During September I plan to speedrun any% Mario for real (on video and whatnot), but due to import issues, I cannot get a FDS, only an NES reproduction cart. Why is it not allowed?
An NES repro would have the exact same ROM loaded on to it as a original cartridge. ROMs would be ripped from the cart (EPROM stuff or something i dont know) and is extracted as a file. So a reproduction cartridge of ANNSMB would be the same as an FDS disk. I'm not sure what the moderators think, but you should be fine with a reproduction.
What do you mean? It's the exact same ROM. That's how repros work. The game is the exact same therefore it should be allowed.
It would be no different than using a flash cart or emulator. For repros the ROM is dumped from an orginal cartridge (or floppy disk in this case) and are burned onto a blank EPROM and put into a board. It's the same ROM and same game as using a ROM for emulator or putting the game on an SD card or CF card for EverDrive or PowerPak.
Can't the Super Mods just add separate categories for the NES ports?
BTW eddiecatgaming, I'm having the same problem as well.
I'm planning to get a FDS for my birthday anyway, so there won't be a big deal for me if I get it.
We have added Both Endings and All Stages as categories, similarly to Lost Levels. We hope you enjoy the new categories!