NA » NEScapade #002 - Caveman Games

NEScapade #002 - Caveman Games On a mission to play, beat, stream, and review the entire NES library.

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Nov 21, 2016 at 9:07:20 AM

Jdurg (0)

< Little Mac >

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Brand new member here, but I just wanted to say that everything i've seen in this thread has me really excited and I would DEFINITELY be buying one. I just ordered an NES that I plan to clean up and restore, and add in the HDMI mod when my turn in line comes up. Looking forward to getting back into this fun hobby again.

Nov 21, 2016 at 9:11:46 AM

uatudawatcha (2)

(Ernie ) < Crack Trooper >

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Awesome, welcome

Nov 21, 2016 at 9:13:26 AM

Mega Tank (186)

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Originally posted by: Jdurg

Brand new member here, but I just wanted to say that everything i've seen in this thread has me really excited and I would DEFINITELY be buying one. I just ordered an NES that I plan to clean up and restore, and add in the HDMI mod when my turn in line comes up. Looking forward to getting back into this fun hobby again.

Why not just pick up an AVS?

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Nov 21, 2016 at 9:19:00 AM

Jdurg (0)

< Little Mac >

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Originally posted by: Mega Tank

Why not just pick up an AVS?

Haha. Well, there's some part of my nostalgia bug, and need to tinker with stuff, that makes me want to do this with a real system.

Nov 21, 2016 at 11:12:17 AM

thewalrusisal (42)

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I want my copy autographed.

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Jan 1, 2017 at 12:34:34 PM

bronzeshield (44)

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JosephLeo, I notice the HES release Jackpot isn't on your list, so I'm guessing it had a Sachen equivalent, but I'm not sure which one. Can you clue me in?

The other "missing" HES releases (that are on the Sachen list) are Pipemania = Pipe 5, Arctic Adventure = Penguin & Seal, and Math Quiz from the 4 in 1 Mindblower Pack = Magical Mathematics. But I haven't figured out which one Jackpot is.

Are there any Brazilian exclusives besides Crime Busters?

Edited: 01/01/2017 at 12:35 PM by bronzeshield

Jan 1, 2017 at 4:21:14 PM

tubeway (2)

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I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with all the detail and design elements shared thus far by OP. I really hope you finish this project and it works out well for you, dude.

Jan 1, 2017 at 5:03:31 PM

PowerPlayers (87)

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Originally posted by: bronzeshield

JosephLeo, I notice the HES release Jackpot isn't on your list, so I'm guessing it had a Sachen equivalent, but I'm not sure which one. Can you clue me in?

The other "missing" HES releases (that are on the Sachen list) are Pipemania = Pipe 5, Arctic Adventure = Penguin & Seal, and Math Quiz from the 4 in 1 Mindblower Pack = Magical Mathematics. But I haven't figured out which one Jackpot is.

Are there any Brazilian exclusives besides Crime Busters?

Jackpot *should* be on that list but somehow isn't in there so it was a mistake on my part. Its in my "To Review" list so don't worry there. It just didn't make It to the public list. Jackpot is Shuigo Li and it's also found in the Mindblower Pak. Its not by Sachen but rather by Bit Corp.

My list also had three Brazilian exclusives which are Crimebusters, Fighting Hero, and Fire Dragon. But I still think there are more to be found. They got a lot of crap out there and I still don't know with 100% certainty of Fire Dragon and Fighting Hero are originals, licensed IP, or pirated IP.

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Got any of these for sale? Sell them to me. I also buy other NES Publisher inserts, and even GB/GBC, and SNES inserts too.

Jan 1, 2017 at 8:25:10 PM

bronzeshield (44)

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^Cool! Thanks for that, it's very helpful.

BTW looking at your sig, it looks like you're only counting the unique Gluk and HES games as PAL Unlicensed, and everything else -- Sachen, the Brazilian exclusives, etc. -- would be grouped separately. Is that correct? PAL unlicensed exclusives are new territory for me, so I'm trying to figure out the organizational principles folks are using.

Jan 1, 2017 at 11:42:50 PM

fcgamer (101)

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Originally posted by: JosephLeo

Yeah Jackpot is Shui Guo Li or something like that, translating into "Fruit Beaver". Until this point, it never once dawned on me that the animal in the game was a beaver, I always thought it was an ugly cat or something. It would be too much hope that the game contained nudity, and that the beaver symbolized wide open beavers, haha. Beaver definitely seems to be an odd choice though, I need to research and see if it has some sort of significant meaning in Chinese culture or language.

Fighting Hero and Fire Dragon are real games, not hacks or things like that. Fire Dragon is a snake clone, developed by a defunct company local to me. It was licensed out to BIC (the guys that licensed all the Codemasters games for Famicom, i.e. the games that would be published in the USA by Camerica). I forget the meaning of BIC, but it stood for Brazil something, implying that although based in Taiwan, its main distribution / dealings would have been in Brazil (but in actuality, it seems Eastern / Central Europe is where most of their games went, Poland for example).

Fighting Hero was the first game developed by Mega Soft / Maga Soft, the guys behind the infamous Caltron stuff. Knowing that they were king of distribution when it came to their bootleg Famicom stuff, surely any 72 pin versions would have been licensed by them in some sort of manner.

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Family Bits: An Unauthorized, Complete Guide to Famicom, Dendy, and Pegasus

https://famicomfamilybits.wordpre...

Jan 1, 2017 at 11:52:18 PM

fcgamer (101)

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It will be interesting too, about these games that started as Famicom, but then became PAL unlicensed. I wonder how many of these carts are just using the original FC game, with an adapter soldered onto it? Also, seeing as the original versions were NTSC for Famicom, it will be interesting to see just how much was reworked for a PAL format.

Speaking of PAL, will you include information about the few known Sachen games that were specifically marked as Italian versions? I was always rallying to get those to have two entries in the NA database, but no one was ever as concerned as me about this.

Also, in some parts (i.e. Indonesia, etc) there were bootleg / unlicensed NES games containing hacks (like Mario IV), but also some had interesting stuff like Dragon Ball Z2 (the unlicensed original game). These were basically just official Famicom version pcbs with 72 pn adapter attached, but the labels for some of these had obviously come from the original developer / publisher, suggesting there may have been a limited run of these games over in those regions. Quite messy to try to make a list, I think, without doing a lot of research, but still might be worth mentioning.

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Family Bits: An Unauthorized, Complete Guide to Famicom, Dendy, and Pegasus

https://famicomfamilybits.wordpre...

Jan 2, 2017 at 12:16:53 AM

Braveheart69 (222)

(AKA BLACKBOXY) < Wiz's Mom >

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I don't care what you say, look at this picture of my CIB. That is 100% a cat not a beaver!

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I HAVE IT ALL NOW NES WISE! Unless you come across a Canadian DK JR MATH... if so I'm a Buyer!
USA GG set (Including all variants): COMPLETE! Set includes 244 / 257 Sealed/NEW!
Euro GG set (Including all variants): Missing 9 boxes, 9 books, 9 carts.
Japan GG set: COMPLETE! 196/196
Brazil GG set: Have 61/68. Need 5 boxes, 7 books, 3 carts.
GG Pirate Total: 68 different & Counting, Including Car Licence!
GG Prototypes: 4

Jan 2, 2017 at 1:00:40 AM

fcgamer (101)

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Yeah, but if you look at the sprite in-game, it doesn't look like a cat:

http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/2...

That tail is a beaver's tail, same with the face.

Here is the original artwork (this is a reprint cartridge, but I am too lazy to dig out the original)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TWBxJYndih...

That ... thing certainly doesn't look like a cat.

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Family Bits: An Unauthorized, Complete Guide to Famicom, Dendy, and Pegasus

https://famicomfamilybits.wordpre...

Jan 2, 2017 at 1:20:29 AM

Braveheart69 (222)

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That 2nd link isn't a cat or a beaver that is 100% a monkey! I'm going with my original CIB copy that clearly has a cat on the box and cart.

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Edited: 01/02/2017 at 01:22 AM by Braveheart69

Jan 2, 2017 at 1:42:03 AM

fcgamer (101)

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Well if that is a monkey, it is the strangest monkey I ever saw!

Seeing as how the Famicom version is the original, same with the title, it seems the creature in the game is supposed to be a beaver, albeit a poorly drawn one.

When it was brought over to Australia by HES, it seems someone had the sense to realize that a beaver would be a strange selection, and then changed the artwork to feature a cat. But the artwork and name from the Famicom version was first, and since the sprite in-game wasn't changed (at least from what I can see), that creature inside was originally intended to be a beaver.

For those in the cat camp, however, there is a spelling mistake on some versions of the game, seen below:

http://fcpic.nesbbs.com/Game_pic....

See how it says "Amousement" ? With mouse in the word?! Could it be a reference to a cat, or more than likely just a sloppy spelling error.

Edit: Seeing as how the original version of the game (Shui Guo Li) even includes those words in the title screen, surrounding the weird creature, it surely is a beaver. To call the game "Fruit Beaver" and then show a fish or a cat or something would be silly.

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Family Bits: An Unauthorized, Complete Guide to Famicom, Dendy, and Pegasus

https://famicomfamilybits.wordpre...

Edited: 01/02/2017 at 01:46 AM by fcgamer

Jan 2, 2017 at 1:59:51 AM

Braveheart69 (222)

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Seriously dude, that thing even has clothes on, that is a monkey all day.

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Jan 2, 2017 at 2:06:11 AM

fcgamer (101)

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It has the beaver teeth though...

Edit: Compare to this one:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wUakDOHAmV...

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Family Bits: An Unauthorized, Complete Guide to Famicom, Dendy, and Pegasus

https://famicomfamilybits.wordpre...

Edited: 01/02/2017 at 02:06 AM by fcgamer

Jan 2, 2017 at 6:10:12 PM

bronzeshield (44)

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If NintendoAge were ever to tackle the "unlicensed PAL library" in the same way it's tackled the North American & licensed European libraries, what should that game list look like? In particular, are there games that have a language barrier (i.e. are in Chinese)?

Jan 3, 2017 at 5:34:25 AM

fcgamer (101)

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Originally posted by: bronzeshield

If NintendoAge were ever to tackle the "unlicensed PAL library" in the same way it's tackled the North American & licensed European libraries, what should that game list look like? In particular, are there games that have a language barrier (i.e. are in Chinese)?

As far as I am aware, there were very few unlicensed PAL games, and even those intended for PAL regions had originally been designed for NTSC regions (so who knows if they were optimized for PAL or not, I am not sure).

If you are interested in the unlicensed stuff, check out the Famicom stuff. All NTSC, but that is where things get wild, with Chinese releases and just about every other thing one could think of as well.

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Family Bits: An Unauthorized, Complete Guide to Famicom, Dendy, and Pegasus

https://famicomfamilybits.wordpre...

Jan 8, 2017 at 2:34:11 PM

PowerPlayers (87)

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Whoo! After taking a little break I'm up to 100 games! On track to finish in about 9 months from now which means I should be able to get these books out by Christmas 2017!

Oh, and I found an artist for the cover. Gonna cost a bit, but hey who cares!

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Got any of these for sale? Sell them to me. I also buy other NES Publisher inserts, and even GB/GBC, and SNES inserts too.

Edited: 01/08/2017 at 02:34 PM by PowerPlayers

Jan 26, 2017 at 1:23:31 PM

PowerPlayers (87)

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So I'm stuck at 100 reviews so far. I'm playing a genre right now that I typically don't play on NES, RPGs.

Willow, Dragon Warrior III, ~~Faxanadu~~ Crystalis, and Wizardy 1, are all on my list by pure chance back to back and I'm not willing to review them until I play them 100%, sit on it for a while, and then play them through a little bit again.

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know that all is well and I'm going to be launching a website to publish all reviews too. Might publish the gameplay videos there too.

Edit: Made a mistake, I was stuck on Crystalis, not Faxanadu! Faxanadu was actually the 8th game I played!

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Got any of these for sale? Sell them to me. I also buy other NES Publisher inserts, and even GB/GBC, and SNES inserts too.

Edited: 03/01/2017 at 11:44 AM by PowerPlayers

Jan 26, 2017 at 1:27:42 PM

Foochie776 (240)

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Love the updates!

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May the force be with you.

Feb 7, 2017 at 6:29:49 PM

PowerPlayers (87)

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Made the decision to publish all the reviews on a website before printing the book. That might be the best way to actually gain a following and interest in the end product.

I'm also thinking of doing the gameplay streamed live over twitch but I'm not exactly the "YouTube" personality type so maybe I'll just publish the gameplay videos after I record them and don't share my ugly mug and voice.

I think it'll let me take a little more time and give me time to play my other loves like SNES, PS1/PS2/PSP, and some Sega and Atari too. Plus I can publish my articles, game guides/atlases, gameplay videos, screenshots, collectors data, and other stuff.

More to come soon! Exciting things in the works.

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Got any of these for sale? Sell them to me. I also buy other NES Publisher inserts, and even GB/GBC, and SNES inserts too.

Edited: 02/07/2017 at 06:31 PM by PowerPlayers

Feb 7, 2017 at 6:34:07 PM

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Gloves (110)

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Nice! Did you finish those RPGs that were giving you a rough time?

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Feb 7, 2017 at 7:37:52 PM

Sign Collector Guy (8)

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Can you please let me write a chapter on the great display signage of the early days and retail setups! :-)