STREET HEROES (GameBoy Color)

I'm starting a completely new topic here. Everyone has probably heard of so-called "bootleg" games. These are games that were released without a license. Many such titles come from China / Taiwan and were or are being published especially for Nintendo handhelds such as the GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance etc. Most of the time they are total botch because they just took a popular game and changed sprites and music. However, there are also some pretty interesting bootlegs at times. I would like to introduce these here. It starts with "Street Heroes" for the GameBoy Color!

THE GAME:

"Street Heroes" was originally produced for the NES in 1994 by the Taiwanese company "SACHEN" (also known as "Thin Chen Enterprise").

It's a typical 7-man fighting game that is very similar to (and probably based on) Street Fighter. All without a license from Nintendo or Capcom, of course. It is all the more interesting that they also released it for the GameBoy Color. The graphics are very faithful to the NES original in both style and color palette. During the fighting it flickers a bit and this version is a bit worse than the NES version, but it is still good what you conjured up on the GameBoy Color screen.

SCREENSHOTS:

PHYSICAL RELEASE:

In China / Taiwan the game was sold "normally". Here are a few photos:

ROM & EMULATOR: A ROM has been dumped from the game and is relatively easy to find online. I still put it in the appendix here. For everyone who would like to try it out for themselves. Most common emulators could not start it. It has to do with it that all official games follow a Nintendo policy. The bootleg games don't always care.And actually there are toocopy-protected bootlegs . Therefore, you have to use an emulator that does not ad here to the guidelines (ROM sizes, headers, etc.).

One is called "Hhugboy" and you can download it here:https://github.com/tzlion/hhugboy/releases/tag/v1.3.0

And here the ROM: Street Heroes (Unl)_GameBoy Color.zip

QUELLEN:

A website that deals exclusively with such bootlegs is the

"Handheld Underground" -> http://hhug.me

The guy behind the site is also the programmer of the emulator mentioned above. It's very interesting there, so take a look.

And here is another blog that deals with such games: http://qiezei.blogspot.com/201…achen-game-boy-color.html

KARATE JOE (GameBoy Color)

Today I am introducing another bootleg or another unlicensed game for the GameBoy Color. It's called "Karate Joe" and dates back to 2000. It was published by the publisher "Rocket Games". However, this is just a pseudonym, or rather a label from another company. The UK company "Datel" was behind "Rocket Games". It was and is known for cheat software and hardware of all kinds for all kinds of video game consoles (and lots of copyright infringements). The game itself was developed by the then unknown Italian "NAPS Team".

THE GAME:

"Karate Joe" is a platform / beat'em-up game in the style of "Kung Fu Master". There is no background story. The main character "Joe" (who looks like Ryo from Street Fighter) can defend himself against his opponents with kicks and punches. There are 5 hearts in the upper screen that serve as life indicators.Opponents also leave hearts behind which you can collect to recharge your life energy. However, all opponents really leave a heart, so that you can run through the whole game without any major problems. The level of difficulty is extremely easy, which is quite negative. There are 4 different "worlds / scenarios" which all end with a final boss. But this boss always looks the same and the whole gameplay is by and large very monotonous.In my opinion, the game looks good. The colors are very consistent. It looks really great for a GameBoy Color game.

SCREENSHOTS:

PHYSICAL RELEASE:

The company Datel distributed the game in England and it could be ordered directly from the online shop. It was on a cartridge with its own

Design released in duplicate with another game. There are several variants of which second game is included on the module. Allegedly there should also be individual modules. At that time, a subsidiary of Datel also brought out its own video game magazine which was called "GBX". In the previous issue (No. 11) the game was included as a gimmick on the newspaper for a price of £ 2.99.

ROM & EMULATOR:

As with the "Street Heroes" bootleg, the game cannot be played with all emulators. VisualBoy Advance works in this case but the emulator "Hhugboy" would be better here as well. If you want to try the game yourself, you will also find the ROM to download.

ROM-Download -> Karate Joe (Unl)_GameBoy Color.zip

TRIVIA:

The "NAPS Team" should later celebrate their official debut with their game "Gekido: Kintaro's Revenge" on the GameBoy Advance. Before they do though

Turning to the GBA, they programmed a few prototypes for the GameBoy Color. I suspect to find publishers for their projects.

These prototypes are really impressive and show what would have been possible on the GameBoy Color. I once made it available for download.

Prototyp 1 -> napsteam_prototyp_newgen.zip

Prototyp 2 -> napsteam_prototyp_gekido.zip

The prototypes can be started with all common emulators. Take a look at them. It is worth it.