NESTang - NES for Sipeed Tang FPGA Boards

NESTang is an open source project to recreate the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) with Sipeed Tang FPGA boards, including Sipeed Tang Primer 25K, Tang Mega 60K, Tang Mega 138K, Tang Nano 20K and Tang Primer 20K.

Main features,

• 720p HDMI output with sound.
• Cycle accurate gameplay quality has been achieved since the NES circuits have been almost entirely replicated.
• Rom loading from MicroSD cards with an easy-to-use menu system, powered by a RISC-V softcore.
• Extensive mapper support including MMC5, Namco and more.
• NES/SNES controllers, or DS2 controllers.

NESTang has been integrated into TangCore, along with SNESTang, GBATang and MDTang. Key new features include native USB support and utilization of the onboard BL616 MCU.

To install the latest NESTang, follow the TangCore installation instructions. The rest of the README documents the legacy standalone version (≤ v0.12).

Getting the parts

• For the Primer 25K, get the main Primer 25K dock board, DVI PMod, TF Card PMod, DS2x2 PMod and a Tang SDRAM.
• For the Tang Nano 20K, we suggest the Tang Nano 20K Retro Gaming Kit, as it contains the necessary controllers and adapters.

Installation

A step-by-step instructions is available. Here are quick instructions for the more experienced,

• Assemble the board and modules: result for the primer 25k, and nano 20k.
• Download a NESTang release from github. The bitstream (nestang_*.fs) should be written to flash at address 0. The firmware (firmware.bin) should be written to 0x500000 (5MB). See this screenshot for how to do it.
• Put your ROM files onto a MicroSD Card (exFAT or FAT32 file system). Insert the card, connect an HDMI monitor or TV, and enjoy your games.

Version 0.4 also supports tang primer 20k.

Development

If you want to generate the bitstream from source, see Build Instructions. Make sure you use the Gowin IDE version 1.9.9 commercial (requires a free license).

Usb_hid_host was development so NESTang could support USB gamepads. Follow the link if you want to use it for your FPGA projects. It supports keyboards and mice too.

Next steps

See NESTang changes.md.

Here are what I may work on when I get time. No promise though. Suggestions and pull requests are welcome!

• Cheats support.
• Saves and loads.

Special Thanks

• fpganes by Ludvig Strigeus.
• hdl-util/hdmi by Sameer Puri.
• NES for Tang Nano 9K by hi631

nand2mario (nand2mario at outlook.com)

Since 2022.9