Super 8 (video game accessory)

The Tristar (also known as " Tri-Star " or " Super 8") is an adapter for the Super Nintendo in order to still be able to play NES games on the 16- bitters. The idea of ​​Tristar adapter draws on the Super Game Boy, an adapter, which allows you to play Gameboy games on the SNES.

For price reasons Nintendo has its time (1990 ) dispenses with the backward compatibility of the 16 -bit SNES console to the games of the 8 -bit predecessor version of the NES. NES games are thus not natively playable on the SNES.

The Tristar adapter is inserted into the slot of Nintendo's Super and provides three additional slots for U.S. SNES, NES and Famicom cartridges available (an additional power supply is not needed). The Tristar is actually designed for the U.S. version of the SNES and therefore also of the made ​​available by Tristar SNES slot for U.S. games is provided. However, since the Tristar also acts as a " universal adapter ", a variety of PAL SNES games are played ( for games which perform a 50/60-Hz-Check, additional modifications to the Super Nintendo are necessary).

Almost all NES, Famicom, and ( U.S. ) SNES games run on the Tristar. Only some games like Super Mario RPG, which carry a copy protection check, quit the service. In addition, generally react no other input devices ( eg joystick or light gun ) as the SNES game pad and the select and start button on the second player does not work anymore, so some two-player games are useless.

The Tristar adapter is not a product of Nintendo, also not an official accessory. The manufacturer of the c.1991 designed tristars is unknown. The device has only appeared in the U.S. and Japan, and the sale price was the equivalent of about 50 euros. The high price of the adapter comes among others from the fact that the Tristar adapter has integrated to play the Famicom games Famicom a complete clone.

There is also a comparable adapter called " Tristar 64 " to be able to play NES and SNES games on the N64.

• Nintendo console accessories