top of page

UNLICENSED GAMES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Becoming a licensed NES publisher was not an easy thing to do. Nintendo was very protective of their brand, very concerned about the quality of the games, and equally concerned about making money. Not too many companies making games at that time had the resources to meet Nintendo's requirements, and the NES lockout chip system did a pretty good job of preventing unlicensed and knock-off games from being produced. Whether or not Nintendo's business practices were fair (or legal), they were right to be concerned because most of the unlicensed games that did ultimately get made were pretty awful when compared to the quality of the licensed NES catalog. This page features companies that released unlicensed NES games in the USA. The only one to also release official licensed games was Tengen (a division of Atari). Unlicensed games produced a lot of variants, that are all pictured and detailed here.

Unlicensed Top

TENGEN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tengen was founded in 1987 as a division of Atari to specifically focus on developing console games (as opposed to arcade games). The history of Tengen and Nintendo could easily fill a book and some of what transpired between the two companies in the late 1980's changed laws and laid the foundation for the gaming industry that exists today. Identical versions of Gauntlet, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Pac-Man, and R.B.I. Baseball were also released by Tengen/Mindscape as licensed NES games. Tengen Tetris and Nintendo Tetris are not the exact same game.

Tengen-After-Burner.jpg

After Burner

Tengen-Alien-Syndrome.jpg

Alien Syndrome

Tengen-Indiana-Jones-and-the-Temple-of-Doom.jpg

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Tengen-Klax.jpg

Klax

Tengen-Pac-Mania.jpg

Pac-Mania

Tengen-RBI-Baseball.jpg

R.B.I. Baseball

Tengen-Fantasy-Zone.jpg

Fantasy Zone

Tengen-Gauntlet.jpg

Gauntlet

Tengen-Ms-Pac-Man.jpg

Ms. Pac-Man

Tengen-Pac-Man.jpg

Pac-Man

Tengen-RBI-Baseball-2.jpg

R.B.I. Baseball 2

Tengen-RBI-Baseball-3.jpg

R.B.I. Baseball 3

Tengen-Road-Runner.jpg

Road Runner

Tengen-Rolling-Thunder.jpg

Rolling Thunder

Tengen-Shinobi.jpg

Shinobi

Tengen-Skull-Crossbones.jpg

Skull & Crossbones

Tengen-Super-Sprint.jpg

Super Sprint

Tengen-Tetris.jpg

Tetris

Tengen-Toobin.jpg

Toobin'

Tengen-Vindicators.jpg

Vindicators

SMB-Question-Block.jpg

There are three different back label variants for Tengen games.

Tengen-Back-Label-1.jpg

TENGEN 1

with

Manufactured

By Tengen

Tengen-Back-Label-2.jpg

TENGEN 2

without

Manufactured

By Tengen

Tengen-Back-Label-3.jpg

TENGEN 3

no back label

molded plastic

Tengen

CAMERICA -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Camerica was founded in Canada in 1988 and released 13 game cartridges, including 3 multi-game carts, for the NES. Some Camerica games appear in silver cartridges, and some in gold. There are no variants, each game is either one color or the other. Just as the company was going out of business at the end of 1992, it created a new product called the Aladdin Deck Enhancer that supposedly offered superior processing and graphics and worked with smaller proprietary game cartridges. The only new game developed for this device was Dizzy the Adventurer, their 14th title. The other 6 games made for the ADE (Big Nose Freaks Out, The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy, Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade, Micro Machines, Quattro Adventrue, & Quattro Sports) were re-issues of existing Camerica games. It turned out that this device did absolutely nothing and the games were identical to the original releases. It is unclear if the ADE was ever officially released by Camerica, or if the inventory made its way into circulation through wholesalers after the company went out of business.

Camerica-Bee-52.jpg

Bee 52

Camerica-Big-Nose-Freaks-Out.jpg

Big Nose Freaks Out

Camerica-Big-Nose-the-Caveman.jpg

Big Nose the Caveman

Camerica-The-Fantastic-Adventures-of-Dizzy.jpg

The Fantastic Adventures

of Dizzy

Camerica-Firehawk.jpg

Firehawk

Camerica-Linus-Spaceheads-Cosmic-Crusade.jpg

Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade

Camerica-Micro-Machines.jpg

Micro Machines

Camerica-Mig-29-Soviet-Fighter.jpg

Mig 29 Soviet Fighter

Camerica-Quattro-Adventure.jpg

Quattro Adventure

Camerica-Quattro-Arcade.jpg

Quattro Arcade

Camerica-Quattro-Sports.jpg

Quattro Sports

Camerica-Stunt-Kids.jpg

Stunt Kids

Camerica-The-Ultimate-Stuntman.jpg

The Ultimate Stuntman

Camerica-Dizzy-The-Adventurer-with-ADE.jpg

Dizzy The Adventurer

with Aladdin Deck Enhancer

Camerica-ADE-with-Dizzy.jpg

Dizzy The Adventurer & Aladdin Deck Enhancer

Disassembled

Camerica
ADE
Color Dreams

COLOR DREAMS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Color Dreams was founded in California in 1988 and released 15 games for the NES in the USA before rebranding itself as Wisdom Tree (below) in 1991. The company also had a subsidiary called Bunch Games (below) that released an additional 5 games. Color Dreams released 14 of their games in a blue and a black cartridge. Operation Secret Storm only came in the black cart. Metal Fighter, Raid 2020, and RoboDemons in the black cart are extremely rare.

Color-Dreams-Captain-Comic.jpg
Color-Dreams-Challenge-of-the-Dragon.jpg
Color-Dreams-Crystal-Mines.jpg
Color-Dreams-Baby-Boomer.jpg

Baby Boomer

Captain Comic: The Adventure

Challenge of the Dragon

Crystal Mines

Color-Dreams-King-Neptunes Adventure.jpg

King Neptune's Adventure

Color-Dreams-Master-Chu-and-the-Drunkard-Hu.jpg

Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu

Color-Dreams-Menace-Beach.jpg

Menace Beach

Color-Dreams-Metal-Fighter.jpg

Metal Fighter

Color-Dreams-Operation-Secret-Storm.jpg

Operation Secret Storm

Color-Dreams-Pradikus-Conflict.jpg

P'Radikus Conflict

Color-Dreams-Pesterminator-The-Western-Exterminator.jpg

Pesterminator: The Western Exterminator

Color-Dreams-Raid-2020.jpg

Raid 2020

Color-Dreams-RoboDemons.jpg

RoboDemons

Color-Dreams-Secret-Scout-in-the-Temple-of-Demise.jpg

Secret Scout in the Temple of Demise

Color-Dreams-Silent-Assault.jpg

Silent Assault

SMB-Question-Block.jpg

There are five different back label variants for Color Dreams / Bunch Games / Wisdom Tree games. CD 4 refers to an in-game contest where players could locate a pot of gold within the game to win cash & prizes.

Color-Dreams-Blue-Back-Label.jpg

CD 1

blue label & white text

Color-Dreams-Contest-Back-Label.jpg
Color-Dreams-Black-Back-Label.jpg

CD 2

black label & white text 

Color-Dreams-Contest-Sticker.jpg
Color-Dreams-Gray-Back-Label.jpg

CD 3

gray label & white text

Color-Dreams-Molded-Back.jpg

CD 4

blue label & black text

in-game contest rules

Color Dreams in-game

contest ad sticker from

King Neptune's 

Adventure box

CD 5

no back label

molded plastic

2 screws, GameBit 4.5mm

Bunch Games

BUNCH GAMES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bunch Games was a subsidiary of Color Dreams that was started in 1990 and was intended to serve as an additional revenue steam for the company. They only released 5 games before Color Dreams changed direction and rebranded itself as Wisdom Tree. Castle of Deceit, Galactic Crusader, and Moon Ranger were released in the blue and black cartridges. Mission Cobra and Tagin' Dragon were only released in the blue cartridge.

Bunch-Games-Castle-of-Deceit.jpg

Castle of Deceit

Bunch-Games-Galactic-Crusader.jpg

Galactic Crusader

Bunch-Games-Mission-Cobra.jpg

Mission Cobra

Bunch-Games-Moon-Ranger.jpg

Moon Ranger

Bunch-Games-Tagin-Dragon.jpg

Tagin' Dragon

Wisdom Tree

WISDOM TREE -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1991 Color Dreams decided to tap into a new market by releasing Christian-themed games under the name Wisdom Tree. Color Dreams had struggled getting their previous games into major retailers that didn't want to jeopardize their relationships with Nintendo, so these games were primarily sold in Christian book stores. All 7 Wisdom Tree games exist in the black Color Dreams cartridge. The only one to also exist in the blue cart is Bible Adventures. Sunday Funday: The Ride, released in 1995, is a re-worked version of Menace Beach and was one of the very last games released for the NES.

Bible Adventures

Wisdom-Tree-Bible-Adventures.jpg

Bible Buffet

Wisdom-Tree-Bible-Buffet.jpg
Wisdom-Tree-Exodus-Journey-to-the-Promised-Land.jpg

Exodus: Journey to the Promised Land

Joshua & The Battle of Jericho

Wisdom-Tree-Joshua-The-Battle-of-Jericho.jpg

King of Kings: The Early Years

Wisdom-Tree-King-of-Kings-The-Early-Years.jpg

Spiritual Warfare

Wisdom-Tree-Spiritual-Warfare.jpg

Sunday Funday: The Ride

Wisdom-Tree-Sunday-Funday-The-Ride.jpg
Bible Adventures
King of Kings
AGCI

AMERICAN GAME CARTRIDGES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

American Game Cartridges, Inc. (AGCI) was founded in Arizona in 1990 and was headed up by a former employee of Tengen/Atari. They licensed technology from fellow unlicensed NES game manufacturer Color Dreams to defeat the NES lockout chip system and released only 3 games before going out of business in 1991.

American-Game-Carts-Chiller.jpg

Chiller

American-Game-Carts-Death-Race.jpg

Death Race

American-Game-Carts-Shockwave.jpg

Shockwave

AVE

AMERICAN VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AVE was founded in California in 1990 and released 18 games before going bankrupt in 1992 and suing Nintendo for having an alleged monopoly due to their lockout chip technology. One of the founders of AVE was the same executive that had previously worked for Tengen and headed up American Game Cartridges. They released most of their games in two cartridge designs, one that is completely square, and one that has the upper-left corner cut at a 45-degree angle. Maxi 15 only exists in the square cart, and Rad Racket: Deluxe Tennis II and Venice Beach Volleyball only exist in the angle cart.

American-Video-Ent-Blackjack.jpg

Blackjack

American-Video-Ent-F15-City-War.jpg

F-15 City War

American-Video-Ent-Mermaids-of-Atlantis.jpg

Mermaids of Atlantis: The Riddle of the Magic Bubble

American-Video-Ent-Solitaire.jpg

Solitaire

American-Video-Ent-Venice-Beach-Volleyball.jpg

Venice Beach Volleyball

American-Video-Ent-DeathBots.jpg

DeathBots

American-Video-Ent-Double-Strike.jpg

Double Strike

American-Video-Ent-Impossible-Mission-II.jpg

Impossible Mission II

American-Video-Ent-Krazy-Kreatures.jpg

Krazy Kreatures

Puzzle

American-Video-Ent-Puzzle.jpg
American-Video-Ent-Pyramid.jpg

Pyramid

Tiles of Fate

American-Video-Ent-Tiles-of-Fate.jpg
American-Video-Ent-Trolls-On-Treasure-Island.jpg

Trolls on Treasure Island

American-Video-Ent-Wally-Bear-and-the-NO-Gang.jpg

Wally Bear and the NO! Gang

American-Video-Ent-Dudes-with-Attitude.jpg

Dudes with Attitude

American-Video-Ent-Maxi-15.jpg

Maxi 15

American-Video-Ent-Rad-Racket-Deluxe-Tennis-II.jpg

Rad Racket: Deluxe Tennis II

American-Video-Ent-Ultimate-League-Soccer.jpg

Ultimate League Soccer

Maxi 15

SHAREDATA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Based in California, ShareData was the parent company of American Game Carts (above), and sold games for platforms like Commodore 64 and PC. Before AGCI was formed this obscure version of Chiller appeared. Where AGCI licensed Color Dream's chip technology, ShareData licensed the cartridge design from Color Dreams too, which is why this looks like a Color Dreams release. Very little is known about this game, including whether or not it was ever sold in stores, or if it was only a prototype. It was advertised for sale by phone in a few issues of GamePro magazine, but it is possible that if you ordered one you would have received the AGCI version above. Needless to say this game is extremely rare, with only a few copies known to exist. 

ShareData-Chiller.jpg
GP-ShareData-Chiller-Ad.jpg

Advertisement for ShareData Chiller

GamePro Magazine Volume 8

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chiller

ACTIVE ENTERPRISES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Active Enterprises was founded in Florida in 1989 by two entrepreneurs who wanted to cash in on the success of the bootleg multi-game NES carts that had made their way into the US. The only NES game they ever officially produced was Action 52 featuring 52 original games which, individually and collectively, are widely regarded as some of the worst NES titles ever released. The flagship game was The Cheetahmen, a not-too-subtle clone of TMNT. Before getting out of the video game business the company did produce a second game, Cheetahmen II, which was never released and remained unknown until the mid-1990's when 1500 copies were found in a warehouse and made their way into circulation. Cheetahmen II is loaded onto an Action 52 cartridge and features a gold sticker with the title misspelled as "Cheetamen".

Active Enterprises - Action 52.jpg

Action 52

Active-Enterprises-Cheetahmen-II.jpg

Cheetahmen II

Active Ent
Caltron

CALTRON / NTDEC & MYRIAD -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trying to identify all of the unlicensed games released in Asia and Europe by NTDEC (Nintendo Electronic Co.) of Taiwan, under all of its different subsidiary publishers, is fun and challenging to say the least. Despite its massive reach overseas, NTDEC only released one cartridge in the USA via its subsidiary Caltron: The infamous Caltron 6-In-1. This cart features six games that were all previously released in Asia and Europe under the Caltron and Mega Soft brands by NTDEC. Apparently naming their company "Nintendo" was one thing, but crossing the line into the USA market was a step too far, and not long after the release of 6-in-1 NTDEC lost a multi-million-dollar lawsuit to the real Nintendo and went out of business. How and when Myriad Games of Texas got the remaining 6-In-1 inventory from NTDEC is unclear, but the result of that occurrence was the Myriad Six-In-One cart, the rarest unlicensed NES game released in the USA. Myriad repackaged the games with new individually-numbered labels and boxes. The labels were placed directly over the original Caltron labels, which coincidentally is exactly what Gluk Video of Spain did when they repackaged and sold Caltron games. The number of Myriad carts produced is unclear, but it is believed to be under 1000, as the highest-numbered cart found to date is 000888.

Caltron-6-In-1.jpg

Caltron 6-In-1

Myriad Six-In-One

Myriad-Six-In-One.jpg

PANESIAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panesian was a Taiwanese company that released three adult-themed games for the NES in the USA. These titles were modified versions of games that already existed in Taiwan, where these types of games were actually pretty common. All three Panesian games were released in limited numbers and are extremely rare. Some copies of Hot Slots have an upside-down label, and some copies of Bubble Bath Babes do not have the "Press Here" tab molded into the cart.

Bubble Bath Babes

Panesian-Bubble-Bath-Babes.jpg

Hot Slots

Panesian-Hot-Slots.jpg
Panesian-Peek-A-Boo-Poker.jpg

Peek-A-Boo Poker

SEI

S.E.I. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

S.E.I. was started in North Carolina in 1989 and only released this one game before going out of business. The founder was related to the president of Epyx, the company that developed Impossible Mission II. There is an alternate version of the game with a black-and-white label.

SEI-Impossible-Mission-II.jpg

Impossible Mission II

RACERMATE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one is an NES game cartridge, but it's not really a game. Therefore some collectors don't count it as part of the NES cartridge catalog, and others do. RacerMate Challenge II was part of the CompuTrainer Pro which, at the time, was a pretty cutting-edge indoor training system that turned your bicycle into a stationary bike and simulated different courses and conditions. Think of it as a prehistoric Peloton.

 

The CompuTrainer system came with a modified NES console that had its lockout chip disabled, and there are a lot of variants of this thing. The very first systems featured the RacerMate Challenge II game in a Tengen-style cartridge, had a silver sticker with red writing on the door of an NES-001 console describing the lockout chip modification, and a sticker on the bottom of the console with a hand-written serial number.  These versions of the game cartridge and the NES deck are extremely rare.

Racermate-Tengen-Front.jpg

RacerMate Challenge II

Tengen-style cartridge (front)

Racermate-Tengen-Back.jpg

RacerMate Challenge II

Tengen-style cartridge (back)

Racermate-Serial-Number.jpg

Serial Number Sticker

Racermate-Door-Sticker.jpg

NES-001 Door Sticker

Before long RacerMate starting using their own original cartridge design which, among many other labels on the cart, featured a unique serial number sticker for each game. The door and serial number stickers on the NES-001 console went away, and the deck was simply marked with a round color sticker that matched a sticker on the game cartridge. Later releases used the NES-101 top-loader console which didn't have a lockout chip. The fact that there are two console options is refenced on a sticker on the RacerMate II OEM cartridge, and also in the CompuTrainer owner's manual (see below). Some copies of the cartridge have been found with the stickers put on upside down, but these were pretty obviously assembled by hand and I personally don't think that really counts as an official variant. The CompuTrainer Pro was also sold in PAL countries, so it's logical to assume that there are PAL versions of the game cart, but I haven't actually seen one. If you really want to drill into it there are also a few versions of the RacerMate ROM software that can vary between cartridges.

Racermate-Challenge-II-(front).jpg

RacerMate Challenge II

OEM cartridge front

Racermate-Challenge-II-(back).jpg

RacerMate Challenge II

OEM cartridge back

CompuTrainer-NES-Console.jpg

CompuTrainer NES-001 console

with disabled lockout chip

CompuTrainer-Manual-Section.jpg

excerpt from CompuTrainer Pro owner's manual referencing both NES consoles models

According to the owner's manual, a complete CompuTrainer Pro system includes 19 things:

1) RacerMate Challenge II cartridge,  2) NES console,  3) NES power supply,  4) NES RF Adapter,  5) Interface Module that plugs into both NES controller ports,  6) Right-angle 1/8in TRS Cable that connects the Interface Module to the PRO Handlebar Control,  7) PRO Handlebar Control interface,  8) Handlebar Bracket to mount the Pro Handlebar Control to the bike,  9) PRO Trainer Stand for the bike's rear tire,  10) PRO Load Generator (attached to the Pro Trainer Stand, driven by rear bike tire),  11) SpinScan Cadence (RPM) Sensor with Magnet that connects to the Pro Handlebar Control, 12) Ear Clip Heartrate Monitor that connects to the PRO Handlebar Control,  13) Power Supply,  14) 8-pin DIN Cable that connects the PRO Load Generator to the Power Supply,  15) VHS Instructional Video, 16) 1-page NES Operation Instructions,  17) CompuTrainer Pro Operating Manual,  18) CompuTrainer Workout Manual,  19) 6mm Allen Wrench.

Clones & Bootlegs

CLONES & BOOTLEGS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once you start to expand your collection beyond the licensed NES games, things can get confusing pretty fast - especially if you're collecting games from outside of the USA. When organizing your collection in terms of the game cartridges there are two basic categories: Licensed and Unlicensed. Licensed games are officially approved for release and play on the NES by Nintendo, published either by Nintendo itself or by a legally licensed publisher. They only exist in the NES cartridge. Unlicensed games can be one of three things:

1. Unlicensed NES Game: Games manufactured and marketed to be played on the NES, where the software is legally licensed by the publisher from the software company that developed it, for distribution and sale in a particular country or territory. The software isn't stolen, the cartridge design is original (kind of), and the legality of making a game for Nintendo's hardware without their consent and without compensating them for it is debatable at best. All the games detailed above on this page fall into this category. Whether Nintendo liked it or not, these are NES games.

Bee52-Box.jpg

Box Art from Bee 52

by Camerica

2. Clone: The NES and Famicom systems weren't sold everywhere, for a variety of reasons, and as with any other successful product there were companies cashing in on their success by making imitations. These 8-bit 60/72-pin home video game consoles are known as clones (or sometimes Famiclones). Some of these systems are illegal direct copies, no different than the fake Rolex watch you can buy on a street corner in Times Square. Others were completely legal, despite the fact that they were obvious copies, because they were developed and sold where Nintendo was not doing business. Either way it is important to make the distinction between a clone console and a clone game. Clone games (as opposed to bootleg games, below) were legally licensed and sold to go along with their corresponding legal clone systems. The companies making these clone systems and games couldn't manufacture the titles Nintendo owned the software for, like Super Mario Bros., but they could license the same games offered on the NES by Nintendo's approved publishers, and produce them for their own systems in the territories where Nintendo did not hold the exclusive rights. Therefore just like the Unlicensed category of games above, Clone game cartridges aren't guilty of software piracy, they were legally licensed and produced in their particular markets. Also, you'll find that a lot of the unlicensed USA games on this page exist as Clone system cartridges in other countries too. The software companies that developed these games either took the opportunity to get their games into other markets on the clone systems, or games that originated outside the USA for the NES that weren't approved found a home with unlicensed manufacturers in the USA.

SMB-Question-Block.jpg

One very successful legal NES clone console was the Phantom System by electronics giant Gradiente in Brazil. It came packaged with Ghostbusters by Activision (the exact same game you could buy for the NES) and used copied design elements from other Atari/Sega systems, a company Gradiente was already doing business with in Brazil.

Phantom System by Gradiente with Ghostbusters

Phantom-System.jpg
SMB-Question-Block.jpg

Some games were only ever made for an NES clone system, and this creates a major gray-area for collectors. Crime Busters, for example, was made by Gradiente for the Phantom System. It was never an NES game, licensed, unlicensed, or otherwise. So it's an 8-bit 72-pin video game that will play on an NES (and it's a Zapper game), but it's not an NES game. Clearly it's a cool part of your video game collection, but is it really part of an NES collection? Like I said on the home page of the site - whatever makes you happy is the right answer.

Crime-Busters.jpg

Crime Busters

Phantom System Game Cartridge

3. Bootleg: Bootleg games are illegal in every way. They are unlicensed copies manufactured without any legal approval or anyone's consent. Therefore learning about them and collecting them can be tough. Some companies that were making bootleg games were also making the illegal clone consoles and were passing everything off as a separate, different system. Other bootleg games were intended to be used on actual NES/Famicom systems, and were even marketed that way. It is very common for a bootleg game to have a 60-pin PCB with a 72-pin adapter inside the cart. A company called Hydron made games with a 60-pin connector on one end, and a 72-pin connector on the other. So whether you had an NES clone or a Famicom clone you could use the same cartridge - pretty cool actually. To further complicate things, there are bootleg copies of some of the more successful clone games too! A great example of how confusing bootleg games can be comes from Gradiente in Brazil. Not only did they develop a legal clone system and license the same games developed for the NES from Nintendo's partners, but they were also making illegal bootleg games of the Nintendo-published NES catalog (like Super Mario Bros.) for their own Phantom System console under a shell company called Falcon Soft! Wow.

Shooting-In-The-Alley.jpg

Bootleg copy of Hogan's Alley titled Shooting In The Alley, released by Falcon Soft (which was actually Gradiente), for play on the Phantom System NES clone in Brazil.

Bootleg-Galaga-Supervision.jpg
Bootleg-Galaga-Supervision-Top-Spine.jpg

Bootleg copy of Galaga produced for play on the NES by Supervision. It says Japan all over the cartridge, but Supervision was actually from Taiwan. Supervision bootleg games use the same style and light-gray color cartridge as the Asian Version and Hong Kong Version licensed NES carts.

Bootleg-Choplifter-NASA.jpg

Choplifter was originally released in 1982 for play on the Apple II computer and was eventually released for 18 different platforms, including the Famicom, but never for the NES. Unless of course you count this bootleg copy that was made for the "Entertainment Computer System" NES clone by a company called NASA from Taiwan.

Bootleg-Tetris-Dimasa-Spain_edited.jpg

Tetris anyone? This bootleg copy of Tengen Tetris from Dimasa in Spain features a screenshot on the label that at first glance is unrecognizable as Tetris when you're picturing the licensed NES version.

HeaderBackground.jpg
HeaderBackground.jpg
HeaderBackground.jpg
HeaderBackground.jpg

Legend (ledge-end) noun: the part of a map explaining how to identify and understand the symbols used.

©2024 The Legend of NES

bottom of page