Bootleg games, sometimes called bootlegs for short and mistakenly called pirated games are unlicensed games that are sold on the market generally using unauthorized content. These can generally be unauthorized ports of existing games (without the original game's publisher's permission), an unauthorized hack of an existing game or an original game that acts as it's related to an official franchise or heavily borrows content from an existing game.
Overview[]
Bootleg games are generally sold in areas where publishers and console manufacturers don't have any control over what games get published for their system. They can generally pass themselves off as an official game or a port of one, a sequel to an existing franchise, or an adaptation of an existing franchise. Most of the time, bootleg games usually don't contain any mention of the original developers/publishers. An exception to this is Super Mario 4, which directly credits Nintendo. Similar to licensed games being pirated, other companies may take an existing bootleg game and either re-release it or hack it into another game. Bootleg game carts are generally distributed similarly to pirated game carts and it may be hard to differentiate them apart (unless the title matches a known bootleg game) although bootleg carts can sometimes come in boxes or cases like any other game.
A very common type of bootleg game is a port. Some of the most well-known examples include Super Mario World for the NES/Famicom and Somari, which is a port of Sonic the Hedgehog which stars Mario. Certain companies such as Hummer Team, mainly develop these types of bootleg games. Bootleg ports are either as accurate as they can be for the hardware and size, or deviate from the original source material in some way, such as lacking stages, or even playing completely differently. An example of the latter is many of Waixing's ports, which are completely different game genres.
Certain ports such as Happy Biqi III: World Fighter and Magic Dragon attempt to distance themselves from the games they are porting by using completely different graphics, characters, and music.
Another common example of bootleg games are hacks. Hacks are modified versions of preexisting games that do anything from adding cheats to becoming almost entirely different games. A example of more simple hacks include character swap hacks which replace the main character with someone else such as the Super Bros. series of hacks. Another example includes legal distinction hacks which attempt to make a pirated game look like a close clone. They are most commonly seen on plug and plays and modern handhelds.
However, not all unlicensed games are considered bootlegs. An example would be Menace Beach by Color Dreams; while not licensed by Nintendo, it doesn't necessarily infringe on trademarks or copyrights. Tengen's NES port of Fantasy Zone isn't a bootleg game either, while being a port of Fantasy Zone and was not licensed by Nintendo, Sega has given Tengen consent to make a port and publish it. Another example is Koko Adventure by Open Corp; despite using graphics from Super Mario World and a sound engine taken from Konami's Tiny Toon Adventures, the game itself does not try to pass itself off as either game and it does not attempt to completely copy either game's gameplay as well. However, Zemina's Super Boy 4 can be considered a bootleg game as it completely copies the graphics and gameplay from Super Mario World despite the name and player's sprites acting as if it was an original game.
Examples[]
Bootleg port examples:[]
- Main article: Category:Ports
- Super Mario World for the Famicom / NES.
- Somari
- Rockman 8
- Hercules 2
Bootleg hack examples:[]
- Main article: Category:Hacks
- Super Mario & Sonik 2
- Domkey Kong
- Sonic the Hedgehog for the Super Famicom / SNES.