GoodTools
GoodTools
Cowering's GoodTools is a suite of 35 ROM auditing applications for Windows that contain a database listing known software for various video game consoles and home computers.
These tools, released as freeware, have established themselves as an important reference for ROM collectors, especially for older systems that don't have similar authoritative sources and that have a perfect or almost perfect coverage in GoodTools.
The popularity of GoodTools originated the practice of distributing, instead of single or arbitrarily collected ROMs, the so-called "goodsets", packaged archives of every ROM for a particular platform that GoodTools recognizes.
As the last entry on Cowering's blog is from 2016 and most of the download links don't work anymore, this project can be considered discontinued.
List of systems covered by GoodTools
Name | System | Version | ROMs listed | Release Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Good2600 | Atari 2600 | 3.14 | 7,216 | 000000002007-09-22-000022 September 2007 |
Good5200 | Atari 5200 | 2.01 | 284 | 000000002004-04-06-00006 April 2004 |
Good7800 | Atari 7800 | 3.28 | 932 | 000000002016-04-03-00003 April 2016 |
GoodChaF | Fairchild] /Luxor/Zircon/SABAFairchild Channel F | 3.1415 | 88 | 000000002010-03-18-000018 March 2010 |
GoodCoCo | Tandy Color Computer | 3.27 | 184 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodCol | ColecoVision | 3.14 | 459 | 000000002007-11-24-000024 November 2007 |
GoodCPC | Amstrad CPC | 3.1415 | 27,103 | 000000002010-03-11-000011 March 2010 |
GoodGB64 | Commodore 64 | 3.00 | 17,067 | 000000002006-01-13-000013 January 2006 |
GoodGBA | Nintendo]Game Boy Advance | 3.27 | 37,145 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodGBx | Nintendo]Game Boy/Game Boy Color | 3.14 | 9,333 | 000000002007-11-10-000010 November 2007 |
GoodGCOM | Tiger]Game.com | 3.27 | 40 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodGen | Sega] Mega Drive/Genesis/32X | 3.21 | 8,563 | 000000002012-10-20-000020 October 2012 |
GoodGG | Sega Game Gear | 3.20 | 1,020 | 000000002012-09-20-000020 September 2012 |
GoodINTV | Mattel]Intellivision | 2.03 | 238 | 000000002004-07-01-00001 July 2004 |
GoodJag | Atari Jaguar | 2.01 | 139 | 000000002004-02-27-000027 February 2004 |
GoodLynx | Atari Lynx | 2.01 | 300 | 000000002004-03-04-00004 March 2004 |
GoodMO5 | Thomson MO5 | 3.1415 | 391 | 000000002010-03-14-000014 March 2010 |
GoodMSX1 | Microsoft]MSX | 0.999.3 | 589 | 000000002003-10-03-00003 October 2003 |
GoodMSX2 | Microsoft]MSX2 | 0.999.3 | 166 | 000000002003-10-03-00003 October 2003 |
GoodMTX | Memotech]MTX | 3.1415 | 98 | 000000002010-03-14-000014 March 2010 |
GoodN64 | Nintendo]64/Nintendo 64DD | 3.27 | 5,282 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodNES | Nintendo Entertainment System] /Famicom | 3.23b | 22,096 | 000000002014-04-26-000026 April 2014 |
GoodNGPx | SNK]Neo Geo Pocket/Neo Geo Pocket Color | 3.27 | 452 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodOric | Oric] /Atmos/Telestrat | 2.01 | 1,236 | 000000002004-03-03-00003 March 2004 |
GoodPCE | NEC]TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine | 1.09a | 1,565 | 000000002003-08-25-000025 August 2003 |
GoodPico | Sega Pico | 3.15 | 178 | 000000002012-02-28-000028 February 2012 |
GoodPSID | Commodore] 64PSID music | 3.22 | 37,499 | 000000002012-11-08-00008 November 2012 |
GoodSAMC | Miles Gordon Technology]SAM Coupé | 2.03 | 796 | 000000002004-06-27-000027 June 2004 |
GoodSMS | Sega Master System | 3.20 | 1,516 | 000000002012-09-20-000020 September 2012 |
GoodSNES | Super Nintendo Entertainment System] /Super Famicom/Satellaview | 3.27 | 24,508 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodSPC | Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SPC music) | 3.22 | 57,154 | 000000002012-11-08-00008 November 2012 |
GoodSV | Watara Supervision | 3.27 | 69 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
GoodVBoy | Nintendo]Virtual Boy | 3.1415 | 179 | 000000002010-03-16-000016 March 2010 |
GoodVect | General Computer]Vectrex | 1.06 | 287 | 000000002003-07-17-000017 July 2003 |
GoodWSx | Bandai]WonderSwan/WonderSwan Color | 3.27 | 377 | 000000002016-03-13-000013 March 2016 |
Hosting license
Cowering allows only GoodTools with a version number below 3.00 to be hosted online.
Those of a higher version number are only obtainable legally from the author's site.
Ancillary tools
Several utilities depend on GoodTools:
GoodGUI is a graphical front end to GoodTools.
GoodMerge is a program that organizes and optimizes the compression of ROM collections by placing all versions of a particular game into one archive, reducing the number of files and significantly increasing compression when using solid file archivers such as 7-Zip.
UnGoodMerge is a program to extract ROM images from archives (such as those created by GoodMerge, hence the name) according to rules, such as only one variant of a game and no bad dumps, in order to leave behind redundant ROMs.
Good codes
The following are codes and naming schemes given to the majority (some system specific) ROM image sets for various home computer and video game consoles.
Please note that some codes (such as the Sega Genesis country codes) are only on old GoodTools versions and only remain for reference.
Standard codes
Good code | Meaning of code | Explanation |
---|---|---|
[!] | Verified good dump | The ROM is an exact copy of the original game; it has not had any hacks or modifications. |
[a] | Alternative version | The ROM is a copy of an alternative release of the game.Many games have been re-released to fix bugs or to eliminateGame Geniecodes. |
[b] | Bad dump | A ROM image which has been corrupted because the original game is very old, because of a faulty dumper (bad connection) or during its upload to a release server.These ROMs often have graphic errors or sometimes don't work at all. |
[f] | Fixed dump | A fixed dump is a ROM that has been altered to run better on aflashcartor anemulator. |
[h] | Hacked ROM | The ROM has been user modified, with examples being changing the internal header or country codes, applying a release group intro, or editing the game's content. |
[o] | Overdumped ROM | The ROM contains more data than the original game.This extra data is useless and doesn't affect the game at all; it just makes the ROM bigger. |
[p] | Pirated version | A dump of a pirated version of a game.These ROMs often have their copyright messages or company names removed or corrupted.Also, many ROMs contain "intro" screens with the name and symbols of the pirate group that have released them. |
[t] | Trained version | A trainer (special code which executes before starting the actual game) has been added to the ROM.It allows the player to accesscheatsfrom a menu or ingame. |
[!p] | Pending dump | This is the closest dump to the original game to date, but the proper ROM is still waiting to be dumped. |
Country codes
Country code | Country |
---|---|
(A) | Australia |
(As) | Asia |
(B) | Brazil |
(C) | Canada |
(Ch) | China |
(D) | Netherlands (Dutch) |
(E) | Europe |
(F) | France |
(G) | Germany |
(Gr) | Greece |
(HK) | Hong Kong |
(I) | Italy |
(J) | Japan |
(K) | Korea |
(Nl) | Netherlands |
(No) | Norway |
(R) | Russia |
(S) | Spain |
(Sw) | Sweden |
(U) | United States |
(UK) | United Kingdom |
(W) | World |
(Unl) | Unlicensed |
(PD) | Public domain], free softwareandfreeware |
(Unk) | Unknown country |
Universal codes
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
(NG-Dump Known) | No good dump has been found |
(REVXX) | Revision number (00 is earliest) |
(VX.X) | Version number (1.0 is earliest) |
(M#) | Multilanguage; # of languages (selectable by a menu) |
[T+XXX] | Most recent translation |
[T-XXX] | Obsolete translation |
??-in-1 | Piratemulticart |
(Vol #) | Officialmulticart |
(GCN) | GameCuberip |
(VC) | Games fromNintendo WiiVirtual Console(mostly LCD/epilepsy patches) |
[h#C] | Hacked internal cartridge information |
[h#+#C] | Hacked internal cartridge information; #th variant |
[hI] | Hacked dumping group intro |
[hIR] | Hacked dumping group intro removed |
[M] | Mono-color game |
(Alpha) | Alpha version |
(Beta) | Beta version |
(Prototype) | Prototypeversion |
(Pre-Release) | Pre-release version |
(Kiosk Demo) | Demonstration version available at Kiosks |
(Hack) | ROM hack |
(Menu) | Multicartmenu, unselectable options |
ZZZ_UNK | Unclassified ROM |
BIOS | Copy of console's basic in/out system |
(N64DD) | Nintendo 64DDROM |
(##MBit) | ROM size inmegabits |
(##k) | ROM size inkilobits |
(19XX) | Release year (20th Century) |
(20XX) | Release year (21st Century) |
(Atmos) | Atmos ROM (GoodOric only) |
(Telestrat) | Telestrat ROM (GoodOric only) |
[R] | RSID format (GoodPSID only) |
(old) | Old version |
[R-XXX] | Language |
(SC-3000) | SC-3000cartridge (GoodSMS only) |
(SG-1000) | SG-1000cartridge (GoodSMS only) |
(SF-7000) | SF-7000 cartridge (GoodSMS only) |
(GG2SMS) | Master Systemmode (GoodGG only) |
(Cart) | Cartridge format |
(Adam) | ADAM version (GoodCol only) |
(Compilation) | The ROM is a dump of a compilation |
(Ch-Trad) | Pirate traditional Chinese game |
(Ch-Simple) | Pirate simple Chinese game |
[f#C] | Hack, only cart name is changed |
[f#+#C] | Hack, only cart name is changed; #th variant |
(PAL) | European TV Display Standard |
(NTSC) | American or Japan TV Display Standard |
Translation codes:
Code | Country |
---|---|
Alb | Albanian |
Ara | Arabic |
Bra | Brazilian Portuguese |
Can | Canadian French |
Chi | Chinese |
ChS / SChi | Simplified Chinese |
ChT / TChi | Traditional Chinese |
Cro | Croatia |
Dan | Danish |
Dut | Dutch |
Eng | English |
Esp | Esperanto |
Fil | Filipino |
Fin | Finnish |
Fre | French |
Ger | German |
Gre | Greek |
Heb | Hebrew |
Ita | Italian |
Jap | Japanese |
Kor | Korean |
Lat | Latvian |
Lit | Lithuanian |
Nor | Norwegian |
Pol | Polish |
Por | Portuguese |
Rom / Rum | Romanian / Rumanian |
Rus | Russian |
Ser | Serbian |
Spa | Spanish |
Swe | Swedish |
Tai | Thai |
Tur | Turkish |
Uru | Uruguay Spanish |
System specific codes
GoodGBA codes:
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
[hIR00] | Intro removed; replaced with 00 values |
[hIRff] | Intro removed; replaced with ff values |
[f_?] | RemovedEEPROM_V124 patched |
[v] | Game Boy Advancevideo |
[eb] | E-bookROM |
[eba] | E-Book Advance ROM |
[ebb] | Book Reader Advance ROM |
[f125] | Removed EEPROM_V125 |
[f126] | Removed EEPROM_V126 |
(IQue) | ChineseGame Boy AdvanceROM forIQueconsole |
Coleco on GBA | EmulatedColecoVisionROM via Coleco on GBA emulator |
Cologne | Emulated ColecoVision ROM via Cologne emulator |
DrSMS | EmulatedMaster SystemROM via DrSMS emulator |
FooN | EmulatedZX SpectrumROM via FooN emulator |
PocketNES | EmulatedNESROM viaPocketNESemulator |
FC2GBA | Emulated NES ROM via FC2GBA emulator |
Goomba | EmulatedGame BoyROM via Goomba emulator |
GBAGI | EmulatedAdventure Game InterpreterROM via GBAGI emulator |
Swanadvance | EmulatedWonderSwanROM via Swanadvance emulator |
PCEAdvance | EmulatedTurboGrafx-16ROM via PCEAdvance emulator |
PocketSMS | EmulatedMaster SystemROM via PocketSMS emulator |
PocketSNES | EmulatedSNESROM via PocketSNES emulator |
SNESAdvance | EmulatedSNESROM via SNESAdvance emulator |
Snezzyboy | EmulatedSNESROM via Snezzyboy emulator |
VGB | EmulatedGame BoyROM via VGB emulator |
Pogoshell | Program for Pogoshell tool |
s##e## | Series number and episode number for videos |
(MB) | Multiboot ROM |
(MB2GBA) | Multiboot game converted to GBA format |
-e | E-ReaderROM |
| Unlicensedmulticartwith ##NESgames |
NDS | Nintendo DSslot-2 cartridge dump |
GoodBook | E-Book using GoodBook converter |
TextReader | E-Book using TextReader converter |
PictureBoy | E-Book using PictureBoy converter |
ReadBoy | E-Book using ReadBoy converter |
GoodGBx codes:
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
[C] | Game Boy Colorversion |
[S] | Super Game Boyversion |
[BF] | Bung] fix (ROM fixed to work on aBungcartridge) |
(Bung) | ROM from aBungcartridge |
NES Conversion | NES] ROM converted toGame Boy ColorROM |
GBS Player | Game Boymusic ROM |
GoodGen codes:
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
(1) | Japan & Korea (GoodGen v0.999.7 only) |
(4) | USA & Brazil (GoodGen v0.999.7 only) |
(5) | NTSC (GoodGen 0.999.7 only) |
(8) | PAL (GoodGen 0.999.7 only) |
(F) | World (GoodGen v0.999.7 only) |
(B) | Non-USA (GoodGen v0.999.7 only) |
[c] | Known bad checksum but good dump |
[x] | Thought to have bad checksum |
(J-Cart) | The original cartridge has two controller ports on it |
(SN) | Sega-Net game |
(REVXB) | Sonic the HedgehogJapanese version 2 |
(REVSC02) | Sonic Compilationversion of Sonic 2 |
(MP) | MegaPlay version |
(MD Bundle) | The ROM comes from SegaMega Drive/Genesispack-in game |
(Alt Music) | Alternative music version ofSonic Spinball |
GoodNES codes:
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
(PC10) | PlayChoice-10version |
(VS) | Versus version |
[hFFE] | Copied from Far East Copiers |
[hMxx] | Hacked to run on mapper xx |
SMB# | UnspecifiedSuper Mario Bros.hack |
(Aladdin) | Runs with an Aladdin cartridge that locks out10NESlockout chip |
(Sachen) | Unlicensed game by Sachen |
(KC) | Konamiclassic |
(PRG0) | Program revision 0 |
(PRG1) | Program revision 1 |
[U] | UniversalNESimage file format |
(Mapper ##) | Mapper number |
(FDS Hack) | Hacked from theFamily Computer Disk SystemtoNES |
(GBA E-reader) | Hacked from thee-Readercard |
(E-GC) | NES] ROM ripped from EuropeanGameCube |
(J-GC) | NES] ROM ripped from JapaneseGameCube |
GoodSNES codes:
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
(BS) | Broadcast Satellite (Satellaview) ROM |
(ST) | Sufami TurboROM |
(NP) | Nintendo PowerROM |
(NSS) | ArcadeSNESROM |
GoodN64 codes:
Code | Meaning of code |
---|---|
(Beta-WIP) | |
(Debug Version) | |
(GC) | Nintendo GameCube rip |
(Save) | Changes the save routine.Instead of EEPROM16 the patched save is SRAM. |
(Save-PAL) | |
(Z64-Save) |
See also
TOSEC
ROM image