Highlights- SDHC support. Having 4GB+ of space is awesome.
- Full download play compatibility, without sacrificing any flashcart features.
- DLDI autopatching.
- Action Replay cheats w/net update.
- Skinnable OS
- In-game menu providing reset, cheat engine toggle, slow-mo and realtime save
- Supports DS <-> Wii link for games like Pokemon Battle Revolution
Beta & Development features- Soft-reset now works with homebrew apps that lack their own reset function. Possibly the first flash cart to do this.
- In-GUI GBA loader. You no longer need a 3rd-party loader to use devices like the EZ-Flash 3-in-1.
- In-game text reader is under development. It'll be accessed from the in-game menu so you can have access to walkthroughs, etc...
Manufacturer's Specs- Completely plug & play - no FlashMe, PassMe or PC software required
- 100% game compatibility, supports clean ROM's - works on any OS
- RealTime Save function, allowing you to save and restore the state of gameplay at any time
- Wii connectivity in games such as Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is supported
- 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:
- RealTime Save which allows you to save and restore the state of gameplay at any time
- 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, without any special user interaction required
HardwareThe device comes in a sturdy tin, which includes the slot-1 card, a USB microSD card reader and a whole lot of foam. The tin is literally 90% filled with foam packaging, so your shipping company would have to actually be trying to damage this thing in order for it to happen during transit. The tin also lists an instruction leaflet included inside, but there was none in mine. No big loss, as it would have been out of date anyway.
The CycloDS itself feels a little flimsy, especially around the microSD slot. Like several other slot-1 cards, the CycloDS also has an ASIC chip protruding from the front plastic, covered by the label. The microSD card sits flush with the casing and the slot is not spring-loaded, which can make it a bit tricky to remove the card from the device. The fit of the CycloDS in the DS itself is a little tight, but it doesn't seem to cause any sticking or trouble with removal.
Newer batches of the CycloDS (revision 3) have since slimmed the electronics so that the ASIC doesn't bulge out past the rest of the card, which gives it a smoother fit in the DS. The card's recovery mode button combination was also changed from Select to Down+B to eliminate a potential conflict with FlashMe's recovery mode on flashed DSes. All black CycloDS units are revision 3, since black shells were not available in the previous production runs.FirmwareOn the firmware side, the CycloDS contains dedicated flash memory for housing the firmware and updates much like slot-2 cards do. To update, you place the new firmware in the root of the card and start the device in your DS. It will detect the firmware file and after confirmation will write it to the onboard flash, and then automatically delete the update file for you so you don't have to do it yourself. While this is an extra step compared to other slot-1 firmwares that merely require you to drop the files onto your microSD card, having the firmware in onboard flash means it can't be clobbered by misbehaving apps and it can be recovered without the need for a PC with firmware files handy.At first glance, the main menu looks just like that of the M3S/R4. The first option runs games, the second option runs Moonshell (if available), but the third option is a setup menu. From here, you can enable or disable cheats, rumble & realtime save, change LCD brightness, or boot from slot-2. The OS is skinnable, and skinners have a lot of options when doing so. Icon sizes and filenames can be changed unlike most other cards, for instance.
Games can be organized into folders, which is important to note because some other microSDHC flash carts don't support this and force you to pile all your roms into a single preset folder. Needless to say, it would get cumbersome pretty quickly if you weren't able to organize the large number of games a microSDHC card can hold.The really unique thing about this card is a featured called the in-game menu, which you can call up in the middle of a game by pressing A+B+X+Y+L+R. This menu gives you some additional options such as adjusting LCD brightness, suspending or resuming cheats, adjusting slow-mo in four stages (max is about 1/2 speed), software reset, and realtime saving (save states). The in-game menu is a fantastic addition that the CycloDS team continues to develop features for.Autoboot: If you hold L&R while starting CycloDS, it will boot right into the last game played immediately. You won't even have to see the OS.Their team is also really attentive to their customers, listening to and addressing issues when they crop up. Their english is actually fluent and they read their community forums. Game compatibility has also been excellent, with improvements in every firmware release- the Evo has been largely unaffected by the arm7 save problems that plague some flash carts.
CheatsWith cheats enabled in the settings menu, the device will check a database stored on the card anytime you start a game. If cheats exist for the game, it will ask if and which cheats you want to enable before loading the game. The evo remembers which cheats you have selected for each game, so you don't have to reselect them every time you start a rom. You can also disable or re-enable the cheat engine from within the game by using the in-game menu, for those times cheats will prevent you from progressing in a game (eg: when you're supposed to lose a fight in FF3).
The CycloDS uses Action Replay cheat codes. As of Firmware v1.2, there's a very robust windows-based cheat editor available with their windows tools download (the editor is also confirmed working in windows emulators for Mac & Linux). The editor can download codes directly from the codejunkies website to provide you with every official cheat available; no need to wait for the flashcart company to update. You can also import/export from evo cheat databases, or even XML files. The new system makes adding or sharing cheats very easy.
Wireless & HomebrewWifi and multi-card wireless work fine as expected, but what surprised me was the download play compatibility. So far every game I've tested has working download play, including troublesome titles like New Super Mario Bros. This device seems to have everybody else beat for single-card multiplayer. The CycloDS does not have to give up features like cheats or soft-reset in order to have working download play, unlike some other flash carts that provide it.DLDI autopatching works well. The CycloDS automatically detects and patches DLDI-compliant homebrew for you when you run it, so you don't have to deal with PC patching apps. Tested with NDSMail, IRCDS, Beup and DSOrganize.
Opera SupportAs of Firmware v1.2, the Evo now natively supports the slot-2 Cyclo cards and the EZFlash 3-in-1 as memory expansions for the Opera browser. By native, this means you no longer have to patch the Opera rom to use the mentioned slot-2 cards as expansion RAM. The Evo takes care of this for you. You still need to patch opera if you're using other slot-2 flash carts not listed, though.
LinksCycloDS Evolution HomepageCycloDS DownloadsGBATemp Review 
