What the heck is on this $10 Retro Game handheld? Let’s find out!

[Beowulf]

Yeah, they made the easiest Ninja Gaiden the hardest with their changes. Mechanically, NGIII is easily my favorite of the series. I love that super sword.

Woot, then! It felt damn playable and I'll likely go back to it.

TMNT2, on the other hand, I might play on a different device where I can use some cheat codes, because it's still a damn quarter-muncher and apparently I do want to see the new stages.

 

[Beowulf]

You may have noticed “touchgameplayer.com” on a bunch of the title screens; that was clearly hacked in by someone at some stage of the compilation process, but I have no idea which stage. That website exists, but doesn’t currently sell any emulation devices. (Like, did they add that when they produced this device? Was it added to roms on an earlier device or multicart that was then stolen for this one? Am I going to stop seeing it after game #168?) There’s a talk page at the wiki about them, but no real conclusions.

28. ADVENTURE ISLAND

Adventure Island is an interesting series because it was basically a runner game, back before such things became their own casual game genre. You get on the skateboard, then it’s just pressing jump or throw at the right time to catch fruits and avoid enemies. (In theory you can stop moving, but the food meter makes that a foolish proposition.)

29. ADVENTURE ISLAND

Despite the lack of room for numbers in the menu, we have all four Adventure Island games here. Wait, wasn’t this a Mario game…? (Apparently we have the NA version of the first game, but the Japanese version of this.)

30. ADVENTURE ISLAND

This is the Adventure Island game I have the most district memories of, though I’m not sure why. Maybe it was the Nintendo Power coverage? I don’t remember ever owning a physical copy of it.

31. ADVENTURE ISLAND

I didn’t actually remember the existence of this game, so I looked it up: Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV was never released outside of Japan, so I guess the title screen was hacked. And at least part of it was translated? Maybe a fan translation? I have many questions.

This reunites the series with its Wonder Boy roots and makes it more Metroidvania-ish, with areas you can revisit and an assortment of weapons and items to collect. I’m tempted to take a longer stab at it on a better platform. (If anyone else has played it, let me know if it’s worth my time.)

 

[Sarge]

Woot, then! It felt damn playable and I'll likely go back to it.

TMNT2, on the other hand, I might play on a different device where I can use some cheat codes, because it's still a damn quarter-muncher and apparently I do want to see the new stages.

The key to that game is the jumping slash attack (B button right after A button) which does 4 HP of damage and immediately kills Foot Soldiers, and lots of jump kicking on bosses (generally cross them up and get a rhythm).

As for Adventure Island 4, absolutely it is worth your time. I really enjoyed my playthrough of it a few years back. And that does look like the older fan translation by Demi, which is what I used myself: http://www.romhacking.net/translations/86/

 

[ShakeWell]

31. ADVENTURE ISLAND

I didn’t actually remember the existence of this game, so I looked it up: Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV was never released outside of Japan, so I guess the title screen was hacked. And at least part of it was translated? Maybe a fan translation? I have many questions.

This reunites the series with its Wonder Boy roots and makes it more Metroidvania-ish, with areas you can revisit and an assortment of weapons and items to collect. I’m tempted to take a longer stab at it on a better platform. (If anyone else has played it, let me know if it’s worth my time.)

This is one of those games I keep meaning to give an earnest run to. There is most-definitely a fan translation, which is what I suspect landed here somehow. I'm led to believe it's one of the finer Metroidvanias on the NES.

 

[Torzelbaum]

TMNT2, on the other hand, I might play on a different device where I can use some cheat codes, because it's still a damn quarter-muncher and apparently I do want to see the new stages.

Yeah. The in-game cheat code for multiple lives helps. I remember I wasn't able to beat it without using the code.

30. ADVENTURE ISLAND

This is the Adventure Island game I have the most district memories of, though I’m not sure why. Maybe it was the Nintendo Power coverage? I don’t remember ever owning a physical copy of it.

I think it was also featured in a GDQ.

The key to that game is the jumping slash attack (B button right after A button) which does 4 HP of damage and immediately kills Foot Soldiers, and lots of jump kicking on bosses (generally cross them up and get a rhythm).

Excellent advice there.

 

[Ghost from Spelunker]

How does Adventure Island 4 compare to Super Adventure Island II?

 

[Sarge]

It's still got a Metroid-ish progression, but it's definitely more Adventure Island-flavored than SAI2, which is more Zelda II or Wonder Boy than anything. I like both of them, but they're definitely quite different from each other.

 

[Beowulf]

It occurs to me to wonder: The NES-in-a-handheld devices are apparently big business; there’s a zillion variations of the things, but a lot of them are in a Game Boy style shell. There are also a reasonable number of GBA-mimic devices, usually in a PSP-like shell. Why have I never seen a Game Boy 500-in-1 or similar in a Game Boy style shell? Am I the only one who thinks a little Game Boy that plays Game Boy games would be a cool thing to have?

32. TINY TOON 1

Thoughts, having not actually played this before: 1. This was a great thing to use for your hacked fake Mario game, because you stomp on enemies, most of the challenge is in platforming, you collect carrots to trade for extra lives, and you can get, at most, one extra hit before dying. 2. I’m very amused that the villains in a Loony Toons spinoff game are all mice. 3. In order to clear the second stage, you need to dodge Elmyra until a door appears or it boots you completely out of the stage to the beginning, which is weird, because dying doesn’t do that. 4. Dizzy seems to be the most useful partner for most areas, having an actual attack. Except Plucky and Furball are much better for dodging Elmyra.

33. TINY TOON 2

Officially Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble in Wackyland, and this seems to be the US version. This game (which again, I never played before) gives you access to almost all the stages from the start; each is a minigame and stars a different character. (Some of whom have actual attacks, though the hitbox for Hamton’s lunge is really weird.) You need to pay tickets to do each stage and earn enough to do stage 6 to complete the game.

34. TINY TOON3

…This is Bugs Bunny’s Crazy Castle. They didn’t even recolor Bugs to make him look like Buster or anything; they just changed a couple of words on the title screen. At least it’s the same franchise? Though Crazy Castle is kind of a terrible game.

35. CHIP DALE 1

I always loved the Chip & Dale NES games, and I suspect part of that was the fact that they were some of the earliest 2-player simultaneous co-op platformers. (Unfortunately, my wife is utterly terrible at them.)

36. CHIP DALE 2

I don’t have any real additional commentary. It’s more of the same and I like it?

37. CHIP DALE 3

Hey, I didn’t know there was a third…WTF?

Yeah, so, apparently Chip & Dale 3- is a hack of Heavy Barrel that changes the title screen and replaces character sprites. Because nothing says the Rescue Rangers like shooting hundreds of human soldiers. That's one of the most interesting bootleg choices so far!

 

[Octopus Prime]

I can understand most of the romhacks so far.

Chip and Dale as Heavy Barrel is... not as easy to connect the dots with

 

[Violentvixen]

Hip Ale (I can't read that any other way) is a game I never knew I wanted.

 

[ShakeWell]

I can understand most of the romhacks so far.

Chip and Dale as Heavy Barrel is... not as easy to connect the dots with

You don't remember that episode where Gadget made a HUGE FUCKIN' GUN and hid the parts all over the park where the Rescue Rangers lived, so Chip(?) had to run around without his jacket and hat to find them, then use the HUGE FUCKIN' GUN to murder some terrorists?

Are you even a Rescue Rangers fan, Octo?

 

[Phantoon]

Am I the only one who thinks a little Game Boy that plays Game Boy games would be a cool thing to have?

No, you aren't! Despite being busy modding my Game Boy collection over the pandemic I'd still jump on a Game Boy Classic.

Octo, don't you recall the series where they tried to liberate Romania? Chip and Dale: Ceaușescu Danger

 

[FelixSH]

Tiny Toons 1 has some levels with water in them, where Plucky is really useful. And Furball can climb walls (no idea if all walls, though). They are more situational, but can be quite useful. I could never beat that game, it gets REALLY hard.

This whole thing seems to be quite a nice collection of games.

 

[Octopus Prime]

You don't remember that episode where Gadget made a HUGE FUCKIN' GUN and hid the parts all over the park where the Rescue Rangers lived, so Chip(?) had to run around without his jacket and hat to find them, then use the HUGE FUCKIN' GUN to murder some terrorists?

Are you even a Rescue Rangers fan, Octo?

I guess the theme song says that only sometimes some crimes go slipping through the cracks.

Stands to reason that sometimes huge crimes go slipping through the cracks as well

 

[Violentvixen]

Tiny Toons 1 has some levels with water in them, where Plucky is really useful. And Furball can climb walls (no idea if all walls, though). They are more situational, but can be quite useful. I could never beat that game, it gets REALLY hard.

I think there's a point where a gorilla is throwing barrels at you and I never figured out how to beat him. I played the NES game a bit but really liked the Game Boy one.

 

[Beowulf]

Tiny Toons 1 has some levels with water in them, where Plucky is really useful. And Furball can climb walls (no idea if all walls, though). They are more situational, but can be quite useful. I could never beat that game, it gets REALLY hard.

This whole thing seems to be quite a nice collection of games.

Oh, Furball's stick-to-walls thing drove me nuts in the first area, but then was super useful in avoiding Elmyra. I only got a few levels into the game--without save states or cheat codes, getting far into any of these games requires more "hunkering down" on them than I've really been feeling.

And this is a shockingly good collection of games for a $10 POS, isn't it?

 

[FelixSH]

I think there's a point where a gorilla is throwing barrels at you and I never figured out how to beat him. I played the NES game a bit but really liked the Game Boy one.

The city/skyscraper-level? Something like that? It's ages since I played that game, nearly 20 years ago now, but I think that level has a boss at the bottom of the screen, who throws barrels to the top, where you are. Something like that. Could never beat him. A shame, because I really liked the game. Really nice character sprites, if I remember correctly.

I only played one Tiny Toons game for the gameboy, that sport festival one (basically a minigame collection). That was fun. And there was a really enjoyable SNES one, Buster busts loose or something. That one looked great, and I loved it.

Was the gameboy one you played a port of the NES one, or is it a different game?

Tiny Toons had some pretty nice games, didn't it?

Oh, Furball's stick-to-walls thing drove me nuts in the first area, but then was super useful in avoiding Elmyra. I only got a few levels into the game--without save states or cheat codes, getting far into any of these games requires more "hunkering down" on them than I've really been feeling.

I never had an NES, but my cousins did. They lived a bit away, so we visited rarely, and I would spend the time playing. One time, I was there with my older sister, who did play platformers back than, but was less skilled than me (she did other stuff than "play video games all day long"). We decided to change players when we beat a level. Which made it impossible to beat the first world, because she would either die completely in the level before the one with Elmyra, or would be unable to avoid her. Oh, well, I can't imagine making it through the whole game anyway. I tried replaying it later on, via emulation, and gave up in frustration.

And this is a shockingly good collection of games for a $10 POS, isn't it?

Absolutely. There are a bunch of real gems on there. Many of them might not be perfect, but they are NES games, so that's to be expected. Looking forward to find out what else it has to offer.

 

[ShakeWell]

All this talk of Tiny Toons reminds me that while I did play that game some, I spent infinitely more time with both Babs' Big Break on Game Boy and Buster Busts Loose on SNES.

 

[Alex]

I had the game that let you make movies and record them to a VHS tape.

 

[Beowulf]

38. HOT BLOOD WRESTLE

So, at first glance this is a complicated wrestling simulator starring the character models from River City Ransom; and not knowing any Japanese, I couldn’t get further than that. HOWEVER, recognizing the character models led me down a rabbit hole. Apparently there’s a whole series of games Technos Japan made in this series, we just only saw the localizations of a couple. This is Nekketsu Kakutō Densetsu, roughly “Hot Blooded Fighting Legend”, hence the “hot blood” name.

39. HOT BLOOD STORY

This is the Japanese version of River City Ransom, Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari. River City Ransom is an awesome game (and versions where you can save are even better), but when you can’t read anything it’s basically unplayable.

40. HOT BLOOD HIGH SC

This is actually a soccer game. Apparently there were two different soccer games in the series, so it’s probably Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen (localized as Nintendo World Cup, but I never played that), though I might have swapped that with Hot Blood Soccer, below.

41. HOT BLOOD MARCH

This is a track and field game, Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai.

42. HOT BLOOD BASKETB

As you might guess, a basketball game. Nekketsu! Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes.

43. HOT BLOOD NEW REC

I’m not even sure what kind of sport you’re supposed to be playing in Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal. Apparently it was localized as Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge, which I’ve never heard of before.

44. HOT BLOOD SOCCER

The other soccer game, Kunio-kun no Nekketsu Soccer League.

45. HOT BLOOD VOLLEYB

Nekketsu Kōkō Dodge Ball Bu, which we got as Super Dodge Ball.

The problem with this entire set of games is that I can’t read any Japanese text, so I have to randomly choose options and hope I get to a playable part of the game…but I also don’t have a manual so I don’t know what I’m doing. Fun to learn about the series, though.

 

[ShakeWell]

38. HOT BLOOD WRESTLE

So, at first glance this is a complicated wrestling simulator starring the character models from River City Ransom; and not knowing any Japanese, I couldn’t get further than that. HOWEVER, recognizing the character models led me down a rabbit hole. Apparently there’s a whole series of games Technos Japan made in this series, we just only saw the localizations of a couple. This is Nekketsu Kakutō Densetsu, roughly “Hot Blooded Fighting Legend”, hence the “hot blood” name.

Kakutou Densetsu rules very hard, and like several more of these, supports 4 players. But as of last year, we saw localizations of ALL of them, because ArcSys put out the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle, which features not only localizations of all the games we didn't get, but new localizations of the ones we did, with unchanged graphics, etc. (I.E. Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari now features Kunio and Riki, not Alex and Ryan, and they wear their schoolboy uniforms, etc.)

 

[Violentvixen]

Was the gameboy one you played a port of the NES one, or is it a different game?

All this talk of Tiny Toons reminds me that while I did play that game some, I spent infinitely more time with both Babs' Big Break on Game Boy and Buster Busts Loose on SNES.

Yep, it was Babs Big Break on Game Boy. I had to look it up but did find a video.

 

[Sarge]

Agreed with @ShakeWell, Kakutou Densetsu is a rollicking arena fighter. I still need to pick up that brawler bundle, too...

Super Dodge Ball is also amazing. I think it's still the best expression of those games - I never much cared for the feel of the other games in the series, but the NES game feels perfect to me.

Also, I always used to re-choose my team against India until they took Swami out. Good grief is he a pain to kill. That sky-high defense stat is no joke.

 

[FelixSH]

I had that soccer game for Game Boy! More specifically, I guess it was my brothers game. He liked playing soccer, and I probably was interested in the game for that reason, but didn't care much for video games in the end, so he didn't play it much.

I did play through it a few times. It was fun. But I never played River City Ransom, and when I learned about it here, it had probably been too late since I played the soccer game to realize that the character models were the same. Huh!

Also, you can do a super shot. If you start in the middle, go towards the enemy goal (let's assume it's on the right side of the field). After some steps right, move a bit diagonally down-right, then right for a short bit, diagonally up-right and some more steps right. Sounds longer than it is, two steps in each direction should be enough.

You shot will throw every player who touches to ball physically away. Including the goal keeper. Until exactly the second half of the tournament, were the goalies will suddenly always start to catch the ball.

 

[jpfriction]

I never did figure out how to reliably trigger those super shots on NES.

 

[Sarge]

I think Nintendo Power always suggested a bicycle kick from the middle of the field.

I had Nintendo World Cup myself, on a dual cart with Super Spike V'Ball, the latter of which is really good.

 

[ShakeWell]

I just love that that dual cart exists.

Fun fact about it: it was the last game of the retail North American NES library to get a ROM dump, by none other than Frank Cifaldi himself.

 

[Sarge]

Ooh, that is interesting.

I actually ended up dumping my own copy with the INL Retro dumper. I was running the kazzo firmware, and ended up having to make my own script to get it to dump right. I put a ton of hardcoded values in there, but as far as I know it's the only game with that setup, and it worked.

 

[muteKi]

This is actually a soccer game. Apparently there were two different soccer games in the series, so it’s probably Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen (localized as Nintendo World Cup, but I never played that), though I might have swapped that with Hot Blood Soccer, below.

I have played NWC! It's one of the weirder localization efforts, as it's selling itself as a serious soccer simulator with national teams, and then the rules are still kunio rules, so you can tackle people without penalty until they pass out. Utterly bizarre without the context of Technos's other games -- otherwise it's more in line with NBA Jam, though lacking the obvious signifiers (like gravity-defying show dunks) that make it clear to the player it's not to be played as a professional sports sim.

(I don't know which of the two soccer games is that one, for the record)

 

[Beowulf]

46. KAGE

The Japanese version of Shadow of the Ninja. This has a Ninja Gaiden sort of feel to it, with the hanging and climbing mechanics and the weapon selection, but the enemies are all very fast and most are durable enough to require at least two hits, which means you need to be a lot more tactical as you move through. Also, you only have one life (but 5 continues). I can see why they rebranded the Game Boy sequel as a Ninja Gaiden game.

47. GUN NAC

This is a super-fun shoot-em-up. (I had heard of this game before, but I don’t think I had any recollection of even what kind of game it was.) The power-ups are easy to tell from enemies! The bullets glow! The different weapons are distinct (even if #3, the homing crescents, is clearly the best)! I also like the mechanic of collecting money to buy power-ups between stages.

48. ROCKMAN 3

Japanese title screen, but English robot names. Odd. (I was never great at classic Mega Man. I take too many hits and there aren’t enough health drops.) If you’re only going to have one Mega Man game, this doesn’t feel like a bad choice, from what I know of the series.

49. STREET FIGHTER 20

In the far future year of 2010…

Street Fighter 2010 is another of those games that I think I have vague memories of, but I’m reasonably certain I never played before this. It’s very hard to tell what’s a platform, what you are meant to break, and where you’re supposed to be going, but enemies seem to continuously spawn.

50. KICK MASTER

This has a vaguely Castlevania 2 sort of feel to it, with the magic items and the XP and level system. Except, of course, that you don’t have a whip and you’re a much better jumper than Simon ever was. And the kicking, oh, so much kicking. (Getting use to the small hitbox for your kicks and the weird angles for some of them takes some getting used it.) This goes on the pile of “games I would have really liked as a kid,” I suspect.