Console collecting… It can take up a lot of room can’t it? I love my SNES collection, but every now & again I feel like playing some Famicom or NES games. Trying to find the machines though & then dig them out of wherever they are means I normally can’t be bothered. For most people though, Famicom games aren’t even an option as they don’t have one of these…
… which means a whole library of fantastic games are closed off to them. That’s where this little device comes in.
I introduce to you, the Super 8. This device claims to “Bring the NES back in SNES!!” The tagline is a bit “Engrishy”, but what is it? Well, to cut a long story short it’s a converter for playing NES & Famicom games on your Super NES / Famicom. It has 3 ports, one for the SNES, one for the NES & one for the Famicom. A flap prevents you using both NES & Famicom carts at the same time for obvious reasons (ie. It wouldn’t work).
How does it work? Does it work in all regions? I’m glad you asked. I’ve done a bit of testing in various setups so let’s check out the results.
First let’s see if it fits all the SNES models. First the PAL system:
Now the US model:
& of course, the Super Famicom:
So it looks nice & snug sitting on top of your original release SNES systems. How about the Jr models?
The Super 8 is almost as big as the Super Famicom Jr itself! There’s just one thing I want to try & it’s to prove a theory I’ll get to in a minute. Does this thing fit in the Sharp SF-1?? (The Sharp TV with a built in Super Famicom)
It fits nicely but isn’t the prettiest looking setup. Let’s use the SF-1 as our first test unit since it’s already plugged into it. Let’s put in a couple of games & turn it on.
It works, IT’S ALIVE!!!
Now before we continue, have a look at the back of the Super 8.
It has a multi cable that goes into the SNES & a multi output from the Super 8 to the TV. Ignore the RF as that isn’t even present. The box even shows you this…
… which makes you wonder why the port is even there in the first place, but oh well…
My theory is that the 8 bit part of device doesn’t use the SNES for anything more than a power & video out source. Let’s check that theory by hooking it up to the Sharp TV sitting next to it.
As I’ve mentioned in my article about the SF-1, the set has specific SNES multi out so you can connect it to another TV. Now keep in mind here that the SF-1 only has the Super 8 sitting on top with the multi out going from the SF-1 to the Super 8 & then the Super 8 connected to the TV.
Hope that didn’t confuse anyone… Turning on the device will bring up the following menu:
Quite simple. Choose either 16 bit for the SNES port or 8 bit for which ever of the 8 bit ports is open. Firstly let’s try the Super Famicom game that’s in the device right now. It’s Kunio Kun Dodgeball. Will it work on both TVs?
It looks like it will. It looks like the SNES port just feeds directly into the SNES itself. Naturally US games work as well:
What about an 8 bit game now? Does my theory ring true? Will the SF-1 show the image for the 8 bit game? Or will it only feed through to the other TV?
I thought so… Now to the consoles. Most 3rd party devices are NTSC specific unless they say otherwise. What about the PAL SNES? Let’s plug it in & try it.
Firstly I confirmed that the SNES & the game (Actraiser) work perfectly. What about with the Super 8?
UGH!!! It’s very green… I tried shifting cables, turning it on & off, re-seating the Super 8, trying different carts & nothing… I guess we’ll shift to the NTSC machines.
Being that the device worked on the SF-1 I have no doubt that this is going to be fine. Let’s turn it on & try Super Mario Bros 3:
Excellent, & NO PAL BORDERS!! I absolutely loathe PAL borders… & this does prove that PAL NES games will work on the Super 8.
Now for a game I just purchased: Gyatto Ninden Teyandee. Otherwise known as Samurai Pizza Cats!!! I love Samurai Pizza Cats. I have models of all 3 of them & even have a Japanese Pizza Cats: Pizza Parlour play set. Yeah, I’m a fan. Let’s turn it on & see what happens:
Sweet… let’s check out the game itself.
It works beautifully. I think I’ll wrap this up now & get back to defeating the Big Cheese & his minions.
So the Super 8: Don’t waste your money if you only have a PAL machine. If you have an NTSC machine then go for it! There are only 4 negatives I can think of:
1) All 3 cartridge ports are VERY tight. I had to wrestle to remove each cartridge I used. I assume they will loosen up the more I use it.
2) You can’t use Famicom peripherals that require the expansion port on the front as this device doesn’t have such a port. For those interested this DOES mean that the Famicom disc drive works. I don’t have one to test, but a Google search will bring up many a testimony to that fact.
3) It doesn’t work on a PAL SNES. No problem if you have a Super Famicom or US SNES though. One other thing to keep in mind is that this is not a SNES adapter & will not allow PAL SNES games to be played on an NTSC SNES.
4) The AV out cable on the unit is quite loose & you can lose a picture & / or sound by the slightest movement. Just pushing it back in fixes this problem though, so it’s a minor annoyance.
Now I must go. Little Tokyo / Edoropolis needs me!!!
A few months ago we talked about using Japan Yahoo Auctions & some of the bargains you can find in that mystical eastern land. Check that story out here first:
I’ve been ordering a bit of stuff & it all came in today thanks to the good people at Celga. Let’s have a look:
There was a lot of stuff so it came in 3 boxes. I wasn’t aware they’d be doing this until I got 3 tracking numbers sent to me. I can guess that the Super Famicom Box is in the middle box, as it’s about the right size. For now let’s open the top box.
There’s the Super Famicom Jr with 2 controllers & 2 Capcom Soldier controllers. After having a go with them I have to say the Soldier controllers are awkward to use. Maybe you have to get used them, but then again why would you bother when you’re happy with the current controllers? I’ll save that topic for another day as it looks like there’s more in the box. Let’s dig a bit deeper:
Wow, & I haven’t even looked at the other 2 boxes. There’s Chrono Trigger, Puyo Puyo, Kirby’s Dream Course, Dragon’s Quest 5, Crayon Shin Chan & Shining Scorpion towards the top with come boxed games on the side. There’s a bit of Super Robot Wars, some Final Fantasy & Bomberman is in the pink box down the bottom. That “Total Amusement Shop” box looks like a generic box that this particular store would package its unboxed games in.
Let’s see if I was right about the middle box:
I thought so. Here’s the Super Famicom box. There are no keys for it, so I might have to look at seeing if it’s possible to get replacements. Without keys you can’t turn it on by the look of it. Sadly the SF box got a bit damaged in transit.
Not much I can do about that I’m afraid. Anyway, onto the big box!!
Right on top is the Superscope. I also ordered Yoshi’s Safari with this lot, so at least I have the only semi decent Superscope game to go along with it. Let’s take off the top layer & see what’s under the scope.
There’s a couple of Dragonball Z games, 2 Street Fighter 2 variants & the 2 big boxes on either side have Mario & Wario with mouse & Mario Paint with mouse. There’s more underneath though, let’s dig a bit deeper.
There’s Yoshi’s Safari on the right, with Hammerin’ Harry (the same one from the previous article) & Yoshi’s Island also here. Bomberman 5 is also visible in the shot wrapped in bubble wrap.
So all in all I ended up with 88 games, a Super Famicom Jr, a Super Famicom Box, 2 controllers, 2 Capcom Soldier controllers, a Superscope & a Twin Tap. I still don’t know what games that thing is used for, but it was less than $5.
Right, well I’ve got to go & lock myself up for a week so I can play all these games. Later!!!
If you’ve never heard of the “SD The Great Battle” series, it’s basically a collection of games featuring SD (Super Deformed) versions of Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Gundam & Roa. Different versions of these characters appear throughout the series, but I believe Roa was specifically created just for the SD The Great Battle series.
The games are very tongue-in-cheek affairs & no two are the same. Number 3 in the series is a bit of a hybrid Golden Axe, Knights of the Round, King of Dragons parody. In medieval times the 4 warriors must do battle… why I don’t really know. The manual & game are all in Japanese. There is an animated intro which I will attempt to interpret. Firstly the gang are happily flying through space:
When their ship is hit by an asteroid which sends our heroes flying through space:
They land on what appears to be a medieval planet only to be captured by soldiers:
They are then bought before the king:
Who kits them up with weapons & armour which leads into the first battle:
You start off as the Gundam, but using Select you can switch between the other 3 characters. Each has their own strengths & weaknesses, though not being able to read the manual I couldn’t tell you what they are as they all feel pretty much the same to be honest. Ultraman is a little slower than the rest, Kamen Rider’s spear throws enemies overhead. They’re the differences I’ve managed to identify.
As I mentioned earlier, the story starts off in a village where you must fight a boss battle straight away in what looks like an arena. After proving yourself you go on your quest. A map will appear to show you here you are in the world & then you’ll jump into the level.
If you like a good side scrolling beat em up then you’ll enjoy this. The genre did develop a bit of a bad name with the main problem being the repetitive nature of play. Well this game isn’t any different, so if you’re not a fan steer clear. If you like these types of games well this is one of the better ones.
The controls are solid with attack, jump, block & use item buttons on the face of the controller with L & R cycling through items. Your character can double jump which proves quite handy though you need to time your aerial attacks well or you’ll just get knocked out of the air. You can also dash by pushing to the side twice in quick succession. I do wonder about the block button… how many people actually use block buttons in fighting games? I’d be interested to know, because I know I rarely do.
Each character has their own special move. Hold down the fire button until they start flashing & release to perform the special move. It’s a little tricky as an enemy may already be on you before you get a chance to pull off the move, but that’s the risk you have to take.
The graphics are bright & colourful & a lot of detail has gone into the characters. The medieval look really suits them & everything just seems to work in this strange little game. Little in jokes are presented such as the coins having the Banpresto logo on them.
& if you leave the characters standing around doing nothing they don’t just stand there. For example leave Ultraman standing in one spot & his helmet drops over his eyes, then he flips it back up. It’s only a small thing, but it’s a nice touch which shows a bit of care was taken with the game.
You use the coins in the shops that are placed throughout the game. Various items are available, though I don’t know what most of them do as their descriptions are in Japanese.
After each stage a password is given to allow you to continue play. The passwords are quite long… infact I would go as far as to say they are unnecessarily long. At least the option exists to continue play, which can only be a good thing.
The music has that medieval side scrolling fighter music. If you’ve played Knights of the round, King of Dragons, or the Capcom Dungeons & Dragon you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s nothing special really. The sound effects are your typical beat em up hit effects with the jumps being accompanied by bleeps. Typical platformer/beat em up affair really.
At the end the day, it’s not the greatest game in the world & if you’re not a beat em up fan this isn’t going to convert you. If you are a beat em up fan you’re not going to be blown away by anything new & revolutionary. That being said it’s a fun little romp that’s worth spending a few hours with. I give it 75%
NOTE: This review contains images from both the game & the anime.
The history of Ranma fighting games is a bit of a tale. The first game which is known in some fan circles as “Neighbourhood Combat” was released in the US under the rebadged title of “Street Combat”. The game was already decidedly average & the fact that the US version removed all the characters we were familiar with & replaced them with generic fighters didn’t help matters. Sometimes these games are a little more enjoyable if you’re familiar with the characters you’re controlling.
The second game Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle was released in the US & Europe as a Ranma game & with all the Ranma characters present & correct. The problem is that the game was, once again, pretty ordinary. Did they get the formula right with the 3rd & final fighting game on the SNES? Let’s find out…
If you’re a fan of the series all your favourites are here including:
- Ranma, boy type - A confident martial artist who has a fear of cats - Ranma, girl type - The form Ranma takes when splashed with cold water - Akane Tendo - Ranma’s first promised fiancee from birth - Tatewaki Kuno - Has a thing for both Akane & Ranma’s female form - Ryoga Hibiki - Becomes Akane’s pet pig P-Chan when wet. Loves Akane - Ukyo Kuonji - Ranma’s second promised fiancee - Shampoo - Ranma’s accidental third fiancee. Turns into a cat when wet. - Kodachi Kuno - Kuno’s sister & Ranma’s self appointed fourth fiancee - Genma Saotome - Ranma’s father. Turns into a panda when wet - Mousse - Loves Shampoo & sees Ranma as a rival. Turns into a duck when wet
Those are your staple Ranma characters. Added to the mix we have:
- Miss Hinako Ninomiya - Ranma, Akane & Ukyo’s teacher. Appears in 2 OVAs, one of which being the 2008 Ranma special. She has the appearance of a little girl due to an illness she had as a child. Thanks to a modified metabolism she can use the “Happo 5 yen-setsu” technique which can absorb an opponent’s Ki. She uses the stolen Ki to turn into an adult but it’s only temporary. She can also quickly blast the energy she steals back with her “Happo no yen coin return” technique. In the game she appears wearing her manga outfit rather than her more revealing anime outfit.
- Mariko Konjo - The martial arts cheerleader from rival school Seishyun High, who appeared in the 2 part episode: “Bring It On: Love as a Cheerleader” towards the end of the series. Whenever she cheers for her team they always win. It could have something to do with her using her cheering equipment as weapons to take out the opposing team… In the anime she appears as a brunette, but in this game she has been made blonde for some reason. However she is shown with her normal brown hair in the manual & rear box art.
- Herb - A character who never appeared in the anime, but had a large storyline in the manga. Herb is the leader of the Musk Dynasty. Like Ranma he turns into a female when splashed. The story in the manga gives him 2 henchmen called Lime & Mint. Unlike most of Ranma’s rivals Herb does not hesitate to attempt to kill Ranma when he gets the chance.
Enough of that. If you want to know about the show & the characters I recommend checking out Harley’s site: http://www.furinkan.com
Upon hitting Start you see 4 options:
- Story - Allows you to pay through the story mode with your selected character - VS Mode - 2 Player one on one fighting - Tag Match - 2 Player tag match where you choose 2 characters each - Options - Yeah… options… enough said…
All characters are available except Herb, but he can be accessed with a cheat. Hold down L & R before the character selection screen comes up according to GameFAQs. Let’s try it:
What do you know it works!! Thanks GameFAQs!!
The story is a simple one. A cat statue that can makes wishes come true is on offer & all the characters must battle each other to see who can win it. Everyone wants it for their own reasons so it’s a no holds barred battle between friends & rivals to see who can win the coveted prize. The story has a sting in the tail (of course) but I’ll leave that for you to find out for yourselves. When you use the above code for Herb you will go straight to a battle with no storyline.
Right from the word go you can feel the difference between this & the previous 2 games in the series. The character sprites are larger & more solid than the first game & unlike Hard Battle you can press Up to jump. One of my biggest complaints with Hard Battle is that you had to push a button to jump. The controls in this game consist of 2 punch & 2 kick buttons with L being used as a taunt. If you pull off a taunt successfully the character will gain a temporary strength boost. In Miss Hinako’s case it turns her into her older self.
The characters have their special moves from the series available. Ryoga has the Bakusai-Tenketsu “breaking point” attack & the Shi Shi Hokodan “lion roar shot”. Ranma has the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” & the Hiryu Shoten Ha “heaven blast of the dragon” techniques. Other characters who don’t normally have special moves in the series are given some for the benefit of the game. The only problem I found was that some of the projectile moves don’t travel very far across the screen.
The game has that wacky Ranma feel with characters facial expressions being readable on the screen. It feels like a bit of a hybrid between the manga & the anime, like they were trying to keep both parties happy & it works very well. In jokes from the series are present, such as Genma being in his more comfortable panda form & Kuno calling himself the “Blue Thunder of Furinkan High”. As you can see, he really is the Blue Thunder with this special attack:
One thing I do have to mention is the speed of the game. Don’t be expecting Street Fighter 2 Turbo here. The game is quite slow which might put some people off, but I had such a blast playing as various Ranma characters in a decent fighting game I was able to forgive this fairly minor flaw.
The music is nice though it’s not from the series which is a shame. I found it to be pretty unobjectionable anyway, but it might not be to everyone’s taste. The game does feature in play speech, but it sounds very muffled which doesn’t contrast well with the music which is bright & clear.
The graphics are really nice, but there is an issue. A lot of the characters have undergone colour changes. I’ve already mentioned Mariko, but the others are:
- Ukyo - She wears a blue top in the series, not purple. - Kodachi - She normally wears a plain green leotard. Here she is wearing one with a design on it, so I’d probably say this is acceptable - Miss Hinako - Is wearing an off white jumper when it should be yellow - Tatewaki Kuno - Is wearing a white top with a blue hakama, when it should be a blue top with black hakama - Shampoo - Only a small complaint about how dark her hair is. It should be lighter than it is - Mariko - Again with Mariko. She doesn’t actually wear blue, but beige - Mousse - His clothes should be white, not a pale grey/blue
Again these are only small complaints & don’t stop the game being enjoyable. Boy type Ranma is in his traditional red outfit, but has been shown in green, white & blue versions of that top, so any of those would have been acceptable.
After 2 below par Ranma fighting games it’s good to see that we finally get something playable. The gang, as they say, is all here with signature moves included & it’s a joy to pull off a move you recognise from a particular episode/chapter. Put simply this game feels like a Ranma game should & for that I’m going to rate this 88%.
I’ve been told that’s probably a bit generous, but it’s a good game & I’m a fan. What can I say?!
This game was slated for release in the US as “Ranma 1/2: Anything Goes Martial Arts” & apparently it was ready for release before it was cancelled. It was even rumoured that the English voice cast had dubbed their characters. Why was it cancelled? Well there are a few rumours:
- Rumiko Takahashi (the creator of Ranma) didn’t like the voice acting. I have to ask why this would be an issue? She let the whole anime be dubbed with those voices, why would a video game be any different?
- Hard Battle didn’t fare very well. This is believable I suppose, but why put all that effort into translating this game in the first place? I guess it wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened
- The company that were arranging the release went out of business. This one is true, & it’s sad no one else picked up the release. I’m hoping the prototype will be released one day as I’d like to play it in English. Box art was created & I found this image from Ign.com
Sorry it’s not any bigger, but this is the best I could find…
Here’s the rundown on the Sufami Turbo. It was released in 1996 by Bandai in a rare agreement with Nintendo. In an effort to cut the costs of cartridge manufacturing, Bandai created this little system to go on top of the Super Famicom & use smaller cartridges that Bandai themselves could make in house without using Nintendo’s own expensive process. This saved Bandai money which in turn ensured they could sell their games for a cheaper price. The Sufami Turbo is often compared to the Aladdin Desk Enhancer, which was a similar device created by Codemasters to be used on the NES. The difference is that the Sufami Turbo was an official device, while the Aladdin was unofficial.
Over the very short lifespan of the device only 13 games were released:
In order:
• SD Ultra Battle: Ultraman Legend • SD Ultra Battle: Seven Legend • Poi Poi Ninja • SD Gundam Generations: part 1 • SD Gundam Generations: part 2 • Gegege No Kitarou • SD Gundam Generations: part 3 • SD Gundam Generations: part 4 • Gekisou Sentai Car Ranger • SD Gundam Generations: part 5 • SD Gundam Generations: part 6 • Sailor Moon Stars Panic 2 • Crayon Shin Chan
These are displayed in the order of the numbers on the side of the boxes. According to the Japan Wikipedia this is not exactly the order the games were released in, but it’s close. This may the order they were manufactured in. The actual release dates are as follows:
June 28th 1996
• Sufami Turbo hardware • SD Ultra Battle: Ultraman Legend • SD Ultra Battle: Seven Legend • Poi Poi Ninja
July 19th 1996
• Gegege No Kitarou
July 26th 1996
• SD Gundam Generations: part 1 • SD Gundam Generations: part 2
August 23rd 1996
• SD Gundam Generations: part 3 • SD Gundam Generations: part 4 • Gekisou Sentai Car Ranger
Other games were planned for release. This pamphlet which came with the Sufami Turbo itself shows that Tetris 2 + Bombliss was planned for release, but it never saw the light of day: This is strange choice due to the fact that Tetris 2 + Bombliss was released for the Super Famicom in 1994, 2 years before the Sufami Turbo came out.
What makes this stranger is that Bandai didn’t make Tetris 1 + Bombliss. Was this supposed to be the start of 3rd party support for the Sufami Turbo? Were companies going to start releasing their back catalogues onto the Sufami Turbo? Who knows??
The Sufami Turbo could be purchased on its own or with a game. I’ve only seen 5 pack in games & own 2. The pack in games I’ve seen show up on Ebay & Japan Yahoo Auctions are:
• Poi Poi Ninja • SD Gundam: Generations part 1 • SD Ultra Battle: Ultraman Legend • Sailor Moon Stars Panic 2 • Gegege No Kitarou
Here are the Poi Poi Ninja pack in & the SD Gundam Generations part 1 pack in:
Notice the number codes on the side of the packaging are the same as the games themselves with an “S” next to it.
So, 13 games & the ability to link them up. Sounds great right? Sailor Moon can take on Ultraman, an SD Gundam can be ported into Poi Poi Ninja right? Well, this was believed to be the case for a long time & the WIkipedia entry even stated this was the case. Ahh Wikipedia… it kinda proves that having an online encyclopaedia that anyone can modify really is a bad idea. I rewrote the Wikipedia article when I started collecting the system & games & at the time of writing this it’s correct.
The only games that could be linked are:
Poi Poi Ninja – Poi Poi Ninja
This link up only allowed the linking of save data. So you & a friend could play with your individual cartridges in the same game.
SD Gundam – any of the other 5 SD Gundam games:
& the 2 SD Ultraman/Ultraseven games:
With the Gundam & Ultraman games the cartridge in slot A would be the main game cartridge you play on while the cartridge in slot B would contain the additional data used by the game in slot A.
Sufami Turbo games came with a very clear image in the lower left corner of the box which shows whether or not a game is linkable:
Have a look in the lower left corner of SD Ultraman. 2 cartridges are displayed meaning it has the ability to link up with another game. That other game of course being SD Ultraseven.
Ge Ge Ge No Kitarou on the other hand has only one cartridge displayed in the lower left corner meaning that a linkup with another game is not possible.
The Super Gameboy (or SGB) was Nintendo’s first attempt at getting Gameboy games to home console players. Later attempts include a “rumoured but never released” N64 Gameboy player (of which a couple of 3rd party devices were released) & the Gamecube’s Gameboy Player. The Super Gameboy was released in 1994 & opened the market for more Gameboy sales & consequently more money for Nintendo. The big selling point for this device is you could play your Gameboy games in colour. Let’s have a look at the unit. In this article we’ll cover the PAL & US NTSC Super Gameboys as well as the Japanese only Super Gameboy 2.
First we have 3 Super Nintendo/Famicom systems:
From left to right there’s the Super Famicom, the ugly as hell US SNES & the PAL SNES. For the purposes of this article we have 3 Super Gameboys:
The top 2 are the US NTSC & PAL Super Gameboys while the bottom one is the Super Gameboy 2. Let’s have a closer look at these:
Ahh Choplifter 2, nice game. I bought that off a kid at school for $20 back in the early 90s from memory. Bargain. Anyway, to be blunt this SGB is just as ugly as the SNES it’s sitting in. How about the PAL system?
The Simpsons Escape from Camp Deadly. A Christmas present, & a game I am proud to say I clocked. How about the Super Gameboy 2 in the Super Famicom?
I used Pokemon TCG as I couldn’t find any of my other Pokemon games, & there’s a reason I chose a multiplayer game. Let’s have a look at the right side of the Super Gameboy 2 & find out why:
Yes it is a Gameboy expansion port. You know what that means right? You can hook up devices like this:
Well… why you’d want to hook up a worm light I don’t know. If you want to you can though… nice feature yes? Hey, some people get scared of the dark you know!! OK OK, let’s take this a little more seriously. REALLY the port was designed for something more along the lines of this:
Yes, you can hook up a Gameboy/Gameboy colour or another Super Gameboy 2 for multiplayer mayhem. Pokemon TCG all ‘round, though give me a Tetris tournament any day. Imagine it, 2 Super Famicoms, 2 Super Gameboy 2s, 2 TVs, 2 copies of Gameboy Tetris & 1 link cable. You can have multiplayer Tetris & not only that, you can have a multiplayer game of what is considered to be the best version of Tetris ever on TV screens.
Other SNES & Gameboy peripherals can be used as well including the SNES mouse. The Super Gameboy interface is controlled by the controller in port 2 of the SNES. Additionally to this you can actually use the SNES mouse for easier control over choosing your borders & colours.
You might also want to use the Gameboy camera. Maybe you want to take a dodgy looking picture of yourself. If so then you might be wanting to do something like this:
Or maybe you want to print something, the Gameboy has a printer as well:
This Gameboy printer is the Japanese Pikachu Yellow Gameboy printer incase anyone was wondering why it isn’t beige. Hey, I know. The Super Gameboy 2 can be used as a Super Nintendo Gameboy Camera Studio!!
If you decide to set yours up like this & use that name all credit goes to me. Thanks in advance. Finally in Japan the Super Gameboy had a special controller designed by Hori called the Super Gameboy Commander:
As I don’t actually have one of these I’ve used this image from ncsx.com who sell the controller. They are out of stock at the moment & I don’t know if that will change in the future, but here’s a plug for them if they do. It’s a bit of a pointless idea, have a controller that looks like a Gameboy controller… maybe you think it is a good idea? Let us know.
Now let’s look at a game in the system. I’ve chosen “The Great Battle”. This is a Japanese series that includes Ultraman, Kamen Rider, SD Gundam & Roar.
As mentioned before the Super Gameboy has an interface which can be managed by either the SNES controller in port 2 or a SNES mouse. The games wouldn’t play full screen but in a window in the centre of the screen. Why not full screen you might ask? Well even in the small screen the picture was blocky enough. Remember, the Gameboy was only designed to display a certain amount of pixels on the screen, & the bigger you make those pixels the blockier the end result will be.
What about the outside? Well the Super Gameboy had borders that could be displayed on the outside. The default border looked like the edge of the Gameboy screen, but other borders could be used. Several games including Donkey Kong & the Pokemon series had their own borders. The Super Gameboy 2 has 8 borders that are different to the first model.
As well as special borders, some Gameboy games were enhanced when played in a Super Gameboy, similar to how some games are enhanced when played in a Gameboy Colour. The Super Gameboy already has special colour palettes selected for games released before the device, but games such as Space Invaders actually became full blown SNES games when plugged into the unit. Tetris DX will display a different border when plugged into a Super Gameboy 2.
Get the point? No that wasn’t funny at all, was it?
If you’re a collector then the Super Gameboy is definitely a nice device to have. If you don’t care about portability but want to play some good Gameboy games, then get one of these & you can use the SNES to act as both systems. As for the Super Gameboy 2, well it’s not that expensive but make sure you’re going to use the extra features before you consider buying one, otherwise it may be a waste of money. Remember, if you want to use it with a camera & printer that setup is called the “Super Nintendo Gameboy Camera Studio”, trademark me!!
In Japan Nintendo doesn’t dump its systems for the next big thing like the Western world seems to. Being that most video game systems debut there you would think they’d be the first to drop one generation & hop onto the next, but this is not the case. For example, they were still making Famicoms (the Japanese NES) right into the new millennia. So too, the Super Famicom had a life that extended way past 1996 when the rest of the world had moved to the N64, Saturn or Playstation.
In the late 90s Nintendo released blank cartridges labelled as “Nintendo Power”, not to be confused by the US magazine of the same name. The cartridges looked like this:
& were designed to be used in special kiosks to download games on to. The kiosks we big bulky things that had a cartridge slot, what looks like a card slot for possibly a credit card & advertising on the front.
The kiosks were discontinued in 2007. Yes, the Japanese were still playing SNES games in 2007. Technically the last official SNES release was in 2000, but the Japanese could buy the games through these kiosks for another 7 years. A similar system was used in China for the Nintendo iQue, but that’s another story for another day.
The benefit of using this system is to avoid piracy. Disc systems were notorious for it, but cartridges were a lot harder. As we know it’s not impossible, but your average Joe on the street wouldn’t know how to do it.
I purchased one of these cartridges from Japan Yahoo Auctions & it came with 2 games: Toribase No Daibouken & Super Puyo Puyo. Let’s plug in the cartridge & check it out.
Problem: it doesn’t work. Luckily I still had the Methylated Spirits from the last article (on the Barcode Battler) handy, so let’s give this sucker a clean.
Excuse the blurriness of the shot. It’s hard to hold a camera & clean at the same time.
We reinsert the now-clean cartridge & are greeted with this generic title screen:
Just incase you thought this was a Megadrive or PC Engine or something… The cartrtidge then jumps into the game menu.
Towards the top you’ll see 2 games in the list. I’m guessing the second one is Super Puyo Puyo as the last 2 characters are repeated (presumably for Pu-Yo). You’ll notice the green text down the bottom. This scrolls along the screen & I have no idea what it says, sorry.
Just above are 2 bars. The top bar shows 8 slots, meaning you can fit 8 games on the cartridge eventhough it says 7 on the cartridge itself. There ARE 8 blocks, but the first one is taken up by the menu (why that’s not reflected on the screen I do not know). The second bar shows how much space is left on the cartridge. The carts do have 8 slots, but a 32Mbit capacity, which could technically be filled with one game. Stickers were released to cover the numbered blocks on the cartridge so you knew what games were on it. These stickers are quite hard to get ahold of these days & most carts are sold without them.
For interests sake, let’s look at the games on here. First let’s check Toribase No Daibouken out.
UGH… too much Japanese… I don’t understand. We’ll just keep hitting “A” till we get to the game. Here we go.
You play the middle aged fat guy in the centre of the screen & have a tiny punch you need to standing right next to someone to use. It looks like an action RPG. I didn’t spend too much tine on it, so let’s move on to Super Puyo Puyo.
Yep, good old Puyo Puyo. Make no mistake, it’s an absolute classic.
For those unfamiliar with the game, it’s basically Doctor Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. For those unfamiliar with Doctor Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine you have to match up 4 of the blobs together & they disappear. It’s a bit Tetrissy… is that a word? Is now…
That little box on the left side is about to expand & tell me I’ve won. Yeah, I’m the man, the Puyo Puyo man!! Do I want to be a Puyo Puyo man? Yeah, why not!!
As it is I’ve already got Puyo Puyo on its original cartridge
& I can confirm it’s the same game. I might review it later…
So that’s the Nintendo Power cartridge system. It was also released on the Gameboy, but I haven’t picked up one of those yet. From what I understand the same kiosk did both systems, so the GB cartridge slot must be on the other side of the SFC one.
These are quite common on Ebay, but the more games on them the higher they tend to go for. Having the stickers also bumps up the price. As always Japan Yahoo Auctions are cheaper, so if you’re interested in getting one I’d be checking there first.
So, riddle me this Batman. What happens when you take 1 Super Famicom,
& one Barcode Battler 2?
Well, the answer is: Not a hell of a lot. Add in the specially designed Barcode Battler Interface for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo however,
& we’ve got ourselves this setup.
The idea behind this is really inventive. Take a game & determine the strength of the characters in play by scanning a barcode through the Barcode Battler. The Japanese may be wacky, but their innovation with electronics is arguably second to none. This is especially so when we’re talking about Nintendo systems, as many unique devices are made for them that other systems never see. The Famicom, Super Famicom & Gameboy all got their own versions of the Barcode Battler interface. If you’re interested in getting one, all 3 show up on Ebay & Yahoo Japan on a semi regular basis.
I already had the Barcode Battler interface & the unboxed Conveni Wars game, but I recently purchased both together in the single pack (as you can see in the 3rd picture above). I’m a collector, what can I say? Also it was 800yen (approx $8AU) which made me think it was worth it. So I have 2 interfaces, & 2 versions of the game. Let’s hook it up to the TV in the bedroom & see how we go.
So there’s the title screen. I’ll just go on record as saying I had to use my boxed version of the game, as the unboxed one didn’t work. I might have to give it a clean. Anyway, let’s get into the game & see what there is.
I had the Barcode Battler on already but the Interface wasn’t showing any lights. Is it meant to? Well I plugged in the second interface. Same deal. I turned the Barcode Battler off & on, then unplugged & replugged it in. Now the “ER” light comes on the Interface. I try the original interface. Same light now comes on. OK, so “ER” might mean ERror, but it might not.
OK, let’s scan something… Nothing. Let’s try something else… nothing. Now I’ll just point out here that I have no Barcode Battler cards, but the manual clearly shows that you can use any barcode.
As you can see in the lower left part of the manual, any barcode can be used from the cards or anything else. After a few tries I figure it’s time to do some cleaning. I’m assuming the interface is fine as 2 of them are showing the same thing, so we’ll check out the Barcode Battler itself. It’s time for some Methylated Spirits. I’ve seen this done before when cleaning EFTPOS systems at the supermarket back in my teens, so I figure this should be fine right?
You fold the piece of paper until it’s tight enough to touch the scanner, wet it with metho & then wipe.
The end result? Well it STILL doesn’t scan…
What does the manual say?
Ummm… I dunno… I ASSUME I’m doing everything correctly. The Barcode Battler turns on, but even when it’s not plugged into the Super Famicom it won’t scan barcodes… then again I don’t know when it’s supposed to be able to as both manuals are in Japanese…
We’ll end our little experiment here for now. I thought it would be interesting have a look at & was hoping to provide you with a little gameplay to have a look at, but the game won’t continue unless you’ve scanned barcodes for your character & presumably the opponents as well.
The Barcode Battler only cost me 100yen ($1) so I’m not exactly crying over it. If I get another one we’ll revisit this again, but for the time being it’s an interesting look at another peripheral that never reached the English speaking world.
Do Re Mi Fantasy: Milon No Doki Doki Daibouken (Super Famicom)
Do Re Mi Fantasy: Milon’s Doki Doki Adventure (Wii Virtual Console)
Released 1996/2008
It is often said that a sequel is never better than the original. Have a look at Back to the Future 2, Oceans 12, or almost any horror movie sequel. As always there are exceptions to the rule, take The Empire Strikes Back for example. It’s a wonderfully crafted movie that has more flow & a better story than the original. I know it’s a point much argued among fans, but the general consensus is that it’s the best movie of the original trilogy. But I’m getting off topic here, where was I??
Do Re Mi Fantasy: Milon No Doki Doki Daibouken (Referred to from this moment as Do Re Mi Fantasy) is the sequel to Milon’s Secret Castle for the NES. If you’re a fan of Angry Video Game Nerd you’re probably familiar with how poor Milon’s Secret Castle is. AVGN isn’t the only person to give that game a poor review, just do a Google search on it & see what you get. As for my opinon: Yes, it’s a bad game.
For some reason towards the end of the Super Nintendo’s lifecycle it was decided that the world needed another Milon game, so after the Western world had abandoned the SNES for greener 32-bit fields Japanese fans got a sequel starring the little guy in the floppy hat. Actually… doesn’t be remind you of Noddy? Anyway, this game is the equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back, & it’s that good you will forget all about Milon’s Secret Castle.
When you first start the game you see a nice little semi animated intro which shows Milon playing with his friends. One of his friends is the fairy “Alis”. She gets kidnapped by the dreaded Amon who for the record is an evil wizard. After her capture Milon decides it’s up to him to rescue her. Oh, & Amon has also taken all the music from the world. I assume these 2 events are related, but as the game is in Japanese I’m not 100% sure how that fits in. If you own the WiiWare version you’ll find it hasn’t been translated unfortunately. For the purposes of this review I’m playing the original Super Famicom cartridge.
The first thing you’ll notice is the map screen, just like Super Mario World. When you get to the game you’ll see just how smooth Milon moves & how nice the backgrounds look. The pictures don’t do it justice. There is a lot of colour used but it’s not over the top. The music is very happy & boppy & sound effects are all appropriate. Everything looks like it’s been given a spoonfull of suger to add that little bit of extra sweetness, but not so much it becomes bitter. Nice little touches like Milon pulling his hat down over his head when you leave him standing still really show how much effort went into this game.
Milon is a joy to control & the only thing I had a bit of a problem with is that he doesn’t jump as high as Mario or Sonic, though the gameworld is designed with this in mind so it’s not a problem. You’ll notice in the screenshots that Milon wears different coloured clothes. There are 2 clothes upgrades that allow you to take extra hits. Red gives you 1 hit, blue gives you 2 & green gives you 3. If you get hit wearing green, your clothes change to blue, then red, then you die.
Like Milon’s Secret Castle you shoot bubbles at the enemies, but this time you need to pop them which makes it feel like a side scrolling Bubble Bobble, & that’s definately not a bad thing. Bubbles can also be used to destroy blocks & shoot away hidden passages. Milon also has an attack whereby you hold down the fire button & he charges up, then shoots bubbles all around him. This is handy for hitting blocks above your head, as Milon cannot shoot upwards.
Unlike Milon’s Secret Castle which felt like more an adventure game played on platforms, Do Re Mi Fantasy which is a pure platformer & the better for it, but there are some differences. Unlike Mario, when Milon jumps on the heads of enemies he only stuns them. Like Mario however, if you pick up 100 musical notes (instead of coins) you get a 1 Up. If you run low on lives you can revisit earlier, easier levels to stock up.
As you play through the game the story progresses. Prior to defeating the first boss Milon is told about the 5 magical instruments he must collect before he can rescue Alis. As well as this, Milon must collect stars.
Milon can also collect items to help him on his quest. Bubble Gum in an emergency item. If you have this in your inventory & fall to your death, Milon will reappear blowing on the bubble gum & using it to float back up. You can also get shoes that allow you to float, keys to open doors, bowling balls to throw at your enemies & more.
This game may seem like your average platformer, but it really is one of the undiscovered gems in the SNES/SFC collection & well worth getting your hands on. Hudson Soft can rarely put a foot wrong in my book & this game reinforces that. Also, being that Hudson Soft made the game it’s hardly surprising to see a cameo from their star Bomberman.
While the game never received a translation on the Super Nintendo, it was released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2008 in English, in North America. If it’s still available by the time you read this & you have a US Wii I strongly recommend downloading it. If not then it’s well worth hunting it down on Ebay. A mint copy will cost you, but the cartridge alone is affordable. This one gets a rating of 5/5, it’s a little known game, but an absolute classic.
There are 5 Super Bomberman games on the SNES/SFC. Not many people know this as in the Western world only the first 3 were released. The problem is that Super Bomberman 4 was released in 1996 which was around the time the SNES had started to drop in popularity. The world was anticipating the next generation of systems, & the 16 bit machines were being abandoned. Not in Japan however, where SNES games were made well into the year 2000. On a side note, recently a Bomberman article featured in Retrogamer magazine where they claim that number 5 was the only one never released outside Japan, but I can’t find any evidence to suggest 4 was so we’ll put that down to being a mistake.
So let’s have a look at the game. A very nice intro starts us off with Shiro & Kuro (another little known fact is that the 2 Bombers actually have names) asleep on a rocket ship which is attacked by a group of 5 evil bombers.
The guys are then awoken from their sleep & they are sent into a world full of clocks for some reason with a little girl dressed in cowboy clothes. Hey, it’s Japanese, I don’t speak it, so that’s the best I can give you. The manual has a little comic at the start which explains the story, but as it too is in Japanese I can’t refer to that for plot points I’m afraid. Does the plot of a Bomberman game REALLY matter though? We all know what we’re here for. BLOWING THINGS UP!!!
As you can see by the title screen at the top of the page you have your typical 3 options of “Normal Game”, “Battle Game” & “Password” for the normal game. If you’ve ever played a Bomberman game you’ll be pretty familiar with these options. If not I’ll explain as we go along. How does Bomberman 4 differ from the others? Well I’m glad you asked…
Here’s the first stage:
Not a lot in it, is there? Looks like Bomberman 1, Bomberman 2 & Bomberman 3. Bomberman 5 had a massive graphics overhaul which will be covered in another review later on. But here we are, typical Bomberman play. For the uninitiated, You play as Shiro (the white bomber) or Kuro (the black bomber) & using an infinite supply of bombs (though initially you can only use 1 at a time) you must blow up boxes blocking your path to the enemies, collect any powerups that may appear from those blocks, then blow up the enemies, then an exit will appear. You go to that exit & it’s level over. It really is the simplest of concepts.
Each Bomberman game has little things which differentiate it from the one previous. Bomberman 3 was quite innovative in that it had the Louies (Rooies), who were kangaroo type characters that you could ride. When blown up, some of the blocks in the level would reveal an egg you could collect. It would hatch into a Louie & you could ride it. Each Louie has its own special ability. Yes, it’s Bomberman’s version of Yoshi, but we won’t dwell on that as the Louies aren’t in this game. They do come back in Bomberman 5 however.
Bomberman 4 expands on this feature by allowing you to defeat enemies & use their special abilities. Some enemies when blown up will become green spotted, or metallic eggs. You collect the eggs, they hatch back into that enemy you blew up & they become your pets, allowing you to ride them & use their special abilities.
Unlike Bomberman 3 you can stockpile these guys allowing you to ride one & carry 2 eggs behind you in reserve. The problem with this is when you lay a bomb you must get those eggs out the way or they WILL be destroyed, even if you’re clear of the bomb yourself. If you are in a 2 player game your ally can come & pinch one of the eggs. This can be a problem in Battle Mode which we’ll cover later.
Another new idea introduced in this game is the idea of imprisoned Bombers who you can free. In some levels you will see a rattling cage such as the one pictured below. It’s along the left. side of the image.
Blow up the cage & you get yourself an ally for the remainder of the level. Here he is in the top left corner of the screen.
Why is he up there for seemingly no reason? Well the problem is these Bombers aren’t too bright, just seeming to lay bombs at random. This can cause problems as they don’t seem to care where you are when they place them. You don’t HAVE to free them to pass the level, so if you want to leave them to rot in their tiny cages go right ahead. They deserve it!!
I haven’t touched on the powerups yet. Upon destroying blocks you may find one of the following:
Skates for speed Wooden sandals to slow you down Additional bombs Additional blast power Viruses that cause random negative affects Remote control bombs Protection vest The ability to kick bombs out of your way The ability to punch bombs The ability to be hit once & still remain in the game Extra lives Spikey bombs that go through blocks Clock that freezes enemies The ability to go through walls The ability to pick up other Bombermen & throw them The ability to push other Bombermen 2 others I can’t understand from the manual. One has a picture of a question mark & another as a normal human face. I never saw this item while playing the game, so I don’t know what it is.
The single player mode showcases some impressive bosses. The guys at Hudson really have a good imagination when it comes to designing some of these.
Not much to say here. Hit them 8 times with a bomb blast & they’re history.
Music is fun as always with variations on Bomberman themes featured in the earlier games. In Bomberman 3 as soon as you turned the console on you would hear a voice saying “By Hudsonsoft”. This voice is back but it’s slightly slower & less high pitched. The little Bombers will speak occasionally, but as it’s in Japanese I don’t really know what they’re saying.
Let’s move on to Battle Mode. Bomberman 4 gives us a little more yet keeps the improvements introduced in Bomberman 3. You can either choose a generic Bomber or one of the 5 enemies.
Now these guys aren’t just new sprites that look different. Each of the Bombers has their own special ability which can be used to cause problems for the opposition. For example, one of them can swing a ball & chain over their heads knocking items off anyone they hit & scattering them across the screen for other players to pick up. Another one can shoot fire destroying anyone it hits, but he loses all his powerup abilities for a short time afterwards. Now you & all of your friends will want to play Battle mode over & over trying all 6 of them… presumably that was the idea anyway…
When a Bomber gets blown up you can switch on an option that will allow them to come back & exact revenge on the players still in the play field. They pilot little ships that hover on the outside of the play field & can lob bombs into it. If a player is hit on the head with one of these bombs they get stunned & lose some of their items which will scatter around the screen, so if you blow someone up watch out!!! They may come back & hunt you down.
Summary.
This is without a doubt my favourite Bomberman game & it’s a shame it was never released outside Japan. What makes it my favourite? I personally think it’s the most innovative of the 5 games. Lots of new ideas which expand on an old favourite. It’s got to be 5/5. Sheer Hudsonsoft brilliance.
