Ka Sheng (卡聖), also known as Carson, Kasing or simply NT, is a publisher of both original games and pirate copies of licensed (and unlicensed) games, mainly for the Famicom, but its logo has also been found in the Mega Drive game Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi. Most Ka Sheng releases were single cartridges, but the company also released some multicarts with a relatively low, unexaggerated game count, usually between 2 and 8.
Ka Sheng cartridges can usually be identified in various manners. They usually feature a NT ID on the covers or the "卡聖" characters; in the company's later years KT and GT IDs were also used while their earliest cartridges have ID prefix like VQ.
Connections[]
In their early years, Ka Sheng re-released again some of Ge De Industry games under NT labeled covers. Some of those share the exact same PCB as their original release. Also, Ge De apparently stopped releasing Famicom games around the time Ka Sheng started activities, in 1995. It is possible that Ge De sold their remaining leftovers to Ka Sheng.
Ka Sheng also had a deal with J.Y. Company at some point in 1996 to distribute some of their games. Mortal Kombat 2 Special was distributed by Ka Sheng in Russia and South America with a cover showing both IDs from each company (JY-029, NT916) plus an original JY printed circuit board. This relationship didn't last long because only 5 cartridges had this treatment (the 4 others being relabeled JY multicarts with PCBs manufactured by JY). J.Y. & Ka Sheng relationship]
Published games[]
Games with visible Ka Sheng logos or copyright[]
NT-679 Justice Pao (Bao Qing Tian) cartridge.
- Bao Qing Tian
- Mortal Kombat 6 (Garou Densetsu Special with different title screen)
- The Panda Prince (Chinese version), Super Lion King 2
- Sanguo Chunqiu: Sichuan Sheng (aka Shisen Mahjong 2)
- Yuu Yuu Hakusho Final, Mortal Kombat 7
[]
NT-849 Earthworm Jim 2 cartridge.
Others[]
These games have no in-game signs of Ka Sheng, but appear to have been originally released in NT carts. However they may or may not have been published by other companies previously.
- The King of Fighters '96
- Mortal Kombat 4
- Sonic & Knuckles 5 (Somari with different title screen & theme music)
- Street Fighter Zero 2 (cut-down version of Street Fighter Zero 2 '97)
- Super Donkey Kong 2
- Toy Story
- Every DMG/GBC Makon Soft game
- Street Fighter Zero 4
- Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2001
Most NT-published originals use mapper 121 or other mappers.
Label style[]
NT-810 Ninja Ryukendn III, a typical NT cart.
NT carts are known for their frequently bizarre labels featuring artwork only tenuously related (if at all) to the game within, psychedelic backgrounds, colourful patterned borders, overlaid characters from different sources, multiple titles (one from the stolen artwork and one for the actual game), obviously false claims presumably lifted from games for different consoles ("3D Graphic Motion", "Surround Sound", "Sega 16Bit Quality") and more. Some carts have the Olympics logo on them.
Games are often retitled on the label only, with minimal or no change to the title screen; common changes include adding "Super" or the year of release, and adding or increasing a number. For example, NT-313 "Super Terminator 3" is actually just the first Terminator game. Some games are given a different title entirely, such as the title of a similar game for a different console, that of a popular movie with similar themes to the game, or sometimes an entirely nonsensical title like "Worstue Ball 2", "Super Crocodile Sir" or "Worldwide Publishing". Titles are also frequently misspelled.
Some later cartridges, usually labelled "Hi-Game 1999" or "Color 2001" (the year varies) feature vertically printed labels, for unknown reasons.
More examples of NT carts[]
Chase HQ with the title screen hacked to read "GAME" and the copyright "Super Monaco GP II © Copyright 1996".
Actually Cobra Command, completely unmodified.
China Rabbit Baby (Note the double id, this is a copy of a copy).
Contains three Mario hacks plus Mario is Missing.
Actually Doki Doki Yuuenchi.