ROM suffixes

When identifying the quality of ROM files online, it is useful to understand the tagging system that has evolved to document them.

Overview
(U), (E), (UE) or (U)(E)
 * English-language ROMs

[!]
 * Best quality ROMs

[b]
 * What to avoid

Standard Codes

 * [a] Alternate
 * [p] Pirate
 * [b] Bad Dump (avoid these, they may not work!)
 * [t] Trained
 * [f] Fixed
 * [T-] OldTranslation
 * [T+] NewerTranslation
 * [h] Hack
 * [cr {x}] Cracked (by {x})
 * (-) Unknown Year
 * [o] Overdump
 * [!] Verified Good Dump
 * (M#) Multi-language (# of Languages)
 * (###) Checksum
 * (??k) ROM Size
 * ZZZ_ Unclassified
 * (Unl) Unlicensed

Game Boy

 * [C] Color
 * [S] Super
 * [BF] Bung Fix

SNES

 * (BS) BS ROMs
 * (ST) Sufami Turbo
 * (NP) Nintendo Power

Genesis/Mega Drive

 * (1) Japan
 * (4) USA
 * (5) NTSC Only
 * (8) PAL Only
 * [ (B) Brazil ]
 * [ [c] Checksum ]
 * [ [x] Bad Checksum ]
 * [ [R-] Countries ]

NES/Family Computer

 * [PC10] Playchoice 10 version
 * [VS] Vs Version

Country Codes

 * (1) Japan & South Korea
 * (4) United States & Brazil - NTSC
 * (A) / (AU) / (AUS) Australia
 * (J) / (JP) Japan
 * (B) / (BR) Brazil
 * (K) / (KR) South Korea
 * (C) / (ZH) China
 * (NL) / (H) The Netherlands
 * (E) / (EU) / (EUR) Europe
 * (PD) Public Domain
 * (F) / (FR) / (FRA) France
 * (S) / (ES) / (ESP) Spain
 * (F) World (Genesis)
 * (FC) French-Canadian
 * (SW) / (SWE) Sweden
 * (FN) Finland
 * (U) / (USA) United States
 * (G) / (DE) Germany
 * (UK) / (GBR) United Kingdom
 * (GR) Greece
 * (Unk) Unknown Country
 * (HK) Hong Kong
 * (I) / (IT) / (ITA) Italy
 * (Unl) Unlicensed

Alternate [a]
Alternate denotes an alternate version of a ROM. Many games have been re-released to fix bugs or even to eliminate Game Genie codes (Yes, Nintendo hates that device).

Bad Dump [b]
A bad dump often occurs with an older game or a faulty dumper (bad connection). Another common source of [b] ROMs is a corrupted upload to a release FTP.

Fixed [f]
A fixed game has been altered in some way so that it will run better on a copier or emulator. Common fixes include attempts to eliminate purchase-protection security (such as asking to confirm information from a manual or slider), which were some of the earliest anti-piracy attempts made with video games.

Hacked [h]
Something in this ROM is not quite as it should be. Often a hacked ROM simply has a changed header or has been enabled to run in different regions. Other times it could be a release group intro, or just some kind of cheating or funny hack.

Overdumped [o]
An overdumped ROM image has more data than is actually in the cart. The extra information means nothing and is removed from the true image.

Trainer [t]
A trainer is special code which executes before the game is begun. It allows you to access cheats from a menu.

Verified [!]
Verified good dump.

Bung [BF]
Bung released a programmable cartridge comparable with the Game Boy which could hold any data you wished to play. However, many games do not function on Bung v1.0 carts and have to be ‘fixed'.

BS ROMS [BS]
These Japanese ROMs were distributed through a satellite system in Japan known as the Satellaview. They were transmitted along with a TV show which was connected to the game in some way. These games were only playable during the show, and thus stop after an hour, and many were timed so that only certain time periods were playable.

Sufami [SF]
The Sufami Turbo device allowed two Game Boy-sized carts to be plugged into the SNES. Certain carts combined into new games much like the Sonic & Knuckles lock-on technology used by SEGA.

Nintendo Power [NP]
Nintendo Power has been known to release games only available to its subscribers. Most of these ROMs are Japanese, as this practice occurred mainly in Japan.

Japan & South Korea (1)
Carts with this code will run on both Japanese and South Korean machines.

USA & Brazil - NTSC (4)
While this code is technically the same as a (U) code, it is a newer header format and represents that the cart will run on USA and Brazil NTSC hardware.

Brazil (B)
This country code indicates that it's intended for Brazilian audiences, due to specific language accommodations made for this dialect of Portuguese.

Checksum Issues [c]
This code represents a cart with known faulty checksum routines.

PlayChoice 10 [PC10]
The PlayChoice 10 was an arcade unit which played exact copies of NES games in an arcade cabinet. The machines had a choice of 10 games to choose from and ran for about 3 minutes on 25 cents.

Versus [VS]
The Versus system ran on similar hardware to the PC10 machines, but simply allowed you to play against each other.