Before it can load a game, higan requires that all the game’s data be stored correctly in the Game Library. For regular games this is simple, but some games require special treatment, especially games that make use of unusual hardware.

Regular games¶

icarus supports importing games in the most commonly-used formats for each supported console, and also those same formats inside .zip files. More advanced compression formats like RAR or 7-zip are not supported.

For most games that do not use special chips or co-processors, importing a game is straight-forward. From the Library menu choose “Load ROM File …” to open a filesystem browser, choose the game you want to play, and it will be imported into the library and loaded.

To play the game again select the console the game runs on from the Library menu to open another filesystem browser that lists all the previously-imported games for that platform.

Games with co-processor firmware¶

Many games included extra chips inside the game cartridge, to provide enhanced capabilities of one kind or another. Sometimes, those extra chips were separate CPUs running their own separate firmware, and for those cases higan requires a copy of the co-processor firmware as well as the actual game. Unfortunately, like games themselves, co-processor firmware cannot legally be distributed, so you’ll need to obtain copies of the relevant firmware data yourself.

To import a game that requires co-processor firmware, you must copy the required firmware files beside the game you want to import. For example, if you want to import Megaman X2, which is stored in the file mmx2.sfc, the file cx4.data.rom must be placed in the same folder for the import to succeed.

Wikipedia lists which Super Famicom games use which co-processors, although not all co-processors require separate firmware. Once you’ve figured out which co-processor (if any) is used by the game you want to import, here’s the firmware files you’ll need:

Co-processor	Filename	Size (bytes)	SHA256
CX4	cx4.data.rom	3072	ae8d4d1961b93421ff00b3caa1d0f0ce7783e749772a3369c36b3dbf0d37ef18
DSP1/1A See Note 1	dsp1.data.rom	2048	0b5da6533e55852ee8fc397977ec5576c5b9f1fb2e05656d8f87123a121b076e
	dsp1.program.rom	6144	269584b347a22953a2989494c850a7c1c027f4ca5add517a60e0c7d8833d0fac
DSP1B See Note 2	dsp1b.data.rom	2048	8546cbac530830446bb8a277f6b139d4ad64d650bdbac7e4e150e2f095665049
	dsp1b.program.rom	6144	2eccb54a8f89374911f7e2db48f1b4cde855655e28103f7bda2982a5b418a187
DSP2	dsp2.data.rom	2048	3beef9bffdc1e84c9f99f3301d8bd3e520d2e62909a995320f9faeae8f46ec11
	dsp2.program.rom	6144	62a2ef8d2d7db638f4ec0fbcebf0e5bf18a75ee95be06e885d9519a10487f0da
DSP3	dsp3.data.rom	2048	7fe51796e9c97fee1fa2aab40592b7c78997f67dd00333e69d0f79a12f3cb69f
	dsp3.program.rom	6144	aea7b622e7c1de346cb15d16afcbedf92b6798507e179f83ed2a4cff40d0e663
DSP4	dsp4.data.rom	2048	ef3ffb4256dd896a60213269b4e2d3bdd120c97e2fd623bddabbf43c2be422af
	dsp4.program.rom	6144	89b1826e6038be3a0ea0f923e85d589ff6f02dc1a1819fb2ec8c0cea5b333dcd
ST010	st010.data.rom	4096	dc7056a51b53993d7a8ba5bacf9501f785d2fce5e5be748e9ff2737c5938d4a5
	st010.program.rom	49152	2c1f74bb5f466d81c64c326e71ac054489efe1abc9a5d6f91aac7747f2ddab67
ST011	st011.data.rom	4096	b5377d1bebe8adc507a024b6e2b9b8fdf4877e451da84fbad05dff4e4a70311e
	st011.program.rom	49152	d90a5cda380e81cb9ba11a9da7539b173c49b31bedc7a3ac9c3c8b3f97e89e14
ST018	st018.data.rom	32768	b5377d1bebe8adc507a024b6e2b9b8fdf4877e451da84fbad05dff4e4a70311e
	st018.program.rom	131072	d90a5cda380e81cb9ba11a9da7539b173c49b31bedc7a3ac9c3c8b3f97e89e14

Note 1: The DSP1 and DSP1A are physically different, but the firmware inside is identical.

Note 2: The DSP1B is very similar to the DSP1A, but has some bugs fixed. Note that icarus’ heuristics cannot distinguish between a game that uses DSP1 and one that uses DSP1B, so if it cannot find your game in its manifest database, it will assume it uses DSP1B. Many games work just as well with either DSP1 or DSP1B, but Pilotwings is a notable exception.

If you try to import a game using the “Import ROM Files …” option in the Library menu (or using icarus directly) but do not have the required firmware files in the correct place, a window will appear saying “Import completed, but with 1 errors. View log?” (or howevery many games were lacking the correct firmware). If you press “Yes”, a new window will appear listing the games that couldn’t be imported, and at least one firmware file that was missing or incorrect, like this:

[smk.zip] firmware (dsp1b.program.rom) missing or invalid

If you try to import a game using the “Load ROM File …” option in the Library menu but do not have the required firmware files in the correct place, nothing will happen, and higan will just sit there with “No cartridge loaded” in the status bar.

Once a game with co-processor firmware is imported, you can play it just like any regular game.

Satellaview games¶

The Satellaview was a satellite modem peripheral released for the Super Famicom in Japan. As well as the actual modem (designed to sit underneath the Super Famicom), it also included a cartridge with software to control the modem, browse online services, and download games and data. This control cartridge was called BS-X Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari, which translates as BS-X The Story of The Town Whose Name Was Stolen.

The control cartridge had a slot that accepted rewritable “memory paks”, so that people could store the games and data they downloaded. A small number of games that did not use the Satellaview modem also had a memory pak slot, so the game’s publishers could publish extra content for the game via the Satellaview service after the game’s release. For the benefit of people who didn’t own a Satellaview some read-only memory paks were sold in retail stores containing extra content for specific games.

Importing a game that has a slot for a memory pak is just like importing a regular game.

Importing a memory pak is like importing a regular game, but the name of the memory pak file must end in .bs (if it’s in a .zip file, that’s OK, but the name inside the .zip file must end in .bs) in order for it to be successfully imported. Sometimes memory pak filenames end in (BSROM).sfc, which will make higan try to import them as regular Super Famicom games, and fail miserably. Rename the file and it should work beautifully.

Playing a game that has a slot for a memory pak is just like playing a regular game, but after you have selected which game you want to play higan will open another filesystem browser to let you pick which previously-imported memory pak you want to insert into the game. If you press “Cancel” at this point, the game will load without any cartridge in its memory pak slot.

If you load the control cartridge into higan, make sure the emulated Satellaview is connected to the emulated Super Famicom’s expansion port by going to the “Super Famicom” menu, selecting the “Expansion Port” sub-menu, and choosing “Satellaview”. If the expansion port was previously configured with a different option, power-cycle the Super Famicom (also in the “Super Famicom” menu) to make sure the control cartridge will find the Satellaview when it starts up. Note that higan’s Satellaview emulation is not very accurate, so the control cartridge may not work as it should.

Playing a memory pak on its own doesn’t make much sense, it’s not a standalone cartridge. Play a game with a memory pak slot, and choose which memory pak you want when higan asks for it.

For more information about the Satellaview service, a translation patch for the control cartridge and emulators that do a better job of Satellaview emulation, see the BS-X Project.

Sufami Turbo games¶

The Sufami Turbo was a special cartridge released for the Super Famicom in Japan. The Sufami Turbo on its own does nothing, but it has two slots in the top that accept Sufami Turbo mini-cartridges. The game in slot A is the one that actually plays, but some games can make use of additional data from a game in slot B.

Importing the Sufami Turbo cartridge is just like importing a regular game.

Importing a mini-cartridge is like importing a regular game, but the name of the memory pak file must end in .st (if it’s in a .zip file, that’s OK, but the name inside the .zip file must end in .st) in order for it to be successfully imported. Sometimes memory pak filenames end in (ST).sfc, which will make higan try to import them as regular Super Famicom games, and fail miserably. Rename the file and it should work beautifully.

To play a Sufami Turbo game, load the Sufami Turbo cartridge like any other game. higan will open another filesystem browser to let you pick which previously-imported mini-cartridge you want to insert into slot A. If you press “Cancel” at this point, the Sufami Turbo cartridge will boot without anything in slot A, which just displays an image telling you to turn off your Super Famicom, insert a game into slot A, and try again. If you chose a cartridge for slot A, higan will yet open another filesystem browser to let you choose a mini-cartridge for slot B. If you press “Cancel” at this point, the Sufami Turbo cartridge will boot without anything in slot B.

Super Game Boy games¶

The Super Game Boy was a special cartridge released for the Super Famicom (and all its regional variants around the world) that allowed Game Boy games to be played via the Super Famicom’s controllers and video output. The Super Game Boy 2 was released in Japan, and had some minor extra features beyond the original Super Game Boy, but importing and playing games works the same way in higan.

The Super Game Boy cartrige includes the complete hardware of an original (black-and-white) Game Boy, so it needs a boot ROM:

Cartridge	Filename	Size (bytes)	SHA256
SGB	sgb.boot.rom	256	0e4ddff32fc9d1eeaae812a157dd246459b00c9e14f2f61751f661f32361e360
SGB2	sgb.boot.rom	256	fd243c4fb27008986316ce3df29e9cfbcdc0cd52704970555a8bb76edbec3988

Yes, the SGB and SGB2 have different firmware, but higan expects the same filename for both.

To import the SGB base cartridge, you must copy the required firmware file into the same directory. Then you may import it just like a regular game.

To play a Game Boy game in Super Game Boy mode, load the Super Game Boy cartridge like any other game. higan will open another filesystem browser to let you pick which previously-imported Game Boy game you want to insert into the Super Game Boy. If you press “Cancel” at this point, higan will crash, so don’t do that.

Note that only games for the original, black-and-white Game Boy can be used with the Super Game Boy. Some games designed for the Game Boy Color were backward compatible with the original Game Boy and hence the Super Game Boy; see Playing Game Boy Colour games in Game Boy mode for details.

MSU-1 games¶

The MSU-1 is a fictional expansion chip invented by higan’s author byuu for use with Super Famicom games, designed to allow streaming data and audio. Although the MSU-1 is not specific to any particular storage medium, it gives the Super Famicom similar capabilities to CD-based add-ons like the Mega Drive’s Mega CD and the PC Engine’s CD-ROM², such as CD-quality music and full-motion video.

One thing to be aware of when importing an MSU-1 game is that early firmware versions of the SD2SNES programmable cartridge had a bug that caused MSU-1 music to play too quietly. Skipping over the full details, the short version is this:

• If offered the choice between “boosted” or non-boosted audio, you want the non-boosted version.
• If an MSU-1 mod for a commercial game offers “emulator” and “hardware” versions of the patch file, it means the audio tracks are already boosted.
  • Some third parties have created replacement, non-boosted audio tracks for the most popular MSU-1 mods. If the mod you want to play has a replacement pack, use it with the “hardware” version of the patch.
  • Even without access to non-boosted audio tracks, it may be that the existing audio is only slightly boosted, so try the “hardware” version first, for best quality.
  • If the audio tracks are heavily boosted, the “hardware” patch may sound terrible, distorting and clipping, in which case try the “emulator” patch.

To import an MSU-1 game:

1. If you have a single, large file with the .msu1 extension, that is a pack for use with Mercurial Magic, which can automatically set up a game folder in the correct format. Go read Mercurial Magic’s documentation instead of these instructions.
2. Otherwise, import the Super Famicom ROM with icarus, like a regular game.
   • If this is a homebrew game with MSU-1 support, there will probably be an ordinary ROM whose name ends in .sfc, which is the file you want to import.
   • If this is a commercial game modded for MSU-1 support, there will probably be a patch file whose name ends in .ips or .bps. Get a copy of the correct version of the commercial game, apply the patch with a tool like Flips, then import the patched file.
   • If there’s “hardware” and “emulator” versions of the patch, see “One thing to be aware of…” above.
3. Find the game folder in the game library that icarus created when it imported the game.
4. Copy the MSU-1 data file into the game folder.
   • This should be named msu1.rom
   • If there’s no file by that name, look for a file with a .msu extension and rename it to msu1.rom.
   • If there’s no file ending in .msu either, create an empty file named msu1.rom.
5. Copy the audio tracks into the game folder.
   • If you have to choose between two sets of audio files, see “One thing to be aware of…” above.
   • These should be named track-1.pcm, track-2.pcm, … track-9.pcm, track-10.pcm, etc.
   • If there’s no files with those names, there should be other numbered .pcm files that you can rename to match what higan expects.
   • If the .pcm files have no numbers in the filenames, there maybe a .bml or .xml file that lists which number goes with which file.
   • If there’s no .pcm files at all, that’s OK, this game probably just doesn’t use the audio-playback feature.

Once the game folder is set up, playing an MSU-1 game is just like a regular game.

Patched games¶

The console emulation community has a long and vibrant history of game modding, or ROM hacking, including fan-translations, new levels for existing games, and more. Since distributing the modified versions of existing games would be copyright infringement, the changes are typically distributed as “patches”, a file containing a list of modifications to make, that can be automatically applied by a “patcher” tool like Flips.

higan does not support soft-patching, so if you want to play a patched game in higan, you will need to use a patcher to apply it yourself, creating a new, patched copy of the game.

Then you can import and play the patched game just like a regular game.