CycloDS Evolution Official Review
by Triforce and Homie

 Introduction & Packaging

The CycloDS Evolution is a slot-1 flashcard manufactured by Team Cyclops, a European company that also have a few other products on the market such as the CycloWiz (modchip for Wii) and CycloDS slot-2 flash carts. Today Homie and I will be reviewing the CycloDS Evolution.

The slot-1 device comes packed in a small silver tin with a foam inlay, a list of features can be seen on the underside of the tin, as displayed in the picture above. The contents of the package include: 1x CycloDS Evolution and 1x MicroSD USB reader.

The USB MicroSD reader that comes with the v1 should really be considered a freebie and under no circumstances would I advise anyone to use the one they've supplied. The plastic casing feels flimsy, and is as cheap as they come. If this thing doesn't fall apart or stop working completely within the first couple of days of owning it then you've done well! My advice would be to buy a proper reader if you dont already own one.

After all the complaints about the USB readers that came with v1 units they decided to include a new one for the CycloDS v2. The new reader is much better quality and comes branded with the CycloDS logo, these should be safe to use and are'nt likely to break down after a few days.

Features

• Completely plug & play - no FlashMe, PassMe or PC software required

• 100% game compatibility, supports clean ROM's - works on any OS

• Full NDS download play support, including problem games such as Mario Kart DS

• Action Replay compatible cheat code engine, comes bundled with cheat codes for over 300 games!

• Uses MicroSD card, both FAT16 and FAT32 supported

• Supports the MicroSDHC specification, allowing for high capacity memory cards

• Save type is automatically detected, no need for a save type database

• Save directly to MicroSD rather than onboard flash

• User friendly, easily skinnable interface. Both touch screen and button operation supported

• Multi-lingual user interface

• "Enhanced Mode" which provides powerful, unique features during game play. Enhanced features are activated through an in-game menu. Enhanced mode features include:

  • Adjust LCD brightness during game play (NDSLite only)

  • SlowMotion mode which can be used to slow down game play to make fast paced action sequences easier to master

  • Return to CycloDS Evolution Menu (aka soft reset)

  • More features to come!

• Excellent homebrew compatibility thanks to the DLDI auto-patcher

• 2 megabytes of onboard flash memory which contains the CycloDS Evolution OS and will be utilised in the future to add exciting new features. A recovery mode is also included.

• Autoboot mode which when activated will directly boot into the last ROM or homebrew application executed

• Moonshell included to provide media playing functionality

• PassMe function (boot from slot 2)

• Supports rumble and memory expansions

For your information, this review is based around firmware version 1.12 unless otherwise specifically stated.

The card is the same size as a commercial DS game and fits flush in the DS. The plastic casing is strong and overall seems to be of very good quality. On the other hand the sticker on the front of the v1 Cylco is terrible, it looks like a small bit of low quality gloss paper thats been stuck on with a gluestick. Many people complained about the sticker and Cyclops team have changed it on all v2 units. Looking at the screenshots it might be hard to tell that the new sticker is of better quality but trust me it is.

The PCB in the v2 model is of a higher quality than the v1, but the IC on the back of the PCB still sticks out of the card, as you can see in the pictures. Also the board color changed, maybe because the white ones seem to be cheaper and worse quality than the green ones. Also, the MicroSD slot doesn't have a spring like the R4/M3 Simply on both versions.


Software

To update your CycloDS, you just need to drag and drop the latest upgrade file on to the MicroSD. When you boot the CycloDS Evolution it will ask if you want to upgrade. Choose yes and it will start updating, this process should only take a few seconds. After the update is done, the firmware file will be automatically deleted. Team Cyclops score!  

Menu

 The CycloDS Evolution has a nice, clean looking GUI, from a design point of view you can see they created this with user friendliness in mind. The navigation controls can either be operated by the d-pad and buttons, or completely with the stylus. The stylus control on the menu is smooth, most other flash cards that offer touch screen controlled user interface don't have the smoothness that the CycloDS has. Skinning is also supported, so those of you that like to have their own custom skin wont be dissapointed. The user interface is also multi-lingual.

The CycloDS Evolution’s OS runs commercial ROM’s without the need for any patching. Simply drag and drop ROM files onto a microSD card and you're all ready to go. ROM loading is very fast, just browse to the game you want to play, press A or double tap the game to execute it. You won't need to apply DLDI patches to homebrew as the CycloDS will automatically DLDI patch homebrew software for you.

Options Menu

In this menu you can enable or disable cheat codes and Enchanced Mode. You can also adjust the LCD Brightness (DS Lite Only), change the menu language, skins and boot Slot-2.

Skins

The CycloDS Evolution GUI is fully skinnable as you can see in the picture (Custom Skin made by Team Cyclops), the amount of skins it can access is limited only by the size of your MicroSD, unlike the limited amount on other flashcards. You simply drag and drop the skin files to the skin folder and you are good to go. You can select which skin to use via the Options Menu.


Enchanced Mode

If you have this option on, during gameplay press L+R+X+Y+A+B and this menu will show up. Here you can return to the CycloDS Evo main menu, adjust brightness (DS Lite only) and activate Slow Motion (3 different speeds). Also, if you activate cheat codes before playing a game, on this menu you can enable or suspend them. On the new 1.2 BETA #3 firmware a clock also shows up.

Opera Browser Support

The CycloDS Evolution automatically patches the Opera Browser to use CycloDS/Supercard as RAM. So you only need to drag and drop the clean rom on the micro-SD.


EZ Flash 3-in-1 Expansion Pack Compatibility

There's not much to be said about this. The CycloDS Evolution sets the rumble to the same strength as the original rumble pak by Nintendo. Also, it patches the Opera Browser automatically to work with it. For GBA ROMs, I've used the latest Rudolph Tool (v1.9) and it worked with no flaws for both SRAM and NOR modes.


DS Wii Connectivity

The only game that currently supports DS/Wii connection is Pokémon Battle Revolution, and that connection worked with no flaws.


Other Features

Cheat Code Editor: In the 1.2 BETA #2 firmware upgrade, Team Cyclops also released a Cheat Code Editor so you can add your own cheats and can even search for the latest cheats online via the Codejunkies server automatically.

Hiding Folders: In the 1.2 BETA #3 firmware upgrade, Team Cyclops integrated a new feature. Just add a dot (.) before the folder name and it will disappear from your CycloDS menu.

Remaining additional features are as follows...

Multimedia Support
Once again, we find Moonshell as a company's multimedia player of choice. Moonshell has been adopted by most companies as of late, from the OS itself, down to the built in media player. It's no surprise really, it truly is one of the finest pieces of homebrew in recent years.
With a large array of supported file formats through additional plugins, Moonshell supports many multimedia file types. Including DPG movies (movie files converted for playback on DS through PC software) and MP3/OGG.

We don't need to cover Moonshell here. There are plenty of reviews, guides and support already on GBAtemp and the net.

Micro SDHC Support
I couldn't test this as I don't have an SDHC card to test it with. Currently the largest SDHC card available seems to be 8GB, with the maximum possible size apparently being 32GB.

DLDI Auto Patching
This will be covered in the 'Homebrew Support' portion of this review.

Boot to slot-2
This allows you to use the CycloDS Evolution as a PassMe (or if you're getting technical; a NoPass) and boot to a slot-2 device.
Unfortunately it does not support booting of GBA games. This option appears in the 'Settings / Misc' screen, and can also be achieved by holding Up on the dpad when booting the CycloDS Evolution.

Previous ROM Auto boot
This allows you to skip all CycloDS Menus (except the initial loading screen) and boots straight into the last ROM you loaded - a very useful feature. This can be achieved by holding L+R when booting the CycloDS Evolution.

ROM Auto load
This allows you to skip all CycloDS Menus (except the initial loading screen) and boot straight into whatever ROM is named "autoload.nds" and placed on the root of the micro SD card.

Recovery Mode
This allows you to recover from failed firmware updates. By holding down Start+Select when you boot the card, it will enter recovery mode and allow you to load the firmware update from the micro SD card.

Languages
The CycloDS Evolution OS, as mentioned earlier, can be viewed in the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, L.A. Spanish, Portuguese and Korean.

As you can see, the CycloDS Evolution has a few nice additional features that really help the cart stand out from the crowd.
Slow motion, while nothing more than a "gimmick" could prove useful once in a blue moon. Cheat support needs improving upon, and if we're to believe the team's claims; then we're in for a few more features down the road. But whether or not they will surface is anyone's guess. I've learnt to take developers claims with a very small grain of salt recently.


Game Compatibility

The compatibility with commercial roms was pretty much perfect, almost every game we tested worked fine and saved fine without any problems. Also, the Download Play results are as impressive as they've been advertised as (works 100%).

Hardware used: SanDisk Ultra II 2GB

• Fully charged European Black Nintendo DS Lite
• CycloDS Evolution 1.12, Japanese 1GB PNY micro SD card (FAT32)
• New Super Mario Bros. Running Main Menu and movie looping continuously
• Screens at max. brightness (level 4)
• Sound at 100%

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