User:Luigitehplumber/Bootleg games
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Bootleg games (also known as Pirate games) is a term used to describe a video game that is developed and published without an official license from the original creators of the respective console, and are sold illegally. They are differentiated from ROM hacks, as these kinds of games are made by actual teams of developers and are designed to players into thinking they were official for monetary gain, something which most ROM hackers actively try to avoid.
With the popularity of the Pokémon series, there have been many bootleg games produced out of the franchise. Below the page are a few examples.
Hacks
Pokémon Diamond and Jade
Pokémon Diamond and Jade are quite possibly most well-known and infamous bootleg "Pokémon" games. Not to be confused with the official Generation IV games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, these games are translated hacks of the Power and Speed Versions of Keitai Denjū Telefang, respectively, which were only released in Japan for the Game Boy Color on November 2000, a year after Pokémon Gold and Silver and a month prior to Pokémon Crystal. The boxart for both titles immitate the cover art for Gold and Silver, complete with the GS symbol. The creatures depicted on it as well as the title screen do not appear in the game and are not Pokémon or Denjuu for that matter. Diamond depicts a snake-like creature of unknown origin, while Jade depicts an edited version of the forest spirit from the movie Princess Mononoke. Their availability has varied, being released in standalone cartridges as well as bundles that either bundle each title together or bundle either title with an illegally produced Pokémon Crystal translation onto a single cartridge.
The main purpose of these titles existing was to translate the game from Japanese into English. However, the English translation is so poor to the point that a lot of lines make very little sense, with "Some points of (number) Lost!" appearing when the Denjuu are attacked. The game also contains instances of profanity, with the British Gaming Blog describing the additions as "a healthy dose of Engrish and plenty of swear words."[1] A Chinese translation also exists, which may have been the source of the English version, as both translations share similar lines from one another. Other translations known to exist include French and German, although they are not entirely complete. These bootlegs also contain numerous bugs and glitches that the real titles didn't have, such as the inability to load a save file properly and various game-breaking glitches and crashes.
The real Telefang games do share conceptual similarities with the real Pokémon games. Whereas in the core series Pokémon games, players take the role of a Pokémon Trainer who travels through a specific region of the Pokémon world to obtain or catch Pokémon in Poké Balls and send them out for battles, in the Telefang games, players take the role of a T-Fanger who travels through the Denjū World to befriend creatures called Denjū and have them battle each other using a device called the D-Shot. However, unlike Pokémon, Denjū themselves have a D-Shot and call each other to battle. Other similarities between the two game series can be seen in the mechanics of each: the creatures in both share common stats such as HP, Attack, Defense, and Speed; both series have moves or attacks in common, like どくばり (Pokémon, Telefang), とっしん (Pokémon, Telefang), かえんほうしゃ/カエンホウシャ (Pokémon, Telefang), or じしん (Pokémon, Telefang), and both series also have natures for their creatures (Pokémon, Telefang), though the effects of moves are not necessarily the same in every case, and natures work differently.
This is one of the few bootleg games that has officially been acknowledged by The Pokémon Company, where a reply to a message on the Pokémon.com mailbag in 2003 described the Jade version as "the bootleg and illegally produced Pokémon Jade".
Pokémon Diamond 2 and Jade 2
Pokémon Diamond and Jade 2 are the sequels to the original titles and bootleg hacks of the Power and Speed versions of Keitai Denjū Telefang 2. Once again, the Power version made up Diamond 2 while the Speed version made up Jade 2. This time round, the games were originally released in Chinese.
The title screens are similar to the original titles, but are altered to feature Ethan and Kris from Pokémon Crystal along with the character Dragon from the film Shrek, possibly due to her superficial similarity to a Charizard. The similarities between the title screens of this and the original Diamond and Jade (as well as the fact that they have Pokémon names in the first place) suggest that these may be made by the same developers.
Much like the original hacks, Diamond 2 and Jade 2 are plagued with bugs that are not in the original titles. Diamond 2 is unplayable as it crashes after the title screen (although a save state can prevent this), while Jade 2 has graphical bugs.
An English-translated version of the Power Version of Telefang 2 also exists, titled Pokémon Ruby (Which has no relation to the real title). However, as with the original Diamond and Jade, the quality of the translation is very poor.
Makon Soft
Makon Soft (more famously known as "Yong Yong", after the obscure ending from their game Sonic 3D Blast 5) is a game developer based within an unknown Chinese territory who have developed various bootleg titles for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. All of Makon Soft's titles are 2D platformers and use variations of the same game engine. Their titles have been infamous for their extremely poor quality, including poor level designs, music and featuring many bugs - most of which being game-breaking.
With the popularity of the Pokémon franchise, the company developed various sprite hacks of their existing titles to include Pokémon characters, akin to other bootleg game developers at the time.
Pokémon Adventure
Pokémon Adventure (Also known as Pokémon Gold 2) is a hack of a bootleg Sonic the Hedgehog game titled Sonic Adventure 7 and was released in 2000. When compared to Makon's other hacks, this title features altered level designs and a different soundtrack when compared to the original title it was hacked from.
In the game, the player plays as an anthropomorphized version of Pikachu as he collects Poké Balls and defeats enemies. Aside from that, the game has little similarities to the Pokémon franchise. Many of the enemies do not resemble any Pokémon at all.
Pokémon Jade
Pokémon Jade (Unaffiliated with the Telefang hack) is a sprite and title screen hack of Sonic Adventure 7, released in 2001. Due to it being a simple sprite hack, it is pretty much the same title as the game it was hacked from.
Unlike the other hacks of the same game, it suffers from a programming error that crashes the game once the first level is completed, making it impossible to complete.
Pokémon Diamond Special Pikachu Edition
Pokémon Diamond Special Pikachu Edition (Once again unaffiliated with the Telefang hack and the real game) is a hack of Super Mario Special 3, a bootleg Game Boy Color port of Super Mario Bros. 3, released in 2001, likely around the same time Pokémon Jade was.
An introduction cutscene appears before the title screen, which features various screenshots of different Pokémon and characters from the Anime with poorly translated names. The title screen itself features a poorly sized image of Pikachu (taken from the title screen of Pokémon Yellow) with a diamond in front of it.
Being a sprite and texture hack, the gameplay itself is identical to Special 3. The enemies are recolored or altered to try and resemble Pokémon, while some graphics are changed for the same reason - eg, the coins are replaced with Poké Balls, while the Super Mushroom is replaced with a ball-like item with a thunderbolt on it, which turns Pikachu into a green variant. The Super Leaf which appeared in Special 3 doesn't appear in this hack. It shares the same music as Special 3.
Two versions exist - one in English, and another in Chinese. Both versions are impossible to complete - The English version starts on the fourth level of the original game where a glitch prevents the end block from activating properly, instead summoning out a thunder ball (A Super Leaf in Special 3), while the Chinese version (which starts on Level 1, as with the source game) crashes after the first level is complete, likely for the same reasons as Pokémon Jade.
Pokémon Sapphire
Pokémon Sapphire (unaffiliated with the original title) is a hack of the above title, released in 2001. It contains several additions including a new title screen (featuring a poorly-drawn Pikachu) and intro sequence featuring a storyline. English and Chinese versions exist of this title.
This game includes eight levels, three of which are newly-made for this title and appear at the beginning (complete with newly-composed music), while the other 5 are from Special 3. The sprites and graphics are slightly altered, and several additions including a save feature and the player gaining an extra life after every level. The glitch featured in Diamond and Special 3 is now fixed, meaning the game can be played in its entirety without cheating.
Pokémon Pearl
Pokémon Pearl (Unaffiliated with the real game) is a hack of a bootleg Game Boy Color game called Digimon 02 Jade Version. Once again, it is developed by Makon Soft.
In the game, the player, as an anthropomorphized Pikachu, must fill up a gauge by defeating enemies to complete the level. Pikachu can defeat enemies by jumping on them or using Poké Balls as projectiles. The sprite of Pikachu is more detailed than in the other Makon Soft titles. Much like with Sapphire, a save system was added which was not included in Digimon 02.
Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back
Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back, released within an unknown timeframe in 2001, is named after the first Pokémon movie. Unlike Makon's other Pokémon titles, Mewtwo Strikes Back is not a hack of an existing Makon Soft title although it runs on a modified variant of the engine used in their Digimon games.
The game contains eight levels, while sprites are taken from Pocket Monster on the Famicom, including the Pikachu sprite.
The title, as with Makon Soft's other titles, has had many sprite and title screen hacks created to form the basis of other bootleg games such as Digimon Pocket and Harry Potter 3.
Pokémon Ruby
A hack of the above title, Pokémon Ruby is near identical to Mewtwo Strikes Back other than the level placement being altered.
Pocket Monster
A Famicom title which was later ported over to the Game Boy Advance under the name of Pokémon Gold Version. It is a simple and generic platforming game where the player plays as Pikachu battling against other Pokémon and enemies unrelated to the franchise. While some sprites are original, a majority of the graphics and sprites are taken from other Famicom/NES titles.
This title was later hacked to form Panda World, which changes sprites and graphics to make the game more original including replacing Pikachu with a Panda, and Super Popo's Adventure, which replaces Pikachu with Po from British pre-school series Teletubbies.
Super Pika! Land
Super Pika! Land is a sprite hack of Super Mario Land released in 2000 by independent developer Philip Reuben and published through his company PR Translations. While not truely an official bootleg game, it has been one of the most common titles found on bootleg Game Boy or Game Boy Color multicarts.
As the game is a sprite hack, the gameplay is unchanged from the original Super Mario Land. The player plays as a Pikachu, who can evolve into a Raichu when picking up a Super Mushroom and devolve when hit. Princess Daisy is replaced with Ash Ketchum while several Pokémon replace the existing enemies.
Lei Dian Huang Bi Ka Qiu Chuan Shuo
Lei Dian Huang Bi Ka Qiu Chuan Shuo is a bootleg Famicom port of Pokémon Yellow.
Puckman Pockimon
Puckman Pockimon is a Pac-Man clone developed for the Genie arcade board.
Super Monster Bros.
Super Monster Bros. is a bootleg platforming game for iOS and Android game released in February 2013 by developer Adventure Time Pocket Free Games, before being removed two months later.
Super Monster Bros. is a Super Mario Bros.-esque title where the player plays as a Charmander. Other Pokémon appear as enemies, including Mewtwo as a boss. Several microtransactions allow the player to change their character to a Blastoise, a Charizard or Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto franchise.
The game is infamous for it's bugs, glitches, stolen music from other Pokémon titles and it's microtransactions, the most infamous being Charizard's price at $99.99.
Translations
Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal
"Pocket Monsters Crystal Version" (popularly known as Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal) is a bootlegged version of Pokémon Crystal. Translated from the original Japanese to Chinese to English (and allegedly sold in Vietnam, giving the bootleg its popular name), the dialogue in the game (now Engrish) is often nonsensical and unintentionally humorous. All Pokémon, character, and location names are similarly badly translated, often resembling romanizations of Chinese transliterations of the Japanese names. The translation is so poor that the game has achieved a cult status, and is the subject of many popular Internet memes. It was made popular by various "Let's Play" video series on YouTube, with the most notable one being by DeliciousCinnamon. Another well-known playthrough is the one by Twitch Plays Pokémon.
- ↑ British Gaming Blog » Bizarre Bootlegs - The Lighter Side of Piracy (archived copy)
