Bootleg Games

[Teone]

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Inspired by Handheld Underground and St1ka videos, I went into this searching for games that were under the mainstream radars, but had a interesting presence in the video game market around the world. As commented by St1ka himself in some tweets:

"I was tired of how stale the retrogaming discourse has become. I was tired of watching videos on the same games and same stories we've been hearing since '06. Modern games for retro systems deserve respect. There are good bootleg games. Game development doesn't end in Japan and the US. The Amiga exists, Ms-dos exists, the Master System is Good."​

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In my case, my first contact console was a chinese famiclone called Polystation, with different 4893490-in-1 cartridges containing a lot of crazy stuff like a black and white Pokémon 2D platformers that I couldn't find anywhere to this day, as well as many of those bootleg games I've been sharing with you here. I'm writting this now but I can't say it in a better summarized way than Felipe Pepe (Editor of the CRPG Book, a free book on the history of Computer Role-Playing Games) in his Bsky:

"There's extremely popular "non-official" games that I only know because I'm Brazilian - from Pokémon MMOs with 50k+ players to Android GTA hacks & soccer mods that became part of BR culture. I often wonder how many more of those are hidden behind language barriers and a sanitized game history."​

So, I wanted to open this thread for us to show some love for those games and spread their word for the ones yet unfamiliarized. Some of them can be very funny, but some can really surprise you technically. Which ones are your favorites? Do you remember any situation of playing it with some friends and having a good time? Let's share these memories and points of view!

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[fake-kun]

I never played bootleg games aside from Zook Hero Z, but I remember seeing a bootleg NES clone in a museum once. I didn't get to play games on it or even touch it, unfortunately.

 

[DunkeyKong]

The Mario cover art was a banger
About the bootleg games, mine was something similar to The Legend of Zelda. And by similar…well? Mostly just copy paste
It's called Shen Qi Di Mao Zi, it's basically just Minish Cap but…demake? I don't know but it's trying something I guess

 

[VampireLord1024]

What about this?

 

[nonotz]

It's called Shen Qi Di Mao Zi, it's basically just Minish Cap but…demake? I don't know but it's trying something I guess
View attachment 2592

interesting ... 神奇 in chinese is Magical/Mythical

 

[BigTony]

View attachment 2590
​

Inspired by Handheld Underground and St1ka videos, I went into this searching for games that were under the mainstream radars, but had a interesting presence in the video game market around the world. As commented by St1ka himself in some tweets:

"I was tired of how stale the retrogaming discourse has become. I was tired of watching videos on the same games and same stories we've been hearing since '06. Modern games for retro systems deserve respect. There are good bootleg games. Game development doesn't end in Japan and the US. The Amiga exists, Ms-dos exists, the Master System is Good."​

​

​

In my case, my first contact console was a chinese famiclone called Polystation, with different 4893490-in-1 cartridges containing a lot of crazy stuff like a black and white Pokémon 2D platformers that I couldn't find anywhere to this day, as well as many of those bootleg games I've been sharing with you here. I'm writting this now but I can't say it in a better summarized way than Felipe Pepe (Editor of the CRPG Book, a free book on the history of Computer Role-Playing Games) in his Bsky:

"There's extremely popular "non-official" games that I only know because I'm Brazilian - from Pokémon MMOs with 50k+ players to Android GTA hacks & soccer mods that became part of BR culture. I often wonder how many more of those are hidden behind language barriers and a sanitized game history."​

So, I wanted to open this thread for us to show some love for those games and spread their word for the ones still unfamiliarized. Some of them can be very funny, but some can really surprise you technically. Which ones are your favorites? Do you remember any situation of playing it with some friends and having a good time? Let's share these memories and points of view!

View attachment 2585 View attachment 2584 View attachment 2587 View attachment 2586 View attachment 2588 View attachment 2591
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best bootleg i played was a GBC port of metal slug that started with a fmv of the twin towers going down blew my mind im sure its readily available nowadays but back then i had never seen anything like it

 

[sphere]

My friend from Azerbaijan told me about a Chinese bootleg of Streets of Rage he had as a kid. The entire thing was in English except the final boss, which was in Chinese. He never beat it because he kept hitting "Yes," which sends you back to round 6 via a trap door.

 

[afureru]

Queen Fighter 2000 is the one that sticks out to me the most, its likely the first bootleg game I wanted to still play the day after I first played it. Which is funny because it's basically a stiffer playing version of the NGPC game it pulls the sprites from. But its actually very solid and fun, especially for a bootleg fighting game on a less advanced portable console. I'm a sucker for bishojo fighting games I guess :3

 

[OmegaKatanaXIII]

I remember playing Somari as a kid in a random nes emulator during the early 2000's and I was shocked as well as werided out by it.

 

[Cu-Neo]

The nes bootleg that I remember the most is the World heroes one (that roster is indeed unique)

 

[rsgauna1986]

You can download it in hhug (.) me (Handled Underground) site...

 

[RetroFreax]

There was (and still IS) a famous site that nobody knows nowadays:

CaH4e3 page

If You're into BOOTLEGS for NES, this is the right and BEST place...

 

[JustLooking123]

When I was kid, I had a cool NES game about Bruce Lee!
it was a dual-language game Arabic-English, which at that time I could read neither! nevertheless a cool feature for a bootleg nes game!
It is a side-scroller game, with one-on-one boss fights!
A hidden-gem, which is nowadays hard to find... it's name is TheDragon.nes and I was lucky to find it!
It has some characters from Mortal Kombat in it as boss, and platformer parts of it is fun too!
The graphic is beautiful, and the music is almost legendary for its time and its system!
One of my most favorite games of my childhood! But can be hard! be warned...

 

[RetroFreax]

When I was kid, I had a cool NES game about Bruce Lee!
it was a dual-language game Arabic-English, which at that time I could read neither! nevertheless a cool feature for a bootleg nes game!
It is a side-scroller game, with one-on-one boss fights!
A hidden-gem, which is nowadays hard to find... it's name is TheDragon.nes and I was lucky to find it!

This looks really like Hidden Bootleg Gem! i like it already. Apart from music which is annoying as hell everything seems to be right. Big sprites. Fighting mechanics.. Heres a video:

 

[JustLooking123]

This looks really like Hidden Bootleg Gem! i like it already. Apart from music which is annoying as hell everything seems to be right. Big sprites. Fighting mechanics.. Heres a video:

There was (and still IS) a famous site that nobody knows nowadays:

CaH4e3 page

If You're into BOOTLEGS for NES, this is the right and BEST place...

Thanks! actually this game can be downloaded from the site you mentioned, but not on that page, it can be found In this page.

Edit:
Interesting fact: the version in the site you mentioned is made in 1996 and is from IC company, while the one i had found in past was made in 1995 and from Rinco company!
I don't know if there's any in game difference or not,

Also the the page which you shown, helped me to find another childhood game of mine! so thank you very much!
It is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for nes!
I was actually able to find it in other sites, but it was a different version of it which didn't have Sub-Zero, but the version in the site you mentioned is exactly same as i had!