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It has been quite some time since this website received an update, there are still things to be determined regarding the future
of the site, but while we wait for that decision to come we'll supply you with a, hopefully, nice review of the latest NeoFlash product
called Top Toy DS, aka. TTDS. Although this device isn't developed by the NeoTeam but an OEM product branded as a NeoTeam product.
WHAT YOU GET
Team NeoFlash is quite possibly the most active DS flash cart team around, releasing new products what seems like monthly. This is not to be seen as a negative
though, I think it's nice to see that progress is happening but what worries me is if nothing new happens between the release of products. But hopeully this
review will uncover the truth about the Top Toy DS, worth buying or...
lately NeoFlash products have been released in blister packaging and the TTDS is no exception. The good part about this kind of packaging is that it takes up
very little space, meaning cheap shipping cost.
Well the packaging includes the obvious being a flash cart, a driver CD and tiny but very cool microSD card reader. The price of the unit is a bit more than the
highly popular R4DS, the TTDS has a price tag of $59 while the R4 retails for $49 or less.
The TTDS box lists a whole lidt of more or less useless stuff to list, but here's the list. Please note that typos aren't mine.
· 1:1 Original small size
· Build in passme function
· Not need patch, just need drag and drop,then plug and play
· Support homebrew app & game
· Support moonshell movie player
· Support soft reset in the game
· Support cheat code function, more fun now
· Support wireless multi-player
· Support brightness adjust in menu
· Pure hardware save, never lose data
· TR menu core upgradeable
· Support all roms,compatibility = 100%
· Support SDHC,up to 32GByte
· The save data can use with NDS EMU directly
Basicly none of the features listed would make me buy this thing, as they already are supported by other flash carts, so it makes me wonder why they bother writing
on the back that it's "1:1" when you can see the actual cartridge on the front.
I also found this funny piece of text on the back of the packaging.
Just so you know, PSP pictures belongs to Sony :-)
THE HARDWARE AND HOW IT WORKS
The TTDS requires a microDS card to work, the menu interface is sadly placed on the SD card instead of being contained in the actual DS cartridge. I've mentioned
this before as being a very bad feature, but I suppose its time to repeat myself, if you forget to copy the user GUI files to the cartridge is useless and
you'll be prompted with a menu missing screen.
This id not just a stupid feature used by the TTDS, other devices like the R4DS and M3 requires the same menu files to be copied to each and every SD cart you
want to use with the device. However if you remember to copy the menu files to the SD card you'll be treated with a very basic and easy to use interface and
copying games to the SD card is as easy as dragging and dropping files, nothing more.
It's said that the TTDS supports download play, while I've been unable to test this myself I believe that the TTDS is the only device capable of doing so sofar,
question is if it actually is requested by user out there, but a nice feature none the less.
While the TTDS does feature a driver CD it's still sad to see that absolutely no energy is being put into telling people how to "install" and use the device, by
including a small user manual. This is not just the TTDS' fault, but seems to be a general trend among DS flash developers. I bought a small lamp for my backyard
last week and even a lamp comes with instuctions on how to switch it on and off, like it wasn't the most obvious in the world.
USER INTERFACE (OS)
The user interface for the TTDS is quite basic there are nothing fancy what-so-ever to find here, which isn't bad at all although I kinda wish that the menu would
display the title of the games instead of just the filename, which sometimes doesn't make much sense. Another feature in the user interface that doesn't make much
sense is the "Power Off" button in the SysOption menu.
That this button does is power off the NDS, why on earth include such a useless feature? I'm sure every user out there knows how to press the power button to power
off the NDS, honestly :-)
In the game list are a bunch of small icons represented for each game title. The highlighted title received an aditional plus icon. If this icon is pressed with the
stylus then a small menu appears where softreset, cheats and such can be toggled on and off. In the upper cart of the screen is a couple of buttons and if the Cheat
button is pressed the user is able to browse through cheats available for the game.
The cheat databaseis based on Action Replay codes and are also compatible with the R4/M3 codes used. This means that codes can be added without waiting for a new
menu update to be released by the NeoTeam, just grab the cheat stuff from the R4 website.
All in all the user interface is quite nice and doesn't leave the user completely puzzled about how to get a game running, but then again if you have absolutely
no clue of what you're doing you won't be able to use the special features included in the cartridge. Oh and yet again a flash cart designer has
chosen the easy way out of supporting video and such, by using Moonshell, boo!
CLOSING WORDS
Fact is that the TTDS doesn't do much more than any other flash cart on the market, question is if there's much more a DS flash cart actually can do? But with that
said the TTDS is a nice product that fits flawlessly in the NDS and the price tag isn't totally on the bad side either. It features the same flaws and the R4 so
it's not really better or worse than the rest of the bunch - well maybe a tad better as it supports SDHC cards.
However as the R4 is sold out on a lot of websites, the TTDS could be your change to get a useful NDS flash cart.
 Good general quality feel to it.
SDHC supported.
Download play supported.
 Firmware stored in a directory on the SD card, this is absolutely stupid.
Just uses Moonshell for media support, sorry but I'm sick of it.
PRODUCT RATING
 
The rating given here is our overall impression of the device, 4 start means that this cartridge is well over average but still needs the final touch
to make it a true master piece.
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