NES reference guide

This page lists all major hardware reference divided by categories in their simplest form. From this list, you can drill down to a more specific section of the selected category.

General

• Glossary
• Cartridge and mappers' history

Hardware reference

• 2A03: APU, CPU
• PPU
• Input devices
• Mapper
• Pinout
• Cartridge board
• RF Famicom wiring diagram (many parts also applicable to NES)
• Miscellaneous
  • Vs. System
  • CIC lockout chip
  • Myths
  • NES cartridge dimensions
  • PRG RAM circuit
  • Tutorial on reading circuits in Visual 6502/2A03/2C02
  • RF modulator board
  • Nintendo NES-001 on Console5

File format reference

• iNES
  • NES 2.0
• UNIF
• NSF
• FDS

Emulation reference

• Emulator tests
• Game bugs - games that display buggy behavior on the actual hardware
• Tricky-to-emulate games
• Sprite overflow games - games which use the sprite overflow bug of OAM
• Colour-emphasis games - games which make use of the colour emphasis bits of $2001

Notes

• All content refer to the NTSC system unless otherwise specified