I know there have been many, many, many posts on this subject, and I did my best abusing the search, reading all the replies, looking at the links provided, etc.
I just received 19 MVS carts the other day and I want to spend time checking if any of the carts are boots. It doesn't look like anyone has created a guide to detecting boots so I was hoping to make a list of things I've compiled that people said to check for to see if I'm missing anything and if anyone has things to add:
1) Study all these pictures: http://www.jamma.nl/gallery/bootlegs
2) Boards must be labeled as SNK/Playmore
3) The mask roms should probably be Toshiba or Sharp. The presence of eproms on some carts is not necessarily an indication of a bootleg. SNK chips are custom. If there are proms (i.e., no ngh# embossed on the rom), it is probably a boot. (there will also be other indicators)
4) Soldering job should not be handdone. A few games have a blue capacitor attached to ROM pins (Power Spikes II & Quest of Jongmaster). Also, SVC Chaos has a small weird daughterboard attached to the PROG board.
- Puzzle Bobble has an unique layout.
5) Cross-check the NGH# with the Master List
http://www.neo-geo.com/snk/masterlist.htm
6) EPROMs do not necessarily mean the cart is a boot--SNK may have done last-minute repairs
7) Flash chips definitely indicate a bootleg
8) If PCBs are brown, blue, or gold, it is a bootleg. It is a bootleg if the PCBs are half height or not shaped like a normal MVS PCB (t-shaped).
--Games that are not bootlegs with known oddities--
Power Spikes II - Blue Capacitor
Quest of Jongmaster - Blue Capacitor
SVC Chaos - Small daughterboard thing (anyone have better name for it?)
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move - NGH # from PB and Power Spikes 2, several EPROM
I think this'll help me catch the more obvious ones, but I was hoping anyone could help add some subtle differences that aren't encompassed by the above. If anyone cares, the seller is Yaton, and the games in question are: Blazing Star, KoF 94/95/96/98/99/01/03, LB 1/2, MS 2/X/4/5, SS 1/2/3/4, and Waku Waku 7. I know he generally doesn't sell boots except by accident, but I also want to learn how to detect MVS boots myself =)
I just received 19 MVS carts the other day and I want to spend time checking if any of the carts are boots. It doesn't look like anyone has created a guide to detecting boots so I was hoping to make a list of things I've compiled that people said to check for to see if I'm missing anything and if anyone has things to add:
1) Study all these pictures: http://www.jamma.nl/gallery/bootlegs
2) Boards must be labeled as SNK/Playmore
3) The mask roms should probably be Toshiba or Sharp. The presence of eproms on some carts is not necessarily an indication of a bootleg. SNK chips are custom. If there are proms (i.e., no ngh# embossed on the rom), it is probably a boot. (there will also be other indicators)
4) Soldering job should not be handdone. A few games have a blue capacitor attached to ROM pins (Power Spikes II & Quest of Jongmaster). Also, SVC Chaos has a small weird daughterboard attached to the PROG board.
- Puzzle Bobble has an unique layout.
5) Cross-check the NGH# with the Master List
http://www.neo-geo.com/snk/masterlist.htm
6) EPROMs do not necessarily mean the cart is a boot--SNK may have done last-minute repairs
7) Flash chips definitely indicate a bootleg
8) If PCBs are brown, blue, or gold, it is a bootleg. It is a bootleg if the PCBs are half height or not shaped like a normal MVS PCB (t-shaped).
--Games that are not bootlegs with known oddities--
Power Spikes II - Blue Capacitor
Quest of Jongmaster - Blue Capacitor
SVC Chaos - Small daughterboard thing (anyone have better name for it?)
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move - NGH # from PB and Power Spikes 2, several EPROM
I think this'll help me catch the more obvious ones, but I was hoping anyone could help add some subtle differences that aren't encompassed by the above. If anyone cares, the seller is Yaton, and the games in question are: Blazing Star, KoF 94/95/96/98/99/01/03, LB 1/2, MS 2/X/4/5, SS 1/2/3/4, and Waku Waku 7. I know he generally doesn't sell boots except by accident, but I also want to learn how to detect MVS boots myself =)
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