Fire Emblem Thracia 776 for Super Famicom

[mjmjr25]

I am looking for hard facts about this game, more importantly, the release of this game. Wiki has helped very little on this one.

Best I can tell, there are at least (4) official releases:


Blank looking memory cassette, blank box, and blank manual.


Memory Cassette version, but the box and cart have what look to be legit stickers (maybe?) and the manual is definitely legit looking.


Everything here is def. factory dedicate and legit: box, manual and cart label


And then this "Deluxe Box Set" which is also an official release.

This is one of the SFC rares that i've never bothered researching - however, i'm getting close to my collection goals and I really need to know what i'm looking at here.

Does anyone have concrete knowledge of the (4) "releases" of one particular game? I've seen other memory cassettes for SFC and I really don't know much about them. Typically the data on them is for Derby Stallion or Fire Emblem...beyond that, i'm confused...

[brunoafh]

The first two are Nintendo Power SF flash carts, probably with the game on them. I'm guessing the second one has the stickers because this game was originally released via these flash carts only, so it probably came with stickers and a manual. The second two are the actual ROM versions, not much to explain there, 3rd pic is the game and box, 4th pic is the limited release.

So basically, the first two are really the same only the second pic is utilizing the stickers, 3rd one is the release not on a Nintendo Power flash cart and with it's own box and such, 4th one is simply the limited release. So I'd say it's more like there were 2 releases, unless you count the limited edition that probably released with the ROM version as a separate release.

Far as I know, there are no other releases.

[mjmjr25]

On the Flash Carts - is it possible to put any game on them? Meaning, i've seen ones with Derby Stallion 97' sell for like $5-10.

I've seen the Fire Emblem ones sell for $50+.

If someone were to get a non-stickered (read, generic SF memory cassette labeling) could they put Fire Emblem on it?

I guess for my purposes, i'll prob get the 3rd one w/legit box/manual/cart anyways.

[KDub]

This is an awesome Fire Emblem Retrospective and this part covers Thracia 776. I think it gives some details about the release but more than anything it covers the story/genealogy/history of the game. Maybe it will have what you're looking for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCpJUDkntgM

[brunoafh]

To tell you the truth I'm not entirely sure how the NP Super Famicom flash carts work. I think when they were first released, you would go to the store with the cart, stick it in a machine, and pick what games you would want to put on them. The purpose of the service was to be able to have multiple games on one cart and to be able to get them cheaper. I read about this forever ago, GameBoy and Famicom had similar services going on. Fire Emblem Thracia 776 was originally exclusive to this system, probably to promote it, so basically some flash carts would come with the game pre-loaded and the stickers. I'm sure the only reason behind the Fire Emblem ones being expensive today is due to insane Fire Emblem collectors wanting every copy of every release.

As for whether or not the flash carts are still functional today, I'm not too sure. They probably should, Ziggy would be a good person to ask though.

[greg]

Satoshi Matrix is the real expert on SFC Memory Cassettes, but I will share what he's told me. Below is taken from the FAQ on my Super Famicom fansite that he contributed to:

Between 1996 and 1998 in Japan, consumers could purchase these blank cartridges from vendors at a reduced rate and then either go to certain retailers or mail the cartridge to Nintendo through a service called "Nintendo Power" (which had absolutely nothing to do with the American magazine). The Nintendo Power service offered about twenty different games to choose from. Among those were a dozen or so that had previously shown up as broadcast Stelleview games. The Nintendo Power service was the only way of getting cartridge versions of these games. Some of these games included Super Picross, Super Wrecking Crew, Super Famicom Wars, and a remake of Famicom Detective Club Part II.

Super Famicom Data Cartridges were an update to the aging Famicom Disk System write kiosks where players could take their FDS games and rewrite them with new games. The only difference was instead of writing to a diskette, flash RAM was the new storage medium. The Super Famicom Data Cartridge had a storage capacity of 32 megs, allowing eight 4-meg games, two 16-meg games or one 32-meg game.

Nintendo discontinued the Nintendo Power service in 1999, making blank Super Famicom Data cartridges essentially worthless today. However, due to the fact that many of the games released via Nintendo Power are exclusive to the data cartridges, data cartridges with specific desired titles are very rare even in Japan and fetch quite a bit.

[mjmjr25]

^Excellent info and explains quite a bit, thank you.

[fastbilly1]

Some of these games included Super Picross, Super Wrecking Crew, Super Famicom Wars, and a remake of Famicom Detective Club Part II.

So did Super Famicom Wars ever get a proper cart release? If not I am going to stop trying to find one.

[theclaw]

I don't think so. Wario's Woods (Satellaview) and Super Punch-Out (Nintendo Power) didn't have SFC carts either. There's also a Wizardry game it seems.

[greg]

So did Super Famicom Wars ever get a proper cart release? If not I am going to stop trying to find one.

No, as it says above, you won't find any official cartridge releases. You'd have to buy the Memory Cassette and take it to one of the Nintendo Power kiosks like this one at convenience stores and such.