Darksoft CPS3 Ultra Simm Multi Review - Elite Arcade Hardware!

It's been almost a full year since I looked at Capcom's last piece of arcade hardware, the CPS3. Today we revisit the last of the CPS family again to take a look at Darksoft's CPSIII Ultra Simm kit. This is elite level hardware for the true enthusiast who looks to make loading times a thing of the past.
Red Earth/Warzard now 100% fixed and working
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#ScarletSprites, #CPS3, #Capcom, #Darksoft, #Arcade, #StreetFighter3,

[@MitsurugiW]

Red Earth is fixed and we have provided the ability to replace 4rd Strike with Re:3rd, a version of 3rd Strike that has improved background visuals!

[@ScarletSprites]

DS actually mentioned that this morning and I saw Sheep call it out on Discord as well. I updated the description to say so and I’ll pin this comment.

[@dvnnvhvn]

What if you want 4rd strike still, tho?

[@MitsurugiW]

@@dvnnvhvn Choose the one you want or rewrite the simms with the other game.

[@dvnnvhvn]

@@MitsurugiW got it. thanks chief!

[@hellokittybot7032]

I was just thinking that I didn't spend enough on my CPS3, this is the perfect solution! :D

[@ScarletSprites]

Hahahaha. Man, this is the product for you then.

[@jakesmith5278]

over a thousand dollars just to play 6+ games. hard pass.

[@DrunkDudley]

NIIICE, would love to just have the cart with Standard SH-2, I believe I got custom cart and can't play 4th Strike, but I got LUA stage color mods at least.

[@plowking813]

I think due to costs and needing to install, power off and slide switches, im stick to emulation 🙈 on a legit cab. I love the original hardware n cab experience etc but to me if you want more games than the dedicated cab/game exp go with mame/pie/pandoras box. Thanks again for the awesome vid and dedication to orig hw 🍺🍺

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks man! It’s always cool to have options for sure. I’m kind of selfishly hoping this even finds its way to MiSTer eventually.

[@Meubeu1]

Ngl this is a great product for this niche of people into playing the few cps3 games, but damn the whole thing is expensive and cps3 is so messy to setup. The dream would be a cps3 core for the mister but idek if it's possible rn, I think the DE-10 needs an update. Anyway great presentation video, considering I managed to understand everything. PS : your astro monitor looks sharp I'm jealous, really need to service mine.

[@ScarletSprites]

The kit is phenomenal. It’s pretty much the desired solution people wanted from the beginning. Not sure if everyone knew how much it would cost them, but it’s everything you could possibly want if you want to spend some serious cash.

[@Meubeu1]

​@@ScarletSprites Tbh I would buy it just to put it together and show off to my friends how cool this is, then I would leave 3rd strike on forever. xD

[@ScarletSprites]

@@Meubeu1 Haha, that's what I suspect a few people will end up doing unintentionally.

[@GameSensay]

The changing of the 3.6v battery every 5 years is getting massively annoying on my street fighter 3 third strike security cart. Thinking if i neglect it she would die and become part of this Dark community. I'll know where to look if it happens thanks.

[@ScarletSprites]

Yeah that’s tough because it’s cool to have unmodified original hardware, especially 3S.

[@RetroRalph]

First I'm jealous of your CPS3 hardware! Wow... This kit is cool but I just can't at that price knowing the investment I would have to make not owning any CPS3 hardware. Great showcase and I love the embedded jab 😂 I will get the Astro City working eventually... Haha.

[@ScarletSprites]

I have no doubt that you will. You’ve made a lot of progress in a short time already. I knew you liked SF2, I wasn’t sure how you felt about Three. At this point it is a hefty investment just to get rolling, even without a multi solution.

[@dvnnvhvn]

@@ScarletSprites seems he has money to blow. He’s good

[@philipppluss664]

Great video. Need to get these... Do you play your CPS2 and CPS3 in stereo?

[@ScarletSprites]

Yes, usually on the Big Blue through its amp.

[@vodkagobalsky]

Have you considered installing digiAV HDMI out for your CPS3 so you can get direct HD video capture of your games?

[@ScarletSprites]

No, I probably won’t do that since streaming isn’t really my thing and the board lives inside a cabinet. I do have the Jamma Extractor which, when paired with the RetroTink 5X scaler gives a gorgeous 1080p picture without modification.

[@KING_KONK]

Street fighter 3 double impact is my favorite street fighter also I love using KEN in the white Gi or Dudley

[@ScarletSprites]

Yes! Ken is my goto character as well. I love the refinements over New Generation but it’s more subtle humble than 3S, which I like.

[@KING_KONK]

@@ScarletSprites I used to play alpha 1&2 on Sega Saturn religiously, so when Dreamcast came out I jumped on alpha 3 and it was my favorite until street fighter 4 came out. I played sf3:DI and 3S in the arcades and on the Dreamcast and ps2 but It wasn’t until 2010 when I really started diving deep into the Dreamcast version of SF3 new generation and Double Impact when I realized it was my favorite for the tone / music / level design / load screen etc… then 3rd strike blew up on xbox 360 and ps3 and got popular in the competitive scene so I played a ton out of it, but still and always prefer to play double impact when I’m alone on my Astro city candy cab or still on the Dreamcast using a compaq 20” vga monitor or else using Rca on the commodore 1704 monitor 👌😚👌

[@joandarc441]

No wonder Street fighter 3rd strike, Red earth,Jojo adventure fighting game by Capcom lag on my phone using a mame emulator until I used the speed hacks option XD

[@ScarletSprites]

Looking for that CD!

[@joandarc441]

@@ScarletSprites you should try Capcom vs snk millennium fight and capcom vs snk 2 also rival schools 1 and 2

[@jaygallegos8612]

Is darksoft emulation?

[@ScarletSprites]

No, his products make use of original hardware. In loose terms, think of his products as the Everdrives of the arcade world.

[@DavidGarcia-qf7gc]

Premium work comes with premium prices.

[@ScarletSprites]

Indeed it does.

[@HanzoHimemiya]

When MiSTeR FPGA had a CPS3 Core I am on

[@ScarletSprites]

I think a lot of people are dying for that to happen.

[@guardianali]

For that price...he should have included an IR solution with remote you can attach to the cabinet side or something to make swapping games easier than pulling it off the wall, opening the back...messing with dip switches. PCB IR adds and small cheap chinese remotes would not have added much to the cost.

[@ScarletSprites]

The existing solution isn’t too bad. It’s not as elegant as what you’re suggesting but the ribbon is just long enough that if you mount the board it can be pulled through and into the control panel.

[@sneakingelephant]

Did they stop making these 😢

[@ScarletSprites]

Yes, I don’t think they’ve been in stock for some time. Darksoft said that UltraSimms restock *could* happen this year but is not guaranteed.

[@sneakingelephant]

@@ScarletSprites thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep an eye out for it. I love double impact as well and primarily play it on my Dreamcast. The goal of owning a cps3 machine with both double impact and third strike could finally be met for me if the restock happens.

[@califaern3sto]

NAOMI is better than the CPS3, in my opinion.

[@war3zlod3r]

Does you astro have plexiglass on the control panel and if so where did you order it?

[@ScarletSprites]

No, it’s a repro panel that does have a clear/glossy finish across the top though.

[@war3zlod3r]

@@ScarletSprites do you still use a SCSI CD-ROM or do you use a SCSI2SD ODE?

[@ScarletSprites]

@@war3zlod3r No I switched to SCSI2SD years ago. I still have the CD-ROM if needed but much prefer the simpler design of using an SD card.

[@shocknawe]

Love this stuff, though I wont ever have the money for it xD Darksoft is sensational.

[@ScarletSprites]

Yeah, like I mentioned in the video it’s a Cadillac solution for already expensive hardware. It makes it tough. I was sad packing it back up, that’s for sure.

[@TheSocialGamer]

Scarlet has a way of capturing my attention.... I drool over these outstanding arcade retro gold sprinkled with modern tech to revive these aging classic systems. So beyond my scope of collecting. Yet I really enjoy watching from afar! Great content Scarlet...! 🤘🤤

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks man, I’m really glad that you watch and enjoy the breakdowns. I try to make videos with everyone in mind but it doesn’t always work out.

[@Evercade_Effect]

I like the fact that you go to great lengths to preserve games on original hardware. Can't wait to see what you do next.

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks man. This is the stuff I really enjoy looking at and getting time to play with. This is one of the greatest perks of KZbin; getting to experience really cool stuff I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

[@Evercade_Effect]

@@ScarletSprites I love being able to share in the experience. I love that you gave Ralph a hard time about his candy cab. 😉

[@ScarletSprites]

@@Evercade_Effect He deserves it.

[@RetroTuna]

Not as bab as i thought it would be not a bad price to be honest.

[@jasonhowe1697]

kinda makes me ask why not use multi carts and do a button press

[@ScarletSprites]

The cart for the CPS3 is really just a security checkpoint. It can't be used to store/run games. All of that is stored on the simms on the board. If going the original hardware route there really isn't another way to do this unfortunately.

[@jasonhowe1697]

@@ScarletSprites well they did release the anthology sf alpha on the ps2.. Not sure sure in the states though I do know over here we did use multi cart boards having sf and a few others running within so it was plausible to see multiple cart options in the wild in the australian arcades though a rarity these days and then back in the day.. Noting that cps3 games whilst limited in terms of north american release I would state that cps3 did have more than 6 games on the hardware... none of the sf3 games never appeared on other consoles as single or as a packaged game..... Also note you can run most of the SF games in widescreen. so you can run mist of then on a 55 inch or higher screen..

[@ScarletSprites]

Are you sure you’re not thinking of the CPS2? The CPS3 only had six official titles released for it, 3 SF3 games, 2 JoJos, and Red Earth. That’s it. Oddly, of the SF3 games only 2nd Impact is WS. All of the SF3 games were also ported to DC.

[@jasonhowe1697]

@@ScarletSprites I only mentioned it because I remember seeing ALL 3 SF3 GAMES IN BOTH STANDARD AND WIDESCREEN.. CAN'T REALL COMMENT ON WHAT GAMES CAME OUT ON CPS3, THOUGH WE DID GO THROUGH A LOT OF ODDITIES BETWEEN SF3 AND SF4 AND SF5, AND STREET FIGHTER VS SERIES .. Can't comment on what became became within the hardware variants within a wide number of arcade types especially around barcades to sitdown types popular inside and outside of Japan. not to mention using other hardware types where you 1in3-1in8 multi cart setups where you can change games on the fly on a button press.. Thus that lead to the original comment where you have a dedicated button press for changing games.. AES and MVS options in plug-in/plug-on board types like what was used in neogeo cabinets of the era

[@chrisrogers1092]

I have a super bios setup and I don't see myself buying this. I'll wait the 45 minutes. Like you mentioned in the video I just set it to 3rd strike and forget it.

[@ScarletSprites]

I would like to play more Red Earth (despite making jokes about it in the past) but with my SuperBios solution I feel like I almost have to carve out quarters to play each year.

[@ScanlineCity]

So if I got this I would no longer need the sd card reader right?

[@ScarletSprites]

Correct. I only had to plug it back in to fix the skipping with Red Earth at the time. That bug has since been squashed and there’s no need for that today.

[@Ish0tJR]

Great video as always. I’m glad the SH2 swap isn’t needed anymore, it’s crazy people were sacrificing working Sega Saturn’s just to harvest unencrypted SH2 chips. Maybe the video should have a disclaimer “No Sega Saturn’s died during the making of this video” ;).

[@ScarletSprites]

Hah, that’s a good point as well. TBH I totally forgot about all of that.

[@TwinFamiProductionsOLD]

When the NeoSD goes for $450-700 depending on which you get, that’s not bad actually.

[@ScarletSprites]

I’ve actually never used the DS Neo cart or the NeoSD from TerraOnion. I may have to check those out at some point as well.

[@ericochoa4034]

Awesome content like always. Don't know why you don't have 1 million subscribers already!

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks Eric, glad you liked checking out the CPS3 with me.

[@Emceemur]

All above my pay grade but shockingly fascinating. I never actually played any street fighters beyond II in the arcade.

[@ScarletSprites]

Wow! You weren’t hyped waiting on “Three”!? That kind of surprises me. I was certainly never a fighting game champion but I did love playing the games.

[@SkyScourgeGod]

Darksoft is probably one of the biggest reasons I decided to get into collecting arcade JAMMA boards. They have a lot of great products to choose from and, in my opinion, are better than anything Terraonion can put out. Prices can be heavy, but it still won't cost nearly as much as building a collection of official game carts/boards. I myself probably won't venture into the CPS3 scene due to the insane cost even for just the board, but I just got my first Supergun and I'm looking into IGS PGM, Neo Geo MVS, Sega ST-V, Taito F3 and Sammy Atomiswave either because some games and motherboards for those systems can be had for a fair price or because Darksoft makes a nice cart for them. I'd like to jump into Hyper Neo Geo 64, but those boards are extremely rare and expensive nowadays so I had to back off. I also appreciate people like you who help guys like me understand how this stuff works and what's available out there for us to consider buying so thanks!

[@ScarletSprites]

Even as an SNK fan the Neo 64 didn’t excite me too much. It’s cool from a history standpoint but with the non-fighters requiring special controls it’s a bit of a turnoff. If it had a Metal Slug game though, that would be a real conundrum.

[@SkyScourgeGod]

@@ScarletSprites You're definitely right about the lack of standard controls for non-fighters. Unless you're willing to build a custom control setup to go with your game, you're pretty much limited to 2 different Samurai Shodown titles, Fatal Fury Wild Ambition and Buriki One. There's two driving games that need a wheel and a rail shooter that doesn't even use light gun technology to work. All of this was another reason I decided to back off from the HNG64. The system really needed a top of the line game to catch attention, like maybe a 2D or even 3D Metal Slug or a really cool shmup. Still, if I ever find a motherboard for cheap then I'd pick it up.

[@juanmartinstehle5047]

Red Earth is a game that deserves a bit more of recognition. Minor data: In Japan, the game is called Warzard.

[@pwnswoggle]

Great vid man. Always no bullshit pros and cons and realistic views.

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks man. I really do try to give my honest opinion as though I were sitting in the basement just talking to a friend. That’s kind of how I frame my mind when I start.

[@pwnswoggle]

@@ScarletSprites Appreciate the work dude.

[@cueball1897]

Cheaper than the CPS-2 kit

[@ScarletSprites]

I don’t think it is is it? I think the CPS2 was $399. Either way, price per game (and genres) I would argue you get more bang out of the CPS2. YMMV of course.

[@snkfightfan0187]

This is a great solution. I would definitely go for a CPS III and this kit but I find it to be very confusing and expensive. Awesome review man. 🍻

[@ScarletSprites]

I think you'd be fine if you got someone to program it for you. It's really just snapping in memory after that. The cash part though, I can't help you on, lol.

[@snkfightfan0187]

@@ScarletSprites 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I went to ebay after your video and looked at some prices on CPSIII boards and was floored. I then went to my Dreamcast, and fired up 2nd Impact.

[@ScarletSprites]

The window for no nonsense prices on those boards closed probably five years ago or so. It’s tough and only getting tougher unfortunately. Maybe a MiSTer core will save the day eventually.

[@joaquimc9059]

Cool but not worth the price IMO. I rather wait the 45 min.

[@ScarletSprites]

I definitely get that philosophy. I’m going to continue using the original superbios solution myself.

[@NoSpamForYou]

@@ScarletSprites Has anyone thought to use dummy files to pad the game files to the outside edge of the CD? Or would that not work on real hardware? That should speed up loading time significantly. I have a Warzard CD and you can see the data is all at the center. I guess no one knew anything about how to master data CDs back in the day.

[@ScarletSprites]

@@NoSpamForYou I’m not even using a CD with my setup. It’s coming off of an SD Card. It’s unfortunately just the slow writing process to the memory.

[@remygamb1t]

Nice video. Arcades born to me with Galaga, Gyrus, Rastan Saga and Moon Patrol. Dies in Street Fighter Alpha. After that other good games arrived, but I just quit it.

[@ScarletSprites]

I know it was short sighted at the time but I recall being so pissed about SFA. “Alpha!? The hell? We’re going backwards!? I want THREE.”

[@Charlie-Cat.]

I like Darksoft's product's that he offers Scarlet. In fact, I'm thinking of getting his multicart for the Neo-Geo....But it's a tough choice compared to the NeoSD Pro for the AES. Maybe I'll buy both. 8^) Anthony..

[@ScarletSprites]

I’ve unfortunately never used either of those but both seem like great products. The Pro versions of the NeoSD look especially great.

[@besotoxicomusic]

I’m perfectly fine with driving Toyota’s but I’m glad you’re showing us the Cadillacs.

[@ScarletSprites]

It’s a bit of a tease taking this for a test drive only to then slide back into the Camry.

[@thresholdau]

In this weeks episode of Scarlet ensuring all arcade enthusiasts are broke. I understand the effort that goes into something like this, but I'd rather the 45 minute load then the wallet destruction at this stage. Darksoft truly is a treasure to the community. But on the upside , maybe CPS3 ram sticks will be cheaper on ebay after this :D

[@ScarletSprites]

True. Maybe I’ll pick up a few backup sticks now.

[@SuperNicktendo]

Wow that's really cool. Expensive, but I'm glad we're getting to the point where Arcade emulation is getting close to the real thing.

[@ScarletSprites]

I’m hopeful we may see an FPGA core in the next few years as well. None of this is getting cheaper or younger.

[@mikegreiling]

Your Astro City’s marquee actually has that magenta color in it... every one I’ve seen is completely faded. Did you find a reproduction somewhere?

[@ScarletSprites]

No, it’s the original but with some help from translucent vinyl placed behind it.

[@AlexUnderBase]

As always , thank you Joe for your informative video 👍 I didn't jumped yet in CPS3 boat , but who know what thoughts will comes in my mind !

[@ScarletSprites]

I saw you have a bunch of games up for sale. Sell some and buy more. It’s an addiction.

[@kenmys]

Eventually I'll look into this but I'm not apart of the street fighter community and neither are any of my friends. I'd be more interested in red earth or JoJo's.

[@ScarletSprites]

I’m definitely not either honestly. I just really like playing Champion Edition and Second Impact. I’m far from a tournament ready player, lol. I think I might be able to take most people on my street though.

[@neocvera]

I’m more than certain I’ll never own a cps3 board but damned if your video didn’t make me want one - lol nice job Joe!

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks man! I always hope to convey the fun. Hope things are going ok for you over there. I’ve been asked a lot of questions about the Hylo hack and it’s future. Hope you are well.

[@PabstOban]

I have the same sort of proclivity... only it’s with the first release of Street Fighter Alpha/Zero. Not that I dislike the other revisions... but the original is the one that I dumped probably hundreds of dollars of quarters into competing with my college classmates instead of cramming for a test I was about to have.

[@ScarletSprites]

I think that’s partly why I feel the same way about Champion Edition and Virtua Fighter; they got to me first. They took my money when the weekend hit.

[@nicanorneto9697]

Amazing content man! I'm ok with emulation but I would love to play some of these gems on a original hardware! Way too expensive in my country..

[@ScarletSprites]

It’s getting expensive everywhere my friend. Hoping MiSTer might be an option in a few years too. These boards are getting older and more expensive by the day.

[@Bo_Knows_Tecmo]

Even though 3rd strike is the better game, the original vanilla version has a better overall presentation to me.

[@ScarletSprites]

I feel the same way. There’s a bias there due to that being the first way I experienced this but I do think even now I just prefer it more. Something about the whole less is more approach.

[@drfunkenstein2k]

DJsheep will program your chips and he does great job!

[@ScarletSprites]

It’s awesome that there are people doing that for others. I would certainly use that service as opposed to buying the programmer.

[@Sayajiin2]

Thanks for that review! Stuff I'll never get in my life but really fun to watch your video detailing everything 😁

[@ScarletSprites]

I’ll be honest, it was sad packing it back up. It was cool to play with for a few weeks though. Really cool stuff.

[@48859234]

Thank you for this instructive video 👍 Darksoft rocks 😎

[@ScarletSprites]

His multi solutions for arcade owners are nothing short of amazing. He’s added a lot of extra life to quite a few arcade systems and has broadened access to so many games for people.

[@hyp36rmax]

Price isn't as bad as I thought it would be considering the convenience of having all CPS3 games with a fast switch solution.

[@ScarletSprites]

You should grab two of them just in case one breaks!

[@hyp36rmax]

@@ScarletSprites haha that would be the life right? I was afraid you were going to say the price was $1K each haha.

[@sherwinie]

Great job on this video, dude. This may be the first video on YT talking about the Darksoft Ultra Simms. I’ve gone back and forth deciding whether to get into CPS3. This is a game changer in terms of load times. But I decided to put my money on a couple of CPS2 darksoft setups instead. There’s still something special about Capcom’s final arcade hardware even though it only has 6 games.

[@ScarletSprites]

I felt like I really wanted to finish the trilogy of CPS systems. I really like Second Impact and so this felt like a must. I definitely think CPS2 is maybe the best bang for the buck in maybe all of arcade gaming multis.

[@jaymorrison8419]

CPS2 was a good move

[@joshuahelmeke]

Ma boy, DARKSOFT! WOOT! WOOT!

[@ScarletSprites]

That sums up my thoughts as well.

[@joshuahelmeke]

@@ScarletSprites I finally got a chance to pick up the CPS2 multi based on your video a while back. Thanks a million.

[@ScarletSprites]

Oh nice! It’s a pretty fantastic piece of arcade hardware. Maybe the single greatest modern solution on real hardware.

[@joshuahelmeke]

@@ScarletSprites For real. Currently waiting for it in the mail. I have a supergun already but am trying to hold out a HAS supergun before I plug and play. I'd hate to wreck it with "bad voltage" or what have you.

[@jfitnesshealth]

2nd impact is the best, better sound effects and stages also. even Ryu says hadoken better lol

[@ScarletSprites]

I much prefer the soundtrack and presentation in the first two titles. The whole less is more thing applies in this case imo.

[@nobodytonobodysbusiness]

Most direct Capcom sequels are the best in terms of variety and audio/visuals. 2nd Impact, Vampite Hunter, Zero 2...

[@jfitnesshealth]

@@nobodytonobodysbusiness alpha 2!!

[@Shadowbann3d]

A lot of this technical stuff goes straight over my head (as someone who doesn’t own any arcade cabs) but it’s always intriguing to watch the arcade hardware content that you put out. Weird that I didn’t get any upload notification this time though?

[@ScarletSprites]

Thanks Andy. I always hope that it’s still mildly interesting for the non-arcade crowd. Toss in some visuals and try and make things look cool, you know? Not sure what’s going there with the notifications but I’ve seen other KZbinrs say the same. Make sure you rang that bell!

[@Shadowbann3d]

Lol yeah I checked that and it’s still showing as being active for all notifications! 🤷🏻‍♂️ Love the arcade stuff but decided that consolized hardware is as far as I’m likely to go with it myself... Congrats on the haircut too btw!

[@ScarletSprites]

Haha, yeah something needed done with my hair.

[@googleboughtmee]

Love the vid. I think I like playing these on Dreamcast and not going broke more :)

[@ScarletSprites]

I remember when “Double Impact” came out for DC. I bought it and took it on a Myrtle Beach vacation. GF at the time not happy.

[@paulsolo6841]

First

[@ScarletSprites]

Impressive on a Saturday morning.