Technical Specs

CPU

• Hitachi SH-1 32-bit RISC processor clocked at 15 MHz.

The CPU is similar in concept to Thumb instruction set for ARM. Also features 16×16=32 multiplier support and 1kb of On-chip RAM (no instruction/data cache is available unlike SH-2).

RAM

• 512 KB of onboard RAM

BIOS

• 32 KB mask ROM “BIOS” with numerous math, DMA, graphics and printer built-in functions

Graphics and Display

• VDP (Video Display Processor)

Equipped with 128 KB of VRAM. 512 total colors available on the palette, with 256 colors for backgrounds and 256 colors for sprites.

4bpp and 8bpp modes available. The system features both tiled and bitmapped modes for the following internal resolutions :

1. 8bit 256x256x2
2. 8bit 256×512
3. 4bit 512x256x2
4. 4bit 256x512x2
5. 4bit 512×512

Resolutions

• 256×224 and 256×240 (interlaced resolutions also supported)

Audio

Features 4 channels of PCM sound at 12-bits. Sound samples are stored in a dedicated 512 KB ROM that is read-only. This means developers could only use pre-programmed sound effects and music for games.

Other

The built-in sticker printer is a signature feature of the Loopy, allowing players to create and print custom stickers directly from the console. Games use functions provided by Mask ROM BIOS to make use of the printer.

Saving game progress is usually done through the use of SRAM on each cartridge. Cartridge sizes range from 2MB to 3MB for retail games. The memory map allows for a max size of 4MB without the use of bankswitching.

The system notably only features a single controller port (though it would appear the system supports at least 2 controllers internally).