CODEMASTERS -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Codemasters was founded in 1986 in the UK and originally began making games for home computers that were known for their ability to play video games, such the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64. In 1988 Codemasters made a deal with the Canadian company Camerica to produce and distribute some of their titles for the NES in North America. Shortly after, Codemasters starting producing and distributing these same games for the NES themselves in the UK. Unlike most of the companies that made unlicensed NES games, Codemasters went on to be very successful for many years, making games for several generations of gaming consoles. In 2021 they were acquired by video game giant Electronic Arts.
Cosmic Spacehead
The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy
Firehawk
Micro Machines
Mig 29 Soviet Fighter
Super Adventure Quests
Super Sports Challenge: Quattro Sports
The Ultimate Stuntman
Nintendo was constantly releasing updated versions of the NES motherboard and related hardware in order to combat the lockout chip work-arounds that several unlicensed game publishers were taking advantage of. Eventually Codemasters gave up trying to fight this, and started releasing their games in what they called the Plug-Thru cartridge. In order for the game to work you had to plug a licensed NES game (that contained a lockout chip) into the Plug-Thru cart, which would then allow the NES console to read the lockout chip data while replacing the original game data with its own. The Plug-Thru carts work on the same principal as the HES piggyback and dongle cartridges.
The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy
Plug-Thru cartridge
Codemasters was also the company that developed the Game Genie Video Game Enhancer, which was sold in the United States by toy company Galoob. This popular accessory plugs in between the game and the NES console, and allows players to enter different cheat codes for things like extra lives, more continues, additional power-ups, level-skipping, etc. These cheat codes are really software patches that override a part of the game's ROM programming in order to change the gameplay. While the Game Genie worked extremely well, the physical size of the unit made it difficult to insert into the NES and would often cause damage to the 72-pin connector inside. When the NES-101 top-loader console was released the Game Genie didn't fit at all, so players had to purchase an adapter. These adapters are pretty rare and highly prized by collectors.
Game Genie Video Game Enhancer
Game Genie NES-101 Adapter