– Introduction –
The DS Link was the first flush fitting slot 1 card that supported removable media, as a result, a huge wave of slot 1 carts came into the market. Made by EDIY studios, it has a solid team behind it, as well as some interesting features.
The question a lot of people ask is: can DS Link still compete with these other carts? Is it still wise to buy this cart, despite the many newer models? Is it worth the money to buy this cart?
– Design –
Upon receiving the DS Link, the first impression I had was relatively good. The box had a nice colorful design, the English on the box was better than most of the other products in the market, and of course the cart was held in the middle, and it looked great. Of course, the other objects inside the box were a SD card reader and a disk. The SD reader is pretty generic, it ran everything at a decent speed. The disk of course contained the needed to run DS Link, however, I didn’t even touch the disk until much later. For the latest patches you need to check their site or forums.
Impressive isn’t it?
The build quality of the DS Link was surprisingly good. I had not expected the first DS sized cart to have such thick plastic and such a high quality MicroSD reader. The cart’s build quality was better than that of an official cart. The only negative to this is the fact that there is a chip sticking out of the cart that is covered by the sticker. However, this chip barely sticks out, and still slides in perfectly smooth into both the DS and the DS Lite.
The build quality is just excellent, the MicroSD slides perfectly into the slot, and the cart feels like it is nice and thick.
– Software –
After drooling over how solidly built this cart was, I decided to download the software. Yes that is correct, the DS Link still requires a client. Because it was one of the first carts to come out for slot 1, I think it is forgivable. Anyways, the English site is quite slow, and does not have the most updated information. Thankfully I can read a bit of Chinese so I headed off to the EDIY forums. Surprisingly, it is quite lively. And I must say, the Chinese get their updates and news far faster and more often than English users. The positive side to that is that the patches and software are interchangeable.
After loading the client, I was greeted by a simplistic patcher. The language it automatically installs with is Chinese, however with a bit of meddling inside the options, I was glad to find out that there is a way to revert back to English.
The client has a very simplistic look.
The client has a few options:
-Import Saver – you take your save files from other flash carts and import it into the 520kb DS Link sav files.
-Soft Reset – Lets you press a pre-selected button combo in game to reset back to DS Link’s main menu.
And that is pretty much it, the patcher already trims roms and renames roms for you. The patcher for the DS Link is an amazing piece of software, it patches at an incredibly fast rate, only the included SD card reader slows it down. Most people think that it is a hassle to patch because of the new slot 1 carts supporting drag and drop. But when you actually think about it, the included software is not a good thing or a bad thing, it is simply a tool. For the R4DS or the M3 Simply, the included software is a trimmer and a save manager. That is essentially was DS Link has built in for you.
Overall, the software is great, it works amazingly fast. Although the software doesn’t have any fancy options, it does exactly what it says, and it does it well.
– Use –
When you turn on the DS Link, you are greeted with a simple OS. This OS displays the DS Link symbol on the top screen, and a list of your games at the bottom. Even though the games are displayed on the touch screen, it does not support touch. Overall, it is quite appealing because of the simplistic design as well as the icons for each game.
The DS Link menu is just a work of art.
One of the major negatives of this card is that it does not act as a passme or nopass. Almost all of the other slot 1 flash carts act as a passme or nopass, however the DS Link does not. This is a major flaw in the DS Link’s design, as only a flashed DS or DS Lite could utilize this card, with the exception of the MK4. This means that if you have bought a brand new DS and have not modded it yet, you cannot use a DS Link. The DS Link does not have the functionality necessary to start the flashing process either, therefore, you must rely on another flash kit to mod your DS.
– Functionality –
For this review, I am using a Kingston 1GB Micro SD that is made in Japan. This card is recommended by EDIY for use with the DS Link. If you have a Sandisk, it will not have the same results.
The DS Link runs almost all roms, and it runs them at full speed. Even though there are a few of the newer roms that do not run properly, EDIY has been releasing patches consistently that will solve the problem. I have no complaints with this card, it runs even Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin at full speed.
Don’t worry, it runs DS Database just fine if you have a memory pack or a slot 2 flash cart.
Homebrew is also a major concern for some users, especially with GBATemp’s review showing the many failed tests. However, I do believe that they need to correct that mistake. With the release of DLDI, the DS Link’s compatibility is just as good as any of the other carts such as the R4DS or EZ Flash V. Because DLDI is still recently new, there are still a number of homebrew applications that do not use it, but over time, all homebrew will be running DLDI, and therefore, the DS Link will run all homebrew.
– Conclusion –
In conclusion, I believe the DS Link is an underrated, under hyped and underappreciated card. DS Link is a quality card with a quality team behind it. It works great, does everything top notch, and could even match the carts in the market that have come out 2 to 4 months after its release. The team is still consistently releasing updates, and providing support.
It works on both the DS and the DS Lite, and it looks great too.
However, this cart does have its flaws. There are two major ones that keep users from buying this cart. The first flaw is that the cart does not act as a nopass, which means that you must have a flashed DS or an MK4 to boot the DS Link. The second flaw is the fact that the vast majority of support is in Chinese. There are no English support forums, and the English website is really outdated. However, if you can read Chinese or have other sources of getting these updates, the DS Link has some great support and patches.
– Score –
Design – 5/5
Software – 4.5/5
Use – 4.5/5
Functionality – 16/20
Tilt – 5/5
Overall – 35/40