This is a list of notable, originally-licensed Famicom/NES games that have been pirated under a different name; whether the game's title was actually hacked (with little-to-no further changes to the game), or only the cartridge label/multicart selection menu uses a different name.
NOTE: If you're adding a title to this list, also make a redirect page with that title that links back to here.
Games whose titles were changed in-game[]
| Original Game | Alternate Titles | Links | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Star Wars: Episode I | [1] | Shows up on the 200 in 1 Super Game multicart. |
| 1943 | 1944 | [2] | Two versions of it exist. One based off the US version (Appears in the Supervision 16-in-1) and another based on the Japanese version (Appears in Smart Genius computers). The latter version allows you to shoot an infinite amount of lasers and along with an existing powerup after using all your loops. |
| Adventure Island | Cavernicola | Only known to exist on the Tecnobits Dance Mix.[1] | |
| Arkanoid | OOOO | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Baseball | Super League | Released by Cube Technology. | |
| Battle City | Making Love | Appears to be a fan-made joke hack that periodically appears in modern (post-2000) bootleg releases. | |
| Blaster Master | Back to the Future IV | Title screen erroneously reads "Back Goto Future4". | |
| Chase H.Q. | Super Monaco GP II | ||
| Choujikuu Yousai - Macross | Macross | Name is sometimes hacked in-game and other times not; when it is hacked, the title is written in the Bubble Bobble Part 2 font. | |
| Circus Charlie | Circus Troupe | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Donkey Kong 3 | Gorilla 3 | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Dig Dug | Din Dun | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Dr. Mario | Space Hospital | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters III | ||
| International Cricket | •International Cricket II 2005 •International Cricket II 2007 •2011 International Cricket |
Adds a logo in place of the copyright screen, rather than changing the name on the title screen. 2011 International Cricket actually does change the title screen. | |
| J.League Winning Goal | France 98Go! | ||
| Joe & Mac | Tarzan | Seen on a 7-in-1 multicart (HP1015A6). | |
| King's Knight | Lord of the Ring | Shows up on the 9 in 1 Super Game multicart. | |
| The Lord of King (Astyanax) | Golden Axe IV | ||
| Konamic Sports in Seoul | Athens 2004 | Only found as unused data on a 64-in-1 multicart. In-game mentions of Konami are changed to Athens. | |
| Kung-Fu (Spartan X) | King Fighter | Seen on a 7-in-1 multicart (HP1015A6). | |
| Magic Carpet 1001 | Aladdin III | ||
| Mario Bros. | •Mr. Mary •Super Kid (1) |
Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Nakajima Satoru Kanshuu - F-1 Hero 2 | High Way Star II | ||
| Ninja Hattori-Kun | Samurai-3 | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Kunio-Kun no Nekketsu Soccer League | •FIFA 99 •Goal 3 |
[3] | Only the Technos Japan logo screen is changed, the title screen is unaltered. |
| Pac-Man | Goblin | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Power Soccer | •2002 World Cup Soccer•FIFA 99 •World Pro Soccer |
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| Raid on Bungeling Bay | Helicopter | Name is sometimes hacked in-game and other times not; when it is hacked, the title is written in the Bubble Bobble Part 2 font. | |
| Sky Shark | 1945 | Marketed as a pseudo-sequel to 1942 and 1943. | |
| Soccer | •World Soccer 98 •World Soccer 99 |
||
| Star Force | Star War | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Super Mario Bros. | •"2" •Super Kid (2) |
[4] | Title has no real name, just a poorly drawn picture of Mario next to a castle, and the number 2. Single cartridges with the game often feature no game title on the front. Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan) | •"3" •Mr. Mary 2 |
"3" is the "sequel" to the retitled "2" version of Super Mario Bros., and modifies the title screen with sprites of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and two Cheep-Cheeps. Some graphics are a bit glitched and Mario's name is changed to Rambo. Mr. Mary 2 is the "sequel" to the retitled version of Mario Bros. | |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 (International) | •Super Bros. 2 •Super Bros. 5 |
[5] | Appears to be based on the PAL version rather than the NTSC version. Super Bros. 2 changes the copyright to "CTC". Super Bros. 5 changes the copyright to "ECE" and changes the year to 1991. Both hacks are often found under the Super Wonderful Mario label. |
| Tag Team M.U.S.C.L.E. | Wrestle | ||
| Target: Renegade | Double Dragon IV | ||
| Tetris (Tengen) | Cuadritos | Only known to exist on the Tecnobits Dance Mix.[1] | |
| Tecmo World Cup Soccer | •II International Fifa 97 Soccer •Goal 5 Soccer |
Still referred to as "Tecmo Worldcup" on the pre-game intro, despite the title screen(s) being hacked. | |
| Toxic Crusaders | Turtle Ninja 5 | Renamed as a pseudo-sequel to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. | |
| Werewolf: The Last Warrior | Crash Bandicoot 4 | A simple title screen hack. Only seen on a PocketNES conversion. Not to be confused with the 2020 video game. | |
| Xiao Ma Li | Small Lucky | Released by Cube Technology. | |
| Yoshi's Cookie | Super Mario 12 ("馬利12") |
Games whose titles are unaltered in-game[]
| Original Game | Alternate Titles | Links | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astro Fang - Super Machine | Astroid | Seen on some 2000s multicarts and plug & plays; it is unclear if this is a typo or an attempt to market the game as Atari's Asteroids (despite that Astro Fang is an entirely unrelated racing game). | |
| Attack Animal Gakuen | Atachamanure School | Originated from Whirlwind Manu. Appears to be complete gibberish, and is somewhat infamous for the use of "manure" in the title. | |
| Banana Prince | Sonic / Sonison | ||
| Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa | Mario Baby | Conversion of the Famicom Disk System version to NES; the actual NES release came after the pirate. | |
| Doki! Doki! Yuuenchi | Disneyland / Disney 2 / Disney 3 | ||
| Donkey Kong | Donkey Kong Specia | [7] | This cart label is also used for Super Donkey Kong - Xiang Jiao Chuan as well as pirated carts for Toki. |
| Gimmick! (also known as Mr. Gimmick outside of Japan) | Shui Guan Pipe V | [8] | Removes copyrights (which also triggers the anti-piracy routine), uses a different mapper that doesn't support Sunsoft 5B, resulting in missing sound channels. DPCM samples also appear to be broken. |
| The Goonies | Harry Legend / Contra 6 | Both only remove the title screen without other changes. | |
| Karateka | •Jackie Chan •Tekken |
The Tekken name is seen on early 2000s multicarts; likely originates from the Power Player Super Joy III. | |
| Kero Kero Keroppi 2 | •Toads Mario •Frogger |
The "Toads Mario" name appeared on single-cartridges in the 90s, while the "Frogger" name appeared mainly in 2000s multicarts and plug & plays. | |
| Kinnikuman - Muscle Tag Match (M.U.S.C.L.E.) | WWF | Seen on early 2000s multicarts; likely originates from the Power Player Super Joy III. | |
| Mario is Missing! | Super Mario 9 | Possibly done on accident originally, but eventually picked up by other pirates and released under the title multiple times. | |
| Monster in My Pocket | Pocket Monster | Title seemingly "reversed" to imply a connection to the Pokémon series. | |
| Onyanko Town | •Pony •Pony Cat |
Name appears to originate from Whirlwind Manu. "Pony" is likely derived from the game's publisher, Pony Canyon. | |
| Pandamar (Super Mario Bros. hack) | Kung Fu Panda | Seen on some 2020s plug & plays. | |
| Penguin-kun Wars | FMG Pirate | Appears on some 2000s-2010s releases. Appears to be misconstrued from a pirated copy (of unknown source) with an "FMG" copyright string; causing it to, ironically, be labeled as "Pirate". | |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 (International) | •Super Wonderful Mario | Cartridges under this label generally use either the aforementioned Super Bros. 2 or Super Bros. 5, or an unaltered copy of Super Mario USA. | |
| Toki (also known as JuJu Densetsu in Japan) | Donkey Kong Specia/Donkey Kong Delux | [9]/[10] | Both cart labels are also used for Super Donkey Kong - Xiang Jiao Chuan. The Donkey Kong Specia label has also been used for pirated carts for Donkey Kong. |
| Yie Ar Kung-Fu | King of Fighter | Seen on early 2000s multicarts; likely originates from the Power Player Super Joy III. |
Additionally, many Famicom/NES titles have bootleg, single-game PocketNES releases on Game Boy Advance, usually under altered names.
See also[]
- List of alternate titles of pirated Arcade games
- List of alternate titles of pirated Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games