes New Ghostbusters 2 is one of the games I highly recommend playing. The Ghostbuster games we got where garbage compared to New Ghostbusters 2. 

I Hope I was able to answer everyones questions.  ;)
« Last Edit: February 11, 2014, 10:37:56 pm by theflea »
"Happy game hunting!!!"

theflea

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2014, 12:41:14 am »
added Legend of Prince Valiant to the list.
"Happy game hunting!!!"

retromangia

PRO Supporter

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2014, 12:11:11 am »
Thank you the flea! I appreciate all the research and effort you provided for everyone!
  :D

theflea

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2014, 06:01:40 am »
Thank you the flea! I appreciate all the research and effort you provided for everyone!
  :D


No problem.  ;)
"Happy game hunting!!!"

foxhack

Re: PAL NES games
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2014, 02:30:21 pm »
PAL A & B are just different region frequencies, US and Japan are NTSC, PAL B is most of Europe and PAL A is mainly Australia & South America. There's also SECAM but I've honestly haven't seen much games offered as SECAM, This is mostly Russia & Africa.
If you bought a PAL NES and tried hooking it up to a NTSC TV you wont get anything on the screen. Some HDTV's can read PAL.

Um, not quite. :)

PAL-A (also known as Mattel Version) and PAL-B are both European / Aussie region games, but since the NES consoles in Europe were distributed by two companies in different regions, their lockout chips prevented people from using a game from one region in the other one. They have the same video frequency, it's just that the lockouts didn't let the games work in other regions.

Most of South America is actually NTSC, only Brazil and Argentina are PAL.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2014, 02:32:58 pm by foxhack »