DJ-Jungle is a software development team that produced a number of games for plug and play systems using the UM6578 and VT03 enhanced Famiclone architectures. In addition to developing some originally programmed games, they would also create hacks of other NES/Famicom games, licensed or otherwise. While notably having several of their UM6578 games included on plug and plays distributed by JungleTac, despite similarites in eachother's names, DJ-Jungle does not appear to have been directly connected to the company.
DJ-Jungle's most notable member is Wise Wang[1], who would go on to found Cube Technology and run Biikoo. The former would also develop numerous games for plug and play systems using V.R. Technology's proprietary system-on-a-chip platforms, and the latter is credited in the executable file for V.R. Technology's EmuVT emulator (which also contains references to DJ-Jungle).
History[]
DJ-Jungle's earliest activity can be traced back to 2001, when several games crediting them were released on plug and play systems based on UM6578 hardware that originate from Lite Star. Some of these games would also be included on some earlier plug and plays from JungleTac, who themselves are connected to Lite Star. Around 2003-2004, DJ-Jungle would stop working with both companies, with their activity following this being unclear. They are known to have started producing games for dedicated plug and play systems around this time period, though.
Games[]
This section catalogues all known games and hacks developed or believed to have been developed by DJ-Jungle. Many of the games were developed for UM6578 hardware and appear on plug and play systems produced by Lite Star and JungleTac, such as the Handy Boy[2] for the former and the VS Maxx 25 in 1 for the latter. After 2003, JungleTac would stop including DJ-Jungle's games on their consoles, instead primarily using games developed by an affiliated studio located in Fuzhou, China that would later become JungleTac's in-house development studio. Among the games developed by this studio are ports or conversions of DJ-Jungle's UM6578 games to VTxx hardware, effectively serving as replacements to them in JungleTac's game library.
Original games[]
Name | Platform | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Big Racing | UM6578 | 2001 | Top-down racing game. The completion theme is a rendition of the pre-game fanfare from Road Fighter. Uses sound effects from F-1 Race. A version of this game would later be developed for VTxx hardware by JungleTac in-house for their systems. |
DDRMAX | Unknown | Unknown | Dance Dance Revolution clone. It is notable for containing full-motion pre-rendered animations, an otherwise uncommon sight in DJ-Jungle's known games. DJ-Jungle is credited on the game's splash screen. A video showcasing the game on a "DanZ Kara" dance mat plug and play was uploaded to the Xanga blog of Chinese hardware manufacturer Macro Winners, which is now inaccessible following the service's shutdown in 2013. It is unknown if this game was ever released, although source code included in a demo package for V.R. Technology's Pic32 development tool contains comments mentioning DDRMAX. |
Move Fun | UM6578 | 2001 | Puzzle game where the player is presented with a grid of items and has to match three or more of the same item for as long as possible. The game has a distinct presentation style, with the player being able to choose one of three themed objects to match during the game (Figures, Fruits, and Flowers). This game would later be ported to VTxx hardware by JungleTac's in-house development team for their systems. |
Space Castle | UM6578 | 2001 | Clone of Space Invaders. The title theme is a rendition of the "mission complete" jingle from the Capcom game 1943 and the level theme is a rendition of the dungeon theme from The Legend of Zelda. The game also uses sound effects from Gradius. This game would later be ported to VTxx and VT168 hardware by JungleTac's in-house development team for their systems (their VT3xx version of this game is a direct port of the VT168 version). |
Ultra Doggy | UM6578 | 2001 | A game with a similar gameplay concept to Frogger. In each stage, the player has to navigate a robot dog through a busy road to the other side, where the exit is located. In order to access the exit, keys that appear on the road have to be collected. Other items also appear on the road that the player can collect. This game would later be ported to VTxx hardware by JungleTac's in-house development team for their systems. |
Hacks[]
Hacks of NES/Famicom games produced by DJ-Jungle for the UM6578 and VT03 enhanced Famiclone platforms. These hacks are notable for being extensive overhauls of their original counterparts, as they feature new, enhanced graphics, new title screens, and in some cases, also reprogram elements of the original games such as the HUD. Some versions of these hacks even change the music and audio.[3] Like DJ-Jungle's original games, most of these hacks credit them on their title screens.
Many of the UM6578 hacks would later receive further hacks that would appear on select consoles, such as the "Wik!d Joystick 14 in 1" - the development of these hacks is attributed to an unknown group of ex-Subor developers as the new songs added in some of them use the same sound driver and composition style seen in dance mat games by the developers, which originate from some of Subor's later Famiclone-based products (i.e., the SB-2000 educational computer and the Subor V study cartridge). For additional hacks from these developers, see the "Hacks" section on the Ex-Subor developers article.
Original Game | Hack Name | Platform | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arkanoid | Block Shock | UM6578 | 2001 | Hacked to take place in a candy factory. Re-hacked by the "ex-Subor developer" group to create Rescue. Later versions feature new music and audio. |
Balloon Fight | Balloon Boy 2 | UM6578 | 2001 | The Balloon Trip mode is removed. Features an additional variant within the coding titled Super Balloon 2. Re-hacked by the "ex-Subor developer" group to create Balloon War. Later versions feature new music and audio. |
Bump 'n' Jump | Jump Car | UM6578 | 2001 | Based on the U.S. version. Hacked to feature a boat, with the road and surrounding areas replaced with water. The third level is corrupted and nearly unplayable. Re-hacked by the "ex-Subor developer" group to create Water Bike. An alternate version is called Motoring World. Later versions feature new music and audio. |
F-1 Race | Race One | UM6578 | 2001 | Hacked to take place in outer space. The title screen plays an arrangement of the Astro Boy theme. Features an additional variant within the coding titled Power Race One. Another version is known as Max Racing. Re-hacked by the "ex-Subor developer" group to create Mega Race. Later versions feature new music and audio. |
Family Pinball (Rock'n'Ball) | Pinball | VT03 | 200? | An elaborate hack that completely changes the graphics to take advantage of the VT03's enhanced color mode and additionally introduces sampled audio and a completely new menu system. It would be included on a plug and play system by Advance Bright Limited, simply named Pinball, that was released in 2005. A demo ROM of the menu interface is/was included in V.R. Technology's downloads hosted on their website, which contains a splash screen crediting DJ-Jungle. |
Galaga | Omega Zone | UM6578 | 2001 | Hacked to take place underwater instead of in space. The Gyaraga (Fighter) is replaced with a submarine (and is even explicitly referred to as such in-game), and the bug aliens are replaced with octopi. Later versions feature new music and audio. Including a theme which plays during normal gameplay. |
Magic Jewelry | Jewel Master | UM6578 | 2001 | A rather advanced hack, replacing the Statue of Liberty with Easter Island statues. JungleTac's in-house developers would later create VTxx conversions of this hack. |
Road Fighter | GP Race | UM6578 | 2001 | Features motorcycles instead of cars. The first release of the game is a basic graphics hack and is only known to have been included on the TV Game Computer plug and play from Spectron.[4] A more common later version is much more advanced, changing the layout and graphics considerably. Features an additional variant within the coding titled Speedy Motor. Re-hacked by the "ex-Subor developer" group to create Road Hero. An originally programmed game based on the latter version of the hack would be developed by JungleTac in-house for their systems. Later versions feature new music and audio. |
Road Fighter | Racing Pioneer | UM6578 | 2001 | Considerably more basic than GP Race; features an outer space setting. Also features a somewhat easier layout. Later versions feature new music and audio. |
An uncommon console called the "Solar Games Super 7 in 1" features VT02 hacks based on DJ-Jungle's UM6578 hacks, but are closer visually to Inventor ROM hacks of the same games.[5]
UM6578 lightgun games[]
Lightgun games developed by DJ-Jungle for UM6578-based game consoles. All of the listed games were included on Lite Star's GUN-500 "TV Hunting Park" plug and play system, first released in 2001.[6][7][8] Some other Lite Star/JungleTac systems also include these games alongside the standard UM6578 DJ-Jungle game library, such as the MX-3AT system (notably distributed by Spectron as the TV Game Computer).[9][10] These games are not known to have been ported by JungleTac's in-house development team.
- Birdie Hunt (2001) - A game where the player must shoot birds. Despite the premise, it is unrelated to Duck Hunt. The game's music is taken from the NES version of Asterix; the character on the title screen loosely resembles Moorhuhn.
- Crocodile Pond (2001) - A game where the player shoots crocodiles. The game plays a rendition of the "Castlequest" theme, and the title screen is modified from the "Bubble Bobble" logo.
- Flying Saucer (2001) - Clone of the "Game C" (clay pigeons) mode from the NES version of Duck Hunt. It is unclear if this game is a direct hack of the original game.
- Huntsman (2001) - Clone of the NES version of Duck Hunt that only includes the "Game A" and "B" modes and features edited versions of graphics from the original game. It is unclear if this game is a direct hack of the original game.
- Sharp Shooter (2001) - A clone of the "Game A" mode from Hogan's Alley. The title screen features Yusuke Urameshi from YuYu Hakusho modified to be holding a gun. It is unclear if this game is a direct hack of the original game.
Unconfirmed[]
Name | Platform | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Boxing | Unknown | Unknown | Dedicated plug and play boxing game that utilizes wireless boxing glove controllers for input. The actual game consists of one-on-one fights with a CPU opponent, where the player has to punch while wearing the boxing gloves to fight back, and the only other modes offered are for sandbag and human training.[11] The game is only known to have been released on a dedicated plug and play unit simply titled Boxing. A ROM and source code for a demo version of the game for VT03 that only contains working menus is available for download on V.R. Technology's website, originally intended as a showcase of their Pic32 imaging tool. This version immediately shows a splash screen crediting VRT on startup, and while DJ-Jungle is not directly credited, the source code contains comments mentioning a product that they were involved in the development of - "DDRMAX" - suggesting that they may have been involved with the development of this game. |
Jungle Attack | UM6578 | 2003 | Hack of Battle City. While the game features similar sound design to DJ-Jungle's original games, the title screen features a "JungleTac 2003" copyright notice. Currently only confirmed to have been included on JungleTac's Super Handy Max system from 2003.[12][13] |
Trivia[]
- The sound engine from DJ-Jungle's original UM6578 games, as well as some of the same music from those titles, would be reused in Nanjing's first published RPGs, although the company's later titles would switch to a different sound engine under an unknown composer. It is unclear what led to this happening, although a connection between DJ-Jungle and the developers of the aforementioned games is likely.
References[]
- ↑ The about window in the Windows-only emulator EmuVT (a modified closed-source version of NNNesterJ that supports V.R. Technology's system-on-a-chip platforms) credits Wise Wang and contains the following e-mail address (now inactive): "wise@djjungle.com".
- ↑ https://youtu.be/ltBuobP4qi0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YffuJ3C5j_A
- ↑ https://youtu.be/cjdM3CJMh7Y?t=808
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaAK0clJ918
- ↑ https://youtu.be/Ny5EleCZRMc
- ↑ https://uc.pory.app/record/recWZYzKVOm7YAJRS?sId=Ad5mlw5EslYc
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20011013034505/http://www.litestargame.com/myhomepage.asp
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20030309083942/http://www.jungletac.com:8080/product.jsp?Id=1
- ↑ https://youtu.be/C3UJ1fsl_y4
- ↑ https://youtu.be/T_LC1UO6LUw
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20040826143847fw_/http://www.jungletac.com:8080/product.jsp?Id=8
- ↑ https://youtu.be/YffuJ3C5j_A?t=577