NMK (NES Driver)

NMK

Released 1987-10-13 Programmers Kazuhiro Ayabe, Kazunori Hideya, Shinichi Sakamoto Language 6502 Assembly

NMK is the unofficial name of the sound driver used in NMK's Nintendo Famicom/NES games. It has been unofficially named after the company, rather than a programmer because several people were involved with the driver's programming and creation.

Its initial coding was done by Shinichi Sakamoto, and Kazuhiro Ayabe programmed the driver. The sound engine was then later modified and updated by Kazunori Hideya, who also composed music for NMK.

It appears that looking at Sizlla Okamura's tweet about it, the music and sound effects for the driver were written in 6502 assembly language.

In is unknown what game(s) use(s) the updated driver by Hideya, but it is thought to be.

Release History

The first game to use the driver was Esper Boukentai, released exclusively in Japan in 1987. The last game to use it was SD Keiji: Blader, also released exclusively in Japan in 1991. Only two NMK games made it outside of Japan and into the USA; Arkista's Ring, and Ninja Crusaders. None of the games were released in Europe.

Output

The driver outputs to the RP2A03 only. The DPCM channel is not used.

Games

Released	Title	Sample
1987-10-13	Esper Boukentai (FC) (エスパ冒険隊)
1988-11-11	Saiyuuki World (FC) (西遊記ワールド)
1989-03-28	Jajamaru Ninpou Chou (FC) (じゃじゃ丸忍法帳)
1989-09-29	Ochin ni Toshi Puzzle Tonjan!? (FC) (落っことしパズル とんじゃん！？)
1990-06-??	Arkista's Ring (NES)
1990-12-??	Ninja Crusaders (NES) (忍者クルセイダーズ)
1991-07-19	SD Keiji: Blader (FC) (ＳＤ刑事ブレイダー)

Technical

Frequency Registers

D#6 = 2D
D-6 = 30
C#6 = 32
C-6 = 35
B-5 = 39
A#5 = 3C
A-5 = 40
G#5 = 43
G-5 = 47
F#5 = 4C
F-5 = 50
E-5 = 55
D#5 = 5A
D-5 = 5F
C#5 = 65
C-5 = 6B
B-4 = 71
A#4 = 78
A-4 = 7F
G#4 = 87
G-4 = 8F
F#4 = 97
F-4 = A0
E-4 = AA
D#4 = B4
D-4 = BE
C#4 = CA
C-4 = D6
B-3 = E2
A#3 = F0
A-3 = FE
G#3 = 10D
G-3 = 11D
F#3 = 12E
F-3 = 140
E-3 = 153
D#3 = 168
D-3 = 17D
C#3 = 194
C-3 = 1AC
B-2 = 1C5
A#2 = 1E0
A-2 = 1FC
G#2 = 216
G-2 = 236
F#2 = 25D
F-2 = 281
E-2 = 2A7
D#2 = 2CF
D-2 = 2FA
C#2 = 327
C-2 = 357
B-1 = 38A
A#1 = 3C0
A-1 = 3F9
G#1 = 435
G-1 = 475
F#1 = 469
F-1 = 501
E-1 = 54D
D#1 = 59E
D-1 = 5F4
C#1 = 64E
C-1 = 6AE

Address Locations

Arkista's Ring: $4F8F-$500E
Esper Boukantai: $2D3D5-$2D454
Jajamaru Ninpou Chou: $A639-$A6B8
Ninja Crusaders: $C5FB-$C67A
Saiyuuki World: ???
SD Keiji Blader: $25E8-$2667
Oichi ni Puzzle Tonjan?!: $BE10-$BE8F