I had heard from a friend that you could play Japanese games on the Super Nintendo. It struck my interest at the time, but I didn’t pursue the mod until this year.
It all started when I got this game; it was on sale, and since I had a little extra money to spend, I bought it. I then got ready to turn my Super Nintendo into something a little more.
Getting Started
These are the tools you will need to get started:
A: Before you can begin any kind of mod to the inner part of the Super Nintendo, you’re going to have to get yourself a 4.5mm Snes Security Tool Bit. I’m not sure if this would be easy for you to find in your neck of the woods or not, I got mine on eBay. It’s a great tool bit and can be used to mod not only your snes, but your Nintendo 64, GameCube, and other systems.
B: I recommend using an adjustable screw driver with the security tool bit, it can be used by itself to get a couple of the special screws out of the console, but most of the screws are kind of stubborn. Also; you’re going to need a Phillips head screw driver or tool bit.
C: I suppose any kind of knife (you don’t care about) will do in this mod, as long as the blade isn’t too broad. I used a hobby knife which was really helpful since the blade itself is rather narrow and easy to get inside those hard to reach places, which you’ll come to know once you get underway in this mod.
D: I probably didn’t have to put this on the list, but just incase for those people who might forget what their working on, I included the Super Nintendo.
E: You don’t really have to have to candle to do this mod; I didn’t use one, but now I wished I would have because it’s better to have a continual heat source that you don’t have to hold.
F: I guess I don’t really have to put much explanation into this one, you can use the lighter by itself, that’s what I did, but using the candle will give you one less thing you have to hold onto during the mod.
Disassembling the Super Nintendo
When you turn the console around, you should notice six holes with screws at the bottom of them. You will have to use the Snes Security Tool Bit here to get them out.
Once all the screws are out, turn the snes back over to its original position. You should pay special attention here before moving on, once you begin taking the top off, you need to hold on to the controller ports, there is a ribbon that connects the controller ports to the system itself. If you pull the top off without holding onto the controller ports, there is a chance that you may damage it in the process. When you take the top off of the console, set the bottom part of it aside, you will only be working with the top part of it.
This is the backside of the top part of the console. It does look to be a little complex, but believe me, looks can be deceiving.
A: This is a spring. You must remove this spring. Trying to remove this portion of the console with the spring intact, may cause damage to it, which may cause impairment in the system’s performance.
Note: You must replace the spring when reassembling the unit.
B: As you can see, there appear to be seven screws that secure this piece of the console to the top. But there is another screw located behind this lever. You will need to remove this screw last before removing this part of the console.
Note: You will also have to put this hidden screw in first before you reassemble the lever.
C: It is important that you don’t lose the plastic washer to this piece of the console. The lever may not work properly without it.
Once you have removed all of the screws and the spring, the console should look something like this. This square that I have highlighted connects to the power switch, when removing this portion of the console; the square should be in the downward position. Carefully remove the back side of the top.
Note: This Square will also have to be down when reassembling the unit; the unit will not fit together if the square is not down.
Like I said before, I already performed the mod before I made the tutorial. I put marks on this picture to show what it looked like before I cut into it.
Cutting Tips
Light the candle with your lighter. Before I explain anything else, you need to know that when you heat the blade of your knife up and start to cut in to the plastic parts, the plastic will melt under the heat and produce an odor. You may want to do this mod outdoors or in a well ventilated area. Heat the blade up with the flame the candle produces; it should only take about several seconds to get it hot. Once the blade is hot, quickly begin cutting into the bracket. The blade won’t cut very deep into the plastic, and you will have to repeat this step numerous times.
Once you have made your first cut, you will more than likely get some melted plastic on your blade. This will only take a few seconds for it to harden, and once it does, you may want to consider removing it before you reheat the blade.
Cutting the brackets out on the bottom marked portions, proved to be the most difficult. I constantly had to shave this portion to get it down to the desired size. I put marks here to simulate what this portion of the snes console looks like before the mod. You can start cutting anywhere you like, I started with the brackets on top, which were a lot easier to get to then the bottom marked ones.
The end result should look something like this, as you can see I didn’t do a perfect job on it. But the good thing about it is that you don’t have to, just as long as the cartridge will fit down inside of the case.
I’m not sure now, whether or not cutting this portion out is necessary. It certainly won’t affect the performance of the snes, and you’ll have an extra amount of clearance for the Japanese cartridge.
Reassembling the unit
Once you’ve done all the modifications to the inner casing of your snes, start putting everything back together.
If you have trouble inserting the three screws located in the center of the backside of the top part of the unit, you may want to take a look on the other side to see if the plastic piece with the Super Nintendo logo is intact. This piece must be intact when reassembling the unit or all the Phillips screws won’t go back into their holes.
Follow the notes in the sections above if you have any trouble reassembling your snes.
If you performed all the modifications correctly, you should be able to fit any Super Famicon cartridge into your Super Nintendo.
I can now play this version of Final Fantasy on my Super Nintendo. Now I’m going to have to learn how to read Japanese…
