Comparison of Nintendo mappers
This article compares the capabilities of several Nintendo mappers.
All of Nintendo’s discrete logic mappers have bus conflicts except some revisions of 7.
| iNES | Chips | Boards | Max PRG | PRG banks | Max CHR | CHR banks | Mirroring | PRG RAM? | IRQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0-1 | NROM | 32 | 8 | V/H hardwired | Japan only | None | ||
| 2 | 2 | UNROM, UOROM | 256 | 16 + 16F | 8 | V/H hardwired | No | None | |
| 3 | 1 | CNROM | 32 | 32 | 8 | V/H hardwired | No | None | |
| 7 | 1-2 | AxROM | 256 | 32 | 8 | 1 | No | None | |
| 13 | 3 | CPROM (U) | 32 | 16 | 4 + 4F | V/H hardwired | No | None | |
| 34 | 1 | BNROM | 256 | 32 | 8 | V/H hardwired | No | None | |
| 66 | 1 | GNROM, MHROM | 128 | 32 | 32 | 8 | V/H hardwired | No | None |
| 94 | 2 | UN1ROM | 256 | 16 + 16F | 8 | V/H hardwired | No | None | |
| 180 | 2 | UNROM+74'08 | 256 | 16F + 16 | 8 | V/H hardwired | No | None |
None of these ASIC mappers has bus conflicts.
| iNES | Mapper | Boards | Max PRG ROM | PRG ROM banks | Max CHR | CHR banks | Mirroring | PRG RAM? | Assist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MMC1 | SGROM, SNROM, SUROM | 512 | 16 + 16F; 32 | 8 | 4 + 4 | V/H/1 switchable | Optional | None |
| 1 | MMC1 | SKROM, SLROM | 256 | 16 + 16F; 32 | 128 | 4 + 4 | V/H/1 switchable | Optional | None |
| 4 | MMC3 | TxROM | 512 | 8 + 8 + 16F | 256 | 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 | V/H switchable | Optional | Scanline IRQ |
| 4 | MMC3 | TGROM, TNROM | 512 | 8 + 8 + 16F | 8 | 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 | V/H switchable | Japan only | Scanline IRQ |
| 118 | MMC3 | TKSROM, TLSROM | 512 | 8 + 8 + 16F | 128 | 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 | Any switchable | Optional | Scanline IRQ |
| 119 | MMC3 | TQROM | 128 | 8 + 8 + 16F | 64 + 8 | 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 | V/H switchable | No | Scanline IRQ |
| 4 | MMC6 | HKROM | 512 | 8 + 8 + 16F | 256 | 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 | V/H switchable | 1KiB built-in; US and Europe only | Scanline IRQ |
| 5 | MMC5 | ExROM | 1024 | 32, 16 + 16, 16 + 8 + 8, 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 | 1024 | BG: 4, 2 + 2, or 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 Sprites: 8, 4 + 4, 2 * 4, or 1 * 8 Split window: 4 | Any | 1 KiB built in; more optional | Scanline IRQ Smaller attribute areas Separate CHR bank per background tile Separate sets of CHR banks for sprites Vertical split screen 8x8 multiplier |
| 9 | MMC2 | PNROM | 128 | 8 + 24F | 128 | 4/4 + 4/4 | V/H switchable | No | Tile triggered CHR bank switching |
| 10 | MMC4 | FJROM, FKROM (J) | 256 | 16 + 16F | 128 | 4/4 + 4/4 | V/H switchable | Yes | Tile triggered CHR bank switching |
- Mapper wizard: Web-based decision tree for choosing a mapper for your NES project